Posted by Rich Harshaw on January 20, 2014.
Post Category: Client Success.
Don Isaacson Turned His Website Into A Cash Printing Machine—Instantly.
Don Isaacson Was A Nice Guy And A Great Remodeler.
But His Home Improvement Website Was Holding Him Back. Not Anymore.
Written by Rich Harshaw
Note: This article is part of Monopolize Your Marketplace’s ongoing “Client Success” series. All of the information is real and current; please respect the privacy of the companies mentioned; they don’t want to be overwhelmed with questions and comments.
Don and Laurie Isaacson were probably a whole lot like you. The husband and wife duo had run a small remodeling company for over two decades together—Don being the front-line “do everything construction related” guy, and Laurie in the background keeping the books and office in order.
They built a respectable and profitable business that was working for them, but they knew they could be doing more. I took one look at their website and knew for a fact they could be doing more. Here’s what it looked like:
The website was pretty amateurish, but even worse, it failed to capture their Identity as a company. I held an Identity Consultation with the couple to find out what really makes them tick, and discovered—like with most remodelers—that their home improvement website did an extremely poor job of capturing what makes their customers love them. Instead, it’s filled with mind-numbing platitudes like “committed to the quality and service you desire.” Yech.
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Posted by Rich Harshaw on January 16, 2014.
Identity Is All About Making Sure Everyone Notices Your Awesomeness
Do You Ever Feel Like “The Best Kept Secret?”
Do Customers Rave About You…
Yet You Struggle To Convert Prospects?
Can Web Visitors Instantly Tell Why You’re Better & Different?
Are you constantly wondering why your marketing results aren’t where you’d like them to be? Simple: Lots of platitudes, and no discernible identity.
Webinar Date: Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Webinar Time: 10 am Central (adjust for your time zone as necessary)
Subject: How To Really Stand Out From The Crowd
Presenter: Rich Harshaw, CEO of Monopolize Your Marketplace
Cost: FREE (limit 100 participants)
There’s a good chance you’re murdering your contractor marketing efforts right now, and YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW IT. You’re saying things you THINK are profound and different, but in reality, they simply ARE NOT. Experienced. High Quality. Best Materials. Giving Customers What They Want. Best Warranty. In your mind, this stuff sounds awesome. To your prospects, it sounds like Charlie Brown’s mother: Wah, wa, wa, wa, wah, wa waaaaa. It’s completely expected; it makes no impact whatsoever.
Your company looks like everyone else’s; you sound like everyone else, and you put off the same “vibe” as everyone else—even if you’re really good at what you do. Don’t believe me? Pull up your website right now, then pull up the home improvement websites of 8 or 10 competitors. Guess what? Pretty much all the same. That’s bad.
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Posted by Rich Harshaw on January 14, 2014.
Post Category: Extreme Makeover.
The Original Letter Sounded More Like A Death Threat… Until We Gave it A Makeover.
How We Transformed A Rehash Letter To Feel Less Like A Death Threat…
And More Like A Generous Offer From A Caring Contractor.
Note: This article is part of Monopolize Your Marketplace’s ongoing “Extreme Makeover” series, where Rich Harshaw takes an existing contractor marketing piece that’s not that great… and works his MYM magic on it..
You want to send out a “rehash” letter in an attempt to recover lost sales. That’s smart! So you phrase the letter is such a way that the prospect isn’t sure if he’s being asked to attend a colonoscopy, being audited by the IRS, or being held for ransom. That’s dumb!
Check out this amazing “before and after” transformation of a closet organizer “rehash” letter. The letter has good intentions, but the execution is perfectly terrible. It’s stodgy. It’s antiseptic. It’s boring. And it actually sounds kind of threatening. Never fear—that’s why MYM is here. Let the Extreme Makeover begin!
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Posted by Rich Harshaw on January 11, 2014.
Post Category: Quick Tips.
You’re Scaring Your Prospects Off, And You Don’t Even Know It.
It’s A Sure Bet That Your Prospect THINKS Your Prices
Are Lower Than They Actually Are.
How To Keep “Sticker Shock” From Killing Your Sales.
Written by Rich Harshaw
Note: This article is part of Monopolize Your Marketplace’s ongoing “Contractor Marketing Quick Tips” series. This information is not meant to be comprehensive; it’s simply meant to give you some quick ideas.
Pop Quiz: What is the number one reason deals don’t close during the initial sales meeting?
Believe it or not, it’s not all the usual answers you are probably thinking, and your salespeople would like for you to believe. Answers like “no money” and “needs more information” and “bad timing” and “didn’t like the salesman” are all good answers, they are not EVEN CLOSE to the number one answer. Really.
The main reason people don’t buy during the first meeting (which drastically drops their likelihood of ever buying at all) is: You are asking them for a lot more money than they were expecting you to ask for. This is not the same thing as “can’t afford it”; it’s simply a matter of out-of-whack expectations. Learn how to fix this problem and watch your closing ratios soar.
Tip 1: Lay Of The Land: Since remodelers sell something that’s fairly expensive and that people don’t buy very often, they probably don’t have a frame of reference for how much they should expect to pay. Here’s a good bet: If John Smith doesn’t know how much something should cost, he’ll probably UNDERESTIMATE how much it is in his mind. Then when you show up to sell him, you’ve got to cover a lot of territory to close that gap. This leads to maddeningly long sales cycles, multiple-call closes (instead of 1- or 2-call closes), longer-than-necessary sales meetings, and phantom objections (because they’re chicken to admit holy cow, THAT’S more than they were expecting!). Understand, there is a HUGE difference in “can’t afford it” and “costs more than I thought.” The latter is frequently mistaken for the former—and in most cases, it’s totally avoidable.
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