You don’t sell hair products for men by talking about how they’ll give you bounteous curls and a delectable floral scent. You say, “Get this and get rid of the gray.” Or “Solve your dandruff problem – today.” Or “Grow more hair with this proven process.” And you definitely don’t sell hair products by saying, “Buy this today because we’ve been selling hair products since 1976.”
The son of a plumber has no doubt been the subject of many a marketing case study on how to make a pitch to customers. That son with contracting in his lineage was the late Sy Sperling, who passed away last month. He was better known by the name of the company he founded in the mid-1970s – the Hair Club for Men.
Yet his model for reaching his market didn’t take off until 1982 when he appeared in his first commercial about his hair restoration products. A soon-to-be-famous tag line at the end came when he held up an old photo of himself with a bald pate and said, “Remember, I’m not only the Hair Club president, but I’m also a client.”
See what he did there? His ad wasn’t fancy. He wasn’t an actor. He didn’t brag about how great his company is. He spoke with empathy and humility. He was helping solve a problem, and he understood what was important to his clients – because he used this product too.
This would be similar to a contractor demonstrating a carbon monoxide detector in an online video and wrapping it up by saying, “This is what I use in my own home, and I trust it too.” All of a sudden, the customer recognizes that you’re not playing around here. You’re not bragging about how great this product is just to make a sale, but you’re reinforcing that it’s a product you genuinely trust.
Most of us want to brag about ourselves, and many of us think that’s the way to distinguish ourselves from our competitors. After all, shouldn’t marketing be focused on making boastful claims about our products and our services? As part of that, shouldn’t we proudly proclaim how long we’ve been in business?
The trouble is, “Serving this area since 1960,” or whenever you were founded, is not a unique selling position (unless you’re uniquely selling 60-year-old equipment). And “We’re a full-service contractor” doesn’t mean much to a customer who needs to solve a very specific problem. Furthermore, while “fully-stocked trucks” is a fine point to make, it’s a whole lot better if you can explain why that matters: “Your problems solved, on the spot.”
Marketing is about getting into the head of your prospect, trying to understand their pain points and promoting desirable benefits to make their lives easier, more comfortable, safer and more enjoyable. As a matter of fact, even your “About” page on your website – the one thing you think might be about you – should actually focus on why your history and experience makes a difference for your customer.
So, as you think about what your customers need and how you can deliver on said need, start your messaging in your tagline. It’s also sometimes called a positioning statement, but there are differing views on this terminology.
A positioning statement is what you have defined for yourself about how you differentiate yourself in your market. Before you tell others who you are, you need to be clear on your own identity. What is your promise to customers and how will you deliver on that promise?
It could be, “We’re a local contracting company with a small but highly-skilled team that is serving each customer as if it’s our best customer, no matter the size of the job.” In this sense, you’re defining that excellence in skills and in service is of high importance, and you want everyone to know that you’re here for them.
But that’s still too long for a tagline. Instead, you might sum that up as: “Delivering excellence on every call.”
Once you’ve gotten clear on your positioning statement, you build out your marketing campaigns to support this same theme in everything you do. Draw the picture for your customers on what this looks like for them. “Help your family breathe better with safer air.” “Save money on your energy bills month after month.” “Don’t risk a breakdown on the coldest/hottest day of the year.”
Remember that these improvements for the home are personal for your customer. Your tune-up services help keep families comfortable. Your IAQ services reduce allergies and keep them healthy. Your CO detector keeps them safe. You make it easy to make upgrades by providing easy-to-obtain financing.
Get personal about what’s in it for them. Then connect the dots for what they need to do to get the goods: “Call us today.”
If you’d like personal help with your marketing, give us a call at (800) 489-9099 or shoot us an email to [email protected] to get a coaching spot. We’ve helped hundreds of contractors who’ve been right where you are, and we can help you too.