Category: Marketing
Modern Tools for Service Contractors, Part 3: Outbound Sales and Marketing
Unlike residential field service companies, commercial service contractors rely heavily on new sales for growth. For the residential contractors reading this post, please skip to the section below about MailChimp as it contains insights that apply to contractors on both ends of the spectrum. For commercial contractors, this post lays out a handful of sales tools that are not only easy to use, but also extremely powerful across the entire lifecycle of new sales from prospecting to closing.
Google – Discover Great Prospects
Let’s start at the beginning of the sales cycle: Prospecting. Who are you trying to sell your services to? Google makes it extremely easy to find the best prospects if you know how to take advantage of it’s powerful search features. For example, if you are a commercial HVAC company trying to find the best restaurants and restaurant groups to sell to, here are a few different search techniques you could employ:
- Review and Price – The best prospective restaurants are likely to both serve high-priced meals and have good online reviews. Use the review and price filters to find these restaurants as I did for this search in Atlanta, Georgia.
- Site Search – The “site:” search feature can be used to search public directories such as www.manta.com. For example, you can search Manta for restaurant groups in Atlanta via Google with a search query that looks like this site:manta.com restaurant group Atlanta.
- Advanced Search Operators – Further narrow down your search results by using other advanced Google search operators such as quotations for exact string matches and “-” to exclude certain terms. For example, you can search for the exact term “Restaurant Group” in Atlanta and exclude consulting companies with this search “Restaurant Group” Atlanta -consult. Find a full list of Google search operators here.
LinkedIn – Find Contact Information
Now that you’ve targeted the companies you would like to pursue, it’s time to find the correct contact and their information. Start by using LinkedIn’s advanced search to search by title, company name, location, and any relevant keywords. Much like advanced Google searches, you can use quotation marks for exact string matches. You can also use “AND,” “OR,” “()” operators. For example, you could search “president OR CEO OR owner” in the title field or “(facility OR general) AND manager” in the title field to find the facility manager or GM. Once you find the profile for the person you need to contact, use a Google Chrome extension such as Email Hunter or FindThatLead to unearth their email address.
Note: LinkedIn can also be used to find prospective companies by using relevant searches. For example, searching for “Restaurant Group” in the keywords field, “CEO OR president OR owner” in the title field, and limiting to relevant locations returns very useful results. For more information on using LinkedIn in the prospecting process, check out our blog post Lead Prospecting Guide for Tech-Savvy Contractors.
PipeDrive/Pipeline Deals – Manage Sales and Prospects
Customer relationship management (CRM) platforms help organize and manage your sales pipeline. An entry-level application such as PipeDrive or Pipeline Deals is perfect for companies new to CRM, while platforms like SalesForce and Infusionsoft will be a better fit for larger, enterprise sales organizations. These platforms house all sales related contact information and tasks to ensure that nobody drops the ball in the sales process. Email integrations makes it easy to log communications so that no one has to dig through emails to understand the last or next steps in a deal. When properly managed, these applications help any sales rep handle more prospects, deals, and opportunities.
MailChimp – Build Value with Customers
MailChimp is a first-in-class entry-level email marketing platform. Setting up your first email marketing campaign is a breeze with their simple interface that takes you from contact list to beautiful email in no time. Because of it’s widespread use, MailChimp integrates with many other applications including WordPress to collect contact information on your website and the CRM’s (like those mentioned above) so that your company can easily broadcast marketing messages to prospects or customers.
Email marketing provides service contractors with an incredible opportunity to build tremendous value with both their prospects and customers. Simple, targeted emails can endear you and build trust. This is especially true when you:
- Predict the Future – If you predict the future of their service needs accurately, your customers will be blown away. For example, an email campaign to customers warning them about possible equipment failures they could expect with changing weather will let the customer/prospect know that you are looking out for them.
- Provide Helpful Tips – Tips that will help your customer save money in the short run will result in more loyalty and higher lifetime value for each long-term customer.
- Offer Seasonal Discounts – This strategy will both fill the slow months with off-season work and build strong relationships with your customer base.
Take a close look at your sales organization and ask yourself if you have the visibility and productivity you need to reach your personal and company goals. If sales is an integral part of your growth plan, these tools will not only make your life easier, but also accelerate your business development. Every single tool listed above is either free, or extremely cost effective. Your only commitment is the time it takes to learn a new tool which I guarantee will be far outweighed by overall sales performance improvements.
