Competition for new customers is keen for pumpers these days, with a sluggish economy encouraging homeowners to put off regular maintenance and new construction ground to a halt in many regions. At the same time, skyrocketing fuel and insurance costs are testing the profitability of contractors across the country.

One of the first areas where pumpers may wield the expense-cutting ax is the marketing and advertising budget, but slashing your advertising could have a disastrous impact at a time when you’re fighting for every pump-out job. Rather than making that short-sighted move, why not beef up your marketing at little or no cost through more creative use of your Web site?

A quick search of septic service Web sites through Google shows many pumpers are using their company’s main Web page as an economical marketing tool. In addition to a nice design and clear photos of their fleet, equipment and staff (every site should incorporate these features), contractors are using tried-and-true sales techniques to get surfers to pick up the phone.

Here are five ways pumpers are using their Web home page to get a jump on the competition:

Coupons and discounts

Just like the big box retailer down the road sends out flyers offering discounts and sales, pumpers can do the same to coax customers to call. Southeast Septic Services (www.southeastseptic.com), Carver, Mass., offers a Web coupon for $10 off pumping and $25 off Title 5 inspections at its main page. Hamm Septic Services Inc. (www.hamm septicservices.com), Londonderry, N.H., mentions senior citizen and neighborhood discounts.

Coupons and discounts are irresistible to some customers. For some people, nominal discounts can carry more marketing clout than clean trucks, uniformed workers and a spotless on-time record. It’s not right, but a sale often comes down to the lure of a few bucks knocked off the regular price. So offering Web specials is a worthy experiment.

Web coupons serve another, more important, purpose as well. They help you track your marketing efforts. Many pumpers have a small budget for marketing and advertising. Wouldn’t it be helpful to know how customers found you so you know where to spend those limited dollars?

As more people use the Web to search for services, you may find through coupon redemption that your site is accounting for more new business than you imagined. And it might show you that the expensive Yellow Pages advertising you’ve used for years doesn’t have the impact it once had.

Upselling offers

On its bright red main page, Lamoureux Pumping Inc., Casselman, Ontario, Canada, (www.lamoureuxpumping.ca) promotes a special deal for installation of tank risers and effluent filters. Pumpers realize that a good number of homeowners don’t want to deal with the mess and expense of having the tank lid located and dug up every time they need service.

This is what they called an “upsell’’ when I had a high school and college summer job managing a refreshment stand at Milwaukee County Stadium during baseball season. If a customer wants a hot dog, you get them to add a bag of peanuts or a small soft drink. If he wants a small beer, talk him into a larger size.

Translated to the pumping game, if a customer wants their tank pumped, convince him about the merits of a maintenance contract. Or in this case, tell him how a riser or effluent filter system will save money and mess in the long run. Lamoureux determined upselling is a good program, and brought the deal up front to its main page to make sure customers see it.

Employment ad

Have you priced a traditional employment ad in your local newspaper lately? Depending on your location or how much you have to say about that job opening, the cost can quickly get out of hand for a small business. Getting the word out can easily cost hundreds of dollars, and that’s if the ad runs only for a week.

A check into newspaper want ads may have prompted Rowell’s Sewer & Drain (www.rowellseptic.com) of Franklin, N.H., to scroll an employment ad across its main Web page. While we’re not going to argue that the septic service’s Web site will get the same blanket coverage as a newspaper ad, the notice comes at no cost and can run for as long as you’d like.

What if a potential customer is also in the market for a job? He or she already has a modest exposure to the industry as a septic system owner. And the fact that a customer is using technology to find a good service provider shows initiative. You might think it’s an advertising shot in the dark, but this idea is an indicator that there are other low- or no-cost opportunities for job listings.

Among the less expensive job postings I’ve seen on the Web are free ads at Criagslist (www.craigslist.org). At Craigslist, you can get as detailed as you like in posting classified ads. The service is free and local exposure is great in cities where the service is well-established.

Referral to Angie’s List

Angie’s List is sort of a Better Business Bureau of the new millennium. Started by an Ohio homemaker who wanted to share her personal recommendations on contractors who served her, the list has exploded into a nationwide network of homeowners who share their experiences with local companies.

Burnett’s Septic Service (www.burnettssepticservice.com), LaGrange, Ohio, must have some positive feedback at Angie’s List, because the company refers potential customers to the popular site, providing a link on its front page.

Along these same lines, pumpers may enhance their reputation by referring to membership in the local Better Business Bureau or Chamber of Commerce on their main Web page. Testimonials from satisfied customers are also an easy and effective marketing tool to add to the page.

Audio commercial

When I’m surfing the Web for information on a company, I generally don’t like to hear any background music or see a video pop up. Just the facts, ma’am, is the way I like it. But I was impressed to find a nice audio commercial for Mid South Septic Service, (www.midsouthseptic. com) Arlington, Tenn., on the company’s main Web page.

The one-minute commercial is obviously professionally written and produced. The voiceover is pleasant; there’s no annoying pitchman. The content is straightforward and informative — sharing some valuable consumer information on septic system maintenance along with a list of services Mid South provides. Give a listen to the commercial and you can use some of the good marketing ideas at your Web site.