No Leads? No Problem!

There’s an old adage used widely by marketers and advertising types that goes something like this: "The business that doesn’t advertise is like the guy who winks at a girl in a dark room. He knows what he’s doing, but nobody else does." Another one is this: "The only businesses that don’t need to advertise are those that are going out of business."

I may be wrong about this, but I’m guessing that there are operators in our industry who do not do any form of advertising or marketing, save perhaps a small, passive ad in a local Yellow Page directory. I’m also guessing that these same folks are not growing too rapidly, if at all.

Now this doesn’t mean that you should just go out and buy tons of advertising and thereby go bankrupt in the name of growing your business. I’m also not saying that you should continue operating on this slippery slope to oblivion.

When it comes to investing money in promoting your business, there are many options. There’s broadcast television, cable television, radio, outdoor (billboards), print (newspapers, magazines) direct mail, Internet…and on and on. But there are also steps you can take that don’t cost anything and can help you incrementally build your business.

HARD-TO-REACH CUSTOMERS. These days, especially in medium and larger marketplaces, it’s difficult to go out and just knock on doors. "Cold calling" in a residential neighborhood is a dying (if not already dead) paradigm. Communities have "No Soliciting" signs at their entrances, or they have gates keeping people out who don’t have a reason for being there. It’s also getting more difficult to telemarket services. People can have their names and phone numbers placed on "Don’t Call" lists, and if they are called, serious sanctions can be imposed on the organization doing the calling. So what can you do to build your business without investing (or throwing your money away) in some possibly ill-fated advertising venture?

First, you can make your existing customers more valuable to you by cross selling them another service. If you’ve already got their termite renewal coming in, why not offer them a free pest inspection and a significantly discounted service? After all, there’s no marketing expense, right? Cross selling is overlooked more often than you might imagine. If you also do lawn care, consider that termite protection customers and lawn care customers have the same risk- adverse psychology about their homes. They’re both interested in how their homes look and how they are protected. If you’re not selling lawn care to your termite renewal base and vice versa, you’re missing a relatively easy sale!

BRING ACCOUNTS TO LIFE. Next, unless your operation is really something special, you probably have some cancelled customer files gathering dust somewhere. If they’ve been cancelled for more than six months and if they haven’t moved away or passed away, call them up and find out if the grass really was greener for them on the other side. There’s a chance they’re unhappy with their new service and might consider coming back if you made it attractive enough for them.

You also probably have some unsold proposals on hand. These are folks you had a shot at and lost to a competitor. Maybe they’re ready to give you another look. Give them a call and find out if they’re happy with the company they selected and if they’d like another chance to make a better decision.

Now, I need to tell you that when you call cancelled and unsold customers chances are you’re going to face a bunch of rejection. Just remember that every "no" along the way gets you closer to that all-important "yes."

If you have a dedicated sales effort (meaning people in your company whose sole job is to sell new business), have a sales person ride with a technician and leave sales material with adjacent and nearby homeowners. He or she could also use the opportunity to ask satisfied customers for referrals and offer them either free or discounted service in exchange for a referral who turns into a customer.

Finally, do some networking with your local chamber of commerce, civic groups (like Rotary or Kiwanis), fraternal groups (like the Elks Club) or religious groups. Develop a small "affinity" program whereby members of these groups can get a discount on service simply because they’re members of these groups.

Obviously, it’s more efficient provided you have the resources to do some market-based advertising to help get the word out about and grow your business. But in the absence of those resources, and with an investment of some good, old-fashioned "sweat equity," there are tactics you can employ to measurably and effectively add customers to your base, revenues to your balance sheet and profits to your bottom line.

The author is vice president of marketing/public relations for Massey Services Inc., Maitland, Fla. He can be reached via e-mail at bbrewer@pctonline.com or 407/645-2500.