Weather or Not

Woke up to hurricane warnings! Stuff blowing sideways past your window makes Mondays less thrilling. This weather happens in the Southeast since the Gulf of Mexico is apparently El Niño’s favorite place to do a huge belly buster. (Scientific fact. Ask anybody.)

Every area has to deal with their distinctive weather “signature”. And we regularly deal with contractors who feel “the weather” is why they’re busy, not busy, on fire, or chipping their trucks out of the parking lot instead of selling. (A solution is coming, if you can believe it.)

But first, here’s how the rest of the Nation views your region. If you live in these regions and disagree, the rest of us would like to say, “Yeah, right. Whatever you say.”

How Others View Weather in Your Area

The North and Northeast is embalmed under 3 feet of ice for like 9 months of the year. All winter, tanker-loads of salt are dumped over what is called “Goiter’s Triangle” that stretches from Detroit to Bangor to Cleveland.  To help indoors, millions of Amish Heaters are sent (second one shipped FREE!) to thaw inhabitants. Several regain consciousness and revote in Chicago elections.

The Midwest – in organized midwesterly fashion - has a tornado scheduled every 90 minutes. That’s why the show, Storm Chasers (previously called “9 Sorta Bored Idiots in a Van Full of Cameras”) drives around Nebraska hoping to outrun 270 mph winds. When the Tornado Generator Vortex Thruster machine is being serviced, a flood is called in to relieve boredom.

In the Northwest, it has been raining since the Paleozoic era. In Seattle, a town where Noah wouldn’t have made Eagle Scout, it’s not unusual to see a giant squid in a coffee shop, just lying there… lost, but caffeinated. Those raised in the Northwest have never seen their shadow outdoors, thus believe “The Sun” is a rumor. Mildew is considered a crop.

In the Southwest, they pretend to have two seasons: 1) hot and 2) dry, but they occur simultaneously. (Then why the appeal of Taco chips and hot sauce?)  The west half of Texas - which is larger than all of Europe - also boasts of “Tumbleweed Season,” though it was determined these are actually remnants of the border fence.

As non-conformists, California refuses to have weather. They instead have “trends” which include seismic gyrations, mudslides, geysers, and locust swarms. Oddly, locals contend that it’s “Surf’s Up” all year at 72 degrees with perfect humidity, yet the Television News shows houses sliding down hills onto Interstate 5, where no one really notices, but honks and refuses to let them “cut in line”. California behaves like an island, which could be prophetic.

So, the weather never cooperates. The season never “behaves”. You can always find a reason that your business doesn’t thrive because of conditions “out of your control.” But there are conditions within your control…

How to Make Smart Marketing Beat the Stupid Weather (Plus a 7 Sentence Marketing Plan that WORKS)

How to Make Smart Marketing Beat the Stupid Weather

In place of the word “weather”, you can put basically any condition you want: the economy, competitors, cheap customers, whatever. The more things you put in the blank, the less control you have over results, as you’ll see in a moment.

When we review the “Marketing Needs Analysis” for members, the overwhelming, Number One problem (by a long shot) is “No plan”. Many arrive here lost, with no map. Of course, the time to have the map is before you enter the woods. (Do you want the map? We can send you a “Contractor Marketing Needs Analysis” below.)

Two points about this:

1) This is why we exist.  I don’t unclog drains, wire generators, or replace heat exchangers. If I went on one service call for your company, something would catch fire and people would be sued.

2) Having “no map” has nothing to do with the quality of your contracting. It is common to be highly skilled and competent… with very quiet phones. Marketing is how you turn your skills into dollars.

So, marketing runs your contracting machine, not the other way around. Your sales are directly related to leads, which – unless you’re selling door to door – are coming directly from your marketing efforts.

To remake my stance: FULL Dependence on the weather, or blame on “conditions” means you’re reactive, not proactive. A plan trumps chance every time. Allow me to simplify a plan:

The 7-Sentence Marketing Plan

The Hudson, Ink 7 Sentence Marketing Plan

1. Who are you trying to reach? (Research; demographics;)
2. What ways do you plan to reach them? (Media)
3. What specific benefits will you stress to them? (Unique message, angle, identity.)
4. How much do you plan to spend? (According to % of sales goals.)
5. What advertising tools will you use? (Specific emails, ads, letters, other.)
6. What are your goals? (Sales, Referrals, Retention rate)
7. How will you measure, improve and repeat? (Tracking, continuous improvement.)

