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Transcription of: White Pages Testimonial -
David Zdravkovic Sweeney’s Luggage Centre
(SLATE – 002T01) OK. Um, Sweeney’s Luggage has been around
for a long time, ah, we’ve been in business for 93 years. Um, at ah, one stage um, ah,
we used to be the biggest in ah, South East Asia. Ah, we made ah, shoes, ah, for the ah,
Melbourne Olympics um, if you um, the footballers and the cricketers, all the shoes were made
by ah, by our people. And luggage was also a part of the business. As ah, shoes ah, started
ah, getting imported from China, we started to concentrate more on luggage because to
repair a pair of shoes is $40 and you can buy a pair for $40. Um, luggage um, we’ve
been doing it for the last thirty years and it’s working for us very well. We’re going
upmarket um, and as far as the ah, White Pages are concerned, it has ah, the relationship
ah, um, has helped us a lot.
(SLATE 002T02) Yes. Um, obviously we’re ah, right next
to the Victoria Market so… Victoria Market ah, sell bug… ah, budget luggage.
Yeah. Um, obviously ah, Victoria Market, we can’t compete with them, because they sell
bug…budget luggage ah, so we’ve got to …
Um, we’re next to the Victoria Market so ah, they sell budget luggage so ah, we can’t
compete ah, with them so we um, sell premium luggage and ah, it pays off. Um, we sell all
the major brands ah, from ah Samsonite, Antler to Mimco, Mandarina Duck …. all of them
and ah, we’ve done that over the past five or six years um, and um, it’s going very
well for us.
We do have a location in … our Geelong store but our Geelong store does predominantly shoe
repairs and the gentleman that ah, does the shoe repairs for us, he’s been … he’s
an icon. He’s been doing repairs for 45 years and that shop has been there for 85
years and we do ah, advertise ah, them in the White Pages as well. So, you’d be surprised
how many people know about the shop but they don’t know the phone number, so White Pages
is ah, you know, is where they go to to find the phone number. Everybody knows ah, Ken,
everybody knows the shop, it’s an institution, but it’s um, it’s the phone number, which
we have to ah, either give them or the White Pages helps.
Oh we’ve been listing with the White Pages as long as you guys have started (laughs).
We’ve been with you forever and ah, hopefully, um, God willing we will be with you for the
rest of my life and I’ve got ah, two sons that are going to take over the business,
Darryl and Mark, ah, one’s 24 and the other one is 26 and ah, hopefully they’ll um,
… that’ll be the first thing they do every year which ah, which… which is the first
thing we do, is renew our White Pages ad. So…
Oh it’s changed… it’s changed a lot – from just a small little ad of Sweeney’s
Luggage Centre to um, our website, our email address…it’s just grown. Enormously. And
the um, the good thing about it, that it’s not expensive. So I think ah, that the people
that don’t do it are, yeah, they’re … they’re that they’re losing money and um, they shouldn’t
be in business (laughs).
Well, the money that um, you guys ah, charge … White Pages ah, is um, is minimal to ah,
paper advertising, ah, television advertising, um, radio advertising which … which I have
done and ah, when I’ve ah, done the radio advertising they do remember ‘Sweeneys’
but they don’t remember ah, the actual phone number, so that’s where White Pages comes
in. When you hear an ad, you remember the name, but you very rarely remember the number.
Oh yes, yes, yes that’s ah, that’s our aim, to use White Pages ah, at every… at
every point, because ah, for me, White Pages… my son’s a computer genius but I still beat
him on the White Pages, looking up ah companies, you know, I don’t have to name companies,
but you pick a company and ah, I’ve opened a page, looked under ‘Q’, found it, while
he’s you know, doing his computer bit to find … White Pages I’ve already found
it to so yeah, for me, it’s much easier.
Yes. Correct … correct. And um, ah, when I do an ah, ad., which I have recently with
ah, I forget which station it was, sorry, (laughs) but ah, (laughs), um, but it’s
very good for White Pages just to be there and ah, not only can they ah, look the ah,
phone number up, they can look at ah, the address and the rest of the things ah, the
many things that White Pages has to offer.
