3 Ways Top Water Damage Restoration Companies Market Better
By Dan York
After a decade of working with hundreds of water damage restoration company marketing programs, seeing companies succeed and fail, I have developed a streamlined view of what works (and what doesn’t) in the industry.
New clients of my company frequently ask, “Should I be doing anything else?” The answer is always yes. While there are many things a company can do to help improve its marketing strategy, I’d like to narrow down to the top three points I’ve personally selected from the largest water damage companies’ strategies.
I wish it were as simple as saying these companies simply work really hard at it. But, it isn’t that simple. Of course, you have to work hard, but that won’t get you into the top tier of water restoration companies out there. Here are the three things the top companies do better than everyone else.
1 | They work hard at getting their company noticed by EVERYONE
They have loud vans/ trucks. They are in every paper. They have billboards on major highways. They have top rankings in SEO, top placements in PPC, and do lead generation (usually with several companies). They network with contractor groups, plumbers, and property management companies as well as with other potential commercial accounts.
They care about their branding — everything looks the same. They realize there is no single “magic bullet” to building a huge company. You’d think their jobs would take up most of their attention, but they don’t. Eventually they appear to be everywhere and look like market leaders, and before you know it, they are.
2 | They never turn away work
You would think this wouldn’t happen, but you’ve probably done it. A big storm rolls in, you can’t handle the volume, and you turn off the phones and kick on the answering machine. Done.
But here is what the bigger guys typically do: They grow with each major occurrence. A storm rolls in for example, but instead of turning off the phones, they invest by buying more equipment to handle it; they hire contractors to handle the extra calls; they have their crews running all hours of the day until everything is handled. Even though things slow down after a storm, not only are these companies more prepared for the next big storm, they’ve also made a killing on the last one so that they now have more part-time contractors and equipment to drop in customer’s houses.
They have all these additional resources they’ve invested in, so they market harder and faster for more business as the additional income and resources are now available. The never “turn off” marketing for slow seasons or storms when everyone is getting work. I’ve seen this simple cycle keep companies growing going up to more than $25 million in annual revenue.
3 | They fire the wrong people
While this is Business 101, we’ve all violated it. If an employee isn’t pulling their weight, you have to let them go. The biggest, most successful companies have great staffs. They have great executives that make great decisions, proven estimators, and sales staff. Their techs are clean and thorough.
They base their hiring decisions on numbers and production, not friend-type relationships. If someone isn’t hitting their numbers, they’re gone. If someone isn’t expanding their department, they are replaced. If they have a bad apple, they don’t let it ruin the whole bunch. They don’t waste time on family squabbles within the business or long-term, petty disputes with staff or execs. They are focused on getting more business.
I know it always seems like there is some secret trick to building huge companies, but the secret is there is no secret. It’s simply a matter of what you do with your time and where you put your attention and efforts.
These are my personal observations of the biggest water damage companies I’ve ever worked with. You yourself, no matter your size now, can make these simple changes and grow faster every year than you did the last.
Dan York is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Stellar-eMarketing and is a seasoned entrepreneur, Internet marketing expert and administrative and marketing consultant, as well as a veteran public speaker. More information is found on York’s websites: www.Stellar-eMarketing.com and www.water-damage-marketing.com