Local search is an incredibly important part growing your service business.

It used to be that the biggest ad on the page in the Yellow Pages got most of the calls, but as more consumers and homeowners are turning to the web to find local service companies, businesses have to find new and innovative ways to stand out.

Millions of searchers are turning to Google search and map results on their computers and increasingly from their mobile phone to find local service companies. Since Google is the leader in search, both national and local, it is important to keep abreast of the local tools and services Google creates.

I talked about Google Places in an earlier blog post and covered more of the basics about what it is and how to get the most out of the free stuff Google offers. You can check out this video on Google LatLong Blog that explains how local search works and how the companies are ranked – Local Search Ranking.

This post will cover using Tags and Boost to highlight a Google Places listing. Tags and Boost are not free, but they are important services to be aware of and consider to make your company stand out. These services do not make your Places page appear higher in the search index, but they do make your listing stand out.

Google Tags

With Google Tags, you can highlight your company’s listing in the Google search results and the results in Google Maps with a yellow tag that draws attention to information on your Google Places listing such as coupons, videos, photos, or custom messaging. Adding tags to your listing helps searchers notice the information you most want your potential customers to see.

Getting the tags on your listing costs $25/month, but does not carry any contracts or long-term commitments.

Google Boost

This Google Places feature lets you create a search ad based on your Places page. Google Boost lets you easily create an online search ad for your company’s local search page. The Boost ad shows up in the sponsored results in Google search and marks your listing on the map with a blue pin (the only blue pin in the results) instead of the generic red one.

Google has a page in their help section that gives details on all the information that will show in a Boost ad and where it will appear.

Boost ads are pricier, but you only pay for when someone clicks on your ad, rather than just for having the ad active. There is a minimum of $50/month to participate in Google Boost. With a Google Places page, you are able to get reports of the performance of your page and the performance of your ads in the Places dashboard.

Every sale you make, every dollar of revenue you earn came from a customer that chose you over a competitor. Why did they pick you?

Chances are you are not the only service provider in your city, so there must have been other factors at play. Understanding what those factors are can help you know your customer motives and how to replicate the reasons your current customers selected you to gain new customers.

Each of your customers chose you because you offered the benefit they wanted. You offered the right combination of logical and emotional components that they wanted and needed. Your offer provoked them to take action and choose your services over all the other providers and the option of doing nothing.

Your customers chose you over a competitor. Your competitor’s customers chose them over you. Do you know why? The fact that they chose you means they found something different or better. But it also means that when they pick your competitor.

Knowing what those factors are means you can promote and differentiate your company based on the real reasons your customers choose you.

Here are some reasons why your customers choose you:

• Your company can best solve their problem
• Your company is the most reliable
• They trust your company
• You offer good after sales service
• Your company offered the best price
• Your company is the closest
• Your company was available to meet their schedule
• Your company was easy to buy from
• Your company was the first they found

Which of these answers apply to your customers? What can you do to present your company as the one that represents that choice? Understanding why your customers buy from you will give you a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses and will show you how to broaden your appeal so that new customers will also choose you.

People will only buy from you when they want to. It is your responsibility to understand why the people who bought from you wanted to and to then communicate to others why they should want to buy from you. People will buy from you when they decide they want what you offer. Do you offer what they want? Do you know what they want? When you know what your customers want and offer it, they will buy from you and not from your competitors.

What other reasons do customers buy from you? What do you do the help them along the way?

Your company probably already has a Google Places “Page,” but if you have not claimed it yet, you are certainly not taking full advantage of all the free benefits a Google Places listing and page provides.

Google Places is similar to the Yellow Pages in that every company with a physical address is able to be listed. However, it is very important for local service companies to have a robust Google Places Page because these pages appear near the top of Google’s organic search results when a person does a local search.

Here’s a quick overview video of what Google Places and why you should use it for your business:

To get the most out of your free listing you should claim the listing, fill it out with all of your company’s important information, get customer review, create and keep it up to date with current content and coupons, and add photos and videos.