Ah, well, the reason we’ve got the ah, the mail, the email is an important thing for
us because a lot of ah, Corporates communicate through email rather than you know, rather
than ah, ringing up. Ah, as far as the webpage is concerned that’s where we’ve got a
big presence there and ah, without ah, White Pages directing the people there um, I don’t
think we’d get half the ah, the hits we get so … and we have done a bit of a survey
– me and my two sons, and the White Pages definitely does what we want it to do.
Ah, we generally ask people. Um, we ask them on the phone, ah, and when they come in. A
lot of people are generally very happy with our service and they say I’ve got your phone
from the White Pages, I got your phone from the ah, from the website, ah, from the White
Pages so um, it’s either when they come in, we ask them, or when they ring up. We
don’t do it a hundred percent of the time, but I would say we’d do it about eighty
percent of the time and White Pages definitely ah, comes out on top.
Oh definitely. I mean, like I said, ah, before you guys, for advertising, White Pages is…
is one of the cheapest forms of advertising and who doesn’t do it? Um, who doesn’t
do it? I don’t know if I can use the word crazy, but yeah, it’s ah, you have to do
it – it’s just you have to do it as a bold listing. It doesn’t cost that much
at all and ah, you’ll make thousands from spending ah, hundreds so … yeah.
(SLATE – 003T03) I don’t want a… I haven’t actually done
the… the figures, but from what we sort of ah, research and gather with the staff,
I would say somewhere in the middle, but I come back to the price – at a… in the
White Pages it’s ah, very reasonable. And we… for the calls we get, and the… and
the people that ah, ah, ring and tell other people, um, it’s um, it’s well worth it.
Well worth it. I would say somewhere in the middle.
Oh, we made the decis… we made the decision in-house, ‘cause um, my sons are pretty
bright and I’ve been in business for a long time so we decided about ah, three or four
years ago that we had to go um, ah, online – ah, it could have been a few years more,
I’m not exactly sure of the date, but um, and that’s when the White Pages um, you
know, came on board with us and ah, the bold um … the bold lettering and the um, you
know the other – email and um, website, to ah, to get the calls, so people come in
and ah, basically buy. It’s um… yeah, it’s not rocket science, but yeah, that’s
what …. that’s … that’s the aim – the more people know, the more people will open
the White Pages book and find us and ring us and um, look at our um, other things that
White Pages do for us and um, we’ll go from there.
Yes. Yes. Sorry I um, yeah, um ah, yes of course. We’ve um, at one stage ah, we’ve
had like ah,13 or 14 suburbs um, and um, it… it’s worked for us. We’re sort of always
tweaking them – from suburb to suburb because um, we’ve knocked out Brighton, but we’ve
put in North Melbourne, ah, we’ve added the … the Docklands for example, so as long
as we keep on top of it and are seeing which part of the city ah, gives us the most business
and calls, ah, we’ll definitely keep doing it, but like I said ah, at one stage I’m
not sure at the moment how many we’ve got, but at one stage we had about 14, so …
Ah, yes I do and ah, may I say that the people at the White Pages are um, very helpful. Um,
less… ah, how can I say – they put less pressure on you which I… one of my dislikes
is when people are selling me something to push me and try to sell me something or … whereas
the White Pages have been amicable and very helpful and when I do knock back from 14,
they’re not questioning that they’re to help, they suggest if I knock out Brighton,
they suggested why don’t we go with Docklands, which was a fantastic suggestion – I didn’t
have Docklands and Docklands is on my doorstep so yeah… very good I would say.
I would say so. I would say so because ah, over the years that they… they’re the
ones that have suggested the suburbs, um, and most of them have worked but the ones
that don’t… ah, but yeah. I would say They’re very … I get back to very friendly,
polite, suggestive and um, knowledgeable… knowledgeable.
