What Does Authentic Mean to Your Company?
Darren Slaughter
Helping contractors sell more, advertise better and market to buyers.
I hope the start of your New Year has been fantastic. January is always a great month for me personally, it’s like a spring rain washing away all the muck and gunk from winter and everything is fresh and new.
Resolutions smesolutions….
No one still makes New Year’s resolutions, do they? Maybe wanting to lose weight, stop smoking or do better at something, but not like, actually standing there as the ball drops, right?
Regardless of how you go about change for the new year, one of the things I wanted to focus on this year was separation.
What do I mean by separation?
Well..like you, we work in a crowded field. There are a lot of companies who offer services to contractors like you. Some of them offer similar services, some completely different. Some have different philosophical approaches, some the same.
The one thing we’ve always had as an advantage, and where we plan to focus on this year, is that we’ve always only worked with companies like yours….guys and girls who swing hammers for a living.
People who get dirty and messy. People who try to figure out how to market themselves and their businesses while trying to keep a project on schedule. Basically, contractors from the small time operator up to $100 million dollar home builders.
I think separation is a great way for you to create some space between you and your competitors too
For us it’s easy. Either you only work with contractors or you don’t. You can create all the dummy companies and construction-specific websites you want, but if you treat construction marketing the same way you do a doctor’s office or a pizza shop, you aren’t being “authentic.” If you say you only do construction marketing and you do other work, you then are in fact, just plain lying.
For you, it’s just as easy. Being as specialized (authentic) as you can be, will grow for a few reasons;
- Becoming the standard-bearer in your community for that one thing, makes you the expert. For example, I just consulted a client during a website redesign to go all in on basement remodeling and leave the other stuff to the 100 or so contractors in their area to fight for. Just focus on doing what you love, basements. And the world, over time, will beat a path to their door.
- Reduced sales cycle equals easier selling. When you are the company that the homeowner is comparing everyone else to, your sales cycle becomes a lot shorter. Once they realize that everyone else is playing catch up to you, you will win the business a lot faster and get more referrals too!
- Lastly, you will make more money. When people are doing business with the “expert” in the field, they EXPECT to pay more, so your negotiating position improves.
All these benefits come out of being authentic in what you do. By simply reducing all the clutter and getting at what you are really good at, you improve your overall business and you are happier.
Do you think the companies we compete against feel good about themselves saying they only work with contractors, when deep down they know they are full of it? Not to mention it comes out in their work, and then you realize it too. But then it’s too late. The homeowner realizes when you get into a project that may be too much for you or out of your element.
So, when you hear about being authentic and true to yourself and to your clients or customers, this is what they are talking about; sticking to your roots, doing what you are good at, and if you have the gumption, calling out all the posers in your market who “think” they can do what you can.
This post originally appeared on https://darrenslaughter.com