Alan Cline
President and CEO 1-800-PLUMBING INC.
Contributing Writer
Everybody wants to get more business NOW and many of the contractors I speak with mention the need to get the phone ringing. I understand that is very important, however, it is also important to look at long-term strategies so that customers will remember your company the next time they need your service and / or when they are asked for a referral from one of their friends, neighbors or relatives.
A solid long-term strategy is important, so your customers will be able to find you or think of your company first when they need services months or years after the initial visit. The industry term is “Top of Mind Awareness” or (Toma) for short. But what is really meant by “Top of Mind”? Certainly, it is not the literal sense an area in the mind where the top “stuff” is stored. But it is like a mental anchor that connects thoughts to things, situations, memories, etc. Just for an example, do you have a particular song that whenever you hear it, it brings you back instantly to an event in your life. It could be 30, 40, or more years than you wish to admit, but that song just brings you back to that event and it always will.
Well that should be the goal with your business. When someone thinks about needing whatever service you provide, you want him or her to think of your company. This is not an easy task and it should be part of an on-going plan in your business. Branding is the path that will lead to TOMA and branding takes time. To effectively brand your company you need an identity. An identity is created through consistent and repetitive use of logos, jingles, videos, etc. Over time your customers hear it, see it, and eventually their brain gets programmed to think of your company first whenever they need service. You know you have succeeded when a customer says something like, “your jingle is driving me crazy, I can’t get it out of my mind” I guess it is kind of like brainwashing, but without any negative effects.
Some of the tools that I think are very important in effective branding include: effective use of voice mail, message on hold, professionally designed logo and graphics, audio and video on website, blogging, monthly newsletter (email or printed), etc. A great start to a branding campaign can be to join your local chamber of commerce and hand out magnets or pens. Get to know some local people and you will start to exchange leads. There are many local networking groups that are free or very inexpensive to join and part of your marketing campaign should be to get known as the local expert in your trade. One of my customers told me that they look at each person in a local networking group as a member of their sales force.
One of the tools that most people don’t use are greeting cards. Think about this; If you are providing a service that generally fixes things, then many of your customer’ s may not be very happy with an unexpected repair bill. You don’t want them thinking of you just when they are upset, as that is not a good anchor. How about sending each customer a birthday card? All you have to do is get the day and month when you provide the service and now when they get a card from their plumber, carpenter, exterminator, etc… they will tell all their friends… because hardly any service people send a birthday card and I am not talking about an e-card. I mean a real physical card that you mail. There are ways to do this very conveniently and cost effectively. I use this strategy and I know that when someone gets a greeting card they usually hold onto it!
There are many innovative techniques that help build “TOMA”, but it takes a major commitment and time to build it up! Building top of mind awareness is a long-term strategy that is well worth the wait and it can help your business move ahead of the competition. With an effective strategy to build “TOMA”, you won’t have any competition because your customers will keep coming back to you and they won’t even try to look for another service provider!
Alan Cline is the President/CEO of 1-800-PLUMBING INC. For more information on Alan and his company visit: www.800plumbing.com.