If you’re a home service contractor, you may not consider yourself a salesperson. But the fact is that you’re trying to convince your customers to spend their money on your services, so it’s wise for you to learn the most effective sales tactics out there. Here are some of the best sales tactics you can use to bring in customers successfully.
1. Create an Online Presence
A home service contractor’s success depends on their ability to create and maintain an online presence. It seems like a lot of work, but it’s worth your time to strengthen your brand. Building a solid online presence is one of the best ways to ensure new clients hear about you and call you for a quote on their project. The competitive nature of the home service industry means that any home service contractor must be able to stand out from their competitors by adopting some of the best sales tactics. Building and maintaining your brand online is a big part of doing that. First, you must find the right website design that works for your business.
Don’t underestimate the power of a well-designed website. Make sure that it is professional looking and comes across as an expert in your industry. You want your website to be able to grow as your business does, so make sure it’s not just user-friendly but also easy for you to update again and again. Little things like your company logo and online store can make a big difference, especially if you are in the roofing services business. Adding your logo to every site page will give you the branding advantage you need to stand out.
2. Research the Market
A company needs to know its market before making any product or service. It is no different for home service contractors. And while they may not think they need to do this, researching their current and potential customer base will pay dividends later. To know your market, start by looking at trends and statistics. How many people are getting new homes in your area? How many people are selling their homes or needing services like tree removal? What are the average selling prices currently and historically in your area? The answers to these questions will help you determine the best sales tactics and how you fit into the market landscape.
Find out what is happening in your market. You can talk to local realtors, property management companies, banks, or businesses dealing in equipment rentals. The goal is to learn the best sales tactics to enhance the growth of your business. Don’t forget that trends can change quickly, so don’t be the last home service contractor in the area to watch this growth unfold. Once you know what is happening in your market, you can build a plan to meet that need.
3. Publish Testimonials
It takes a lot for customers to learn about a product or service, and an independent review is the most believable thing for the customer. Customers will read testimonials about services like bathtub refinishing or heating repair that you have done. If a home service contractor needs to incorporate the best sales tactics into their business, they should consider publishing some testimonials.
Building customer trust and brand identity are essential in maintaining this reputation, as your success largely depends on it. These testimonials aren’t the selling point, but they will make your customer more comfortable with what you’ve achieved and how successful you are. It is especially important when you are a home service contractor marketing to clients from the comfort of their homes. The trust that the customer has in what you offer is going to make or break your deal.
Your customers need to see who you’ve worked with and how your services have helped them. It is the reason why new testimonials are necessary for marketing your services. It can take many forms – from using your website, or including them on a business card or a blog you might have on the internet. It is a great way to answer any doubts that might pop into your customer’s minds when they think about using your services.
4. Offer Pricing and Financing Options
There are many ways that a home service contractor can offer pricing and financing options to their customers. The primary purpose of offering a discount is to lure potential customers by offering them something they may not have if they hadn’t been given the opportunity. It is among the best sales tactics, especially when closing deals with prospects. It is also an excellent way to appease customers that want to know specifics about the cost before deciding on a contract.
Offering pricing and financing options can be a good way for a home service contractor like a roofer to change the perception of their service. It is especially true if they have been doing business as a small contractor and have expanded their company to include more services and equipment. It can be as simple as a $25 rebate for purchasing a custom cabinet or as complicated as locked-in pricing with no way out except to cancel the service.
Many home service contractors think offering financing or pricing options are tactics that only high-volume companies use, but this is not always the case. For instance, a home service contractor specializing in landscaping may offer up to a 15% discount if they can provide their customers with financial assistance. They may offer them the opportunity to take out 15 or 30 months at an interest rate of 12%. This type of financing option can be desirable to many prospective customers. They may see it as a way to save money by paying off the service in installments.
5. Engage in Email Marketing
If you are a home service contractor and want to grow your business by generating more leads, engaging in email marketing is an excellent idea. Email marketing is one of the best sales tactics a home service contractor can employ to increase revenue. Through email marketing, home service contractors can build solid relationships and introduce their services to potential clients. Almost all industry leaders have been using email marketing for a long time.