1. Claim your Google Places Page and make it your own

To claim your Google Places Page, go to Google.com/places. If you already have a Google account you can just log in. If not, it only takes a few minutes to set up an account, which you can do from the page.

Once your account is set up you can enter your business’s main phone number to see if it’s already listed on Google Maps. If it is you can go through the process of claiming the page which will allow you to edit the existing information as well as add other details, photos and videos.

Once you have logged in and claimed your page, it is important to fill out every field available on the form. The more complete a profile, the better it will appear to your customers and prospects when they find your listing in search. There is also a place to upload your company logo so that it can appear in the Google search results.

The form will ask for basic information about your company, information about your operating hours, what payment types you accept, as well as what your business does.

You are even able to define your service area. Rather than just having a static location, you can show on your Google Places page what Zip Codes you serve or even define a mile radius around your headquarters. The video below will give an overview of how this works:

The images below show the field you can fill out on your Google Places page.

Google has a comprehensive guide that will help you claim your page and get started optimizing your Google Places page.

2. Get Customer Reviews

It’s important to make it easy on your customers to review your company on your Places page. Reviews may raise your pages rank in the search results, but even if they don’t, reviews on your page adds credibility and lets prospects know that other people have used your services and been satisfied.

On your places page there is a link that you can copy into an email and send to your best customers requesting they write a short review of your company. Google says you are not allowed to offer incentives in exchange for reviews, so you will have to request reviews from customers you already have a good relationship with.

3. Keep your page fresh with current content

You are able to leave short, 160 character posts on your Google Places page. These short Twitter-like messages can be details about the services you offer, announcements of special events, introductions of new employees, promotional offers, or any other message. When you are logged into your Places page there is a box on the right side with the heading “Post to your Place page.”

You are also able to offer coupons to your customers and potential customers for your services on your Google Places page. These coupons will be visible at the top of your Places page. With these coupons it is important to make them unique to your Google Places page so that you can easily track their effectiveness. It is a good idea to keep these coupons fresh. One way you can do that is by using them as seasonal promotions, giving you the excuse to offer various coupons throughout the year.

Keeping the messages and coupons up to date will keep your page fresh and current in the eyes of your customers.

4. Add videos and photos to your page

You are also able to add photos and videos to your places page. If you company has an ad you could upload it to YouTube so that your Places page visitors can view it on your site. You are able to have up to five videos so you could also use some of these spaces for video testimonials of your customer or videos of examples of your work.

You are also able to upload up to 10 images. These could be pictures of your service trucks, employees, job sites and work you’ve completed, or anything else that would be relevant to your customers.

For a complete check and to make sure you really get the most out of your free Google Places page, complete the Google Places Checklist.

After you are finished, share a link to your Places page in the comments so we can showcase the best examples.

The following is a guest post by Darion Miller is the Co-Author of the Service Coach Blog, which provides marketing resources to the service industry.

Loyal Customers are hard to come by today with so much competition. However, with a solid company plan on how to generate leads and turn them into loyal customers you should not have a problem. Here are seven tips to turn a lead into a loyal customer that keeps on giving:

Selling Service Agreements

Creating service agreements is a great way for your service company to provide value throughout the year. These agreements let the customers know that you stand behind your work and that you will be there if something goes wrong. Here are 3 things to keep in mind when creating a service agreement:

1. Make the service agreement simple for your customers to understand
2. Keep the agreement fair and make sure it benefits both parties
3. Create packages that will allow you to extend a service agreement over a year or a season

Be On Time for Service Calls

Being on time is critical for any service business. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes for a minute, could you afford to take time off from work, for a day or even a couple hours, to allow a service technician access to your house? Most cannot and it could mean they are really paying double for your services when considering the lost time in wages. Having a solid dispatch and mapping system will allow you to remain on time and keep your customers coming back.

Keeping Past Records of Your Customers

There is nothing worse than when a customer has to repeat information or provide the service tech with details from a previous visit. Keeping records on your customer’s accounts for at least 5 years will benefit you in many ways. One of the most important is that account information can be extremely useful to your technicians while on-site. If they know what was done in the past, to expect a certain result, or know not to try a certain technique your clients will see that your company really has operations under control and will respect your technician’s advice. When your clients trust your company they will trust your professional opinion on how to best complete a project.

