Maybe you have just started your small contracting business, or you have hit a snag in your marketing in the last one year.
Whatever the case, you need to start attracting real business into your firm, or you will go under.
How to attract business for your contract company
The industry continues to grow steadily by up to 6% annually. In an industry where construction and cleaning services revenues exceed $13 billion annually, things are good for mid-sized companies.
The swimming pool contracting business is a preserve of mid-level players. In fact, most players are individuals or freelance contractors.
To move from this stage of business to the next where you can serve a large clientele and at the same time, you need to be strategic. This article looks at ways of attracting business.
Referrals from related business networks
You have your suppliers, swimming pool financing companies, cleaning and maintenance partners, and many other industry players that you can utilize to bring business.
For example, people go to pool suppliers for advice on maintenance and cleaning.
If you have a good industry relationship with the supplier, he or she can refer clients to you.
Sometimes they may demand a commercially viable engagement such as quid quo pro; it is better than hopping from one target to another.
You can also approach property contractors within your locality for referral or subcontracts.
They always subcontract what they do not have in-house.
Smart marketing: learn and utilize customer targeting
Every business that wants to escape the wrath of competition is playing at the highest level possible.
It starts with customer profiling, targeting, onboarding and lastly, selfishly keeping the customer away from prying eyes.
You do that through research and surveys, digital marketing, and online customer experience. For a starter, you must learn the basics; know the game of targeting and close the deal before someone else does.
You can find customers through online forums, industry events, and so on.
Being unique-designs and services
It sounds cliché to say that someone can be unique when it comes to contracts; after all, the customer gives you a contract based on his or her decision.
Before a customer calls you, he or she has already done the homework and already knows what service or product they want.
Your business is to ensure that you are the one he or she calls and not someone else.
If you have a website, innovate and be trendy as much as possible.
Of course, it takes significant industry expertise to pull off unique designs, but you had better be up for it. Rule of the thumb; never promise what you can’t deliver flawlessly.
Providing expert services worth customer referrals
Customers brag about their new acquisitions. They even post it on social media that they just installed a brand new in-ground pool.
Be there to comment or simply ask them to tag you on the post — if of course is not too much to ask.
Smart business owners don’t view warranties as a liability, they see them as an opportunity to extend the relationship with the client.
If you have served a client before, it is hard for them to refuse you a favor, such as to participate in a survey or share the contractor with his or her contacts.
Bundling services and offerings
Maybe you only construct pools, but once you have built it, someone needs to maintain and clean it. If it is within your capacity, bundle the services together.
That way, you will have three clients in one at any given time — the pool construction service, the pool maintenance service, and the pool cleaning service.
Conclusion
It all boils down to strategy. If your targeting, networking, service rendering, and marketing are spot on, you will attract decent contracts to your company.
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