Leak

A few weeks ago I became suddenly aware the weather had taken a turn when I felt a trickle of rain atop my head.

Problem is, I was inside.

We had a leak in the roof.

Fortunately, it wasn't enough water to have me visiting my local Travis Perkins to grab enough timber for an arc.

But it was enough to want to do something about it.

It got placed firmly on my 'to do' list and stayed there until last week.

That's when the flyer arrived serendipitously in the porch.

I text the number.

Got a response an hour later.

Had them around the following morning.

Agreed a price.

And had the repairs finished by the weekend.

Turns out they'd been doing some work in the area and decided to drop a few flyers around.

It was a shrewd move, and one any similar business should look to deploy.

But if you've got a similar business, there are a handful of ways you could improve upon the strategy.

Improvement #1 - Get specific

The 'surrounded area' flyer approach is a smart one, but one way to make it more effective is to create a specific flyer for this purpose.

Rather than a generic flyer, you'd want to mention the fact "we're doing some work on your neighbour's home at the moment."

It's a simple tweak, but it instantly implies a far greater level of trust - something which is particularly important with things like trades where distrust or wariness is common.

After all, if one of your neighbours trusts these people enough to get them in, you're significantly more like to.

Improvement #2 - Offer & deadline

They got lucky.

I happened to be looking for the work they're offering when the flyer arrived.

But such instances will be few and far between.

Instead, consider including some sort of offer - perhaps a gutter clean - and handwrite an expiry date and promo code.

Doing so significantly reduces the chance of the flyer sitting in the drawer "until we need it".

That approach is also going to work wonders for your 'speed of return' - how quickly you make a return on the investment in the flyers.

Improvement #3 - Testimonials & photos

Who's roof have you already worked on?

What did they think about the job you did?

How did it look when it was done (and before)?

Getting a couple of testimonials is going to work wonders for conversion.

And, finally, there's the after sale.

I'm willing to bet I never get an email from H, J, or any of their sons.

Mainly because they didn't take my email address.

By doing so they're going to continue to be reliant on acquiring new customers to generate revenue.

The far wiser move is to build a relationship with a list of happy customers who can buy from you again and again.

If you want to know how to do that, you're going to like what I share next week...

Stay safe.