Our cleaning industry’s shared challenge has never been DOING the work. (This is the easy part!) Instead, most cleaning and restoration contractors struggle with actually GETTING the job! In fact…
One of the most common questions I hear (right behind “How do I find good employees?”) is, “Steve, HOW do I make my phone ring?” But wait!
BEFORE we focus on marketing remember this! Your phone ringing will be a total waste of your time and money unless you obsess on this fact…
‘Lead Conversion’ is essential!
Don’t get me wrong! ‘Marketing’ IS important to bring in the leads! But when you ‘Fail To Convert’ (FTC) or sell a prospect you will lose present (and huge future) profits! For example…
Remember that you ‘pay’ for every new phone caller!
Doubt me? Then let me share a formula (and challenge you to use it!) to…
Determine your very own Pro-rated Marketing Cost per Call (PRMCC)
Here’s how to calculate your company’s PRMCC:
A) Add up your TOTAL ‘mass marketing’ and advertising budget every month. Include Facebook, SEO and website expenses. But don’t include the cost of reminders you send to previous clients.
NOTE: I suggest tracking monthly because it is a long enough period to smooth out call fluctuations but short enough to add a sense of urgency. (You can also test bi-monthly or quarterly tracking too. But assuming you’re getting a decent call volume I like monthly.)
B) Track the total NEW non-referred potential clients that contact your company. Don’t include previous customers OR prospects referred by one of your Cheerleader Customers in this calculation. How can you classify a caller?
1. One of your opening Qualifying Phone Questions should be: “Have we worked for you before?” If so, they are out of your ‘B’ Group!
2. Your Phone Format should include this closing question, “If I can ask you just one more question- how did you learn about Our Company?” If the caller replies, “Yes, my friend Sally Green tells me you folks are the best carpet cleaners ever!” then she shouldn’t go in your ‘B’ group either.
C) Now divide ‘A’ (your mass marketing budget) by ‘B’ (new non-referred prospects). This will give you your PRMCC! (Pro-rated Marketing Cost per Call)
If you’ve accurately tracked your calls (and haven’t fudged your calculations) you’ll be amazed at just how much your direct cost is when you slam the phone down and scream, “Dirty, rotten @)&%^$#!* PRICE SHOPPER!” (And don’t forget the actual job amount you lose when you FTC!)
But WAIT! The plot thickens! When you FTC (Fail To Convert) a caller your lost ‘downstream income’ can be enormous. We should talk about this real soon!
Please share in our Strategies for Success: Growing Your Business Facebook Group how you avoid FTC! Or even better…
Sign up for my online SFS: Winning over your caller! LIVE Seminar! (You’ll more than recoup your seminar fee when you ‘convert’ your next ‘Price Shopper’ call!) CLICK HERE for all the seminar details…
And now… don’t you have some ‘converting’ to do?
Steve