If you’ll answer those 7, you’ll be on the path to a major marketing plan improvement.

Marketing is a system, with parts that work together toward a common goal, exactly like a plumbing, HVAC, or electrical system. For results that lower your stress, raise your sales, and put you more in control, a plan is required. Not optional.

Item 6 above gives people pause, or “excuse” to stop the process. “Let me get back to you on that” they’ll say. Translation: “I have no blooming idea how to go from goal to action.” Allow me to simplify a goal:

Step 1: Set a Goal:

Step 2: What is currently keeping you from reaching it? (Tools, talent, people, just list it out.)

Step 3: What is your timeline for reaching it?

An example for a simple goal might be “less weather dependence”. (This example can work with any “condition” you pick, so just follow this through.) Firm up vagaries by saying your goal is to “Increase sales volume in off-peak months by 20%.”

How many months in off-peak? Call it 6. Look at sales last year in those seasons, add 20%. Great. How many unit sales will that take? Great.

What’s your closing ratio? (Note: Could it improve?) No matter, now you know how many leads it’s going to take to reach that goal. You just did that in about one minute.

Enter marketing. Now what?

• Look at your top 3 lead sources from last year. (If you’re NOT keeping up with this, get our Lead Tracker.) Name other underutilized lead sources here.
• Invest to generate the number of leads it’ll take to reach the 20% increase. (There are 3 ways you don’t have to generate any more leads. See below.)
• Set the calendar for those sources, over the 6 off-peak months.

Now, you’ve got a goal, the time frame, budget, media, and month of attack.  All you do is measure the results from here. Then yell at whoever is responsible, including yourself.

Measurements You Should Know:

• Cost per lead. Critical measurement. If you’re paying $500 a month on a PPC campaign that brings a 20:1 sales ratio, what would happen if you spent $1,000.  Who cares if paying for 1^st Class postage costs you $1,000 more dollars than standard if you get faster and more leads because of deliverability? Review what the marketing expense brings you. It’s an investment, remember?

• Higher margins. This (and the next two) is how you can reach your sales goals without generating a single additional lead. With unique marketing, you can ask and get more for your goods. Try 2%, or 5% more to start. My guess is that you won’t lose one customer except for Mickey McCheap. Our lead-generation ads openly tout increased benefits without saying a word about how “cheap” the service is.  I’d advise this in your marketing too.
  
• More Upsells. Pick two items that are ‘naturals’ for each service or product you offer in off-peak. An agreement with a tune-up. Bio-clean with a declog service. Three outlets for the price of two. Whatever. Train your techs for these items with every call. Which brings me to…
  
• Better Closing ratio. Sales training is NOT an expense. It’s an educational investment designed to pay rewards. (Contact Drew Cameron at www.hvacsellutions.com or Joe Crisara a www.contractorselling.com )

Bottom Line: Better to have a plan than no plan. Why be “surprised” by the weather, economy, or competitors. They’ve always been there, and are always coming. Your marketing plan RUNS the sales machine that IS your contracting business.

Everything from a better Local Search Results, to good oversized Postcards, to powerful Social Media posts, to Newsletters people actually read – it all adds up to a smart marketing “system” and a successful contracting business. 

In this way, you run the business instead of it running you. Isn’t that the real goal? Let us help.

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RESOURCES FOR THIS REPORT:

Coaching Members: Download your free Marketing Needs Analysis here.

Coaching Members: Request the Lead Tracker Software here.

Not a Coaching Member? Are you nuts? How in the world can you go wrong having a team of marketing experts “in your back pocket” for $39 a month? I don’t know, so go here to join. 

Adams Hudson

Adams Hudson is president of Hudson Ink, a contractor marketing firm, author of 12 books on Contractor Marketing. Adams will be speaking at ACCA Annual Conference in Las Vegas, March 6-8 on “Web Marketing Gold Rush” with Lissa Monroe, ‘The Contractor Listing Queen’.