Whats up guys, my business is fairly new (only about 6 months) so i know i can’t expect to take the world by storm! However, my business definitely fluctuates like crazy. Recently i decided the only way to run a business correctly is to be all in so after my family sold our restaurant instead of finding another job, i went full time for myself! These last few weeks have been kind of slow for me though and it gets discouraging at times. Im here hoping for some pointers on the best marketing techniques. I started off in the beginning doing direct mail and probably have sent upwards of 15,000 mailers out in various locations but as you know, this can get quite expensive and only pays off in certain locations!! Another technique ive used is google advertising through a company called hibu, i give them roughly a $500 a month allowance on advertisement and an additional $99 a month to host my website, this method also has shown some result. There has been days where I’ve made tons of money in a short amount of time and weeks like the last couple where I’ve been lucky to clear $1,000 for the week. Like i said, i know being a new business it takes time to get the name out there but i need some more advice! This is my living income! Any info is appreciated
Do you wear proper clothing that advertises your company when you show up to the job site ?
You don’t have to show up in a white tuxedo, but I have white t-shirts with my company name on
the front of the t-shirt -so they can see who’s knocking on their door, and on the back of the t-shirt also.
Also put out a yard sign while you’re working. I also have business cards easily accessible incase I get stopped while i’m working , I can easily hand a business card out “quickly” and not have to fumble for it.–Also something I delved into 4 years ago. I was determined to find a spot in my town for a mini billboard. Not sure if you live in the U.S. or not, butmost towns here in the U.S. are flooded with advertising. The mini billboards are the ones that the county has allowed the home owners construct that live near the busy roads to put up a mini billboard spot in their yard and rent it out .I drove around and found 2 that were vacant and knocked on the home owners door. I’ve been paying on these for 4 years now. One is $50 a month and the other is $75 a month. Obviously I had to get signs made at around $125 a piece… Both are around 5’ft x 8ft…They generate alot of calls and the repetitive , psychological, stamping of my company name on their brains is invaluable, I can’t really tell you my secret for showing up #1 in my town on G**gle
but it is also invaluable —60% of my calls come from that listing. If you do crappy work you won’t get that many repeat calls. Not saying you do, but you must go above and beyond to get the word of mouth effect to really kick in. Mine didn’t really blast off until 3-4 years in business. I got business through under cutting the competitors -which is totally fair game , which also allowed me to gain experience with different types of real estate and still made money. Was it easy ? No…I cussed and screamed alot. Blood ,sweat and tears, and alot of alcohol helped back in the early years.
Anyway–back to advertising. Try door hangers … Your website must be very simple. None of these people care about the scientific bullshit most pressure washing guys blast on their website. They want their problem solved QUICK and they want it done right. they don’t give a rip about 4 paragraphs on what Gloeocapsa magma is. Show them a few pics and a phone number and lead them to a facebook link, where they can see a gallery of your work. Don’t let that gallery load up on your main website. It takes too much of the customers time. If they want to go to the facebook link they can make that choice. Make sure the website is mobile friendly too. My website is 8 lines of code, and the phone rings off the hook.But then again I’ve been doing this for 13 years. No I haven’t cleaned 6000 homes in one year.But I do have 13 years of experience cleaning homes ranging from $100- to $1.5 million on a regular basis. Most of my homes are in the $400k - $600k range … You have to get out there and run specials ,make noise and get your name out there. Start watching youtube videos on Duct Tape marketing. Good luck … I’ve become a master marketer over the years. I love when that phone rings off the hook, and hate it when it doesn’t .
Connect and communicate with your customers. Face to face if possible, get to know and be comfortable with each other. Caveat, my business is only exterior wood. Most potential customers want to meet me, as it is their deck or cedar sided home and a lot more expensive than normal pressure washing. Personal connection and communication is important. A simple email or text, such as “It is raining cats and dogs today. We cannot properly clean your (roof, siding, concrete) properly as the cleaners will not be effective. Tomorrow looks better”. This kind of connection or communication is not followed by the majority of small contractors.
Do a great job, the best you can do. Doesn’t matter if it takes you and help twice as long as anticipated. Doesn’t matter if you have to do it twice, with more chemicals and materials than expected. Just starting out, it takes a while to learn to be efficient and know correct chems and mixes. A happy, satisfied customer leads on to the next point.
Ask for referrals. Not name, cell #, and address of potentials, but a simple "Mrs. Customer, I’m happy that you like our work. Just starting out, would you kindly let your friends and co-workers know? Give them a few business cards.
$500 a month allowance on advertising with another $99 a month to host a website? With domain registration and web hosting, I only spend maybe $150 a year. Haven’t spend a dime in years on advertising, aside from my website.
A good website, not cookie cutter template stuff, is mandatory. You want to stand out from the crowd of typical contractors, not join the morass. A well designed website, and SEO assistance, will pay dividends, initially money out of pocket, but if your serious about staying in this business, the best investment you can make.
Remember the advice on referrals? Ask those satisfied, happy customers to email a written recommendation. They go onto your website.
