No, Everyone Does Not Know You!

Fortunately, most of the people I talk to don’t have such a high opinion of themselves that they think everyone within a 10 mile radius of their shop or office knows them. But there are contractors out there who are so stuck on themselves that they think there isn’t a living, breathing soul who isn’t clamoring to do business with them when they need that particular product or service.

If you fall into the former category above (and since you read this site, I am assuming you don’t, but I am sure you know someone who does) then keep reading, because I am going to show you why you still need to advertise even if you have a solid word-of-mouth base of built-in business.

1. Word of mouth advertising is obviously the best way to gain new clients or customers, but I have never met a contractor who was busy enough with just referral work.
2. Even with strong referrals, companies typically lose up to 30% of that referral base each year, and you need to fill that pipeline to replace all the people who died, moved or hate you and just haven’t told you (probably because you didn’t ask them).
3. If you rely only on word of mouth advertising, and you are not found when people (who are unhappy with their current choice) go looking, then you have zero chance of winning that person over EXACTLY when you should be marketing to them.
4. By relying only on referrals, you are letting other people who are not completely familiar with your business sell for you.
5. If you have convinced yourself that number 1 doesn’t apply to you, let me ask you this, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to replace existing business with higher priced jobs that earn you more money? Marketing to the need helps you do that instead of sitting back and waiting for people come to you!
6. If you think that your business is such an anomaly that traditional advertising doesn’t work, then ask yourself this question; how do people who just move into your area ( who don’t know anyone to ask for referrals) find you if you don’t advertise? The answer is they don’t, they find your competition instead.

And that’s it Mr. Busyboy, if you can punch holes through my list, then maybe you are the busiest person in construction, but I bet there are always ways to improve your market share in your local market.