If you could wave a magic wand, would you wish for more business success? Of course! However, you can’t just wish for success, you have to turn wishes into actions.
We’ve compiled our top 3 secrets to getting the most out of each lead so you can maximize your profits and grow your business. We’ll help you identify items you would like to improve, change, or add, so you can place your business in its best-operating state.
One way to grow your business is by increasing your lead volume. When the lead volume increases and your lead to customer conversion percentage stays the same, you’ll see a rise in the number of jobs you complete, therefore expanding your customer base. If you are not in a saturated market and have the time and resources to take on more net-new jobs, this might be a growth strategy to explore.
To embrace this strategy you need to add more leads into your sales process and ensure your lead generation sources are strong and reliable. This can be achieved through a lead aggregator, outbound prospecting through manufacturer lead programs, referrals, and through marketing/advertising. Make sure you have your lead generation source figured out before you move forward with this strategy.
If increasing the sheer number of leads you take on isn’t for you, you might explore the “quality over quantity” theory. Spend time cultivating the leads and increase the total dollar amount per job by selling more products, more services, and delivering higher value to your customers. This might look like providing them with a good, better, best pricing model and spending the time necessary to explain the nuances of each option. The consultative nature of your approach and well-arranged sales process will help the customer to feel that they are in good hands.
Trust is one of the secret ingredients of this growth strategy. The customer must trust you to increase your per job sale. This trust can be established early in the relationship by excellent communication and timeliness, as well as being reliable, respectful and predictable in your actions.
It usually costs 5x as much to acquire a new customer vs. keeping an existing customer. Research from Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company supports this theory and shows that if a business increases customer retention rates by 5% they could increase profits by 25% to 95%! These numbers don’t lie, so how do you use this tactic as a growth strategy for your business?
Master the art of the referral. If a customer has a great experience when you complete the first job, they will tell their friends. What has changed is HOW homeowners will tell their friends. People still chat with their friends about the experience they had with a contractor, but with the introduction of online communities, the game has changed.
Whether it’s a Facebook recommendation, neighborhood Facebook Group, or chatting with people in your area through the Nextdoor app, homeowners talk! How you present yourself on the job and what your customers experience through each interaction will likely impact many future jobs you get from your customer’s friends.