products i sell have 'preferred installer lists'

[huggytree]

I was researching a water heater for a customer and noticed they had a 'registered installer list' on their website...i didnt think too much about it, but of course i signed up....4 months later and i get a call from a customer who said he got my name off that website...

today i went to every product website i could think of....guess what i found? most of them have 'installer lists'....wow....free advertising.

Insinkerator even gives its preferred list extra FREE warranties....when someone calls me for a disposal i can now tell them that by having me install their new disposal gives them an extra 2 year warranty for free..beat that!

I have applied for 5 different lists today

i assume having my website listed more up's my websites standing?

just an idea i thought id share with the rest of you..maybe you can also find website listings for the products you sell?

[orion_joel]

It is a good idea. Some industries are more inclined then others to do this. And additionally some industries are also more prone to out of date lists, or quite difficult to get on lists.

I do not know just how much business you will get from all combined but anything is better then nothing.

[painperdu]

It only makes sense to help each other out in this way.

Do any of these dealers offer advertising co-ops? It may be a worth it to solicit such a deal from them.

[Spider]

I'll second that - co-op advertising is one of the most under-utlized sources of advertising funds. What you consider a big advertising expenditure is chicken-feed to large company suppliers. In many cases they will cover half your advertising cost, which means you can get 200% advertising from your advertising budget.

It also means the cost of ad creative might be eliminated entirely. Using the company's prepared, and time-tested, ad layout, all you have to do is plug in your company name and phone number as "Authorised Distributor."

It's a win-win all round.

[huggytree]

Im not expecting 100 calls a year, but 1 from each website is realistic....since in got 1 already 4 months after being listed...my company name puts me at the bottom of the list unless they type in a zip code and live in my neighborhood

i feel the type of customer who researches products enough to look for a installer on the website is usually the type who uses me...the engineer type..i do well with them

i found 7 companies that i can be listed with...

does being listed help up your rating on search engines?

[KristineS]

We do this sort of thing with some of the manufacturers one of our companies reps and it does help. It does give the search engines another place to find you, and it is a reputable link. It also gives clients another place to find you, and can help reassure them about your legitimacy. Most of these listings will be free if you sell a company's products, so why not do it?

Just make sure the site is well maintained and the company is legitimate and a company with which you want to be associated. If you're already selling their products, that last is probably a given.