I started asphalt sealing many many years ago in high school. My first truck was a three hundred dollar beater that I could put a couple of buckets and a squeegee and seal a few driveways in a day. With hard work I have built a sealing business that works from sun up to sun down seven days a week in the sealing season. Here are a few tips that have given me an edge over my competitors through the years. First of all, provide your customers with the best materials available on the market in your area. This includes Federal Specification concentrate,sand and additives. Add the proper formula, do not dilute your sealer by adding too much water. Secondly, be neat, weed wack, power blow and edge around retaining walls and close to the garage door. If a customer wanted sealer on his door or wall, he would not have called you, he could have done that himself. Leave the job site the looking professional. This means clean up any garbage that your workers have left around. Tie a strong caution tape barrier in front of the driveway and ask the homeowner if it would be ok to leave an advertisement sign next to the driveway. After the job, always thank the customer for choosing your service. Address any questions or concerns about the job when you are there. If the customer is happy, politely hint that a referral would greatly appreciated. I could go on and on but last of all, always project yourself as a professional. When you are providing an estimate you are providing the best sealing application on the market. There will always be guys who can undercut you with price but once you get a reputation for offering professional workmanship the phone will not stop ringing.
Tips for Success in Sealcoating
toddsasphalt
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I started asphalt sealing many many years ago in high school. My first truck was a three hundred dollar beater that I could put a couple of buckets and a squeegee and seal a few driveways in a day. With hard work I have built a sealing business that works from sun up to sun down seven days a week in the sealing season. Here are a few tips that have given me an edge over my competitors through the years. First of all, provide your customers with the best materials available on the market in your area. This includes Federal Specification concentrate,sand and additives. Add the proper formula, do not dilute your sealer by adding too much water. Secondly, be neat, weed wack, power blow and edge around retaining walls and close to the garage door. If a customer wanted sealer on his door or wall, he would not have called you, he could have done that himself. Leave the job site the looking professional. This means clean up any garbage that your workers have left around. Tie a strong caution tape barrier in front of the driveway and ask the homeowner if it would be ok to leave an advertisement sign next to the driveway. After the job, always thank the customer for choosing your service. Address any questions or concerns about the job when you are there. If the customer is happy, politely hint that a referral would greatly appreciated. I could go on and on but last of all, always project yourself as a professional. When you are providing an estimate you are providing the best sealing application on the market. There will always be guys who can undercut you with price but once you get a reputation for offering professional workmanship the phone will not stop ringing.
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I could not agree with EWS more. If you have down time start handing out fliers. Put your signs around busy roads and start knocking on commercial business doors. Good luck.
I put a business card size ad in our local paper, same size ad in a gated community's monthly newsletter, a 4ft X 8ft. sign on our little league outfield fence, and not one phone call. This year's phonebooks are already published, so no good for now. I'd like to place flyers in everyones' newspaper box or doorstep (I know the mailbox is illegal), but I'm not sure if that's considered soliciting or not. All my ads, business cards, and magnetic signs on my truck look very professional, but I'm competing against a couple of very well established sealcoaters/pavers in my area. I think I just need a few jobs and get their neighbors and so on.....and let that "word of mouth" advertising get rolling.
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once again i,m very new here and it is not my intention to offend anyone,the guy couldnt be more right about a clean looking job,best materials ect...as for clients...try knocking on a few doors...look closely before going up there...it doesnt have to be a wealthy area,or anything like that...but notice how well they take care of everything...if they dont have a nice lawn,or need paint n shutters ect...then odds are you are waisting your time...also if you have a few bucks...buy a few measuring sticks,and hire a few collage kids as estimators....a few fliers for them to hand out you can print,you can also pay them by the foot...1-2 cents a foot should be fine...works for me...but nothing beats getting out n getting your jobs....
My work has gotten very high compliments, and I do use the best materials around, it's that "salesman" ability that I lack. I have 4 jobs for Thursday, then it seems I starve for a couple weeks 'till another few come up. I think I've had more people ask if I do paving than anything. Maybe I bought the wrong equipment.........
when you are out there thursday knock on the neigbors doors Im sure you will get at least 3-5 more jobs. also what gypsie said is good, hire a few people to leave door hangers, pay them 10-20 bucks every driveway they get you I have a kid that does it for me and he usually gets 10-15 driveways a wk for me... usually residential work wont get really busy up north til around July, august, till labor day... so if you advertise you will get jobs trust me... leave your business cards at local restraunts, bulletin boards and grocery stores.. 1 job always leads to another, good luck
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Ditto.....
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smile..be friendly...give them a lil education...and relax...if they didnt need to see you you shoudnt be knocking
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I am in the mowing business and I see all these driveways that could be done so I talked to my wife and we are adding sealcoting to our current business. I am going to do it the old fashion way with a bucket and a squeegee.. My question is how much do you charge doing it this way, with out the fancy machines. I m talking prices on everything including patch work, cracks, power washing, and sealing it.
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well its a lil hard to say...clean up is very important...if you powerwash you,ll have to let it dry,so theres some slow time...maybe a nice leaf can cut down on that time...how many cracks how large ect....but if its not a horrible mess when you get their...and your buying buckets of sealer {midgrade}for say 14.00...i,m guessing around 10 cents per fot should get you going...i might suggest a soft bristle broom to finish...but their are many methods...good luck to you..hope i helped
Don't forget about commercial properties. Here in SoCal we don't have much in the way of residential asphalt but plenty of business parks and shopping centers. Find out who the property manager is (ask one of the mom and pop stores in the shopping center) and contact the property manager directly.
Do lots of research. I found a new business park which had posted its proposed budget for prospective tenants to view. There were lines in the budget for sweeping (my business) and sealcoating (another prospective business for me). So....I learned who the property manager was and also found out how much they expected to spend for sweeping and sealcoating each year.
Good luck!
Do lots of research. I found a new business park which had posted its proposed budget for prospective tenants to view. There were lines in the budget for sweeping (my business) and sealcoating (another prospective business for me). So....I learned who the property manager was and also found out how much they expected to spend for sweeping and sealcoating each year.
Good luck!
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4,763 Posts
We never knock on a door , fliers are a bit cheesey , we have 2 methods that work well . First we pull a 550 tank and mix at every job , the muffler is loud so the neighbors hear us . The rig has a professional appearance . Neighbors come and ask for estimates. The second is our name , its on the barrier tape , side of truck , and we leave a sign on every job , the sign stays up for about a week , we get an adverage of 3 calls off each job.
One thing that I have done was spoke to a guy from work and asked if his kids were old enough for a summer job and his response was no. I made an agreement with him to hand out flyer's around the city so his kids can make some extra money and the parents know there safe because their with them walking. Where I live we can put flyer's in mailboxes, the parents of the kids are just grateful that their child is making extra money and the kids are safe because the parents are with them. I pay the kids 10% of any contracts I get around the city where they live and they seem quite happy with that. The kids just keep dragging there parents around the subdivisions determined to make a buck. Good luck, they will come.
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404 Posts
what all Equipment do u need to get in to sealcoating ?
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i have business cards and a add in the local paper thought about t shirts and a sign just dont know what to put on them
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