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Criticize my door hanger please

6K views 25 replies 14 participants last post by  fakie99 
#1 ·
First time sending out door hangers, can you guys please help me out with some criticism. Let me know if I should add/remove something. Thank you.
 

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#3 ·
I agree with JayBrown. There is nothing engaging about it. People tend to underestimate how much people don't want to read a mass of words.

If you went as is, there are quite a few formatting issues. You have line spacing issues where you change from the large to smaller fonts. Reading paragraphs of centered text is not how we are conditioned to read, which creates an awkward visual experience (look at the "recommend the most" like).

The paragraph below "Early Bird Special" needs some formatting help and attention to spacing.

Is there a second side?
 
#6 ·
I'm planning to put together a door hanger design this week and I'm thinking about putting something near the top that says "our services start at $xx.xx" to give the customer an idea of what a basic service costs. Otherwise, people will have to contact you to get that info, wasting a lot of time on people that have no idea what landscape maintenance costs.
 
#8 ·
Door hangers are tough because you dont want it to be cluttered but you have a lot of info to communicate.

I agree putting the Early Bird special at the top, that is your motivator over the 4 or 5 other flyers they might get in the first couple weeks of March.

I know its more expensive, but if you have to have all this info, i'd make it two-sided and put the paragraph on the back. I agree that many people will not look at it just because it seems like a lot to read. Think about it, I typically get the mail or door hanger when I get home from work, the last thing I have energy for is reading every credit card offer/sales pitch/and junk that does not change my life and keeps me from my wife and kids. It has got to have a message I can receive at a glance, then when I am interested you can have all the wordy stuff on the back or on your web page or wherever.

Pictures, eh it depends on the pic.

Looking forward to seeing your changes, I already think it looks better than alot Ive seen.

Oh and the paper its printed on is important to, I see so many on regular copy paper or colored copy paper. They look cheap and is thus a reflection on the company.
 
#9 ·
This may not work but I am trying to attatch one of our flyers. It may not be the best out there, but I literally get a couple each week and the customers says they called because my door hanger looked so good. the empty space at the top is where the whole for the door knob is. They are also on thick card stock and about a little bigger than most. If it doesnt attatch Ill try again.
 

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#12 ·
My thoughts and suggestions for your consideration. In my experience customers want to know who they will be doing business with. A business location is not on the hanger, and a company name is not identified. You say at the end to call "Landscape Design and Maintenance." Is that the name of the company, because when I do a google search in perth amboy, no company comes up by that name. If you do a reverese search on the phone number identified,google identifies the number as a cell phone with no business name associtated with the number.
In addition to the other suggestions forum members made, I would make the hanger so it identifies who the potential customer would be calling, ie local company etc. and the name of the company and location
 
#13 ·
As long as the price is on their and it's very clear you can't really go wrong. It's a numbers game.

The price being on there is an absolute must, though.
I don't understand how you can price a service without first knowing what level of service a customer wants. For the mow and go scrubs it is a numbers game, but for those who concentrate on providing exceptional service it's more about level of service than money. The complaints I hear from potential customers looking for a new service isn't typically about their former provider charging too much, it's about them providing lousy service...not being dependable, not returnng phone calls, etc.
 
#14 ·
Thats a valid question. We have some door hangers with a price block and some without. Nicer neighborhoods where we know clients will want more than basic services we put the one without the block. Our flyer is clear that the price is for lawn mowing which includes mowing, edging, weedeating, and blowing. I did once get a call from a lady who expected us to trim hedges for that price as well so make sure the wording is clear on what the price includes. Also be very clear on the phone. In neighborhoods with $30 to $40 yards that are not as nice, we use the price block hangers for sure. We get probably triple the response from those and more of them turn into regulars, plus I dont have to make a second trip out to bid again.
 
#15 ·
ztman thanks for pointing that out I do need to work on some of that stuff but I just did a google search on my phone number and the very first thing that popped up was my fence company then a couple of listings down my fertilizer applicator lisence. I know that LDM isn't going to pop up on google and that's because 1. Company was started just a few months ago and 2. I never actually put it up on search engines. Although I do have an Adwords account set up with it. I also do most of my work up in the union county area not the perth amboy area.
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#16 ·
This may not work but I am trying to attatch one of our flyers. It may not be the best out there, but I literally get a couple each week and the customers says they called because my door hanger looked so good. the empty space at the top is where the whole for the door knob is. They are also on thick card stock and about a little bigger than most. If it doesnt attatch Ill try again.
Your doorhanger looks great. If you haven't had them printed yest I would change Lawn mowing includes to Basic Lawn Service: yada...yada...yada
 