Providing Free Tips & DIY Materials

Sometimes your customers just want to understand how or why you go about a project the way you do simply for their own curiosity. When a plumber comes to my house I make a point to find out what’s going on even though I know I’m not skilled enough to perform the task myself. Provide “do it yourself” articles on your company blog to answer basic inquiries that satisfy your customers questions and present yourself as a knowledgeable industry leader. Don’t forget to have a call to action to convert them into a lead!

Try and Be Accessible to Your Customers 24/7

You should try and be assessable 24/7 even if you don’t answer your phone. When something happens you need to make sure your customers know there is always a line of communication open. Make sure your website has a customer login portal where customers or potential customers can request service or have the information to contact you in the off-hours.

Here are some ways to be accessible:

• Have an emergency email address like: emergency@company.com or help@company.com
• Have a customer portal
• Have a landing page dedicated to Emergency help on your site
• Have an off hours dispatcher

Allow for Company Transparency

There is no better way to create a loyal customer base than to be transparent about your company. If a customer or potential asks you a question the best thing you can do is be honest. With the internet and company reviews (both good and bad) accessible to almost everyone anything you say can be cross checked online. Don’t take for granted how much research people do on a company, a problem, or a solution before actually handing over cash to start a job with you. Train your technicians on the best ways to handle objections or tough questions that may be asked by customers and show they how to avoid making the company look bad or misinformed.

Knowing When to Say No to a Customer

It’s tough to say no to a client especially in a down economy. However when the job is too tough or beyond your skill set it’s better to be upfront and honest with your client and recommend a few people that can get the job done right than for you to attempt and perform poorly. This will allow you to become a trusted advisor and when the client has more work they will defiantly come back to you with questions or referrals.

These 7 tips will not only make for a better service company but will continue to generate revenue through your customer loyalty.

You can read more posts about marketing service businesses by Darion Miller at the Service Coach Blog or follow @theservicecoach on Twitter. You can download his free Service Marketing Playbook.

SocialTract, a blogging/social media service specifically designed for HVACR contractors, has published an e-book called “How to Create and Grow Your HVACR Business through Blogging.”

The e-book is free on their website. You can get it here.

Joe Pulizzi, CEO of SocialTract, shared what HVACR contractors will learn from the e-book:

In this eBook, you’ll learn:

• What a blog is and what it can do for your business.
• The three reasons why HVACR contractors need to consider blogging as part of the marketing mix.
• 30 ways blogging can pay off for your business.
• 30 ways to market your blog effectively.

Joe says that HVACR Contractors should consider blogging for their service companies so they can :

Find and sell more customers on annual service and maintenance agreements….Retain current maintenance customers with compelling and consistent content… [and] position your company as the local home comfort leader.

You can find out more about SocialTract and their contractor social media platform on their website www.socialtract.com.

The following is a guest post from Darren Slaughter, a contractor marketing consultant who works with contractors large and small to sell more, advertise better, and market to buyers.

Online communities offer formal and informal networking opportunities to help you expand your contacting business now more than ever. More formal methods involve webinars and online training as well as online networking events.

Informal networking and brand building can be and is done just about everywhere online. Forums, twitter, Facebook, and so on. Sometimes the opportunity to network happens quite coincidentally, but you should always remember to have your game face on when participating online.

If you’re just starting your contracting business or you are a large home improvement contractor with 200 employees who is just dipping the company toe in the water of online marketing, plan on spending some quality time online answering questions for people who have general home improvement issues. This helps build your overall brand, but it might just make you your next client as well.

Social media is network marketing on a shoestring

Think about it, 20 years ago you would be standing around some nondescript hotel conference room networking with some other person who didn’t want to be there just as much as you, while you both stare at your watches wondering when it’s all going to be over.

Enter Social Media for Contractors

Social media has given you the opportunity to be in your office or sitting at home in your pajamas and make new friends. I think I read somewhere that the average number of jobs the average contractor does a year is 50, which leaves you a lot of time to market your business online.

