One of the easiest ways to differentiate buzzword-using people who declare themselves “experts” from actual marketing experts is to find proof of their experience in actually getting the work done. Expert status is earned and given to you by your clients, not because you say it.
About Darren
The Relationship Game
If your pitches are telling you that you lost by a few grand, and you thought you had a good relationship or rapport with them, you didn’t. If you don’t even get a chance to counter, you had no relationship at all.
If you aren’t creating a compelling reason to work with you besides money, then you are always going to lose to a lower bid.
Closing Percentages
Stop worrying about the percentage of jobs you are closing and focus on closing more jobs you want to do. If you live off of referrals, sorry, you’re a slave to whatever walks in the door.
If you get a chance to do one job you like vs. two jobs you don’t, take the one. There’s more to this game than money. Besides, doing the job you like means you will probably do a better job which means more referrals.
But…
If you are a high volume shop who needs to keep a lot of people fed and a lot of trucks on the street, you should pay attention to the type of jobs you are attracting. That comes from paying attention to your marketing, your salespeople, your upsells, your cross-sells, your website.
You Do You
For contractors, just be you and don’t worry about being a brand. Don’t be something you’re not. Its always better to just be 10% more of you than 100% more of something else.
What I mean is, just elevate your personality 10% more for the web; in your videos, in your images, with your words, and the ‘brand’ will develop on its own.
Branding yourself is an asset that you can leverage that your big competitors can’t. Get your face on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and on your blog. Your business will appreciate it.
Keep Selling Simple
You may be a great carpenter, a fantastic handyman or a skilled cabinet maker, but you are a salesperson first.
Too many contractors forget about that last part. They think, I can do this well, so people will come and buy it.
That isn’t how it works.
Everyone is in sales, and most contractors overcomplicate it. Selling is a contact sport.
Job 1: Find a client or customer who can buy.
Job 2: Find out if they are interested.
Job 3: Make your offer, talk price, and ask for the sale.
It’s really that simple, but it isn’t always easy. The most successful contractors figure out how to simplify their sales process and then repeat it often.
Something Terrible This Way Comes
It’s that time of year again…the. Dreaded out of office reply. I sent out yesterday’s newsletter and received a larger than normal amount of “out of office” replies. I thought to myself, well, it must be summer, which leads me to today’s post.
NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR VACATION!
The Jones’ don’t care if you are on vacation returning June 22nd, or that you are on holiday on the Almafi coast, or that you are attending Junior’s graduation from Whatsamatter U.
They care about themselves…
It’s 2019 and there is no reason you can’t check in once a day, send a follow-up email or text to let your prospects or customers know that you will be happy to get back to them soon, but you wanted to make sure you followed up personally.
People care abo9ut what’s in it for them, and your vacation notice is a neon sign saying ‘I don’t care about you so much, that I’m giving you the same response I am giving anyone who dares reach out to me while I am away.”
Well, guess what happens to prospects when they get that message from you? They go on to the next contractor.
Passion Above All
Steve Jobs said, and I’m paraphrasing, you have to love what you are doing because if you don’t when it gets really hard, you will quit.
That’s where passion comes in
When you find it hard to generate new business, find the right talent, get that prospect to sign, you have to have passion.
Passion is what is going to get you through the hard times. It’s what made you start your business in the first place.
I’m sure this isn’t opening any new eyes, it is meant to center you, to refocus you on why you did all this in the first place.
Email Marketing You Can Do in 5 Minutes a Month
Whenever I talk to a client, no matter how big or how small, the conversation of blogging always comes up. The first thing I hear is ‘I/we don’t know what to write about.’ OK, here’s a million dollar idea.
Think I’m full of it? Let’s dig into the numbers before I give this great idea away to you for free…you’re welcome!
Take your average customer value (including referrals) and times that by 12. The tip I’m going to give you on blog content will help you land one more client or customer a month (after your first full year of following this advice.)
OK, to the million dollar idea for monthly blog/newsletter content
Instead of focusing on what to talk about inside your business, making it all about you, write one post or newsletter a month that is a monthly home maintenance guide. Yeah, it’s that simple.
Come up with a seasonal tip, write about it and get it out to your customer list. After 3-6 months, people will look forward to getting it.
For the first year, just offer the newsletter no strings attached. After the first year, you can insert offers or discounts to your email list.
That’s it, now go get your million dollars. You’re welcome!