Deep Down, Clients Seek a Single Source

This week, a client said a wonderful thing to me. “We would rather you guys just handle all of this work…you just make it easy for us.”

As service contractors, “making it easy” for someone is the name of the game. 

Our customers, yours and mine, could do what we do. If your clients had the time and the inclination, they could probably do what you do, and mine could, too. Now before any of my design/build clients get up in arms, I recognize that a homeowner can’t just decide to design and properly install a new outdoor kitchen this weekend. However, for vast swaths of the work done in this industry, even some landscape/hardscape, a person COULD do it themselves, if they wanted to.

Why don’t they? Because you make it easier than doing it themselves. You provide superior results relative to the effort required. This is all common sense, and I’m not telling you anything you don’t know.

Consider: It really doesn’t take much perceived “difficulty” to destroy the perception that you are making it easy. I had a friend ask me last weekend to recommend a company for spring cleanups at his house. I suggested a local contractor, and he said, “I already called them twice and have gotten no response.” There’s basically zero chance that my friend will consider this contractor at this point, because they’ve already made it more difficult than needed. 

If we are in the business of providing a convenient, easy solution, we have to do so consistently throughout the process. As you look ahead to a busy spring season, I encourage you to think through your process for every point of client contact and picture it from their perspective in order to ensure that you are making the process as painless as possible. You want them to be happy to fork over their money and think that you made their life easy; just remember that applies to the whole process and not just the end result.

Direct Mail Made Easy

We provide a variety of direct mailing programs you can choose from, and they all have certain things going for them.

Every Door Direct Mail has become our first-stop recommendation for direct mail, because it's geographically targeted, extremely cost-effective, and it is the most user-friendly program the US Post Office has ever offered, in our opinion.

Even if you feel like you have enough leads coming in to keep you busy, EDDM is a good program to use to generate leads in very specific neighborhoods. It's also a really good idea to be in the habit of doing some lead-generation mailings, just as a baseline of proactive marketing.

Start by selecting carrier routes on the USPS Mapping Tool. Then, check out our website to see how many EDDM cards you want to produce, call me (800-525-6999), or e-mail me (joeshooner@growpro.com) for more information.

Traditional Direct Mail is a better option if you are planning to mail large quantities (50K or more) or if you need to omit specific addresses from your mailing. It is arguably "easier" than EDDM but tends to cost a bit more than the Every Door approach.

New Homeowner Mailings are something you should be doing. Every month, potential customers move into your area. You are a good, neighborly service provider. At the very least, it's a friendly gesture to send them a "Welcome to the Neighborhood" card. 

Now is a really good time to get your mailing program in place, and we can help put together a program that's right for you. 


E-Mail Marketing Programs

I don't say this about many things, but every single one of you reading this should have an e-mail marketing program in place.

Our E-Newsletter Program is so easy to use that you'll hardly have to do anything, and it's very cost-effective (roughly $205/month for most clients).

For current customers, you reinforce their relationship with your company, and for prospects, you're giving them continuous reminders that they were interested in your service.

No part of your business suffers if you have better communication with your clients and prospects. It only makes things better. 

Do you want to make your clients happier, less likely to call and complain, and more likely to buy additional services and refer you to their friends? Do you want to keep them informed and make them feel better about working with you? 

If the answer to any of these is "yes," then I strongly recommend a monthly e-mail program. All you have to do to get started is visit our website and fill out the form on this page. We will contact you right away to finalize the program and get you on the schedule. 

It's seriously the best, easiest thing you can do.