I know some of you do not put your logos or advertise your business on your vehicles. Currently I do not but am thinking about plastering my truck with logo and phone number etc... I would like to hear from everyone the pros and cons of doing this.

Ain't broke just badly bent

Some, including us, don't have them for a variety of reasons. A few reasons including the sane and insane would be.

- folks can't call you in for poor driving
- customers know their neighbors don't know why you are there (maybe they don't want them to)
- commercial clients again like restaurants might not want patrons knowing your there because of critter issues

Up front I'd admit we didn't logo originally because we opened our business ended up with enough calls to suit us and
didn't see a reason to at the time. We also had some folks say they liked that we didn't for the neighbor reason above.

However, this year we are going to do it for a few simple reasons.

1) I know I lose work that I want to do in my area to the folks who are well labeled on their vehicles.

2) While the internet marketing is great, the rolling billboard is an easy to find and call source.

3) Cost is low to logo if you just want number and name, even simple magnetic sign, or you can spend a bunch on
a serious vehicle wrap and go all out to draw more looks and attention.

******

Ultimately these are both personal and business decisions, but remember advertising is ultimately how those
folks find you to pay you and without a good base of advertising you may sit waiting and wonder why haven't I tried
the old tried and true logo on the vehicle!

Either way good luck!

Justin

One truck is logo'd the other one isn't

Nicely visible Rick! Great example of how easy to see all your info and clearly what you do!

Here's the deal with advertising. If you live in an area where having a wildlife control guy taking care of your problems means that you are now living high on the hog and that the neighbors will be envious, go with the advertising.

This is not our case. Nobody wants to have the neighbors know that they have pest or animal problems. This is true whether you live in a subdivision, apartment building, or the state capitol. You don't get bragging rights for critters.

When I answered the phone would talk to people behind me or who saw truck and called right then and there. Schedule jobs or do inspections/set ups for neighbor of customer without even moving my truck (good manors to park your service vehicle on street and ask permission to use drive). If you are servicing someone for wildlife it's a good bet someone else in that neighborhood has wildlife issues as well and if I am OK for their neighbors...Name recognition is priceless, Seeing your service vehicles time and again in "Their" neighborhood makes you a part of their "community". Marked trucks and uniforms offer a sense of security to customers and makes you more approachable to those who may need your service. I want potential customers to know what we do. Truck wraps/graphics pay for their self very quickly and continue to offer that moving billboard and on and on...

If the exterminator, septic service, plumber or any other service provider in your area runs marked vehicles I see no reason not to.

And as usual, I agree with Rick. We do have one vehicle that does have advertising. It's our oldest and when it gets replaced, I'm hoping to go with Rick's design. I am still extremely unhappy with the MPG on any of the new vehicles that we are looking at. We have 8 company owned vehicles now and we will need two more.

For one thing, I think a Fusion or a Prius would look pretty dumb with a ladder rack. Okay Charles, we do have uniforms and I'm sure that you do well with signage. Here's what I consider the "dead giveaway" in our area; I have never had anyone ask me why our trucks aren't marked but I have had many people who said that they were glad that they weren't. Different strokes.

If you're not sure which way to go run magnetics, OH here it comes "magnets mean you're not committed to your business" I say B.S. when I ran my magnets full time I only picked up one or two extra jobs a year so it really didn't pay to lose my stealth mode which I so often need. Now when I haul a deer or antelope carcass my state permit says I have to have signage, so I slap 'em on and go down the road. I had signs made that are exactly the size of my fold out work tray on my contractors top, I stick them to the bottom, they stay flat and clean. A set of three signs will run $150-180 depending on size so it's a cheap experiment to see which way to go.

Rick, that's a sharp truck just as eye catching as Christian's zebra stripes.

I have had a couple customers ask during initial phone call if my trucks had decals and that is the main reason I left one bare.

It adds to the public ( credibility) of our company.

Words of wisdom there.

After a year or two, you'll have a better understanding of what works best in your area.

I just bought a new Tacoma about four months ago so I have not gotten my cap lettered yet, but when I had my old truck lettered I would get a lot of jobs from people walking by my truck while I was working in a neighborhood or at a gas station. I have only had one customer that wasn't thrilled that I had mobile advertising, she didn't want anyone to know I was trapping beaver from the lake that everyone there lived on. In reality I don't think anyone really cared.

Steve has the right idea. The only one that thinks the neighbors will talk about her is the customer. But she's the one that writes the check so keeping her happy is priority number one.

I'm also not thrilled to learn about our employee's driving habits from people that will never become customers because our name is plastered all over the side of our truck.

If that's giving our company credibility, I'll stay incredible.

I raise you and be supercalafragaincreadadle.,,,,,,,,,,,

I feel the same way. I letter/logo my trucks and have a set of white magnets for times that discretion is required.

I didn't have mine lettered, most of my customers asked why it wasn't. Now it is lettered with a "take a card" sticker with magnetic cards that disappear like crazy. Only problem I have is washing the truck, have to keep it clean now it's lettered.

U ever gonna show up at a convention so some of us can meet u? Free drinks

Pulling traps out of trucks, bringing wildlife in traps back to truck, taking traps up and down ladders...sorta figured neighbors would have an idea what we were doing at home with or without lettering on trucks.

True! And I'd rather the neighbors know it's a licensed, insured, and trained company handling the job rather than the customer's brother-in-law, Billy Bob, who just picked up a couple traps at HD. I handed out SIX business cards during one stop at the end of a cul-de-sac yesterday. Included neighbors and a delivery driver. Will have a built in testimonial from the happy customer who had my fully lettered truck sitting in her driveway.

If you are going to letter your truck, the most important surface is the tailgate area. I've had 4 trucks with various amounts and types of lettering, from cheesy magnetic signs on the doors to professionally installed lettering on the sides and/or rear. The one that pays the best dividends is the one with rear door lettering. It scored our first call on the way from the lettering company's location, and the second call within an hour of that. Those two calls paid for the entire lettering job. I regularly get calls for appointments while waiting at stoplights, and have yet to get a call to report my superior driving skills.

All my cages have covers and I always back into the driveway or park in the alley, you would never know if I was the cable guy or an electrician. Of course this requires a completely none leaking truck.

Now when it comes to hands on capture I put on full camo and face paint, put the catch pole in my teeth and belly crawl through the yard,
aka Rambo Wildlife Control.