We’ve all probably heard that less than 50 percent of new businesses fail during their first year. Well, that’s not quite true, but the reality isn’t necessarily much better. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 20% of new businesses fail within 2-years, another 45% during the first 5-years, and 65% within 10-years. In fact, only 25% make it to 15+ years.
If as many as 75% of businesses fail, is it a coincidence that 75% of businesses don’t market effectively either?
So, why market anyway? To get new customers? Sure. To make more money? Yep. To build our brand? Definitely! The answer to all three questions is a resounding YES, but is that the #1 reason these days? Uh, nope.
THE TRUTH IS:
The #1 reason to market effectively is to keep the competition from stealing our market share.
The typical small business owner thinks his/her service is great, and truth be told, it probably is awesome. That owner relies on word of mouth, Facebook posts, or 5-star reviews to do the heavy lifting, thinking, why spend money when this other stuff is “free”? They think, “my customers will be so amazed by my great service, they’ll spread the word and tell everyone!” Uh, nope, or at least not nearly as much as they think or need to be successful.
'Reaching' Isn't Influencing
A single, well-placed, well-crafted marketing campaign can reach thousands or tens of thousands or more. How many people can one happy client reach? One? Six? Ten? Twenty? Anything is amazing and gratefully accepted. However, long term it’s simply not scalable to build a brand and value in our company.
If we don’t effectively market, we will lose market share to those who do. That’s why a new competitor or a PE consolidator can enter a market and make an immediate and significant splash. Actually, that’s plain and simple, a real strategy; come in, out-market, out-message, and out-spend to gain immediate traction and market share. Have you seen it happen? I have and I’ve done it too.
Perception is reality. What prospects perceive, they believe because perception IS reality. And, that’s the goal of effective marketing, namely to INFLUENCE PERCEPTION.
Constant frequency and branding outperform everything. Sadly, it’s not always about “truth”… we may be the better contractor, with more qualified technicians, better warranties, cheaper prices, and on and on… and still lose market share to the effective marketer. It’s about prospect perception, and consistent marketing can deliver a more pure brand message more frequently every time.
Perception is reality. What prospects perceive, they believe because perception IS reality. And, that’s the goal of effective marketing, namely to INFLUENCE PERCEPTION.
The Quest to 'Convince'
Look at most marketing in the home service verticals. It’s always trying to “convince” prospects about quality or price or service. It talks about discounts or rebates or financing. What good does not making a payment for 12-months do for something the prospect really doesn’t want in the first place? Or, a discount on something they can’t care less about? They’re more likely to retain the coupon for $2 off a cheese pizza than a $1000 instant rebate, because they actually want a pizza.
Do these quality, price, or service terms that get thrown around on literally every ad really drive prospect perception? NO, they do not. Do seemingly high value offers that are essentially worthless drive prospect perception? NO, they do not. News flash: the prospect already assumes all those things and that everyone of us contractors offers and delivers them.
Think about it:
- “Licensed & Insured” – of course
- “Quality Service” – probably just me, but I’ve never seen someone say “mediocre service”, have you?
- How about “$1000 instant rebate”? If the rebate is $1000, that thing must be really expensive. Get my drift?
Are we really selling “systems” or “tune-ups”? Who wants that? I’m betting that many of us are in the trades, yet some of us don’t own the latest, greatest, best of everything we’re trying to convince prospects to run to the phone and call about. Am I right or am I right?
Slick sales processes, clever objection handling, and a whole host of other gimmick may provide temporary lift, but they will not lead to sustained growth and profits.
What do they really want instead of a “tune-up”? No breakdowns? No hassles? Better comfort? Lower utility bills? Their system to last one more season? Peace of mind? What are we really selling?
Does the homeowner really want to drop $10k on a new AC system, even if it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread? They do NOT! Slick sales processes, clever objection handling, and a whole host of other gimmick may provide temporary lift, but they will not lead to sustained growth and profits. We each may have a sales process that puts others to shame, but every buyer has a buying process too. And, they’ve been spending their money and buying things longer than we’ve been in the picture, so their process trumps ours nearly every time.
No Jargon, Please!
It all starts with effective marketing to INFLUENCE PERCEPTION. So, do they want SEER or inverters or UV lights or variable speed or any other jargon? NOPE. They want what they PERCEIVE these things will mean for what’s really important to them. So, we need to make sure our marketing speaks to the prospects.
It’s not nearly enough to advertise, although it’s better than nothing. We need to effectively market with consistency and frequency to INFLUENCE PERCEPTION. We need to speak the prospect’s language. We need to enter the conversation that’s already happening inside their heads.
Is your AC ready for hot weather? Will your air conditioner make it through another brutal summer? What happens if your AC breaks on the hottest day of the summer? What types of conversations are happening right now in your prospect’s minds?
All offline marketing either enhances or detracts from online marketing.
More next time.
Tom Casey, Jr. is chief quality officer at Climate Partners, Milford, CT, a multi-generation company in existence since the early 1900s. He is also CQO at Summit Services in Hilton Head, SC and at Griffin Services, St. Johns, Fla. Climate Partners has won multiple ContractingBusiness.com Quality Home Comfort Awards, for excellence in efficient home HVAC installations. Griffin Services was a 2017 QHCA winner.
Tom can be reached at [email protected] / 518-732-JEDI.
