My startup needs help

[Christiano]

Pardon my directness, but that's asking a taxi you call to drive you somewhere for free and get him to pay for the gas. Happy to break this down:

These places make money without you. They also have a captured, pre-targeted, audience and the ability to get you in front of them. That still requires effort on their end especially when they are probably in the middle of cross-selling to enhance the ROI on THEIR leads.

As someone who has both developed and managed domestic and international channel distribution (which is what this is in a simpler form), it remains critical to take care of your people.

Think WIN-WIN, mutual benefits. This involves a change in perspective from "me" to "us."
-->What's in it for me? vs What's in it for us?

From the perspective of "me" you see a reduction in margin. From the perspective of us, you see a lead generation opportunity with no cost in marketing investment to produce. Requirement is to build and maintain relationships. The digital world can enable your partners to automate monetizing if you implement that correctly (which is another conversation altogether).

Here is a quick story on the results of this mentality:

In May of 2014, I acquired a Work Visa to work in the US. This required letters of reference for over 5 years of experience specific to the TN category I applied under. This meant reaching out to someone I hadn't talked to in 8 years where I got a response and a yes in 24 hours. We had a good relationship when we worked together. The value of people exceeds the sum of what you perceive them to be. I thought I'd bring this up since you are in the business of not leaving money on the table.

 

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[Liz Be]

Fair enough.

 

[Christiano]

I know I came on strong, but truly that mentality will hurt you and hold back your progress.

If you know you can make the margin and get in front of people. Here is what I would do if I was you:

1) I would show-up at a mechanics shop. I wouldn't Twitter, LinkedIn, email or even call. Just show up. Maybe see if you can find some testimonials online or Yelp about them. That gets used in the pitch after.
2) I would speak to whoever greeted me first and say this: "Hi I have a way to monetize on cars beyond repair and was looking to speak to the manager about it. See if we can get you guys some extra cash."
3) When you reach the manager, here is your pitch: "I saw you guys online and read a really great review from "Sherry online" (be specific if you can). The reason I'm here is you guys come across cars beyond repair you can't monetize on, but I can. I'd like to discuss with you an opportunity to help you monetize on those people without it taking up any or you or your staff's time. You open for a chat?
Explain the premise of your business briefly. Deal should be on a referral basis. Issue will be trust. Tell him he only needs to send one person and you will come back IN-PERSON either with a check or a reason why there is no check. Tell him you will do this, because you have no interest in the one person, but the bunch of people he'll send you when you start coming with checks. Referral fee, do the math and make it $25 to $50 tops a pop. Make sure to outline that when he makes that money it costs him no time, no advertising AND takes up no inventory.

That should give you a better conversion rate. Just work on your delivery.

 

[Liz Be]

Love it!!!!

 

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[Christiano]

Good. That was a culmination of several sales techniques specifically targeted for that channel with respect to your offering.

Have you ever done channel management before?

 

[Liz Be]

No I have not. I know what it was s... And that's about it

 

[Christiano]

Ok so in this case, think of this like affiliate marketing with relationships. Making these connections can bring you targeted leads. Since they are already buying from these people, there is a trust issue with the client which helps bridge that gap.

That is what makes these relationships important to not only create, but maintain. There are ways to properly build and massage those relationships. There is even a way to digitize most of this if you create an affiliate portal of sorts down the road. Make it easy for them to send business to you.

 

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[Liz Be]

Ok. That's pure genius.

 

[CommonCents]

This type of pro-consumer business is ripe for local media coverage=free exposure=authority/credibility. Most TV/Radio news outlets have a consumer reporter that are looking to feature stories just like this for their viewers/listeners. They are always lookin' for some good informational stories. Make your pitch a newsworthy, informative content piece to enable the reporter to add value for their viewers. Avoid a canned business pitch. They are keen on detecting someone out for a free commercial. Help them add value to their audience, and business opportunities will follow.

Heck, even local papers will just flat out do a story on your new business and pimp it out for you.

 

[Liz Be]

Hi gang! So I'm trying to figure out what type of materials I should be providing to the towing companies/body shops.

For customers, should it be brochures? Or just one page flyers?

 

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[Liz Be]

Hi gang! So I'm trying to figure out what type of materials I should be providing to the towing companies/body shops.

For customers, should it be brochures? Or just one page flyers?

And also, what type of materials should I have for the towing companies and body shops themselves? Even though I'll be speaking to them in person, I should leave them something.

 

[rc08234]

In my business I use OPRA to the fulliest. I request records from local governments/townships/counties. I'm pretty sure you can request records on tickets given by cops from the municipality, might even be able to request filings for accidents etc. Some records you can ever find online.

