Word of mouth
We have found that making profiles on different websites has produced leads. Many people turn to internet search engines to locate a contractor in their area. We have a Facebook page with photos of every job and we have our own website also. Angies List is also a good lead generator. The people on Angie’s List have to pay a membership fee so when you are contacted through there you know you are dealing with a serious customer. Word of mouth is also a huge job generator. When your past customers not only talk about the remodeling they had done but they also can show off what they had done. The prospective client gets an excellent idea of the quality of work that you perform.
For our company, it has been the best tool, Word of Mouth.
Word of mouth!! And always customer service along with making sure the project is cleaned up.
Generally the hardest thing to do in construction when your starting out is getting the ball rolling, so whether your a labor turned journeymen or a college graduate starting your construction career at well established firm on the administrative side. Networking plays a huge role in developing leads. In business as well as your personal life, people tend to asscoiate themselves with people that they can get along with. So be Honest , Provide a great service and see your business flourish with a good word of mouth.
Cheers.
Certainly, referral business is solid gold in our industry. If you are a good contractor, with honest practices and good work, you will get referrals and repeat customers. However, we all have to strive for the new lead. I’ve tried direct mail, magazine advertising, yellowpages advertising, flyers dropped, door to door knocking, trade shows, internet and adwords. Pretty much everything but cold calling. Here’s what I’ve found: The more labor intensive, the better the results. Expensive gets results too, but wears you down over time and eventually eats away your profits. Now, this is just my particular industry (Concrete and Landscape), in my particular area (Southern California). In todays world, you HAVE to be found on the internet, you have to have a website for your business and you have to actively manage it. Its up to you if you have the resources to pay someone to SEO it, and then trust them to get it in front of the right people. You want your website to sell your business. But first people have to get to it, and in todays world that’s no easy (or cheap) thing, (unless you have highly advanced SEO skills, and really, if any of us had THAT skill set wouldn’t we work for google instead?) So, what is the next best thing? Postcard mailing. I get a 5-7% immediate response up to 11% over time response rate. Postage has gotten high, I send the large post cards (more room for BIG pictures), but its a reasonable ROI. Postcards are far better than flyers (which I believe are never even looked at, or looked at with disdain and tossed in the trash). A postcard is mail. At least you get a few seconds to grab their attention. The BEST method of course, is door to door, or trade or home shows, very labor intensive but produces many leads (one is free/one can be expensive). Of course, if you remodel bathrooms, you’re probably not going to walk up and down the street knocking on doors asking people if they want to re-do their bathrooms, but I would target older neighborhoods, where younger families are moving in, and mail to them. Chances are you’re going to get hits that way. But generating leads is just the first step. If you can’t then produce good referrals and show past work, don’t bother wasting your time and money. See to your reputation first, because homeowners are getting much more savvy with the advent of the internet and google in general. One bad review can lose you many, many jobs. And an unhappy customer is FAR more likely to leave a bad review than a happy one leave you a good review. That is how unhappy people vent! They write bad reviews on the internet. Irregardless, you must invest some time into your internet marketing, but don’t ignore the other avenues.
I have been working in this field for over 30 years and the absolute best marketing is word of mouth. Do the job right make sure the customers are happy. Be more than just “another contractor”
We have found that quality reviews from clients on social sites like Yelp, Buildzoom and Angie’s List result in new business. Our team prides itself in ensuring the highest level of customer service and building long lasting relationships with our clients.