#17 ·
I started offering 3 packages:

Basic Special: mow, light trimming and blow walks and drive. $19.95

Platinum: mow, trimming, edging drives and walkways, blow all solid surfaces $39.95

VIP: Mow w/striping, Extensive trimming, Edging of solid edges, tree rings, and ornamental beds, 1/2 hour of weed pulling, blowing all solid surfaces. $ 59.95

This is clients choices and gets them thinking more about their lawns. For the tire kickers...the basic works great, and can usually complete in 20-30 minutes on majority of lawns in our area. Plus this helps to weed out the guy with the pickup, push mower out to make extra money. I have added 32 new clients with this format and 1/2 alwayds choose more than basic service. 2 have become annual contracts at normal rates.
 
#19 ·
I don't understand how you can price a service without first knowing what level of service a customer wants. For the mow and go scrubs it is a numbers game, but for those who concentrate on providing exceptional service it's more about level of service than money. The complaints I hear from potential customers looking for a new service isn't typically about their former provider charging too much, it's about them providing lousy service...not being dependable, not returnng phone calls, etc.
I don't agree the price must be on there. If you feel you must, put services starting at, $___.
 
#22 ·
My thinking is that a door hanger is meant for one purpose, to get the call. You can determine the customers needs and sell over the phone. I dont really need them to know EVERYTHING about what we do or who we are. Just a few things that I know my kind of client will want.
Spot on. Also, Set Apart, your door hanger is excellent. I feel that you really understand how to build an effective ad even if you're not a Photoshop expert. If I were a customer who needed lawn care, I would call you based on that door hanger alone. You instill trust in your customers.

@OP your door hanger is pretty awful. If that's the best you could do before coming here and asking how to "tweak" it to make it better, you should hire a professional design service. You are only going to scare people away with that door hanger. I don't mean to offend you, but you have to hear the truth. You can get a pro to design you a nice door hanger for about $100. Do it.
A full color, two-sided door hanger is the only way to go, and only costs maybe 25% more than a one-sided two color hanger.
 
#23 ·
leeson86, I have two companies, Landscape Design & Maintenance was recently opened so its not me false advertising. As far as the pesticide & herbicide I am in the process of taking my exams for them. I did my classes already, if you dug a little further into looking me up, you'd see I'm already a licensed fertilizer applicator. So exactly what do I need to get together?
 
#24 ·
OK, I was just confused about the two companies. I know you didn't ask for this sort of advice, but in general it's good to specialize. I mean, what's next, are you going to start a garage door company? Dog walking?

Why did you decide to branch out into landscaping and lawn care (which in themselves are two very different things) from the fence building business. You don't have to answer, just think about it.

That's good that you're getting licensed. Being a licensed fertilizer applicator though is not the same as a pesticide applicator, as you well know.

I know I'm being hard on you, but it's good to have criticism that isn't sugar-coated. The people who were saying along the lines of "you spelled that word wrong" and such in regards to the door hanger are missing the point. You need to start over, or have someone else do it. If I got that on my door, I wouldn't even consider hiring you. It gives me the impression you are not specialized, meaning you offer a lot of services, but don't do any of them well. And that's without even knowing you have a deck business too.

I do tree and lawn chemical applications exclusively, and I find it difficult to be an expert in just these two areas. I would prefer to just do tree treatments- I feel spread thin, knowledge-wise, keeping up in both fields. How can someone do all those things you list?
 
#25 ·
At my age I have alot of connections: engineers, construction, landscapers, masons, you name it and I more than likely have a number or two. So I branched out and opened up a landscape company because I know I have enough work to keep us busy. The guys working for me have been doing this for a long time so they know what they're doing. I didn't get upset or anything about your previous post I just needed to point out that I'm not doing this illegally and I know what has to get done and what not. As far as the brochure it's something that I did in about 5 minutes. I'll post the final product later. If you guys like it great if not that's fine too
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#26 ·
OP your doorhanger has a long way to go to be effective. Color and photos are a MUST in the landscape business. But, are you really in LANDSCAPING or are you in LAWN CARE? they are two different things. a lot of guys around here are lawn maintenance providers, then somewhere along the line they decide they ought to offer "pavers". they go out and sell a couple hardscape jobs, and invariably, it's a disaster. their lack of experience shows big time. have you done actual landscape work? if so, you need NICE photos of your jobs on your marketing pieces.

jim
 
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