Reread:
Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com is licensed by CC BY 3.0
Modern Tools for Service Contractors, Part 2: Inbound Marketing
When folks ask me about working in a small business, I point to the imaginary hat rack in the corner and say “I get to wear every single hat on that rack depending on the weather.” This analogy is especially true for owners and managers in service contracting companies who will act as technician one day, and sales rep the next; customer service representative another day, and scheduler the next. Heading into the slow cold season, one of the most important hats that modern service contractors must don is that of the high tech marketing nerd. When business slows down, it’s time to hunker down and focus on web presence to maximize inbound traffic and leads.
WooRank – Website Analysis & SEO Tool
Let’s start with your company’s face to the world: your website. WooRank has a very handy, free website analysis tool that will generate a report of the good, the bad, and the ugly for your website. Primarily, WooRank will indicate aspects of your website that need improvement in order to enhance your search ranking on Google search results.
WordPress – Website Content Management System
If your company website remotely resembles The World’s Worst Website Ever, it’s time for an update. WordPress is a popular website content management system that makes it easy to build and manage websites from templates so that you don’t have to know code to get great results. If you are using a web agency to build and manage your website, ensure that they use WordPress so you can:
- Adjust your website content if your agency can not respond to your update requests quickly.
- Easily switch agencies due to the widespread use of WordPress.
- Take advantage of WordPress Plugins such as NearbyNow (read more below)
Synup – Online Review and Listing Monitoring
Synup is a great tool designed to help improve your company’s digital presence and visibility by:
- Summarizing and updating online local listings for sites like YP.com and Manta.
- Reporting search engine results for the keywords leads use to find businesses like yours.
- Notifying and summarizing online reviews for major services such as Google and Yelp.
In past posts, we’ve discussed the impact great customer service has on your company’s digital reputation and the importance of online reviews. Synup’s review notifications will help you appropriately respond to bad reviews and tell you when it’s time to run around the office and give everyone high fives when you receive good reviews:
NearbyNow – Search Engine Optimization and Online Reputation
NearbyNow helps the best service contractors showcase their great reputation online and improve local search results. Need some proof that your company can dominate Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? Try searching for an electrician in Atlanta or any surrounding city. For example, check out the results for these searches:
Did you notice that TE Certified Electricians was at the top of all three searches? That’s the power of consistently using NearbyNow. By visiting their website, you can see how TE uses the WordPress Plugin to publish their amazing customer reviews to their site.
Read our blog post Nearby Now & ServiceTrade Can Improve Your Local Search Results to learn more about NearbyNow and how it integrates seamlessly with ServiceTrade.
Don’t be scared to wear the nerd hat. Modern marketing technology is easy to use and the products listed above will drive traffic to your website and grow your customer base.
Read the first installment of the Modern Tools for Service Contractors series, Part 1: Operational Efficiency, and stay tuned to the blog for the next, and final, installment Part 3: Direct Sales and Marketing.
Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com is licensed by CC BY 3.0
Online Customer Engagement is Bad Yelp Review Kryptonite
I found this story on “Yelp Terrorism” amusing. It seems that the owner of a Massachusetts jewelry store, George Pelz, was “terrorized” by an anonymous Yelp reviewer that claimed all manner of poor customer service, fraud, and malfeasance. George swears the customer experience is a “complete fabrication” by a “Yelp Terrorist” that is out to destroy his business. He sued in an attempt to get Yelp to disclose the identity of the reviewer, which Yelp has steadfastly refused to do. Yelp has in turn engaged their legal counsel in the wrangling to assure that “anonymous” reviewers maintain their right to free speech without any possibility of retribution by the reviewed entity.
George’s isn’t the only sad Yelp review story:
Portland Restaurant Owner Calls Out Yelp
Can You Be Sued if you Give a Bad Review on Yelp?
Obedience School Sues Yelper $65k Over Negative Review
None of this publicity is good for George or for Yelp. In fact, Yelp has been the subject of lots of bad publicity lately associated with the documentary movie “Billion Dollar Bully.” The movie alleges that Yelp has some business practices that amount to extortion – (mimic a northeastern mobster accent) “if yoos don’t pay up on these advertising fees you never know what type of poor reviews might hit your Yelp account tomorrow. Just sayin . . . .”
