Many owners that I talk to tell me they will be more successful by working harder. While it’s important to work hard for what you want, working smarter is the smart thing to do! Actually, to succeed, it requires both working hard and smart.
Ego
When you get arrogant or cocky, and your ego is in charge, you usually end up falling flat on your face. In business, you need to be hungry and aggressive, and always planning ahead. You must be continually moving forward in your business. If you are stagnant, it’s the same as going backward and that’s a very slippery slope.
Marketing Funnel
Always have a full prospect funnel of those that can convert to referrals and jobs. The more your prospect funnel is loaded, the more prospects will move on through and become customers. It’s really a game of numbers. Ten prospects may convert to one or two customers, but 100 prospects will likely become 10 or even 20 clients! If you and your marketers don’t actively strive to add prospects to your marketing funnel, your slacking off will catch up with you and your sales will drop off significantly.
One marketer I have known many years consistently generates more than two million dollars a year in revenue because he is bold with his approach. He’ll talk with someone at the gas pump or in the line at the mini-mart while buying his slushy. After he leaves, he texts them a quick “thank you” and briefly reminds them about the services that he can provide. It’s amazing how many people will give you their cell phone number! Years later, they call him – because they remembered. His success is incredible.
Emailing is still valid
There is a serious misconception that emailing is a waste. The fact is, even though a large percentage of people never open emails, even as they delete them, they see your name. So, as non-opened emails are deleted – you still get a “touch” and a bit of exposure. Since most of us use Constant Contact or Mail Chimp for our emailing platform, the recipient can easily unsubscribe if they just don’t want to get emails.
Text Messages Work Well
If you have their cell phone number, sending them a personal text with a personal short video attached is also very effective. The videos can easily be done on your cell phone and should not be longer than 45 – 60 seconds. The video message must be personally addressed to them – not generic. Text messages are opened 98.5% of the time within just a few minutes of being sent – so you should get a good response rate.
Social Media Works
Social media is also critical to your success today – please, use it appropriately! Many restoration companies do an awesome job of regular tweeting and Facebook posts – yet they continually ruin otherwise good connections by constantly – every post – making it about themselves, their company, “fire-water-smoke-mold,” and literally shove salesy posts and tweets down their connections’ throats. Simply STOP being salesy and start thinking and caring about what your client might need.
Only one in ten thousand viewing your posts or tweets needs your services at that moment! Prospects and clients want to be educated AND entertained – Not Sold! With the algorithms of Twitter and Facebook, when you constantly “sell” on your posts, they dramatically reduce your visibility and reach!
Be good at networking events
Last, but certainly not a complete list of “ways to grow my business” is our strong recommendation to spend quality time at networking events in your community. Don’t be a wallflower when you attend those events. If you choose to stay on the sidelines and don’t engage some key people, there’s no need to attend. You must engage with attendees and ask them about themselves and their business. Remember, they DON’T care about you or your business, so make the entire conversation about them and for them.
Whenever you can, in advance of the networking event, find out who will be there and do some ‘research’ on them. Pick five people that you want to talk with and do your homework. Learn details about those five that you can talk about – things they care about. When you do this and get their contact information, you generate a really good feeling of connection. Once you leave the meeting or the next day follow-up with a personal text or email.
Contact me at 419-202-6745 or [email protected]
Dick Wagner Co-Founder The CREST Network, LLC
Nationally recognized coach, consultant, trainer, mentor, and speaker
Creator of the renowned PREP™ pre-disaster program
Owner of AskDickWagner.com BLOG
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