Hello. Jim DuBois here with WindowCleaningBusinessCoach.com. Last month I gave you four steps to creating a business-building strategy for collecting and maximizing referral generation. This month we’re switching gears to get the phone ringing with virtually NO COST in marketing.
Your company’s mission is to get and keep the phone ringing consistently, so you are never looking up the lead funnel, saying to yourself and your staff, “Where’re the leads?” no matter what time of year. Without new fresh leads, your business starts a slow decline into oblivion. Referrals and word-of-mouth alone will probably not be enough to sustain revenues.
But here you are saying I have nothing to worry about, “Spring is here!” And yes, organically, the phones will begin to ring, but is it enough to start the scaling process to carry you through Summer and Fall and into Winter?
So in this article, let’s take it to the next level to “really” get the phones ringing with some unconventional methods. Phones ringing can also be interpreted as texts, and emails, and walk-ins.
Email Blasts
Credit: Michael Sanders
Depending on your CRM’s size, this is a guaranteed way to get the phone ringing and the inbox full. We utilize this strategy every single month and win big every single time based on our email subject line, message, and offer (if any). If you implement this, run the analytics to determine your open rates and click-through rates. This alone is an annual six-figure lead generator in my company.
Text Blasts
Just like email blasts, you can do the same with your CRM, provided they have opted in and are not part of a cold list. Use this selectively, however. Let’s say you have an open time slot in your calendar tomorrow, and you need to fill it. Send a text blast out to 100 customers with a special offer, first come, first serve. Watch what happens. I’d advise not sending a text blast out to 4,000 or whatever your CRM count is, however, for two reasons: cost and opt-outs.
Voice Mail Blasts
Same principle as text blasts. Here, you can send your voice mail message out to as many as you want in your database. There’s no opt-out. You don’t always need to have a sale or offer either. Perhaps it’s an announcement like “Daylight Savings Time Is Here, Be Sure To Turn Your Clocks Back On… Courtesy of…”
House List: Reach out to your house list when service is due, for a service announcement, or just to say thank you. There are many reasons to make a call, send a letter or postcard. If you have minimal email addresses in your database, for example, reach out via phone to get them, which makes another reason for a call. Watch the sales come in.
Walk-Ins
Have an office on a main road with traffic going by? Use it to your advantage! We have 30,000 cars daily that pass by my world-class facility, leading directly to one of the most affluent areas on the lake. We get a walk-in almost every day. Some are just because, and others are because of the rotating sales banners we have displayed. We have coupons, candy, drinks, and our own branded window cleaner spray foam. So they always walk out with gifts, but most importantly, we have an almost 100% conversion of sales.
Every marketing campaign needs a compelling hook to grab a market’s attention and an exciting offer – with a deadline – to get them to take action.
Create “Reason Why” offers to get the phone ringing.
Some of our top-performing campaigns have used current events as a “reason why” we are making the offers. Things like rising gas prices using a Free Gas card as a reason to use your company.
Another could be a “bailout plan” offer to help your customers (or prospects) to save money if they booked a job in the next 30 days. Another could be a “fight unemployment” offer to save money if they booked now to keep your team busy and employed.
Look at it this way, where there is anxiety, there is an opportunity. There is an endless number of hooks you can create campaigns around. We do it all the time based on upcoming holidays, the season, the slow time of year, charities we support, and so on.
Are you looking for a high-level window cleaning, pressure washing Business Coach to take your company to the next level? Have a specific question you’re stumped on? I’d be happy to help you…
Thanks for reading!
Jim DuBois is the founder of Squeegee Pros, Inc. out of Mooresville, NC, and is the creator of WindowWashingWealth.com. Visit the site for a FREE MARKETING REPORT and BUSINESS BUILDING MANUAL. Window Washing Wealth is a high-level business coaching program specializing in aggressive marketing tactics, systems implementation, and growth trajectory execution – all leading to market domination on auto-pilot. We are changing the way window cleaners do business—email questions you’d like to see answered in this column directly to [email protected] or call 704-451-0409.