so I tracked down a guy...

[Able 1]

That had a thriving biz here in my area(it wasn't easy to find him and kind of weird) that just went away. He was in biz for 15 years and from what I've heard from his past custy's he was top notch. I was told there was some family issues, and the only issue he had is too much money (by the looks of his house on google maps ), he has inherited some loot.. This is not to say that he wasn't well off before the inheritance, he was living on a lake in the area(owned properties).

I just want his old phone number, how would you approach this, or would you? All I have is his address, should I send a letter?

 

[Marc Imbesi]

What do you have to lose, Keith?

 

[XTREME1]

I personally would call and leave a message and be a guy just trying to make it and what could I do tohelp that happen . of course after I called the phone company for the number and had an seo guy do everything he could to incoproarte his company info in searches online

 

[Able 1]

There is NO phone number to track him by just an address, he has no listed number...

I when to tried to get his number at my cell phone Co.(Conner is FOS), they said I could only get it if I had his account info, he has been out of the biz for 1.5 years, and the line is dead..

I use to see his flyers all the time 4 rooms for $179.00 good price in these parts! I would pay him $400 for the number, just think he has too much money to give me the time of day. :|

I think I'll send him a letter tho he probably wont respond, but it's worth a try..

 

[Royal Man]

Seems unethical to me to Me?

Wouldn't it be better to have a letter from the prevoius owner to reccomend his former clients to use your services.

When they call his number and you answer with a different name won't they just hang up anyway?

Unles you can explain that the previous owner trusted your company to live up to his standards.

 

[Able 1]

How about I go clean his house FREE and if he thinks I'm worthy, I get the number free (since he doesn't GAS about his old biz). That's just it, I don't know how to approach it.. All the custy's that used to use him keep on using me! All the rest of his custy's should want a great job, RIGHT? I am just protecting his previous custy's the pain in finding my co. though a bunch of hacks....

Dave:
Every Year you will lose 12% of your business to death and people moving out of the area(stat given to me by Valpak 2 years ago ), so Dave why do YOU even need to advertize? Your referrals should be over 12% RIGHT?

 

[Brian R]

Do your homework. Find out where he works and plays.

Bump into him and say "Hey aren't you that guy".....I'm, don't do anything creepy or criminal or anything.


I swear I would knock on the guys door.


With that said......I doubt a phone number is going to do anything for you. But you neve know.


I missed it....did you call the phone company and ask for that number? Have you called the number? Do you know what the number is?

 

[Able 1]

I know the his old cell number, and there is no service... Went to my cell phone Co. and they could not give me his #.

To find out more about him I went "ALL COLLECTIONS" on his ass, and found out his back round. He lives 30 miles from here, his driveway looks to be 1/2 mile long. :shock:

When I was trying to find him I came across for a first name: Greggory, Grant, Gerard, and Garald real weird to me!

Brian with you and magnets how can you say it wouldn't be profitable? I am not looking to take advantage of anyone just looking to replace a high quality service with another...

 

[Royal Man]

Dave:
Every Year you will lose 12% of your business to death and people moving out of the area(stat given to me by Valpak 2 years ago ), so Dave why do YOU even need to advertize? Your referrals should be over 12% RIGHT?

According to your stats without advertising you will lose 100% of your business in 8 years.

This explains why a business will whither on the vine and die without some sort of advertising.

In addition to moving away and dying people's needs change. Their kids grow up and they are not food throwing toddlers anymore, incomes change, some move to nursing retirement facilities. Some only clean carpet when they sell a home. Some may respond to another cleaner's advertising etc....

This would make the stats you claim even far greater.

 

[Brian R]

I know the his old cell number, and there is no service... Went to my cell phone Co. and they could not give me his #.

To find out more about him I went "ALL COLLECTIONS" on his ass, and found out his back round. He lives 30 miles from here, his driveway looks to be 1/2 mile long. :shock:

When I was trying to find him I came across for a first name: Greggory, Grant, Gerard, and Garald real weird to me!

Brian with you and magnets how can you say it wouldn't be profitable? I am not looking to take advantage of anyone just looking to replace a high quality service with another...

I've been through the phone number thing before....and I know of a few people who have taken over numbers....including my parents.

It's works OK. For the most part you spend some time winning over the client....unless you answer that call with the other persons company name.

After 2 years....the phone number isn't any good.....How long has it been?

If you can grab the number as soon as he stops answering....then you've got the influx for that year and into the 2nd.

The profitability will fade with time....and it might be next to worthless now.

You might....MIGHT be better off trying to buy his old customer list and market to them. If he will let you use his old company name in the marketing...better yet.


But I wouldn't take the time to deal with it.....especially after the 2 year mark.


So how long has it been?

 

[XTREME1]

if you know where he lives just go. Talk to the man. Sometimes people will give you something without researching when they are under pressure plus you aren't yoakum you are likeable so you have a better chance

 

[Able 1]

It is probably pushing that 2 year mark Brian... I think I might just go to his door. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

 

[Brian R]

Cool, I'm curious to see what happens...Even after you get the number.

 

[Royal Man]

Cool, I'm curious to see what happens...Even after you get the number.

Me too.

If it is 2 years old. It's interesting to see if it has much value.

I would think that the frequent clients would of found an other cleaner by now.

A letter of recommendation and a client list however might have a chance to turn a few.

 

[Wayne Miller]

Knock on his door, tell him what good things you heard about him, how you wondered what happened to his business, and see where it goes.