I do not recommend George’s tactics for combating Internet terrorist that are holding your good name hostage. The days are coming when the tolls paid to connect to customers will become higher and higher for those businesses that do not build their own online connection to their customers. Big Internet names like Yelp, Google, Amazon, Angie’s List and a whole host of new startups with massive amounts of venture backing are all focusing in on the service contracting sector (particularly home services, but the commercial folks can be assured they will be targeted as well) as the next big payday for Internet commerce. Uber showed that it can be done in the transportation services space, and now taxi companies are under the gun to figure out how to make up for all the customers they lost (and will NEVER get back). Don’t be like the taxi companies. Don’t lose your customers forever to a savvy Internet competitor (or terrorist). Get ahead of the Internet trolls by establishing your own online connection to your customers.
If you are not using technology to provide your customers with every opportunity to review and appreciate your service work, why not?
- Do they get online notices to facilitate and coordinate scheduling?
- Do they get online service reminders?
- Do they get pending arrival notifications?
- Do they see the work you performed in living color with photos and video in an after service online communication?
- Do your quotes arrive online with a simple “Approve” button to bind them to your terms and your pricing?
- Do they have an account with you to review and retrieve all of their service history so they don’t have to file it themselves?
- Is it easy to launch a review or a request for service from any of these online service artifacts?
If you meet your customers online, eliminate administrative hassles, and provide great customer service, their happy footprints all over the Internet will overwhelm any potential “terrorist strike” on your business.
Don’t be like George. Surround the “online terrorist” with your own customer army that is engaged in perpetual service with your business. You will be living in the lap of luxury while the terrorists are banished to some Tora Bora cave in mountains of Afghanistan.
Google Home Services and its Impact on Small and Medium Businesses
As we’ve been talking about for a while, Google is making a move into home services. This week we have a first look at how Google may be inserting itself into service delivery for customers who are using the search engine to find a vendor.
Google is testing Home Service Ads for users in San Francisco who are searching for plumbers, locksmiths, house cleaners and handyman services. Though these are largely residential services, the search results will also impact those of us who are searching for commercial contractors, too. The test is giving us some hints – and some concerns – about what the future may be for small businesses on the leading search engine.
A search engine results page for “Raleigh plumber” currently looks like this:
This probably looks familiar with Google AdWords text ads in the top sponsored positions in the main column, and down the right side of the page.
The map shows the location of local businesses that organically match the keyword search terms and the top three reviewed companies. It’s worth mentioning that there used to be seven of these highest reviewed companies, the display was recently reduced to three.
This is what the test page looks like when searching for “San Francisco plumber”:
The biggest change is that the map and the top organically placed companies are removed. In its place are three companies that are in the pay-to-play Google Home Service Ads program. These companies have:
- Paid for these placements. Google has not released any information about what this will cost or how it will be paid (percent of fees, fixed cost, or auction?)
- Paid Pinkerton to conduct background checks for all employees who are sent on-site. There is no information available on the Google nor Pinkerton websites about what this costs.
- Passed other screening conducted by Google for positive reviews, being insured and other criteria that aren’t described in great detail today.
- Source: Google’s website
Even the reviews listed in the Google Services Ad widget aren’t the same reviews that are part of current Google My Business pages. They are limited to only the customers who have contracted with that business by using Google Service Ads service.
There are a few good articles that explain how these ads work for users. Read them here and here, and watch a demo video in this article. The commenters on this Search Engine Land article seem to be small-medium business owners who voice some legitimate questions and concerns about how this change will affect the visibility of their businesses.
Marketing analysis
I’m a marketer, so I want to focus on the search engine marketing implications of Google Service Ads for service contractors.
Should you worry?
From a marketing perspective, yeah, I am afraid so. There’s plenty for an independent service contractor to worry about here about your visibility and the increasing cost to stand out among your competition. We’re all going to have to watch closely to see how the test goes, what additional information Google releases, what additional services or markets they expand into.
Did you just disappear?
Service companies have been playing by Google’s search engine optimization rules to earn a high rank on search engine result pages. They built their sites a certain way, they chose keyword phrases and placed them strategically, and they sought reviews from their customers. If you did all of those things, and did them well, you had a good chance of appearing as one of the big dots on the map and having your company be one of the three top companies.
On the test page, it appears that the only place where your SEO has an impact is in the organic search results in the main column of the page, below the Google Service Ads section. This space is much more competitive because your business is now competing for top billing with sites like Yelp, Angie’s List and national chains that have marketing resources that many SMBs can’t dream of competing with.
It appears that for businesses not participating in Google Service Ads, that it’s going to be more difficult or more expensive to be visible in the search engine.
