Lead Prospecting Guide for Tech-Savvy Contractors
For commercial service contractors, connecting with prospects that are responsible for facility management has historically been a tremendous challenge for the following reasons:
- Finding the decision maker is challenging
- Discovering their contact information is difficult
- Bypassing the gatekeeper is impossible
LinkedIn is the centerpiece of a host of technology available to overcome these challenges. From prospect discovery to initial contact, the following is a quick guide to using this technology to land your next deal.
Discover
LinkedIn enables you and and your sales team to find prospects that fit your exact criteria. Whether you are looking for the facility manager of a company responsible for multiple locations or a small business owner who is solely responsible for facility and equipment maintenance. LinkedIn’s advanced search functionality can drill down to a great list of potential customers. For example, the following searches returned hundreds of local results:
- Keywords = “facility manager”, Postal Code = “27603”, Within = “50 mi”
- Title = “Owner”, Company = “Restaurant”, Postal Code = “27603”, Within = “50 mi”
Not all of the results are a perfect fit, but it is easy to spot the most promising profiles.
Connect
Once you have a list, it’s time to connect with every potential prospect. Even if they are out of your LinkedIn network, you can take advantage of tools such as Lippl that will find their public profile and enable you to connect. When you request a connection, they will immediately be aware of who you are, so be sure that your profile effectively promotes your service offerings. Take advantage of LinkedIn’s tagging feature to differentiate your prospects from other connections in order to stay organized.
Note: If you are using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application to manage sales, be sure to look for tools that help you directly integrate LinkedIn into your CRM. For example, many integrations will automatically add a LinkedIn profile to you CRM as a new lead with the click of a button.
Contact
Direct electronic communication is the best way to reach your new prospects in order to get their attention and bypass any gatekeepers. There are three possible avenues to do so:
- Send a message directly through LinkedIn
- Use Thrust.io to determine their email address based on their name and domain. This tool will find most email addresses, but not all.
- Use the LinkedIn contact export to discover their email address. Note that this is often their personal email address and you may only want to use this as a last resort!
These technologies, a complete LinkedIn profile, and a brief introduction letter that focuses on your differentiators are proactive elements of the “digital wrap“ that are far more reaching – and effective for creating relationships – than a truck wrap alone could ever be.
Password Headaches? Some Simple Advice to Ease the Pain
Cloud applications are like banks: Your money is much safer under lock and key at the bank than it is under your mattress because anyone can “hack your house.” Bank security is as good as it gets, but like a bank, your data is only as secure as the keys to the vault; your password(s). You will have security problems if you use one password for everything or you keep your passwords on sticky notes, notepads, or spreadsheets.
For maximum security, you should have a unique password for every application and you should update them on a regular bases.
Keeping up with numerous usernames and passwords can be a very frustrating task considering the number of online tools you use. Like me, you may have a list of 20-30 username/password combinations that you use regularly. Fortunately, there are products that solve this problem for your PC, Mac, and mobile devices:
– LastPass
– 1Password
Both of these products operate in much the same way. They create a secure, encrypted “vault” that secures all your credentials behind a single password. Whenever you are prompted to login at a website, simply enter your “master” password and these applications will enter your credentials automatically. Whenever you create credentials or change passwords for a website, these products automatically store the data in your “vault.”
You only need to remember one password, that’s it. Your data is secure in the cloud, and your credentials are safe in your vault.
Automate Collections With InvoiceSherpa
In today’s connected world, new online services are popping up each day to improve the connections between you and your customers. One connection that is critical is the payment connection, and we found a cool app called InvoiceSherpa to help you.
This fantastic product helps service contractors better manage their invoices and boosts cash flow by helping speed collections. Cash is the lifeblood of all small companies, and InvoiceSherpa can truly deliver more cash. Instead of monitoring your invoices and sending reminders, InvoiceSherpa does the heavy lifting of reminding clients about due dates, forgotten invoices, and upcoming payment schedules.
InvoiceSherpa reminder interface
From the InvoiceSherpa website —
Automated Invoice Reminders
The key to staying on top of your invoices and accounts receivable is letting customers know the current status of their invoices. Using InvoiceSherpa you can easily automate the entire process including reminders when:
- An Invoice is created.
- A due date is coming up.
- The invoice is past due.
- A thank you when payment has been received.
All of these items can be scheduled at different intervals with a unique template that you customize to fit your custom branding. Our goal is to be a seamless extension of your business.
InvoiceSherpa is one more example of the rapid fire innovation that is available with online services these days. If you still believe you should be running your service contracting business with a single “all in one” application running on a PC server in your closet, you are missing out on a world of great capability.
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.
Cloud Computing & Service Contractors – A Perfect Match
Service contractors need the cloud, but over and over again we see companies that are confused or unsure about how moving to the cloud will affect the operations of their business. Change is scary. As human beings, we are wired to avoid change, especially when it concerns a switch from what we are use to.
Cloud Computing
At a recent HVAC convention, our VP of sales witnessed two different speakers advocating the benefits of cloud computing for service contractors. Obviously, we are always pleased to have others singing the same tune. Here are a few excerpts of what was said:
The Cloud is Secure – One attendee described how all company data on their PC server was held hostage with Ransomware that cost more than $10,000 to remove. Huge organizations like Amazon, Google, and the US Government store billions of documents in the cloud. Virus protection and security are an integral part of data management and these large organizations would never store data in a location that wasn’t secure. Do you trust technology experts to build strong security or do you trust one of your administrative staffers to know about the latest virus, bug, or software flaw?
The Cloud is Cheap – There’s truly no reason to maintain a mail server anymore (or any other type of server, for that matter). Dozens of cloud applications can not only provide a hassle-free email solution, but a more feature rich solution as well. No one wants to pay an outside IT professional to be their problem solver. The cloud has lowered the price of software solutions by allowing software companies to put more power and more features into the hands of users. Cloud storage is essentially free. There’s truly no need to buy more file cabinet or PC hard drives.
The Cloud Empowers Your Customer Service – Items stored in the cloud can be accessed from any device – PCs, tablets, or smartphones. Your technicians can answer questions faster and with greater accuracy, even when they are in the field. Customers expect speed and accuracy. (Don’t we all use Google for fast answers?) Showing clients before and after photos, online work acknowledgements, past work history, or old invoices make you and your team shine.
The key point is simply this: Cloud computing is a perfect match for service contractors and their business operations. Embrace the cloud and prosper.
