What Is The Most Effective/ Cost-Effective Marketing For A Service Department?

[electriciansnet]

I'm putting together a new (two truck) service department that is going to be a kind of child company of a well established, Florida based company where I have been VP for about 7 years. This new department will come with a new fresh and modern spin off logo; a slightly altered name and a ton of new concepts that focus on public/ customer relations and employee incentives.

The foundation of the business plan is to appear like a Fortune 500 company while maintaining the lowest overhead possible. I'm having a business plan built and I'm lacking the marketing data and advertising budget. This is an area that i really, really need to get right the first time around. Not only for the business plan but for my concept to fundamentally succeed.
We all know that bad advertising can be a business killer and quick!
Currently I pay to be in a rotation and receive text messaged leads which, combined with word-to-mouth, keeps me us fairly busy.
However its the commercial bid jobs that pay the bills but that's about all they do.
Whats working for you guys that are succeeding on the service end? Google Local? Your own site and SEO? Billboards (Expensive!), radio (Expensiver!!), cable (Expensivest!!!)?

 

[wirenuter]

Currently I pay to be in a rotation and receive text messaged leads

Can you explain this.

I am watching this thread of yours with great interest. We are moving towards service only as well. For the same reasons. We are already large high end resi, so we kinda have a leg up. We email target existing customers, and appeal to them to tell a friend if they are happy. We offer them discounts for booking during our typically slow times, and run specials on generators for example, or flat screen installs. We have tried radio. Big bucks and you need to maintain for any benifit. Odd as it sounds church bulletins. Lots of elderly so you ned to be patient. Make a housewife happy (no smart ass remarks) and you can own the neigborhood.

 

[Ohmy]

Seems like everyone is getting into service these days. Its interesting how the tide has turned. All of sudden people are climbing all over themselves to get to the old lady with the burned up dimmer.

 

[wirenuter]

Getting in to service

Getting in to service

We have always done it, probabley 75% of our gross. The other 25% was/is custom high end homes. The projects are now being wired by day laborers, so its time to move 100% to some that they can't do, or are limited do to thier lack of knowledge, and the poor presentation to the Homeowner.

 

[electriciansnet]

Hi wirenuter !
At the risk of bringing more competition to my market- what I mean is that I pay a service that does nothing but gather leads by insuring their site is a top-ranking site in the search engines. The end user completes a short form on their site and it comes to me and my competitors in the form of a text message. I have been a member for about 4 years and i still never even take a shower without my phone in the bathroom. I reply to the text with an instant phone call no matter the time of day and my response is always "wow! I just hit the enter key and you called!". This, in my opinion, gives me an edge.
I would mention their name but a) I don't think I'm allowed to here and b) I don't want to promote this company on account of the fact that they promised not to add more than 3 other contractors in my area and did not hold to that promise. Nevertheless- I get 1-5 calls a week out of it.

 

[electriciansnet]

So... nobody has any input as to what ads are working for them?

So... nobody has any input as to what ads are working for them?

Highly competitive huh?

 

[flyboy]

1. Sell to your existing customers. If your company has a customer base market to them first. It will have a higher return and lower cost per lead.

2. As you bring on new cutomers, make them a service agreement customer. The benefits to them are discounts on repairs, a discount or ellimination of the dispatch fee (trip fee, diagnostic fee, call out fee, whatever you call it fee), 24/7 service with no overtime charge, transferability (they can bring it to their new home or leave for the new owner. Charge them a minimal yearly fee for this, say $79/yr. Sell it to them on the first visit and let them know the next time they call they'll start getting the discounts. Selling to service agreement customers is the most profitable business and least expensive marketing you can get, hands down. Pay alot of attention to building this service agreement base. Spiff your electricians for selling them. $10 for every year they sell. Sell multiple years on the premise the customer locks in the price. We have over 4,000 agreement customers.

3. Get a user friendly website. Use a professional SEO. Do not use a person (or company) that claims to do both. They are lying. SEO is a full time job and should only use a professional. Her she is (and no, I do not get anything for recommending her:

Laura Brand | SEO Consultants LLC

(Moderators note: E-mail information has been removed at the posters request, if you want the contact information please P.M. this member)

4. If you haven't figured it out yet, yellow pages suck. Don't waste your money on display ads. Get a bold in colume ad to make it easy for the few customers who will look in there for you.

5. Door hangers, get your electricians to hang them on, yup, you guessed it doors. You'll be amazed at the work you'll get out of those if it's done correctly.

6. Teach your electricians how to sell and how to ask for referrals. Get them business cards with their name on the and spiff them for work they generate. PM me for more information on sales training. Hire the

7. Penny Savers & newspapers: Keep the ads simple and consistant. The longer you run them the better.

8. Flyers: Leave them on cars, pin them up on bulletin boards, hand them to people, just get them out there.

9. Build your brand! Define the brand in a way that makes you memorable, unique, different. Think like a customer, like a marketeter, not like an electrician. Understand what customers what, look at things from the customers perspective. In the beginning, don't trust what you think looks or sounds good in the way of a marketing piece, regardless of what media your using. Get help from non-tradesmanon this.

9. Hire the right people. They must have the right attitude to sell service work.

10. Read everything you can on sales and marketing. Become an expert.

11. Track everything you do. You won't know what is working and what isn't and you'll waste a fortune if you don't track it.