You need to decide on your budget for an email marketing campaign. You can start with a small budget and gradually increase it according to your success. Even though it’s among the best sales tactics, email marketing can be costly if you hire an agency for the purpose. So, it is recommended that you learn the relevance of email marketing and work on it yourself. Most online marketing agencies charge a commission on the sales generated through them.
For this purpose, knowing your budget and analyzing your success rate is essential. If you are looking forward to engaging in an email marketing strategy, take some time to analyze your target market and other best sales tactics at your disposal. You need to list relevant prospects and keep an eye on them so that they may become your clients in the future. When you get one lead through email marketing, don’t forget to follow up with that lead by calling them over the phone or visiting their place personally.
6. Research the Competition
If you are a home service contractor, you have likely been competing with other businesses in the same market for potential customers. One of the best ways to compete with other companies is to research the competition and analyze their sales methods. This will allow you to develop a strategy to improve further your sales process, which will help you compete more effectively. The first step in researching the competition involves looking at your potential customers and determining who they are buying from now.
It is a significant step and should be done with great care. The survey should be tailored to your customer’s needs and include questions that reflect the overall characteristics of the customer’s demographics and the characteristics of the competition. The survey should also be designed to determine the value of your product or service compared to the competition. It should be an essential part of the research and will allow you to design your sales process accordingly. A good home service contractor needs to implement the survey respectfully and professionally. It is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your expertise and help you better understand your customer’s current needs.
7. Establish Loyal Customer Relationships
Many home service contractors struggle with the idea of establishing customer relationships. They fear this strategy will create liability or inefficiency with their schedule. Whether you are in the business of fixing kitchen cabinets or upgrading floors, establishing customer relationships can turn out to be the best sales tactic for your business, with countless benefits. These include increased profits, greater attention from the media, and even the potential for referral sources if done right.
People want to support businesses that love them back, and establishing a customer relationship is one good way to do this. Many businesses that establish customer relationships will notice an increase in their bottom line. Customers are dramatically more likely to become repeat customers if they feel you care about them as people, as opposed to customers simply trading with you for a product or service.
Setting up sets of annual goals can help you make sure that you track your progress towards earning more money. You achieve this through incentives such as gift cards or direct marketing options like newsletters. In addition, if you treat your customers well, they will often return the favor by referring people they know to you. It can be a great way to build your customer base and will only encourage revenue.
8. Spend Time Finding Leads
When you’re trying to sell a home service contract, spending a little time finding the leads is in your best interest. These leads can come from various places, but you need to think outside the box to find them. There are many tools provided by the internet that can help you find leads. For example, there is Facebook advertising, which could be what you’re looking for.
Facebook has created an algorithm that will detect where people might be living and then show ads in their feed tailored to those locations based on their interests and connections with other site users. You’re able to find a wealth of information that could help you find your leads with Facebook. You need to know how to use it.
Another excellent tool for finding leads is Groupon. This website has a daily deals section for local businesses in your area. Pay attention to the people posting these deals in your best interest. They may be trying to sell you some of their customers, so don’t discount them as competition; they’re just trying to sell their services, and you’re free to approach them about it if you’re offering a similar service. If you want a more traditional method of finding leads, you could try using magazine and newspaper ads (always keep in mind that your ad should be geared toward your niche).
9. Know your Audience
Many business owners don’t know their audience. For example, many kitchen countertop contractors are too focused on their field, not the customer. Homeowners need renovations or services to benefit them, and contractors need to know their customers’ needs. Knowing your customer is the key to a successful business. For example, if you begin working on homes in a neighborhood with many older homes, you will find more jobs on roofing repairs.
Another example is the contractor that overcharges his customers. He does not calculate his costs correctly or lacks the knowledge to price his services correctly. Customers who overpay for services are unlikely to return for home or renovation jobs.
There is more to selling a home service contract than simply walking through a door, handing over a contract, and asking for payment. You need to understand how all the pieces fit together to put a streamlined and effective sales process. Once you have your best sales tactics in place, you can sell more contracts by finding loyal customers, knowing who you’re selling to, and spending time finding leads.