Company Name on Vehicle. Yes or No?

Do all of you have your company name on your vehicles? I can see a good and bad side to this. I have them but I have recently considered removing them. First you need to have commercial insurance when you advertise your company on your personal vehicle. Also what about traffic incidents. A person gets mad at you on the road and gets road rage then starts calling your number or bad mouthing you. Personally I haven’t noticed any calls from my vehicle graphics. Any thoughts?

I think it all depends on if you are using a dedicated vehicle or not. I see other houses for sale on the same street all of the time. They will be buyers somewhere else and hopefully have seen your name on the side of your vehicle. The tax deductions alone can make it worth it according to my accountant.

Signs worked on Van for me regularly .

Opens you up for all kinds of problems. First, you better be a dang safe driver, not cut people off, pull out in front of them etc. The very few benefits ain’t worth the headaches.

Commercial insurance is usually cheaper so thats not an issue.

Of course my opinion is based on employees driving my trucks. Might not be as bad for an owner operator.

**There’s nary a time I go into a Lowes or HD that I don’t get asked questions in the parking lot. Many have turned into leads as I always pass out business cards. Some have taken a year or so to call, but they do.

IMO, the primary reason for graphics are for BRAND AWARENESS. Someday, when someone is searching for an inspector, they WILL run across my logo and in their minds it will trigger recognition. They may not remember why, but it will look familiar, and thus it will have a subliminal TRUST message. **

Yes, I have my vehicle branded.

Yes!

Not me.

I want to be anonymous when I’m on the road. I also do not have a dedicated inspection vehicle.

You should be doing this anyway.

I used to.

I had what I used to call a driving billboard. I had a guy once tell me he saw my trucks all the time all over town, I had only one vehicle at a time.

I don’t do it anymore because I got tired of driving a billboard around, that and and I have plenty of business without it, although I do have a personalized plate that reads “INSPCTR”.

True, but things happen. You ever make mistakes when driving? Ever get road rage? Ever get a speeding ticket?

How about that goof ball you always see everywhere you go with his truck all doctored up with stickers? Ever get sick of seeing him? Has he ever cut you off and now you wouldnt use him for anything? Just thinking out loud again.

How about when you go to sell the vehicle? No one wants a rig with your name on it, or a rig that the paints messed up from pulling off the stickers.

I aint trying to talk ya out of it, just saying Ive tried it. Didnt get enough work to pay for the stickers.

The reason I even thought of removing them was because of another crazy driver. A lady pulled right out in front of me while texting and was clearly at fault, then she blames me. This happens to people all the time. If I had two vehicles this wouldn’t be a issue but I use my personal truck for work as well.

I think you guys are overthinking this. It’s free advertising that is seen by 1000’s of people a day if you live in a busy city. I never think about needing a pest control company but if I did I’d probably call the one with the cars with the mouse ears on them because that’s the only company I know because I see them on the road.

And none of these things would be the fault of having the name on the vehicle.

UPS, Fed Ex, Coke, etc; all the biggest companies in the world have their logos on their trucks.

Given the number of miles I put on my car, and the general wear and tear of using it for a home inspection business, pulling stickers off will be the least of my worries when it’s time to junk my vehicle.

Hey, go for it. Im not against it at all.

Very few people who do a home inspection will ever do one again, the vast majority of people on this planet will never do one at all. If you want to drive around advertising to the 99.9% of people who will never, ever use your services all sticker’d up then knock yourself out. :smiley:

Or, you can wait till a realtor refers you. The choice is yours.

In Florida most if not all insurance companies require 4pt inspections and wind mitigation so every home that’s being bought will need our services. The average person who buys a house will sell that house and upgrade within 5 years so once again those people will need your services. As another person wrote in another thread, “If you aren’t appearing, you are disappearing”. If you don’t stay in people’s minds they will forget about you, if people see your car on the road often they will think to call you when the time comes that they need a inspection.

Over 9,000 Realtors live in the San Fernando Valley. :wink:

Though advertising is only a side benefit.

The main reason is to instill confidence that I do this every day, I know what I’m doing, and I’m not just some hack (as I live in an unlicensed state with many hacks doing HI) or some out of work contractor trying to make a few bucks on the side.

I can see how it may not be effective in your area (and yes, I’ve been to Northern Arkansas many times, my wife grew up out there). But in a big urban population where it’s a little more dog eat dog, I find it helpful.

I can see where it could be beneficial in your area. I just had bad experiences with it, but, that is hired hands driving my rigs. Didnt like the complaints.

Every time someone sees your properly branded vehicle, it is a “ping” the more “pings” you register with people in your area the greater recognition you will get.