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.
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.
Matt Michel, the CEO of the Service Roundtable, has some simple tip for making sure your customers remember doing business with your company.
Some companies work really hard to ensure they are remembered. The employees in these companies are downright creative in their approach. They manage to form a lasting impression that burns the company name into the customer’s consciousness. They generate such an impact that their customers feel compelled to tell their friends and neighbors all about their experience.
These strategies are no secret. Thousands of companies manage to execute them daily.
You may be surprised how easy it is for you to make a long lasting impression on your customers, and how ready and willing they will be to spread the word about your service.
How many of the tips in Matt’s article is your company guilty of?
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