Restoration Marketing

[KeithCo]

What, who, and where?


If you're trying to drum up new business or if you're starting into the restoration brand new - How are
you going to get business?

Let's hear how some of the established businesses got started and how do you maintain and or grow your slice of the pie?


There are no right or wrong answers, just bouncing things off the wall.


Keith

 

[Scott]

Heya Keith -

Agents and adjusters seem to be the "easy" path for most restcons. I'm interested in knowing if there's a sizable company out there that markets directly to the consumer and how.

Scott

 

[Bob Foster]

talk to some plumbers - get the little jobs from them to start.

 

[TimP]

I'd say the fastest way to get in is to become a serve pro or service master franchise......

 

[KeithCo]

How about more specifics.

How would someone market to an adjuster?
Most of the adjusters in my area are housebound (work from home). Hard to track
them down and knock on their door.

How to market to a plumber?
Most plumbers in my area are owner/operators and also work out of their house.

ServPro/ServiceMaster. Do you really want that headache? :roll:

Here's what works for us:

Agent marketing. They're usually first to get the call.

Some agents are pretty apathetic. They sold the policy and unless they're trying to get
a bunch more business from the homeowner they don't care who services their insured. Usually it's the older agent who is fat and happy.

Newer agents who are trying to build their book of biz are many times a goldmine. They've got a fire under them and they truly care about servicing the account. I love to see new agents start up in my town. It's always a race to get to them first.


Plumbers.
I think Connor wrote a pretty good post about marketing to them. Are his posts banned along with him?

I've done the referral bucks. I've done the you scratch my back I'll scratch yours. (seems to work the best for us)

The younger plumbers who are employees of a multi truck company really bite for the referral fee for obvious reasons. If there's a truck that starts with Roto or ends with Rooter on the jobsite I make sure that employee and his helper who someday may be the head plumber, have plenty of our cards and a referral sheet.

Property managers.
Especially for you guys that clean for them already. Make sure they know that you also do water damage. Get a stamp made that says just that. Stamp it on every invoice you mail. I guarantee if someone calls in a unit with soaking wet carpet the manager will remember you first.

Scott, I've got no clue on your question. I too would be interested in knowing the answer or ideas to that one.

Franchise/Vendor programs.
Does anyone actually know the percentage of water claims that go through a vendor program?
Oh yeah, I do.
It's a staggeringly small number.

There is a ton of work out there for everyone.


The biggest obstacle is not implementing a marketing system and then consistently sticking to it.
If you get busy - doesn't matter, market harder. If you're slow, market harder and be willing to take on any job small, large, or a pain.


More ideas??

 

[Jack May]

When I started my business 8 years ago, I wanted to have a trong WDR/FDR focus.

I basically was already trained and minimally experienced prior to this from 3 years in Aussie.

I'm a low pressure sales type and so nothing OUT THERE or IN THEIR FACE. That's probably the main reason why it took me 12 months almost to the day to crack into it, but once I did, I almost was running from that day on.

I did a few things, like show my face and drop cards to their offices. I also put stuff in all our general marketing from YP to flyers etc to try and tempt the insured to call first and the other thing I did was let the other competition know what I was offering and that I could offer support at any stage to them, be it an initial extraction, of final relay/clean or whatever they needed.

It was this last option that really paid off in a big way. An out of town job, local CCer too busy to do daily service calls and so he did all the initial work, and then got me in to do the monitoring and also use my equipment, basic as it was back then.

Well, day 3 as things were wrapping up nicely, Mr adjuster strolls into the job and asks me to introduce myself and tell him what I had done and why. Best opening I've ever had!! So I told him concisely what he needed to know, he asked other questions etc and BAMMM I was in for water damage. He happened to be the local manager of GAB Robins.

Another area I also focused on was the general cleaners, letting them know about our range of services and about 3 months after this, I had a manager of one of those companies refer me to the other major adjuster company in town, McLarens Young International as they are now known. This referral was for a large fire and again was for the manager of this company and so that started me off in that direction as well.

From there on, it's more just been networking, doing great work, offering great service at reasonable rates. Doing the odd freebee/cheap job for themselves personally etc.

Unfortunately, national contracts are playing havoc for independants like me, but it's not a loss, just not gaining consistant growth quite like we used too.

John

 

[Chris Muetterties]

GREAT THREAD KEITH !!

Your not getting paid enough :shock:

 

[Desk Jockey]

WDR Marketing Non Insurance Selected Targets

Facilities Managers
Property Managers
City Risk Manager
Country Risk Manager
School Districts
Plumbers
Sewer and Drain Cleaners
Sprinkler Companies
Water Softer Companies
Appliance Retailers
Home Builders
Roofing Contractors
Hardwood Flooring Companies
Nursing Homes
Funeral Homes
Churches
Industrial Hygienist

On those contacts we can visit we will drop by information, then notes pads, occasionally a premium such as letter opener, staple puller, magnet clip, pens, mugs. We also add them to the Restorator Newsletter (Lee Pemberton’s) mailing list.

Those that are working out of their homes receive a letter along with a plastic rolladex card and magnet. We will add them to the mailing list depending upon size and feed back from them. Everyone is invited to an annual open house, where we feed them lunch.

As we develop relationships we may ask for 5-minutes of their time or maybe if there is some level of comfort, we might even ask them to lunch to better explain what we do and how we can be of assistance to them.

