Do You Have a “What’s Next?” Approach To Marketing?

Posted by David Chism | Fri, Oct 27, 2023

 Do You Have a “What’s Next?” Approach To Marketing?

Back in March of this year (2023), we shared a few prac­ti­cal tips for mar­ket­ing your con­tract­ing busi­ness in a tight econ­o­my. Since then, we saw an uptick in leads among our clients that we could chalk up to sea­son­al­i­ty — lots of folks want to paint their house in the sum­mer­time, right?

Now, how­ev­er, we’re start­ing to feel the pinch again. Leads are slow­ing, elec­tive projects are put on hold, plus home­own­ers are busy think­ing about oth­er things as the hol­i­days loom.

You have two options:

  1. Take a con­ser­v­a­tive approach and weath­er the storm as best you can

  2. Get proac­tive, get hun­gry, and start think­ing out­side the lead gen box

We’re going to assume that Option 2 sounds bet­ter. Keep reading!

What’s the Good News? Peo­ple Are Ready To Invest in Their Hous­es Right Now

Real estate is EXPEN­SIVE and inter­est rates are climb­ing. Not a good com­bo for peo­ple who may have been think­ing about mov­ing… So yes, your tar­get audi­ence might be slow­er to open their wal­let, but they’re even slow­er to actu­al­ly move out of their home (why trade in that 3 – 5% fixed mort­gage rate, right?). 

This is where con­sis­ten­cy in your mes­sag­ing pays off. It could take 3, 4, or 5 touch points, but your audi­ence is think­ing about that project and wants to call you. Give them a good rea­son to, and stay in front of them. 

A lit­tle emo­tion-based mar­ket­ing helps, too. Use this oppor­tu­ni­ty to inspire with before/​after per­spec­tives, plus edu­cate them con­sis­tent­ly about why YOUR ser­vices are supe­ri­or. Not in a sales-dri­ven way, but in a gen­uine, edu­ca­tion­al way that explains your val­ue propo­si­tion. If you become the go-to resource and author­i­ty, it not only inspires con­fi­dence in what you offer but also sows doubt in your competition. 

What’s next?” main­te­nance plans mat­ter more than ever

Here’s the What’s next?” approach that we allud­ed to before…

When you fin­ish a job, don’t just walk away. Make a plan. Get a com­mit­ment from the cus­tomer on the spot, estab­lish­ing a rela­tion­ship. A part­ner­ship, if you will, in which you’re BOTH com­mit­ted to the suc­cess and longevi­ty of the work that was done. Per­mis­sion-based mar­ket­ing is key: We’re so thrilled that you love your new paint job! How about we come back in the spring for an inspec­tion and pow­er washing?”

It’s a lit­tle like when you fin­ish a check­up at your doctor’s office. They don’t just let you leave, but have you per­form a quick check-out” process that includes set­ting up your next appointment. 

So go ahead: set up that next appoint­ment with the home­own­er, prop­er­ty man­ag­er, or busi­ness own­er. Show that your invest­ed and secure your posi­tion as their go-to paint­ing company.

What’s next?” works BEFORE the job is sold, too

Espe­cial­ly in this econ­o­my, home­own­ers want to feel con­fi­dent that they’re mak­ing a SMART invest­ment, and few things fos­ter that con­fi­dence more than a sense of value. 

When you dis­cuss the next steps dur­ing the esti­ma­tion process, include the next main­te­nance steps, too. Here’s how it all works, and here’s what hap­pens a year lat­er… We’re com­mit­ted to mak­ing sure your sur­faces look incred­i­ble and per­form the way you need them to.” It’s a sim­ple, turnkey process that elim­i­nates wor­ry or stress. 

This is super impor­tant to your com­mer­cial clients too. If a busy prop­er­ty own­er or man­ag­er knows that there’s a set main­te­nance sched­ule that hap­pens with­out their orches­tra­tion or time com­mit­ment, it takes work off their plate and sim­pli­fies their to-do list. One less thing, right? 

So, what’s next for YOU?

If you need more ideas for how to dom­i­nate your fall and win­ter time mar­ket­ing, be sure to check out these blogs pub­lished ear­li­er this year. Trust us: you’re think­ing about all these things, and we are too. 

Have any oth­er spe­cif­ic ques­tions? Please feel free to con­tact us. We’re always hap­py to have a brain­storm­ing ses­sion and dis­cuss ways that you can not just sur­vive, but actu­al­ly thrive, as we walk through a lean­er season.

About David Chism

David Chism started his business out of a passion for helping small contracting businesses grow, be more profitable and become better known to their target clients. One lifelong hobby of David is using techie gadgets. So this blog is a place where he writes about technology, marketing ideas, just for fun (humor), personal thoughts on small business and more.

     
   
       

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