Large companies aren’t immune to giant call problems and don’t know how to avoid missing leads. Shocking, we know.
Here at Hook, we listen and go through a majority of the calls and form-fills that we get for our clients to sort out the unqualified leads from the real ones.
And you wanna know what we found? There’s A LOT of lead waste going on!🤧 Especially for well-established companies, you’ll find this topic more important than you realized, if you haven’t already.
When big companies are excellent at some aspects of their business (mostly, what they’re known for), it often blinds them to the things that they’re not doing well. For example, companies that are undoubtedly fantastic at, say, storm damage, with great reviews and a good reputation.
But then, over here at the other end are amazing opportunities in the grip of the calls that they’re missing out on. It’s surprising! If your business is as wonderful as you claim it is, why is it taking more than a minute for customers to reach a live company rep? Or multiple touches and calls to get your services?
The truth is, those that’ll call again are the patient ones (most likely referrals; leads from Google Ads will surely not try you again). Most folks would immediately move down the list.🚶♂️🚶♀️
But What Could be Wrong?
Recently, marketers have used links from social media posts to push people to their websites to start a conversation. But should they always do that?
We’ve found in our talking with contractors that they get a copious amount of leads but don’t have the necessary processes and tools to turn those leads into actual business. In what other ways can you guarantee your win with leads?
Laura Nelson from SignPost gives us actionable tips to help you with securing your leads. Let’s zoom in on five of them.
Widespread Communication
We believe it boils down to the type of campaign and tracking you have in place. True; Contractors have more control over their stories on their websites.
But we recommend that you also open other channels of communication, like your Facebook Messenger, Google Messages, and texting; do you have a dedicated line for that?
Do you check your Instagram DM regularly? The more doors you have open for prospects to walk through, the higher likelihood you’ll increase your leads and grow a sustainable business.
We’ve recently had someone that came through our personal Facebook messenger and become a client; that’s someone that most probably didn’t even have to look at the website.
So if you could make the sales in person, who says you couldn’t do the same over a messenger?
Who says they have to look at everything? Especially if you have a sales presentation and add these other components to what you’re doing.
Marketers accidentally think that it has to be through one way, but you’d be amazed at the opportunities these different communication channels can bring you.
Another way to go about it is to cut down the number of steps in your process. For example, you might use a scheduler tool on your website or anything like that to make the transaction process smoother and faster.
Lightning-speed Response⚡
How quickly do you think companies should respond to inquiries? Well, you probably already know that timing is everything.
Homeowners are often going to buy from the person who responds first. They want to continue their day, not spend hours vetting and talking to contractors 🥲
The faster you respond, the more likely you are to close that job. There are tools today that can help you automate HomeAdvisor leads or Facebook responses that come in from one platform.
But What Does Failure Look Like? (You Might Ask)
Failure is when a prospective client gets no response or acknowledgment whatsoever to their call, text, or form-fill on your website. What happens next is that they move on to the next company on their list.
You lose that job. And that’s costly when investing in any kind of marketing, whether organic to your website, through an agency, PPC, or Google local services. You’re watching money fly away! 💸
Work Your Leads Properly!
It’s not enough to reach out once and give up because you didn’t get a response. As a company, you must set a minimum number of contacts to reach out to that prospect in multiple ways. Alright, they’re not answering through the phone; have you tried them via text or email?
You’re making sure to reach them through different channels and exhausting your possibilities with this lead. Once or twice is certainly not enough; you’ve got to contact them eight, nine, or ten times before you can say you’ve tried enough.
Utilize Tools
Winning leads is a combo of human resources, processes, tools, and technology. Here’s another perfect opportunity for tech to “do its thing.” Drip campaigns and other automation capabilities can help keep your sales touchpoints going.
A drip campaign is a simple automation, say email, where you send them a series of messages over a period of time to get your information out there.
They can be educational, promotional, or a combination of both; whatever you decide is right for your business and to get your brand out there.
It’ll ensure that you’re creating enough touchpoints and allowing that prospect to evaluate you and to say yes or no to the job.
Have a Human Backup for Evenings and Weekends
“Is that worth it?” You may ask. But people are searching and making purchase decisions in the evenings. Home owners will often be at work all day or taking kids to and from school.
So they don’t have much time during the day to look up and contact up to five roofers, although they’re also mindful that you might not be on call at 8:30 pm or later on the weekends when you’re away attending to personal business.
Here again, tech can come to your rescue. Consider getting a human backstop, especially for the phone calls – a live receptionist service (which doesn’t go beyond a couple of hundred bucks a month).
It enables you to receive calls when you’re busy. Here are some perks you get from such service:
- Anyone that calls reaches an actual human, and you get a text message summary of what came in and what you should do.
- It helps filter out spam calls that aren’t worth your time during those hours.
- In a busy market like roofing, chances are it’ll be hard to hire someone to answer phones as it’s part-time.
Final Thoughts
So what do you think? Do any of these points ring a bell? We’re confident that with a widespread communication system in place, quick response, intentional lead working, and the myriad of benefits that tech brings, a good percentage of your leads should fall into your grip and get converted to faithful, paying customers!
