THE TOP 5 THINGS YOUR SERVICE BASED BUSINESS CAN DO (STARTING TODAY),
TO CLOSE MORE LEADS INTO BECOMING YOUR BEST CUSTOMERS
If you’re looking to grow your business, starting today, then this video and accompanying PDF download can help. We’re making this available for free to anyone who registers – but only for a limited time.
Prefer to read over watching video? We’ve also created a version of this presentation in a “whitepaper” format. You can download that as well:
There’s a lot that goes into running a successful home service business, and we know it’s anything but easy. With all of the “business” things you need to manage (operations, HR, sales and marketing etc.), it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Sometimes it’s the “little things” that lead to the greatest returns.
We’ve seen a handful of practices that (when implemented), consistently help our clients to radically increase returns on their marketing efforts, and I’m sure these will help you as well.
The 5 tips outlined below, will lead you to fuller pipelines, and greater profits. Let’s get started.
Make sure you have someone answering the phones and turning inquiries into appointments 24×7. More than that, make sure everyone is fully trained on how to address key questions, and on how to get any and all necessary information from your prospects.
If you’re not able to have someone from your company available to answer calls 24/7, consider hiring an answering service to capture the calls when your team is unavailable.
A few points to consider:
Most people won’t leave a message (another reason why you want to answer 100% of calls) – but if they do, you must call them back ASAP. The longer you wait to return their call, the more likely they are to find another contractor to complete their job.
Record and review your calls to make sure your front desk team isn’t killing your chances of winning new jobs (which happens more often than you might think). Train your team on how to handle price inquiries, and on all of the information that they should collect on that first call. And obviously, make sure they understand the importance of being kind and professional when speaking to prospects.
Important Note: Be sure to follow all applicable laws and regulations when recording calls. Speak with your service provider on this as they should be the experts.
Focus on improving this simple aspect of your business, and you may convert 20-30% more inbound inquiries into quote requests, and ultimately customers.
Your front desk staff is a critical part of your sales team, and you should make sure they know that. Most receptionists don’t realize what’s involved, and how much marketing and effort goes into generating those calls. It’s on you as the business owner to make them aware, and to coach them to improve call handling.
If your system doesn’t already have call recording, you should definitely look into a system that does. This step is so crucial, that we include it in all of our Inbound Service Leads marketing systems.
Many times, prospects call more than one contractor to get a competitive quote. Our contractors most often prefer to be the best in the business – meaning they focus on quality workmanship over price – so it’s important to be able to tell your prospects why your work is worth the price.
Our belief is that you’re better off being one of the more expensive providers in your market – because that means you never have to cut corners on projects or compromise quality. Our contractors are in this for the long haul, and you can’t grow a business doing sub-par work.
You need to take time to educate the prospect on what you do differently (better), and also on what corners other contractors may cut, that will result in future headaches or frustration for them.
Remember, the client most likely knows very little about what a “good job” looks like, so take the time to educate them. In many cases, your competitors aren’t doing this, so it will make you stand out from the crowd.
How the prospect feels about you and your business, will trump any price difference when they go to award the job. Make sure they know you’re in their corner and are looking out for their best interests.
You’ll notice that we take an education based approach with our business as well, and provide value long before we start working with many of our clients. It’s part of the reason why many of our clients have been with us for years – because we care about their results, and they know we’re in this together.
You should take the time to uncover how the prospect feels about the project. Why are they calling you? What keeps them up at night about this – or what pain has this job created in their lives? And more importantly, how can you help them alleviate it?
Be empathetic, and share stories of similar situations you’ve worked with customers on. Let them know you understand and relate with them.
Share results of other customers you’ve worked with through similar projects – and let them know about the outcomes on an emotional basis. Get them envisioning the same results for themselves.
Or on the other side – perhaps they’re thrilled about the project. Maybe it’s something they’ve been wanting to do or have for a while, and they’ve finally saved up the money to get it done.
This is great – so find out exactly what makes them excited about the project and why it’s important to them on an emotional level.
This may seem really simple, but we’ve witnessed many contractors who just show up, deliver the pitch and are only focused on what they need to say. This happens a lot when estimators are busy – and it isn’t a great experience for anyone.
A great way to show prospects that you’re listening (and actually hearing what they’re saying), is to repeat what they said back to them. This will also help to ensure that there aren’t any miscommunications or misunderstandings on the project. The prospect just wants to know you’ve heard them, and that you’re taking into account what they’re sharing – which should be a no-brainer.
Use what the prospect says directly in your response and proposals. Work back in the specifics of the project that they requested or mentioned word for word. The more personal, and the more specific you can be in your proposal, the better.
And don’t assume the prospect knows your listening. Repeat back to them what you heard and understood – make sure they can feel that you’re trying to make sure you’re both 100% aligned and on the same page.
Doing so helps when the prospect becomes a customer. They’re agreeing to the process from the start, so they know exactly what to expect. It also helps to get them feeling like you’re already working together and will help to push them towards choosing you.
This is another one that seems obvious, but very few contractors are leveraging this. You need to walk them through exactly what happens when they choose you.
Let them know you have a process, and get them envisioning working with you.
As you explain your process, this helps them to realize you’ve done this a time or two, and you’re prepared to deal with things in a streamlined manner.
Remember, one of a prospect’s biggest fears is often built around horror stories they’ve heard from family and friends who have had similar work done. Your job is to get them to change their vision of how the project will go if they choose to work with you.
Getting them to envision a smooth, well-defined timeline on the project will most certainly lead to higher close rates, and it will set you apart from any other contractors they may be speaking with.
These points are game changers for many contractors. When you combine these two things with the points mentioned above, you’re sure to grow your business and become more successful in your market.
USE THEM EVERYWHERE
It’s a simple fact that your prospects are more likely to call you (and to choose you for their project), if you have more (and better), reviews than your competitors.
On the other hand, if you have only a few reviews (or negative reviews), you most likely won’t get the call – and you won’t even get a chance to bid on the job.
Getting reviews isn’t hard – you just have to ask your happy customers for them, and then make it really easy for them to leave one. This is super important.
We have tools to help you accelerate this activity, so if you’re interested, feel free to book a call to speak with a member of our team – but no matter what, start asking for reviews from your happy customers today.
REMARKETING –
THE GAME CHANGER
This is a must, so don’t skip this step. It’s the easiest way to turn lookie-loos into quote requests, and then to turn those prospects into customers. Seriously, if you want to win – don’t skip this step.
When prospects see your business online, they may (or may not), be in a place where they can take action on it (meaning they may not be able to (or want to), call you right in that moment. If you don’t remarket to them, they’ll most likely forget about you.
With remarketing, you can continue to show up everywhere and every time those prospects are online. By staying top of mind, you’re building the credibility of your business; you appear to be a large, well established business; and you get the opportunity to show additional ads that highlight more of the reasons why you’re the best choice to help them with their next project.
A sophisticated remarketing strategy is literally the fastest way to immediately, and substantially increase the results of any online marketing campaign.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Inbound Service leads system, and how our exclusive, Inbound Lead program can help you grow your business, then book a time to chat with a member of our team. It’s free, and we’d love to see if we might be a good fit to work together.
