What do the Big Water Damage Companies do that the little ones don’t?
CleanFax Solutions / Online Magazine / May 20, 2015
I’m in the fortunate position where I’ve personally worked with literally hundreds of Water Damage companies, small and large. I’m also always getting calls for advice as to what to do to increase the size of my client’s companies. Out of all of the possible answers to this, I’ve narrowed it down to some of the top characteristics I’ve seen from the most successful companies I’ve worked with as compared to the most unsuccessful:
They are hustlers.
Sales and marketing make up a large percentage of their thoughts and conversations. They know to expand a business you have to sell and market like crazy. They come to work thinking about how to sell more. They know there is no such thing as luck in business. They create their own luck.
They are survivors.
They persist through anything. There is no such thing as a “bad economy” or a “slow season” to them, they see that as a market opportunity to get more business while everyone else is complaining about it and dying out. When things get slow, they kick up their advertising and their networking to compensate for it, not complain. They do something about it. Then when the season picks up, they own even more of the market share.
They are everywhere.
Billboards, painted vans, internet marketing, lead generation, Mr. Coupon, Valupack, networking plumbers, property mangers and insurance companies. They don’t think with just getting that one call (small think), they think with a whole community, they want everyone to know who they are (big think). They think way beyond getting “one call”.
They are not stupid with their ad budgets.
I know a guy who spent $10k on a postcard campaign that got him one phone call – no jobs. He went bankrupt 2 months later. I know another guy who spends $300k+ per year for radio, he is one of the most well-known in his city. I have clients that make over 50% of their gross income from our service. They spend a lot of money on advertising and marketing, but it’s not stupid. It all gets them an ROI. They know how much a marketing campaign is making them. They don’t spend money on things that don’t get a return. They spend lots of money on many different marketing campaigns…that make them money and drive phone calls.
They are great business men.
It’s pretty simple actually: They’re organized, they track profits and losses, track calls and where they come from, they watch for high profit jobs & high phone call volume areas, then market more to those areas, they invest in the future of their company, they hire good/pleasant employees that work hard and don’t turn-off their customers and vendors with bad attitudes. They are not fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants types.
They are positive people.
They think things will work 1st, then they get it to work. They don’t think that things won’t work first and then try it (just to prove they right that it didn’t work). I can tell right away one of these types when they call my company. They start off saying something like, “I saw your ad, I know it doesn’t work, but I wanted to hear what you have to say anyway.” They’ve already decided it won’t work, so of course it won’t. You don’t meet big business owners with mindsets like that. My most successful clients say things like, “I’m a believer, but it’s so hard to find a good company to work with” or “It’s not working yet, but we’ll figure it out eventually.” See, very different mindset. These guys have already decided that it will work…and then do the work to make it happen. They decide and persist.
Think like a big company, become one of them. Think small, stay small.
Sincerely,
Dan York, Founder and CEO Stellar-eMarketing, Inc.
www.water-damage-marketing.com