Running a business has been a wild ride over the last few years. It’s always had its challenges of course, but there have been so many new factors influencing your growth and sustainability, with many seeming to be completely out of your control, right?

Hopefully the days of studying government mandates to see if we can even operate at all are in our rear-view mirror for a long time, and thankfully contractors didn’t get the dreaded “non-essential” tag dropped on them that ruined many livelihoods. But employment and equipment/supply shortages are still presenting challenges that affect our day-to-day life and bottom line. This has produced a new normal for many contractors who are receiving all the business they’ve ever dreamed of but can’t match the same output they were able to in years past.

Now the questions come that many of you have asked:

“Why should I continue to market my business if I can’t meet the demand I already have? Why pay to stir up more business I’m just going to have to send elsewhere?”

This summer’s rush might feel normal. Your entire team is working overtime and everyone drags in sweaty and tired from a long day’s work. But if you’re down three technicians from your peak time two years ago, it’s hard to make up the gap. Even fully staffed contractors are struggling to replace lost revenue on big ticket installs due to long wait times on equipment. How many more service calls do you need to make up the “big ticket” gap? Three or four times as many general maintenance calls and windshield time all over the city? Many of you are working harder than ever before and still producing less profit. That’s a tough pill to swallow, but is it one that’s being ignored because your schedule is staying full?

You’re busy, right? No complaints there and sure beats the alternative, however the goal of business is not just to be busy… it’s finding ways to be as productive as possible. And productivity in business isn’t just finding something to do, it means finding the most profitable thing to do and the most efficient way to do it. So, here’s where you ask yourself: Am I happy just being busy? Or do I want to be productive?

Here's where good marketing comes to the rescue once again.

  • Work SMARTER not harder: If you’re pushing your regular, run-of-the-mill promos you’ve been accustomed to for years just because “we’ve always offered that coupon,” then yes, shut that off ASAP. In most markets across the country there’s no reason to be offering aggressive discounts on anything right now. Scarcity and wait times are through the roof across the board, so if you or your competition are out there giving away the farm, you’re likely just adding to a backlog of unprofitable calls. Instead, let the others chase the bottom of the bucket while your messaging raises the bar to attract a certain type of business.

  • Start being selective: The weather will change soon and you won’t have this luxury, but while you do, focus on the RIGHT kind of work, not just any work. Know your business well enough to know what calls bring the most profit. Promote something different than the rest of the market that’s in a higher price range (but actually available). You might just be shocked at the results. There are frustrated homeowners out there wanting home improvements done, but they’re receiving start-time estimates of three weeks to a month (or more) from backlogged and short-staffed contractors bogged down with mundane jobs. Tell a homeowner what you can come do NOW and you’ll likely get that work NOW.

  • Focus on the handful of customers who really pay your bills: Contractors put far too much focus on how many trucks they have on the road and overall database sizes as measuring sticks for how successful they are. When in reality, the true measure is how much revenue each truck produces and how much each of those individual addresses in your database is worth to your company. Not potentially, but how much is your relationship with them already paying off? I’ve seen $2 million contractors operate off of a database of 4k customers, and I’ve also seen $2 million contractors have to maintain a database of twice that size to reach the same level. Why? Because the second one has put a focus on quantity and forgotten about quality, and it’s making them work twice as hard to survive.

    I’ve asked this question many times, but maybe it will sink in for some of you. What if you could take your 100 most profitable homes from your database and add another 500, or 1,000 just like them? These are the homes that complain little, refer their friends, and are much more likely to use you for multiple services. Now, second scenario. What if you could get a third of your database to use you twice a year versus just once, or even once per year versus every other year? I hope you realize, either of these scenarios would be life-changing for your business. Retention marketing and building a relationship with your homeowner, is proven to increase the frequency of customer calls and increase your average ticket. Instead of focusing on how many new homes you’re getting into while you’re busy, this is an excellent time for a message of appreciation. Remember, these established customers you might be inadvertently neglecting while you’re running all over town are the ones you’re going to be depending on when demand slows down.

A smart business never stops marketing completely; they just shift the focus. If you aren’t paying attention to your messaging or you’ve stopped promoting yourself altogether, it’s costing you money in more ways than one.