Readers' Question:

Late last night, I received the following email from a reader.

. . .as you can see by my email address I own a garage door repair business......

It has been three years now of success even in a down market... We owe this success primarily to our online marketing methods coupled with some really great closing techniques....... however we seemed to have hit a plateau ... Although we capture a lot of sales online it seems as if our traditional marketing skills are lacking .... We learned the hard way that Yellow Page ads just don't cut it any more to the tune of a $20,000 loss and have since been disabled by fear in the paid advertising arena...

Upon reading about Bestline Plumbing I wondered if their model would work for us as well...

What are your thoughts on this?

My response: (As I haven't received permission, I won't disclose the email writer's identity.)

I think Leoonard Megliola can teach you useful marketing approaches. So, much closer to your home (If the the top ranked Garage Door Service on Google is yours) , can Glen Kohlenberg of Absolute Aluminum in Florida.

(Just checked further, if you are in (a California location), you are far away from Florida, of course, but why can't I find you on Google ... are your online methods working the way they should, and have they been developed fully?)

Leonard has used flyers; Glen developed a co-op magazine, where he had affiliated businesses and suppliers pay much of his marketing costs.

Would I copy them absolutely, quickly, and without testing, however? I'm not certain. The reason is you need to find the model right based on your own experience and your style of business.

Paid advertising is indeed scary because most models require you to spend a significant amount before you know whether things are working. Leonard's flyer model is effective in his neighbourhoods, Glen's model requires a fair bit of co-ordination and may be challenging to replicate.

How are you marketing online?

Indeed, readers of this blog can find inspiration in the marketing success of some contractors frequently referenced in these pages. They appreciate that one size doesn't fit all, and that marketing techniques and methodologies need to be tested over time, and often changed. They generally do this in a pragmatic and logical way; without completely ditching the 'old' approach, they experiment with alternative methods, and if one works, they adapt it to their systems.

This is a challenge because you need to mix enough commitment to give a marketing idea a proper trial (usually first efforts don't work so well), with enough flexibility to change -- this is why fixed annual Yellow Pages contracts are, in my opinion, deadly -- you tie your budget for one medium and, worse yet, one that is in decline! (However if you are currently using the Yellow Pages successfully, don't ditch them without forethought and confidence that you can do something better -- I would seek independent consultation on making a smaller Yellow Pages ad more effective and then allocate the money saved elsewhere, though. Don't buy what the Yellow Pages rep sells you without a great degree of caution.

(Through an unrelated Internet group I have a friend who has just taken a job as a Yellow Pages representative in Canada. It will be interesting, as time progresses, to gather insider perspectives from the Yellow Pages organization.)

You can download the Bestline Plumbing Manual by visiting the Wordpress edition of this blog at http://www.constructionmarketingideas.com, and viewing the sidebar.

Read More

An accidental discovery

A screen shot of Adam Hudson's "squeeze page". The free offers are worthwhile.

Sometimes in business you find really interesting things by accident. Yesterday evening, I uncovered some really great resources (and lessons for my own marketing library) from Adam Hudson, including two well-written free papers, "Double Your Yellow Pages Leads" and "51 Can't Miss Contractor Marketing Tips". He also offers a bi-weekly newsletter.

In reading through these materials, I felt somewhat humbled because they are both well written and easy-to-implement.

For example, consider his concluding points (48-51): "Top Smartest Marketing Moves for the Year."

1. Design Yellow Pages ads for lead generation. Hudson says "this is most contractors (77%) number one expense. Either cut the expense or increase its lead-pulling ability with an exceptional ad."
2. "Identify every lead source". Hudson advocates you "simply ask and note for each call: 'And how did you find about us?' or 'Did you see our ad in the ."
3. He says you should construct a simple marketing plan. "Start marketing costs per sales and choose your marketing 'type'," he writes. "Moderates 4 - 6 per cent. Conservatives two to four er cent. Less than 2 per cent is asking for stagnancy or decline." (These numbers are interesting to me as I've asserted in a previous posting that if you are spending less than five per cent on marketing, you will be in trouble, and the top range is 25 per cent. The discrepancy can be explained in my including sales with marketing -- pure external marketing expenses might more accurately fit within Hudson's criteria.)
4. Hudson also says you should start a customer retention program. "This is the costliest oversight for contractors," he writes. Start one and you'll stand out from your competition, who'll be forced to 'copy'. Copiers are never leaders. Be a leader. Use a newsletter that is full of customer benefits . . . " he writes.
   

In his paper, "Double Your Yellow Pages Leads" Hudson accurately notes the declining influence of this traditional media,with a critical observation that an increasing number of phone users only have mobile phones, and don't receive the book. The more important issue, of course, is that the Internet search has replaced the phone book for new business searches -- and your best lead source now is not the Yellow Pages, but truly effective rankings on the search engines.

Hudson's challenge: I noted that I found his useful materials by accident, and this important fact may shape your perceptions about the rapidly changing directions in marketing. I'll share these observations tomorrow. Some consultants, such as Michael Stone, advocate drastically reducing or totally ending your Yellow Pages allocations, and most start-up contracting businesses, I think, will do far better with Internet rather than Yellow Pages marketing initiatives.

In the meantime, I recommend you get over your fear of responding to his (in my opinion) unsubtle marketing "squeeze page' and sign up for his newsletter to receive the free reports. They are certainly worth reading.

Read More