Who knows, if you hit it off well you might be able to get his customer list and a letter of introduction.

We got the customer lists from two former competitors. Another fellow, without saying a word, left a message saying his number was changed to ours. As long as you take care of them right they'll be glad you contacted them.

Based on our experience, if he has happy customers, he still has interested customers. We recently sent out a few hundred reminders going way back. We're getting calls from people we haven't heard from in 7, 8, even 9 years.

 

[Jimbo]

I must respectfully disagree with the naysayers, Keith...go get his biz # anyway you can...IT IS GOLDEN...make sure you have a sweet lady answering the phone...and you will make BANK.


"oh, Keith is doing all the cleaning now...what day would you like him to show up??'


Top drawer custies are worth paying for.

 

[Connor]

There is NO phone number to track him by just an address, he has no listed number...

I when to tried to get his number at my cell phone Co.(Conner is FOS), they said I could only get it if I had his account info, he has been out of the biz for 1.5 years, and the line is dead..

I use to see his flyers all the time 4 rooms for $179.00 good price in these parts! I would pay him $400 for the number, just think he has too much money to give me the time of day. :|

I think I'll send him a letter tho he probably wont respond, but it's worth a try..

Ahem... are you talking about me?

 

[Able 1]

There is NO phone number to track him by just an address, he has no listed number...

I when to tried to get his number at my cell phone Co.(Conner is FOS), they said I could only get it if I had his account info, he has been out of the biz for 1.5 years, and the line is dead..

I use to see his flyers all the time 4 rooms for $179.00 good price in these parts! I would pay him $400 for the number, just think he has too much money to give me the time of day. :|

I think I'll send him a letter tho he probably wont respond, but it's worth a try..

Ahem... are you talking about me?

No, I'm talking about Bawbs long lost son ConnOr...

So how do you get the numbers then?

I have collected several phone numbers of competitors that have gone out of business. It is surprising the number of calls that come in on repeats on numbers that have not been published in print in over five years and old customers doing web searches. I even have a phone number of a former employer who dropped a heavily advertised number from his queue for no apparent reason. This number was published in the yellow pages for nine years, put on THOUSANDS of magnets and is STILL on some of the trucks. Why they dropped it, I'll never know, but I get a chance to get their repeat business for the cost of the phone service each month.

 

[Connor]

Funny, you called me FOS because YOU don't know how something works. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, ne c'est pas?

I got the numbers by calling the phone company who owned that number, told them I wanted another phone line and only wanted that phone line if I could have that particular desired number. Sometimes they phone company tries to say they cannot get that particular number, but if you insist that it's that number or no deal, they make sure you get it.

Most recently I added a new phone number from a one man show who died kinda suddenly. More customer acquisition for 30 something bucks a month.

And next time you're in doubt of my advice or techniques, try asking my how I do something, instead of calling me FOS because you don't know how it's done. No need in being rude. If you're still in doubt, I can give you the numbers that I've acquired so you can google them to see what name is associated with these numbers and then call me to see that I really do have the numbers in question. Just sayin.

I've just been lucky to get the ones that I've wanted, everybody gossips about who's going out of business so, I jump on the numbers when I hear about them. My first acquisition was a forty year old Roto franchise that fizzled a couple of years after getting new owners.

These are all land lines that I've acquired, not cellphones, so your mileage may vary.

 

[Able 1]

I apologize for calling you FOS... Is there any way to find out who (what company) owns the number by the number alone? How do YOU find out who owns it? With the economy the way it is, the idea is GREAT!

 

[Connor]

Call the number and be sure that it's not in use, if it's not there may be a recording saying....."the verizon/sprint/etc number you are calling is not in service.
Try using a phone app called "Poynt" to reverse search the number, if the number isn't owned by anyone it should tell you who the carrier is.

 

[Able 1]

Thanks, I'll try it..

 

[Connor]

If Poynt isn't available for your phone, PM me the number and I'll look it up on my phone.
Good Luck.

 

[Able 1]

I got the number today shiteatinggrin , I get the phone Thursday.. All it's going to take is one job to pay for the line for a year. I'll update after I've had it for a while.

Thanks for the help ConnOr!

 

[Connor]

You're welcOme, was it a US Cellular or Time Warner?

 

[Able 1]

US Cellular... How did you find that? I only saw Time Warner.

 

[Connor]

Either it was the Magic 8 Ball or http://www.fonefinder.net/.

 

[Able 1]

I must respectfully disagree with the naysayers, Keith...go get his biz # anyway you can...IT IS GOLDEN...make sure you have a sweet lady answering the phone...and you will make BANK.


"oh, Keith is doing all the cleaning now...what day would you like him to show up??'


Top drawer custies are worth paying for.

Love it Jimbo!

I think she will say "Oh, Keith is doing all of the cleaning now... Is there a day of the week or time of day that works best for you?"

Either it was the Magic 8 Ball or http://www.fonefinder.net/.

Damn ConnOr, your going to have me 7 lines before winters over!!!

 

[mirf]

Nicely done. Did you ever talk to the man or just signed on with the carrier.
A letter Recommending you would also help

 

[Able 1]

Nicely done. Did you ever talk to the man or just signed on with the carrier.
A letter Recommending you would also help

I didn't talk to him since his number isn't listed anywhere and it's a 30 min drive. The guy is loaded and probably will never have to work another day of life, so I really didn't really want to bother him with something he doesn't even care about. A letter of recommendation would be good just too busy to mess around with it.

If it works great! If not, no big deal either..