Do reviews matter?
As I mentioned above, the Google Service Ads have their own review system. The reviews in the widget don’t include the reviews shared by customers who have purchased services through any other way than through Google.
Even in the organic search results, none of the reviews that are currently on the Google My Business page show on the search engine result page. It’s unclear where and how the information and reviews in your Google My Business page will be used in the main search engine results page.
Yeah, what about my business page?
Will Google My Business pages appear anywhere in results? How will they be accessed? Will they be populated on the map? As of this writing, the Map page for the “San Francisco plumber” search still places pins and review information from Google My Business pages. I hope this is the minimum of where those business page results are placed. Our research has not uncovered any information about the relevance of business pages in the future of Google search result pages.
Change is coming
This has all been a reminder that Google is a for-profit company that has made itself an indispensable part of marketing and how our customers find our services. Google is now looking for ways to leverage that power and convert it into profit by becoming part of the service delivery.
The Google we’ve thought of as a free utility where a small investment would improve your visibility and give you a leg-up on the competition is slipping away. There’s a lot we don’t know today about what SEO and SEM will become if the features of the Google Service Ads test are deployed nationwide. We’ll be watching and will keep you updated.
More about Google:
Google Wants your Service Business, Too
Is your website mobile friendly? Simple test to avoid Google penalties
I hate to leave you all with so much anxiety and uncertainty, so once again, here is my favorite dog gif from my blog post “Google Wants your Service Business, Too” about how Google has started eating your dog food.
Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com is licensed by CC BY 3.0
Nearby Now & ServiceTrade Can Improve Your Local Search Results
Consumers no longer turn to the yellow pages, newspaper ads, or direct mail to find the best service contractors. Instead, they turn to Google to answer the question “Who should I call?” To address this change ServiceTrade is happy to announce an integration with Nearby Now, a tool that helps the best service contractors showcase their great reputation online and improve local search results.
The Results
Need some proof that your company can dominate Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? Try searching for an electrician in Atlanta or any surrounding city. For example, check out the results for these searches:
Atlanta electrician – https://www.google.com/#q=atlanta+electrician
Marietta electrician – https://www.google.com/#q=marietta+electrician
Sandy Springs electrician – https://www.google.com/#q=sandy+springs+electrician
Did you notice that TE Certified Electricians is at the top of the list for every search in the area? Amazing customer service and a Nearby Now-powered marketing strategy led by a digital marketing firm FOR service contractors, LeadsNearby, drive these revenue-generating results.
How Nearby Now Works
Nearby Now enables field technicians to check-in to each job throughout the day. Each check-in updates the Nearby Now check-in feed and network map embedded on their company website. Before the tech leaves the job, he or she can request a review of their service from the customer. Combined, the check-in data and customer reviews generate fresh, powerful content for the service contractor’s website that drive great search results and volumes of inbound inquiries.
ServiceTrade Simplifies the Process
The integration of Nearby Now with ServiceTrade simplifies everything about driving these outstanding results. Service contractors using ServiceTrade check-in to jobs with the mobile application as part of a process that enables amazing customer service. Instead of burdening the technician with extra applications and processes, the Nearby Now functionality is driven automatically out of ServiceTrade.
ServiceTrade enables smart service contractors to provide amazing customer service and the Nearby Now integration helps them broadcast their great reputation to the markets they serve. Give us a call at (919) 246-9901 to learn more.
Is your website mobile friendly? Simple test to avoid Google penalties
If you expect customers to find you online, they must be able to find you online. Sounds like circular logic, but it is true. Google is always shifting their rules to make their search engine more valuable to users and advertisers. You have to keep shifting your website to avoid being pushed down the rankings. The new rules say that mobile readability is important (your website should not be an eye test if viewed on a mobile device). Check here to see if your site is already in the clear, and read on to review the new rules (from Google’s update on the matter):
When it comes to search on mobile devices, users should get the most relevant and timely results, no matter if the information lives on mobile-friendly web pages or apps. As more people use mobile devices to access the internet, our algorithms have to adapt to these usage patterns. In the past, we’ve made updates to ensure a site is configured properly and viewable on modern devices. We’ve made it easier for users to find mobile-friendly web pages and we’ve introduced App Indexing to surface useful content from apps. Today, we’re announcing two important changes to help users discover more mobile-friendly content:
1. More mobile-friendly websites in search results
Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices. Do a search on “mobile – friendly test” to locate our website that you can use to test your website(s).