Just starting out, this is my quick advice. Best of luck.
hey guys thanks for the quick reply! We definitely think its important to wear proper apparel when showing up at jobs so we are always sure to show up professional! I do agree that face to face communication makes a huge difference but some times isn’t possible. As far as satisfaction goes, our customers are instructed to please take a walk around all jobs before we even pack our equipment or are handed any type of compensation. Customer services is key in any successful business which is why we try to speak to each customer as personally as possible, learn names, learn small things about the customer to make some conversation also and its just not 100% business. As far as our website goes, we had it professionally designed and is nothing to fancy. Pretty much just ensuring the customer that we are fully insured, professional and prompt and also breaking down what services we offer. Everything you guys have said has definitely been a big part of our business thus far but my question is aimed more directly at how to get our name out more and get more steady income. I do believe that every door direct mailers help a lot in certain areas but not so much in others. I feel that its not cost efficient to spend $300 on mailing to an area that we MAYBE get 2 solid jobs out of. I was considering running some sort of specials but not sure exactly what would be good. I don’t want to do a “$300 any home” special because then you’ll get calls from 6,000 sq ft homes and it wouldn’t be cost effective. As far as beating the competitors, we do guarantee lowest prices, but we need the customer to actually know about our company for that to mean anything!
Spread your name and your quality any way you can. I used to give a giant price break to homeowners at the entrance to neighborhoods and then have a big yard sign out front with a flat rate for that neighborhood-(made sure I told the homeowner part of this price break is to have me out there on a Saturday… Most of the homes were cookie cutter-vinyl siding . Real easy money. Then of course you try and sell them on driveways , decks, fences, gutter cleanings, gutter zapping. This bread and butter money you spend on advertising and the ball just keeps rolling ,year after year, until you’re turning work away or picking and choosing what work you like to do.
Trust me, by no means am i greedy and have no problem giving price breaks to customers if that means they will support me and my business!! Where do you recommend getting the lawn signs made? Any other specials that you’ve ran that seemed to work best?
You will need to get your name out there anyway possible, Networking and marketing are the key to this, There is a video attached that may help and shows you what i have done to go from $0 to $195000 a year turn over in my first year and should be around $300000 at the end of second year.
All the best
Troy Hillard
Wash Rite NZ - House Wash Specialist
www.washrite.co.nz
last winter I ran a $100 for house washing homes under $300k. on zillow.com
Price was the only gauge I could use to limit the size. I took a hit some of the time, but who cares , I was out there making money and being seen.Which led to more work. and the bleach is low overhead when you buy the 12.5% I live in Georgia.( u.s.a.) …so the winters aren’t too bad but Jan. and Feb… can’t wash under 35 and below. Over 35 , i’ll find a way to wash it.
That sounds like a great idea! How exactly did you market that though? Did you get in contact with Zillow themselves? Did you go to each and every home owner?
Our town on Facebook has a business section. Everyone blast out stuff on there .
I only used zillow to find out the value of the home.
good idea man. Im in Upstate NY so the winters are gonna be harsh… I’m thinking of running an “end of the year special” starting in september through end of october. Hopefully stack 10k+ if I’m lucky to hold me until next season!
Wow! Where has the PWRA gone when THIS is considered “good advice”? Don’t forget, when you undercut your competitors, you are hurting them, their family, and yourself by offering nothing more than the lowest price. You deserve the crappy, disloyal customers you get when you do this. You also deserve the lack of support you’ll get from the other guys…(I like to call them “colleagues”, but you may not understand what that means)
Its called competitive pricing. Any smart business owner is going to do this to be successful. Go to a car dealership they’ll do the same thing. Might lose a little profit, but some money is better than no money!
correct----It’s not only “some money” you’re making.You’re making a connection with that person and all their friends and family…"if you do a quality job. Then you make up the difference in price down the road with up selling and other services. "Happens everyday.Look through your mail flyers people. Look at the offers . -Phone gotta ring–.Gotta convert to money.
What you are doing is building up a customer base of clients who expect low ball prices. You won’t be in business long and then the area is ruined for the legitimate contractors.
LOL, I’ve been in business 13 years. #1 on G00gle in my town… for 1.5 years.
These new phone calls from G00gle is where I inflate my estimates. These
are the new customers who know nothing about my past pricing. The old customer base keeps me working through the
winter while other contractors have to go get a mundane factory job to make it through winter time.
It works for me. Do what works for you.
You’ve been in business 13 years and are still charging $100 a house wash? That upsell thing must not be working out lol. I did $200k in Warner Robbins and Atlanta in the spring of this year. There is money there. But like you said, do what works for you.
you didn’t read or comprehend the words correctly-- so quick to attack.
It says above— this was “winter time”. December through the end of February.
The peak season i’m turning down work and feeding it to other contractors.
I charge what ever I want because I don’t *#^$ shit up…
- I hope the original poster is learning some things about marketing .
I read it correctly. It’s still stupid thinking on your part but it’s your business so good luck.
your tactic ?
