To Pay or not to Pay for Ewaste ....

I'm in a high-volume market in Atlanta. There are plenty of competitors doing the free pickup thing here, and I was determined to differentiate my company from theirs in a number of ways. One way was to actually pay for pickups of equipment. This was not an easy decision as it was going to have a direct impact on my bottom line. Combined with exceptional customer service including prompt return calls, clean appearance and quick pickups, it was a huge winner for us. We have increased in acquisitions and sales each month over the last 2 years. Surely there were some jobs done at a loss, but when I look at the aggregate sum it was a good recipe for success. Keep in mind I transitioned fast from picking up small loads of equipment from residences, thrift stores, etc., and focused almost entirely on corporations. If possible, make an investment in your first impression as it could make or break a deal. My first expenses were logo/business cards and polo shirts with the logo. Next came a bigger investment with a good website. Not long after I ditched the pickup and went with rental trucks, and then my own Sprinter van. You have to measure your investment based on ability to pay, but these things will help you land the bigger accounts. Dont overpay for your product either, and offset some costs by offering fee based services like data destruction and de-installation. The big scrap yards cant compete with a hands-on owner giving personal attention to their project.

Originally Posted by shendog

I'm in a high-volume market in Atlanta. There are plenty of competitors doing the free pickup thing here, and I was determined to differentiate my company from theirs in a number of ways. One way was to actually pay for pickups of equipment. This was not an easy decision as it was going to have a direct impact on my bottom line. Combined with exceptional customer service including prompt return calls, clean appearance and quick pickups, it was a huge winner for us. We have increased in acquisitions and sales each month over the last 2 years. Surely there were some jobs done at a loss, but when I look at the aggregate sum it was a good recipe for success. Keep in mind I transitioned fast from picking up small loads of equipment from residences, thrift stores, etc., and focused almost entirely on corporations. If possible, make an investment in your first impression as it could make or break a deal. My first expenses were logo/business cards and polo shirts with the logo. Next came a bigger investment with a good website. Not long after I ditched the pickup and went with rental trucks, and then my own Sprinter van. You have to measure your investment based on ability to pay, but these things will help you land the bigger accounts. Dont overpay for your product either, and offset some costs by offering fee based services like data destruction and de-installation. The big scrap yards cant compete with a hands-on owner giving personal attention to their project.

I know this is asking a bunch, but I was wondering if you would share some of your advice in ways to market to corporations. Or, are you just walking in and offering your services?

I'm in the same position right now. Trying to decide whether to accept residential drop offs or go for bigger customers only.

I can see that both avenues will work. For me though, I see residential as more crap product (printers, scanners, radios, etc). I think that is what really has me on the fence and not moving forward right now.

When I started I was all over the place, accepting anything and everything...and got a LOT of junk. But I consider it all good because it forced me to focus on what my goal would be and also gave me the experience to know what is profitable and what takes up too much time. As a disclaimer, I would say that every market has different variables and therefore different results. The other thing is that every person is different. I make no judgement on how anyone determines to run their business, as some people are content to haul scrap metal for beer money or wont stop until they make a million $ in a fiscal year. Therefore this insight may not be for you, and others might know better ways to do it.

To make it relatively short, I would start with what I posted earlier. Work on appearances for all facets of your business. This includes personal, online, print, vehicles, etc. You dont have to be a polished sales person, just be genuine and appealing to the people you are dealing with. Most corporate environments require employees to have khakis and polo at a minimum...you should present yourself in accordance with what they see on a daily basis. No jeans and ripped tshirt and no 3 piece suits. Anyway, to get to your point, you need to have a good profile online. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, checks out people/businesses on the web (how many people saw my avatar and googled Ecycle Atlanta?). Invest in a website! Once that is done, work on SEO's (google that too). Now you need to start getting your name out there...here are some tips that I did:

Join local Chamber of Commerce and get involved
Team up with a charitable organization to do a ewaste drive (I worked with Arbor Day foundation and local firefighters group). Its easier than it seems
Give our business cards to EVERYONE. I also printed up a 3-fold brochure professionally done and give them out like candy.
Facebook page for your company. it helps with the SEO's. Keep it updated with new posts as much as possible

I hardly ever do pure cold calling on businesses as most are inaccessible to get into right off the street. When I go to pickup at a business I always leave extra cards and ask them to give to neighboring businesses, or I walk around and hand out using the old standby "I was doing some work for your neighbor next door..."

Sell as much locally as more than scrap. This is probably the best thing I can impart. We have great buyers here on SMF, but it pays to have local buyers of equipment. When I first started I googled all of the computer stores within a certain radius and went to each one to get their old computers (the only time cold calling works, for me anyway). I still have most as customers that not only sell me their old stuff, but buy from me anything from memory, drives, whole computers, etc. They also have a huge network of customers, including businesses, that will most certainly have escrap eventually. I have a couple local shops that have been instrumental in my growth locally by email blasting notifications when I did recycling drives for the Arbor Day foundation. These blasts hit about 2k customers locally. You cant beat free advertising.

I could probably drone on all day about other things, but these are the first things that come to mind.

I will also say that this forum was an avenue to meet different people, and one in specific, from whom I gained a ton of information (and still do to this day!). It gets old to say, but read read read the forum and dont be afraid to ask too

aph, seriously follow shendogs advice, I could not have expressed it any better, in business,.... image and first impressions will build you

shendog - thank you for your info.

matador - kinda of like real estate business, location, location and again location.