Oh course. They are a very important um, partner in our … in our business ah, for a few reasons
ah, they’re very knowledgeable, and the suburbs they have suggested so far, have worked
– not all of them but ah, suburbs we do knock out ah, they’ve very polite about
it and they suggest the next better suburb and they’re not aggressive ah, which I like,
so I would say they’re a very important business partner with Sweeney’s Luggage.
(SLATE 002T04) Oh we’ve been with White Pages since um,
since the beginning – ah, we’ve been in business for 93 years and um, hope to be ah,
in business for another 93 years and ah, I’m sure we will because this is a family business
and ah, White Pages have helped us and guided us ah, through that period so um, yeah, and
I’ve got two sons and um, they will um hopefully continue to deal with White Pages.
(SLATE 002T05) Yes. Well when we ah, looked at it a few years
ago, and ah, we looked at what we had with White Pages, we knew it wasn’t enough um,
so we rang the … our consultant and we sat down and we spoke about it and we asked him
what he thought and what he told us just made sense – you know, that… just common business
sense, and he was very good about it and he told us the ah... well basically what we should
do, and next year we upped the ante ah, with the ah putting the bold and the website and
the website…
Well we added ah, the bold ah, um lettering online and then ah, after that we ah, added
that ah, the webpage um and ah, our email address and all through that time when…
when we’d done that, we spoke to our consultant and he suggested … and if he came in tomorrow
and suggested that we do ah, extra, I would certainly listen and there’s a 99% ah, chance
I would listen to what he was saying and do it because so far, whatever he has ah, told
us, it’s ah, it’s worked for us.
Well, when it comes to White Pages, ah, the quickest way for me and the easiest way for
me, is to open the book up ah, and say I want Sweeney’s, look under ‘S’, ‘W’’,
double ‘E’, ‘N’, ‘E’, ‘Y’, ‘S’ – there it is, and it’s got everything.
The other two forms, which I ... which I won’t mention, I … I don’t use. But ah, I think
the White Pages way, is the only way, and will be the only way for a long time.
Oh – a lot. Ah, a lot quicker we find it because ah, like I… like I said ah, the
easiest way is the book … ‘S’… ‘’S’, W’, Sweeney’s which gives you our webpage,
ah, you go there, that tells you everything you need to know and that brings us sales
you know, through the roof. Um, our business has been going ah, very well, and ah, one
of the reasons is ah, White Pages.
So people… people can go ah, online and then can go to the webpage very easily.
Well, the other thing with the White Pages is um, when people want to ah, ah, find us
and track us, they um, can go online, very quickly, and um, then they go to our website
and ah, that’s where the money’s made and the White Pages is the ah, best and I
think the only way to um, get that.
Oh, of course. Of course. Any, any, any form of ah (laughs) advertising, that can ah, bring
a person into a shop um, and make a purchase is a um, is a help and White Pages do it very
well.
So, you basically want me to say um, with White Pages, um, it gives people an option
whether they’re on the phone or they’re on the computer, to find Sweeney’s easier.
OK. Um, the um, as far as the um, telephone and the ah, are concerned ah, people do come
in and ah, tell us that they ah, found us on the ah, on the phone which is… which
is very good, very helpful ah, and then the internet as well. The internet is very useful
and um, I find it to be um, you know, very, very good.
(SLATE -002T06)
We als… we also find people that come into the store um, tell us that they found us on
their… on their mobile and… their um… their beautiful mobiles that they show off
um, and on the computer as well um, on the internet they ah, say that they ah, find us
very quickly.
I would describe it ah, as ah, enormous because ah, they’re there for you and ah, when you
want changes, when you ring them, they respond within 24 hours which is what I like, un…
unlike some of the companies but they are a great valuable partner going… now and
going forwards with technology moving so fast, ah, I think they’ll become a bigger and
bigger ah, partner for Sweeney’s Luggage. So yeah. Definitely.
Ah, White Pages I think is fantastic and um, if a person runs a business, um, you’ve
got to… you’ve got to um, have a partnership...
