Archimedes said, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” The principle of leverage will allow you to move more customers with less effort. How can you leverage your time and money? The list below can get you started.
Leverage your breakfasts and lunches
You have to eat. At least, most days you have to eat. You have to eat breakfast. You have to eat lunch. Don’t eat it alone! Don’t eat a bowl of cornflakes by yourself. Don’t slide through a fast food restaurant and grab a heart attack in a sack. Instead, leverage your meals.
Find as many networking, alumni, service, civic, and other clubs who meet over breakfast or lunch and fit them into your schedule. The average number of “friends” for a Facebook user is 141. It’s safe to estimate that the average number of friends one of these clubs has numbers 200. Get to know 50 people in a Rotary Club, who each know 200 people, and you’ve added 10,000 people who know someone who knows you. Moreover, these are community centers of influence. They are the people others call for advice because they’re in the know. They are the people who get asked to recommend an air conditioning contractor.
If one lunch a week can lead to 10,000 people who know someone who knows you, think about fitting two lunches and two breakfasts into your schedule.
Leverage non-profits
Non-profits (by design, as opposed to many contractors who are non-profit by accident) have two things in common. One is they need money. The other is a support group. Show them how they can painlessly raise money by encouraging their supporters to patronize your business.
The method is simple. It’s called “affinity marketing.” It means marketing to an identifiable group that shares a common affinity for an organization. The organization, whether it’s a homeowners association, school PTA, band booster club, church, VFW, club, or charity promotes your company. In return, you make a donation to the organization for every call.
Homeowners associations are the easiest to track because they offer a defined geographical area. Other organizations are more problematic. They require the customers to identify themselves for the organization to get credit. There are a number of ways to accomplish this. Call the Service Roundtable at 877.262.3341, ask for a Success Consultant, and refer to this column for a free copy of “The Comanche Marketing Guide to Affinity Marketing.”
Leverage your commercial accounts
All of your commercial accounts have employees. Some have lots of employees. Many of those employees own homes and need a contractor to service or replace their heating and air conditioning system. Offer them your standard service agreement discount. This is tantamount to an employee benefit for the commercial account and effectively an endorsement of your company. All it takes to promote is a few flyers and/or break room refrigerator magnets announcing the offer.
Leverage your trucks
The single greatest advertising resource for an HVAC contractor is the service truck. The amount of advertising exposures generated by a good truck identification program alone can give you local brand recognition far greater than the products you sell.
However, most contractors waste the opportunity. They drive plain white trucks with poor graphics that are hard to read, cluttered, and confusing to the consumer.
Learn more about leveraging your trucks by clicking on the links below…
• Your Brand Awareness is Higher Than You Think
• The Best Way to Build a Contractor’s Brand – Part I
• The Best Way to Build a Contractor’s Brand – Part II
• The Best Way to Build a Contractor’s Brand – Part III
• The Best Way to Build a Contractor’s Brand – Part IV
• The Best Way to Build a Contractor’s Brand – Part V
• The Best Way to Build a Contractor’s Brand – Part VI
• 9 Quick Truck Tips
• Is Your Mobile Billboard a Cluttered Bulletin Board?
• Make Your Trucks Mobile Billboards, Not Bulletin Boards
• Bigger Billboards Mean Better Visibility
Matt Michel is the CEO of the Service Roundtable. HVAC’s largest and most affordable business alliance. Visit their website at www.ServiceRoundtable.com, call for a free tour at 877.262.3341, or stop buy the Service Roundtable Pavilion at Comfortech in September. You can’t miss it. The brand has been leveraged everywhere.