 

[Liz Be]

In my business I use OPRA to the fulliest. I request records from local governments/townships/counties. I'm pretty sure you can request records on tickets given by cops from the municipality, might even be able to request filings for accidents etc. Some records you can ever find online.

OPRA?

 

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[Liz Be]

Open public records act?

 

[rc08234]

Open public records act?

Yeah, sites like this have to get their data from somewhere.
https://www.crimereports.com/

I'd call local PDs and ask about their OPRA (different names is diff states) laws. If you can view their records I'm sure you can see accident reports, and I'd assume most accidents involve two cars, and the reports have names and addresses of people.

 

[Liz Be]

Another thing I want to add on the website is to appeal to those who are lazy and think it’s not worth their time.


So I wanted to include some text that basically says, ‘you’re not willing to give up 20 minutes of your time for $800 or more?’ I was thinking about trying to relate it to what they make in a job over that amount of time.


Any thoughts on this idea? And any thoughts on how you would write it?

 

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[Equilibrium]

Another thing I want to add on the website is to appeal to those who are lazy and think it’s not worth their time.

If they are lazy its not worth YOUR time. you are after people who work with wrecked cars or accidents. Don't chase people who wont help you

 

[Liz Be]

I meant the customers who I think need a nudge. Not the body shops.

 

[Liz Be]

If they are lazy its not worth YOUR time. you are after people who work with wrecked cars or accidents. Don't chase people who wont help you

See above

 

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[Liz Be]

Any thoughts on the website content would be appreciated.

www.totalloss.co

Also, here's my google ad. Keep in mind, I'm limited by very few allowed characters.

And the flyer I plan to provide to body shops/towing companies

Front of flyer

Back

Thanks!!!

 

[jon.a]

I think the tow company flyer is a bad idea. At the time of the tow, the owner is in shock. Is there another way to get the data? Police reports with license plate numbers? Pay a tow company employee for weekly reports?

 

[Liz Be]

Love those other ideas. We're researching them.

I disagree with you on the tow company flyer. The clients we've had to this point, always say how comforting we've been in a crappy situation like this. Maybe perhaps the flyer should have one of their quotes at the top.

 

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[jon.a]

Love those other ideas. We're researching them.

I disagree with you on the tow company flyer. The clients we've had to this point, always say how comforting we've been in a crappy situation like this. Maybe perhaps the flyer should have one of their quotes at the top.

Success wins over opinions!

 

[GMJimmy]

It is possible that people are immune to your message?

This is a very noisy niche I receive nuissance calls weekly:
- "Hi Mr. <My Name>. I'm calling you from <some very governmental sounding department> about your minor accident you had with your XY car (exact make and model here)."

At this point I tell them not to call me again and end the call. They are buying lists from the insurance companies so they no my name and car. They have a governmental sounding company (sg like Road Traffic Management Department). They have call center and sales people cold calling anybody who has a car. Even if I had an accident and received a call with good timing, I'm not sure if I would take them seriously, just because my defense mechanism against these types of calls is so alert.

You may need to emphasize the benefits more, probably use pictures of a happy family, hot women, etc (test it and you'll see what works). Differentiate yourself. Stand out of the crowd.

 

[DaRK9]

From a design perspective I would change your sites colors to a more pastel hue. You have a really sharp corporate blue and it makes me feel like I'm about to spend money, not save money.

 

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[Liz Be]

Good stuff. Why do hot women work in this case? I know what advantages I get in society and I don't see how it applies here?

 

[GMJimmy]

Your mobile site needs improvement. You have to scroll down at least 4-5 full screens to get to the page. At least on my Samsung Galaxy in Chrome browser.

If you use automatic twitter likes, you can expect visitors from mobile devices.

 

[GMJimmy]

Good stuff. Why do hot women work in this case? I know what advantages I get in society and I don't see how it applies here?

Hot women always work in ads apart from a very few exceptions. May worth a try, A-B testing at best. Just an idea but I always include nice women in my ads if possible. It draws attention of both men and women. You can be modest and use pictures of elegant office ladies, or try a bikini-model next to a crashed smoking motorcycle or muscle-car. These are just ideas but I'd definitely try and create ads with women then test it with traffic.

I'm sorry if that offends anybody but you are reaching out to masses. You have a good service and you need to draw attention somehow.

 

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[Liz Be]

Your mobile site needs improvement. You have to scroll down at least 4-5 full screens to get to the page. At least on my Samsung Galaxy in Chrome browser.

If you use automatic twitter likes, you can expect visitors from mobile devices.

Really? I had no idea. I'm supposedly using a mobile friendly website but everyone I know uses iOS. Can you send me a screenshot to share with developer

 

[GMJimmy]

Really? I had no idea. I'm supposedly using a mobile friendly website but everyone I know uses iOS. Can you send me a screenshot to share with developer

Sure no problem. I hope you can fix it.