[Credit card crusher]

I run a business that eliminates credit card/loan balances. I advertise in the local press which has a circualtion of 55,000 each wek.
I get around 10 enquiries a week.

Telephone canvassing is off limits

Leaflet advertising was a waste of time

Running out of ideas, can anyone help?

[Indizine]

I imagine people think of the downside to this amazing claim of being able to wipe off perfectly normal debt. That was my thoughts when I read your other post.

People will think there must be a payment you require to do this work, perhaps up front. They may think, sounds too good to be true, that it probably wont apply to them, etc etc,

I would consider what people think when they see your advert. Lets face it, if I put out an advert saying free websites - do you actually think I will be inundated with calls? No. Just a small few will call. Why? Because they wil self-eliminate and decide it cant possible be what it says it is, that somewhere along the line there will be a catch,or the quality will be crap, and so on.

I would concentrate on what the material is saying, before discounting what is a waste of time.

If you know X% of credit doesn't confirm, would you not be able to list those companies or would that be libelous? Could you not say Mrs Jones from Exeter had £12k of credit card debt with the XXXXX and within xx weeks it was written her off and it didnt cost a penny/only cost her £XXX. I'd say be more specific, give more examples, say what is involved (major piont IMHO) ie what does the customer pay you for this?

[Credit card crusher]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I have honestly tried that. We have eliminated debts from all the major high street cards. I have 2 letters from a client ( name & details removed) to show people he has had £14,500 wiped out from the RBS.!
I have a host of unenforceable agreements I can show people, but it seems to be getting that telephone call!
We do charge an initial fee of £35.00. £10 of this goes to the card company under the data protection act to obtain the information, the rest is spent on recorded delivery letters and the 4 months of work we have to do. I don't think that is unreasonable.
The only time we make money is at the end, we charge only 10% of the balance we wipe out, and that can be paid over 3 months if they wish.

[Indizine]

well that sound reasonable, assuming you can guarantee that the particular debt they have can be wiped.

[Credit card crusher]

Yes we can. If the agreement is unenforceable, we can guarantee that thye can stop paying and get the balance wiped out.

[boxby]

Hi There

Have you tried a fellow forum member's site, there maybe someone who can help you with sales & marketing ideas.

Kind regards
Sandra

[Maxine]

Hiya

I think the problem is that generally consumers will be cynical about something like this and presume that you will be the sort of company that makes money out of high volume initial fees without any success guaranteed. There are so many scams out there that generally consumers dont want to pay upfront for anything like this regardless of how legit it all sounds as the results may be perceived as unbelievably wonderful. Perhaps you can get round this by altering your fee structure somehow so that for example the £10 DPA fee goes directly to the creditor or the recorded delivery letter fees are only levied when they are due, or something else perhaps that encourages more trust that you are not going to take the initial fee payment and do a runner

Other than that perhaps a good referral scheme would work for you

[Indizine]

Or, why not write an e-book on how to DIY? Do a 14 day money back guarantee;sell the it for around £15.99 so if people believe it is doable but are cynical about you/your business, this offers that type of person an option.

[Sam (Mr. Mu)]

I'd say that that the whole problem here is credibility - the further you go into debt, the more sharks there are waiting to exploit you. You've got to convince people that you're a credible, legal, decent solution to their problems.

Testimonials without connection to real stories and real, trackable people are totally worthless (unless they're audio) but of course, you're in a business where people have shame so they're not likely to want to shout about it.

You need to build credibility in other ways and to do that you have to be inventive. You need to be seen in the press, out networking at business networking events, at local functions; having a voice online; being interviewed, advising people....

I think word-of-mouth is key here - and that means getting to meet as many people as you can.

[whistle ink]

What about asking for referrals or getting your existing satisfied customers to pass on your message and good words to their friends or family that could do with your help.

I'm sure the people you help will know others that could do with it?