I think White Pages is ah, fantastic for um, anybody that’s in business – especially
small business and ah, going forward and technology moving so fast, you have to have a partnership
um, a good partnership with ah, with the White Pages. If you don’t, you basically shouldn’t
be in ah, business because you’re losing money and...
I think ah, White Pages is ah, essential and ah, fantastic. Um, with ah, technology moving
so fast you’ve got to a have a partner in the White Pages to guide you through the tough
times.
Oh. Definitely. Um, if you haven’t got ah, White Pages, um, you shouldn’t be in business.
I would definitely recommend ah, White Pages to other businesses ah, and ah, if they haven’t
got it, they shouldn’t be in business.
I plan to be ah, with White Pages ah, not in the future but hopefully ah, forever. Like
I said, we’ve been around for 93 years and we hope to be around another 93 years and
ah, the White Pages will be an integral part of our business.
White Pages um … without White Pages I um, I couldn’t survive ah, there’s so many
scenarios that I could tell you that um, um, that happen during the day, um, if I can tell
you a certain example, we got…we pick up cases from ho…hotels and do repairs for
the airlines, and ah, they don’t put their phone number, so good old White Pages – I
have a look at the hotel, open up Hilton, get the passenger’s name, get the reference
number and it’s done. Or sometimes if it’s a private repair, ah, we get the person’s
name, ph… name and address – not the phone number, and if there’s something that extra…
something extra has to be done, we… we need to get the White Pages, we’ve got the name
and address, we just get the White Pages ah, get the number and give them a call. I didn’t
say that properly… I stuffed up….
I use it and that… that’s a fact. A lot of people, you know, come and if they forget
to give us their phone number, I’ve got their name and address, ah, all I need is
to do … unless it’s a private one, if it’s a private one I can’t do anything
about it, but …
Oh, definitely I use the White Pages – I use it on a daily basis ah, we do a lot of
ah, bag repairs and ah, around bag repairs ah, people forget to leave their phone numbers
and we track it down with White Pages, so definitely.
(SLATE-002T07) Um, Sweeney’s Luggage is a bit of an institution
– it’s been around for a long time. Now ah, just to give you an idea, we’ve moved
fifteen years ago, and we’re still Sweeney’s … but people with the White Pages, they
just look up under ‘S’, ‘W’ and we’re there. Doesn’t matter where we move, where
we go, you’ll still be able to find us in the White Pages under Sweeney’s.
If they want …if um, if they want Sweeney’s online, all they have to do is type … type
in Sweeney’s, and we’re there.
Um, online is also fantastic, because ah, for a potential customer to ah, find us, all
he has to do is type in Sweeney’s and he’s got the works.
OK. Um, Sweeney’s Luggage has been around for a long time, ah, we’ve been in business
for 93 years. So, you’d be surprised how many people know
about the shop but they don’t know the phone number, so White Pages is ah, you know, is
where they go to to find the phone number. Oh it’s changed… it’s changed a lot
– from just a small little ad of Sweeney’s Luggage Centre to um, our website, our email
address…it’s just grown. I’ve ah, done the radio advertising they
do remember ‘Sweeneys’ but they don’t remember ah, the actual phone number, so that’s
where White Pages comes in. When you hear an ad, you remember the name, but you very
rarely remember the number. Oh we’ve been with White Pages since um,
since the beginning – ah, we’ve been in business for 93 years and um, hope to be ah,
in business for another 93 years and ah, I’m sure we will because this is a family business
and ah, White Pages have helped us and guided us ah, through that period
I think White Pages is ah, fantastic for um, anybody that’s in business – especially
small business and ah, going forward and technology moving so fast, you have to have a partnership
um, a good partnership with ah, with the White Pages
Um, Sweeney’s Luggage is a bit of an institution – it’s been around for a long time. Now
ah, just to give you an idea, we’ve moved fifteen years ago, and we’re still Sweeney’s
… but people with the White Pages, they just look up under ‘S’, ‘W’ and we’re
there. Doesn’t matter where we move, where we go, you’ll still be able to find us in
the White Pages under Sweeney’s. LAST PARAGRAPH OPTIONAL