2. More relevant app content in search results
Starting today, we will begin to use information from indexed apps as a factor in ranking for signed-in users who have the app installed. As a result, we may now surface content from indexed apps more prominently in search. To find out how to implement App Indexing, which allows us to surface this information in search results.
What this means for service contractors (and for all others on the web) is that you MUST ensure your web presence is optimized for mobile. Make sure that websites, blogs, and any other content you put out there is created with mobile in mind. You cannot create a premium service contracting brand if it is difficult for your customers to find your company and your value online.
Jesse James’ Advice for Service Contractors
Jesse James, Train Robber
I have been to multiple events in the past several months where service contractors from many trades (food equipment repair, fire safety, specialty cleaning) lament the insertion of one or more parties between themselves and their customers. It seems that when they do not directly influence the terms of service with the customer, including the amount of payment to be received, they do not make much, if any, profit. It seems to me, then, that the best way to fix this situation is to have a direct relationship with the customer in order to set terms that are profitable.
Jesse James was reported to have said that he robbed banks because “that is where the money is.” I don’t know if he really said this as the photo here indicates Jesse was also fond of trains, but I do know that in the service contractor world it is the customers that have all the money, and every other party in a transaction only gets what the customer gives. If you rely on an equipment manufacturer or anyone else to sell the services that you provide, then you should expect that manufacturer to take most, if not all, of the profit associated with that work. Ditto for any other third party (brokers, aggregators, whatever you want to call them). If you are not at the table presenting your value when the deal gets struck (whether for new equipment installation and service, or maintenance, or repairs), expect to get the scraps that are left over. So how do you get invited to the party where all the money is sloshing around and decisions are being made about who gets it? The customer needs to perceive your company and your services as critical to any decision they make regarding new equipment sourcing and the subsequent maintenance and repair of that equipment. You need to demonstrate to the customer that YOUR COMPANY IS THE EXPERT and no decision should be made without your involvement.
So, how do you become the expert and how do you demonstrate that expertise to the customer? Some of it is just good old fashioned sales execution – be familiar with the customer’s interests and be active in fulfilling them. Increasingly, however, folks have less and less time to invest in your sales process. They expect to interact with your product on their time and on their terms. Your presentation of value has to be digital, relevant, and readily available when they want it. The work that you do for them has to generate content that you constantly feed to them online so that you establish a reputation that encourages them to reach out to you when they need advice in your area of expertise. When your interactions with them serve to both gain their trust and teach them how to make better decisions, you get their attention . . . and their money.
Here are some practical tips on how to get called to the table as the expert when decisions that influence how much money you will make are getting made:
Be in their inbox all the time. These days, everyone operates out of their email inbox. Search has become so powerful and prevalent, that folks answer the question “who can help me with X, Y, or Z?” by searching their inbox. If you are not sending them email “notices” regarding scheduling, delivery, quotes, service history, invoices electronically with interesting content attached, you will lose your relevance to someone who is. Don’t send junk mail, but information about what you do for them is generally not junk.
Show them “why.” It is not enough to tell a customer what you did, show them why it was necessary and what to expect in the future. Show them what happened with photos and audio and video. Engage their curiosity and their motivation to be better. Generally you cannot afford “show and tell” in person during the busy day when the technician needs to move along to the next call and the customer just wants you out of their way so they can also get back to work. When it is electronic, they can access it when they want it – after the shift when everything slows down and they can reflect on it.
Predict the future and offer a better outcome. Never leave a service call without doing a “sweep” of the area for troublesome signs. Document them with photos and audio, and then play it back for the customer along with a plan for a fix. If they don’t respond, and it breaks, you nonetheless warned them and they will see you as someone that can predict the future. If they do respond, you can fix it during a slow period and they will pay less.
Summarize their relationship with you with data, and offer ways to lower their costs before you are asked. If you can get efficient in customer service administration, you will have more time for customer service recommendations. Feed your customer rich reports that show them ways to lessen what they pay you (and others) by changing work practices or equipment vendors. When you have the data and the means for them to profit from it, they will ask you for it, and you will be at the table when important decisions are made.
If all of this sounds difficult and out of reach, then you better figure out how to be the low cost and most efficient provider of contract labor to third parties. Commanding a profitable premium means that you have a direct relationship with the customer that pays for your expertise instead of simply being the labor that is dispatched to serve another company’s customers. What are you going to do to be at the table when each important customer decision is made?
