subject: How Phone Directory Assistants Saved A Midwest Bus Company $30,000 [print this page] By hiring some phone directory assistants, one Midwest bus company was able to simplify and save money with their phone directory advertising. This travel bus company operated in several cities in two different states. To reach their target audience in such a large area, the company had buying ads in two or three different phone directories in several cities.
In order to reduce their yellow pages advertising, the bus company hired some directory assistants to help them take back control of their many ads, and to reduce the number of salespeople they had to work with. Step one was to limit the advertising to only those directories that were the most prominent and effective in each region and city. They also helped shield the bus company from the pressures of the directory salespeople.
The charter bus company found that the phone directory salespeople were always using a pitch that claimed that the bus company's competition was advertising with bigger and better ads. One trick the salespeople used was to tell the charter bus company that they needed to do as much or more than the other bus companies if they wanted to be noticed. But the specialized directory assistants knew which ads based on size, sales copy, and placement would perform best in each region, and they placed only those ads.
The directory assistants were able to show the bus company the most effective sizes and categories for their industry. They knew that did not always equate to "bigger means better." The yellow pages advertising salespeople were motivated by a bigger commission check rather than finding the most appropriate ads for the charter bus company. Bigger ads meant bigger commissions, but not always bigger sales.
The bus company's yellow pages advertising cost got out of control over the years with those types of sales tactics. But their directory assistants were well versed in these sales tactics and managed all contact with the salespeople instead.
Finding the directories for the biggest impact in each area was one way these directory assistants were able to help the bus company simplify and save money on their yellow pages advertising. These specialized consultants had the knowledge about each publisher and their audience to determine where larger ads or smaller ads would be most effective for the bus company. The directory assistants created a plan for their client and explained it, giving them back control of their yellow pages spending.
With a plan in place, the phone directory assistants carried out the plan on behalf of the charter bus company. After one year working with these hired consultants, the bus company saved $30,000 on their yellow pages advertising.
When it was all done, the phone directory assistants helped the company by taking over communications with the sales representatives, putting the charter bus company back in control of their yellow pages advertising. The directory consultants knew the ins and out of each phone directory contract and could simplify them for their client. Managing numerous advertisements and contracts had gotten out of control for the charter bus company, but their directory assistants were able to simplify the whole process for them.
Many companies like this bus company have found that the energy and resources needed to list in multiple directories can be overwhelming. Often times, this led to confusion and unnecessary spending and it got out of control, as a result of the "bigger means better" sales pitches of the yellow pages salespeople.
The Midwest charter bus company was able to thwart these tactics with the help of the phone directory assistants. Ultimately, the bus company was saved time, energy, and resources by outsourcing all of the directory advertising. But, the bottom line was that the directory assistants saved the charter bus company $30,000 in yellow pages advertising just in the first year.
