If you envision carting the money cage to home shows and other events, make sure you design a money cage that collapses for easy transportation. Also, don’t forget to mount a sign at the top displaying your company name and logo.

The amount of cash you use is up to you. You can drop $1,000 in the money cage and someone may only be able to grab $20 or $30 in a ten second trip. Yet, when you promote it, you promote the cool thousand.

The money cage can be used successively at home shows or fairs. You can have a ten second trip every hour, on the hour. To win a trip to the money cage, make it a requirement that consumers complete a registration form, which is actually a lead sheet, containing all of the information you need for future sales and marketing efforts.

Money cages are fun. They’re exciting. They are effective in motivating people, whether consumers or employees, to take actions you desire. Go ahead. Have fun with a money cage.

38. The Greatest Home Show Marketing Idea Ever. In the 1990s, I was struggling to come up with a way to create a home show promotion that was focused on the product. The idea was to give away a furnace to the registered homeowner with the oldest furnace. A contractor in Walnut Creek first tried it. It generated so many qualified leads that he was unable to run all of the leads. He gave many away to friendly competitors.

Based on his results, I realized that an oldest appliance contest is the greatest home show marketing idea ever. Contractors have run oldest furnace, air conditioner, and water heater contests. While there are no guarantees, I’ve often received overwhelmingly positive feedback.

In the contest, offer a free appliance to the homeowner with the oldest appliance, provided the homeowner pays for the installation. Every registration for the contest is a qualified lead. First, the homeowner thinks he just might have the oldest appliance in town, which means the darn thing should probably be placed in a museum, not a home. It’s ripe for replacement.

Second, the homeowner is willing to pay for the replacement. In other words, he knows he needs a new appliance and is willing to spend a little money to get one. So even if he doesn’t have the oldest appliance, you know he’s already willing to spend something. He’s already half bought. You only need to convince him to pay the difference between the installation and the full price.

In the contest, collect information from the homeowners and inform them you’ll need to make an inspection. After the show, schedule the inspection. While you’re in the home, collect the information necessary to prepare a proposal. Some contractors make a presentation on the spot and offer to refund the price of the furnace if they win.

Others take a two-step approach, calling the homeowner to inform him that he didn’t have the oldest furnace, but telling him that he did win second prize, which is a gift certificate with the contractor’s company (everyone wins second prize). While he’s got the homeowner on the phone, he might tell him, “You know, even though you didn’t have the oldest furnace, your furnace is still pretty darn old.

You’re wasting a lot of money on utilities and the comfort level of your home could be improved with a new furnace. I’m going to put together a proposal for replacing it and drop it off with your gift certificate. You may not want to replace it right now, but chances are that you’ll have to replace it in a few years whether you want to or not. At least you’ll know what you’re in for.”

Remember, stress the difference between the price the homeowner would pay if he won the contest and the total price. Say, “You know, it’s only a little more than if you had won the contest to go ahead and replace now. Plus, you can use the gift certificate.”

You can reduce costs by persuading a manufacturer to donate a furnace in return for the promotional value (and the promise to push the manufacturer’s brand with all of the second place winners). This makes the contest virtually free for you. The manufacturer donates the equipment and the homeowner pays for the installation.

The contest continues to work well for contractors across the country. Recently, Juan Cardona from JC Heating and Cooling used the Service Roundtable’s Oldest Appliance Contest Toolkit, adding his own creative spin.

Juan placed dinosaur prints the full length of the aisle leading to his booth. He said, “This was a hit with kids, dragging their parents to find where the prints led to. He had a cavewoman emerge from the cave and used a fog machine from the cave. Juan would activate the fog machine periodically. He also played a soundtrack of dinosaur sounds throughout the show.

Here are Juan’s results:

• Over 400 people stopped to look.
• Sixty people signed up for the contest.
• Juan visited forty of the sixty, following the show.
• Juan made 12 sales, totaling $93,600.00 to date (Juan said he’s still following up).
• Spent $2689 for booth space, performers, advertising, handouts, and artistic talent.

Juan is located in a small town in West Virginia. The home show attracted 2,500 people, who paid $8 to get in the door. Imagine what this can do for you?

39. Everyone Wins. For any drawings, you may only have one grand prize winner, but everyone who enters should win second prize, which is a gift certificate to your company. A gift certificate is the same thing as a coupon, but carries more intrinsic value. People keep gift certificates until they can use them. They toss coupons.

40. Print Concession Napkins. Print a notice on the napkins about a contest that people can enter by bringing a napkin to your booth or offer a special prize (i.e., an ad premium) when people bring the napkin to your booth. Leave the napkins in the concession area. Place some on every table and by the condiments.

Matt Michel is president of the Service Roundtable www.ServiceRoundtable.com, an organization dedicated to helping contractors prosper. Matt is also the publisher of Comanche Marketing, a free marketing e-zine. Subscriptions are available at www.ComancheMarketing.com

You can contact him directly at matt.michel@serviceroundtable.com.
Or send your comments to Contracting Business at letters@contractingbusiness.com.