Regular contact with those targets will increase the odds of you receiving work. We try to see them once a month, but even if it’s every other month or once a quarter, try to be consistent.

Join facilities managers groups, we have found that they are often looking for presenters and who better to call for help, than you, who impressed them with your presentation.

It’s not always immediate, but by planting seeds and continually watering them you will eventually see the results you’re looking for.

 

[Scott]

Indeed - an excellent thread worth many times the price of admission.

Rich - can you tell us more about these Facility Managers Groups? Where does one find them? Is it an association that we cleaners/restorers can join?

One tip I can add is that most larger service areas have a LEED Green Building association. They usually attract the top builders and contractors in the area because they have to comply with the LEED Standard. I've been to a few meetings and have made a couple of good contacts there to date.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Desk Jockey]

They actually contacted us to see if we were interested in joining the Topeka Facilities Managers Association.

After several months they asked if we would present at a lunch meeting. It's a great group, corporate, city and schools districts, and utilities are represented. Most of which we have worked for in some capacity.

If you're working with a facilities manager I would ask them if they belong to a group and if they are looking for new members.

I looked online and couldn't come up with much. There was IFMA, but it didn't list Topeka???

 

[harryhides]

So did you do the presentation or did your brother ?

That would be sight to see. :mrgreen:

 

[Desk Jockey]

Big "D" did it, he has spoken at the Drieaz Symposium a few times and at RIA debates on vendor programs. He's use to public speaking.

I'd probably piss myself...or at least those in the front row! :mrgreen:

 

[Scott]

Heya Keith -

Agents and adjusters seem to be the "easy" path for most restcons. I'm interested in knowing if there's a sizable company out there that markets directly to the consumer and how.

Scott

At every job Scott. We had nice booklets made of before after pics and all of our qualifications and what we can render in the case of an emergency. We've got 1 or 2 calls just from that. But in short, each and every one of the clients we serve are informed about our restoration ability. We get a lot of "If we would have known about that a few months ago when my basement had 5 inches of water, we would have called you" And we kick ourselves each time we hear it.

Amen, Steve. Consistency is king.

I guess my question was meant to read like this:

Is there a successful restoration-only company that markets predominantly to the consumer?

The only one I'm familiar with is 1-800-Flooded and their knockoffs. In fact the only successful restoration-only companies that I have seen that market predominantly to consumers is 1-800-Flooded and not the knockoffs. Am I missing others?

Scott

 

[John Olson]

You want people to remember you name in the middle of the night when their freakling out because their furniture are now boats. How do you do that? TV commercials work wonders but cost a fortune another one that works very well and for the exposure really does't cost alot is Billboards. I know UDK (Utah Diaster Kleenup) gets HUGE returns on it's billboards and TV commercials. I would spend money on a eye catching billboard before I spent it on a Yellow Page add. the thing is you HAVE to have an easy to remember phone number ,even if you have to buy the number from someone else do it and get all the pre-fixes with the same last 4 digits so if they miss dial they still get you.

Again it is about people thinking of your company in the middle of chaos.

 

[Guest]

How to market to a plumber?
I think Connor wrote a pretty good post about marketing to them. Are his posts banned along with him?
The younger plumbers who are employees of a multi truck company really bite for the referral fee for obvious reasons....... I make sure .... have plenty of our cards and a referral sheet.

My post is still there in the marketing/business forums

http://mikeysboard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14833

Before you give any technician fist fulls of your flyers, give them something to keep it in. Such as a nice binder or expandable file folder with your name printed on it. Something that will hold your flyers, a calculator, pens and the sturdy laminated water damage cheat sheet that I mentioned in the prior marketing post.

Most often flyers are stuffed under the seats or in some nook in the cab of the truck where they will be damaged. Once they are damaged then they become trash and they will never reach their desired destination.

As I mentioned before, an open house or dinner for the plumbing techs that you are trying to woo is a good Idea. Offer the binders as free gifts, already loaded with your flyers and WDR cheat sheets. Tell the techs that they can pick them up on the way out the door from the dinner or open house. People love gifts.

These binders do not need to very expensive and it is a good idea to update them every so often with new and updated marketing materials. The recipients will always want the new shiney ones and will boost their willingness offer your information.

 

[nickreal]

A lot of restoration companies out here will leave free pens and notepads for plumbers at the supply houses. These are great give aways and can keep your number in front of the plumbers. Before I bought the cleaning business I always called the restoration company whose pen or notepad I was using at the time.

The issue is, the supply houses don't give the stuff away to the plumbers. They hide it behind the counter and use it for themselves. Thats not going to get the restoration company any business. If you plan on giving away pens and pads I would hang out at the supply house or have someone hang out and give them out to the plumbers personally. You could also join your local PHCC association (plumbing, heating, and cooling contractors) chapter, Show up to the monthly meetings, build some relationships and do some networking.

 

[ELCtraining]

I am a consultant to the restoration company - the facilitator of Dan's Debate at RIA. He incidentally is doing a great job at presenting his side o the debate.

One of the areas that some of my clients are having real success with is internet based searches. I do not pick up the phone book at my house- there are two thick ones and at least two different versions dropped on my door and then out to the curb to recycle. When looking for services and phone numbers I hop online. There are a lot of different ways to be found online - several effective ways are optimizing your site and also paid searches.

Make sure that your website is top notch and people can effectively find it.

Phil Rosebrook