The key to social media is to become an active member in the community whether it nets you clients or not because over time you gain the ability to become an expert in your field through the knowledge you pass on to others.

Here are some tips to help you get started with social media as a contractor:

1. Join home improvement forums and participate in the conversation
2. Stop waiting for something to happen — go make it happen
3. Concentrate on listening more than talking
4. Make time to network on sites like twitter and Facebook
5. Don’t think spending time on social media sites takes you away from the office, over time it expands your reach dramatically
6. Try not to mix business with too much pleasure
7. Don’t be a pushy salesperson through social media marketing

And that’s it. These ideas should help get you started opening up dialogue and starting to have conversations online. Do this long enough and I guarantee you will build a base of people who consider you the go to person in your market. Have you already made social media work for you? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

For more from Darren Slaughter, visit his blog where he writes daily about marketing for contracting businesses.

Make Each of Your Customer Interactions During Service Agreement Service Call a Selling Opportunity

August is almost over. That means the hot weather and the summer busy (or crazy) season is drawing to a close for much of the country.

It also means it’s time to take a look at the health of your service agreement program. Did your technicians sell more new service agreements than they did last year? Did your renewal rate improve? Do you have enough service agreements to keep your technicians busy through the winter? How has your service agreement base affected the overall value of your business? These are all good questions to ask to get ready for next summer’s busy season.

The summer busy season was a great opportunity to sell service agreements to your new or repeat customers. I hope your company had a successful year for selling service agreements. I also hope that the service agreements you sold are more than just a way to keep your technicians busy during the slow times.

Service agreements do give you revenue throughout the year and help to spread out the annual work load, but they also give you an opportunity to sell to your customers. A routine service check can uncover major problems for your customers before they become emergencies.

Those same routine checks also get your technicians face-to-face with your customers, which will beat the odds of door-hangers and direct mail any day of the year. You have a huge opportunity here. Your customers are expecting you to come. They’ve invited you in.

However, this direct interaction will be a huge waste if your techs just go into the house look at the equipment, change a filter or two and move on to the next service call.

This doesn’t mean you can invent problems or be dishonest with your customers, but your technicians should approach each service agreement call as an opportunity to find a way to help the customer through suggesting an equipment upgrade to save energy, proposing automated climate controls to make their house more comfortable, or some other way that you can benefit your customers.

You’ll want to make sure your technicians are prepared to sell during each encounter they have in the home of your service agreement customers.

Conversion Rate on a Service Agreement Call

Conversion rates on these routine calls will probably be much lower than your conversion rate of service agreements or ordinary service call, but it stands to bring in more sales dollars because you’ll be selling a more tangible product or service.

During a service agreement service call is the best time to bring up more extensive tune-ups to prepare equipment for cold weather and seeing what equipment is in need to replacement.

Conversion and sales rates are going to vary by your type of Service Company, but there are a few principals that will remain consistent.

1. Set a conversion rate goal: Every one of your technicians needs to know what the goal is and how well they are doing to reach it. Each tech should know where they stand.
2. Sales Training for Technicians: First and foremost, your technicians are technicians and the good work that they perform will have to stay priority number one. However, they are also the ones on the front line of your business. They have the most face-to-face contact with your customers, and therefore are best suited to selling to them.
3. Provide Strong Marketing Materials to Your Technicians: Your technicians can sell and talk about solutions, but many times it will not be a one call close. However, the marketing materials they leave behind after the sales conversation can help in the decision making process, as well as fill in many of the technical gaps that don’t get talked about in the sales conversation.
4. Reward the Results: The technicians that succeed in converting more sales should be rewarded generously for their efforts. Give them the incentives they need to stay motivated and focused on their goals.

You worked hard to get these service agreement customers. They trust you and count on you. Make sure that you serve them well by finding ways to make them more comfortable and making sure they’re equipment doesn’t break when they need it the most.

Identify Your Customers’ Needs

Communicate Regularly With Your Customers

Get Your Employees Involved in the Vision

Market Your Business Aggressively

Consistently Seek Out Referrals