Do you remember the days when you would go next door and ask your neighbor who they recommended to work on your house, fix your car, or drill a well? Perhaps that time was yesterday for you, but for most people, it was never. The people coming of age these days spend most of their time looking at their phones. You’ve seen them walking down the street, oblivious to everything including the dog poop they’re about to step in. Okay, but seriously, people are on their phones all the time these days. It’s no wonder that they are using these phones to find everything from the recipes they use to cook dinner to the local contractors they choose to work with.
15 years ago, my mom took a night class at the local community college and learned how to make a website. She made a website for my dad’s remodeling company and almost overnight the phone started ringing off the hook. We were some of the early adopters so we reaped the rewards of being first. Our business flourished for over a decade before the local competition finally caught up and even surpassed our marketing engine.
When the phone calls started slowing down, we turned to companies like Home Advisor to generate new business. Man, they worked so dang good we made a killing yet again. A few years later and that started to fade out too. It was at this point that I went back to the drawing board to figure out how to solve this problem once and for all. I asked myself, “What can I do to fix this problem once and for all?” That’s where my journey began almost 5 years ago and it’s led me to this very moment writing these words down for you to read. Here’s how I solved this problem once and for all.
Google Maps: A Google My Business profile gives your customers a place to tell the world how great you are.
Okay, so maybe you’re not that great, but it doesn’t mean you don’t make your customers happy. In 2019, multiple studies were done that showed that people trust online reviews more than they trust their own families. Can you see how that is possible? If my grandma told me that a restaurant was good and I went online to find it had 200 1-star reviews and people complaining about the cleanliness, would I go there? Probably not…
Google Maps is the single best marketing tool for local companies available right now. It’s just a sign of the times. Over 90% of people use Google to search for local businesses. What do they see when they get to the search page? Google Maps!
Showing up in the top 3 of Google Maps will land you smack dab on the top of the search page for everyone to see. Having more 5-star reviews than your competitors results in you getting more new customers than everyone else. It’s that simple.
For simple services that are low-risk (low cost), the Google listing might be enough. I know landscapers that get tons of customers from Google Maps and they don’t even have a website. That’s because people already know what lawn mowing entails and it’s not a high-risk purchase. Remodels and water wells on the other hand carry a higher price tag and therefore require more vetting on the part of the consumer. This is where the website comes in.
The Foundational Marketing Strategy for a Contractor in the Digital World
Over the years, I’ve worked with a lot of business owners and have spoken with thousands more. The most successful ones always have 3 things figured out:- They provide a great experience for their customers
- They made sure to have a professional website
- They understand the value of online customer reviews