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10 Tips For Providing Great Customer Service To Your CLients

12/31/2020

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1. Respond to Clients as Soon as Possiblepace is the whole thing, specifically whilst a consumer is soliciting for something that’s time-sensitive. Try and respond to your clients as soon as you may. Procrastinating on a response to a customer’s email, phone name or voicemail doesn’t help anybody; You’re going to have to reply in the end, so why now not do it as soon as viable? Keep away from that “mark as unread” button on your electronic mail client.
Although you could’t work on the undertaking they’re inquiring about for you to perform properly, at least allow them to realize you got their request and then supply them with a timeline of when you’re capable of getting the venture finished. If you couldn't discover the time to carry out the project, it will be thoughtful of you to allow them to understand as soon as possible so they can make alternative arrangements.

2. Keep Clients UpdatedFeeling like you’re misplaced and that you don’t know what’s occurring is one of the worst conditions you may be in while you hire someone. Even if you don’t have whatever major to report, you can still let your corporation recognize what you’re working on and how things are progressing. Are you on track on milestones? Did you find something that might come to be a difficulty later on? Status updates provide clients reinforcements that they’re worried within the mission.
if you’re experiencing hassle with something, let them realize proper away. It indicates that you’re maintaining them in the loop and that you have things underneath control. If it’s something foremost, speaking your challenge right away lets in customers to plot for viable delays inside the mission’s completion.
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3. Go the Extra MileIf a client asks for you to do something that truly won’t cost you a lot in time and income, you have the option of going the extra mile and doing it for them. Not only will this result in an indebted and happy client, it can also go a long way in terms of keeping yourself in their radar for future projects.


4. Fix Your MistakesIf you did something that didn’t end up working, you should repair it. A quick way to lose a client forever is not admitting that you are at fault and not fixing your own mistakes. You should always strive for a high-quality output; it shows that you have a high level of standards in your craftsmanship.
Not taking responsibility for your own blunders is a sure-fire way of gaining a bad business reputation. Transparency is important in any business; service work is no different.


5. Listen to Your ClientsIt’s important to listen to what your clients are communicating to you. Like, really listen. Understand what they are saying and ask for clarifications on things that might be ambiguous. Clients might be unfamiliar with certain terminologies in our profession, and what you think they mean might be different to what they actually mean. 

Listen to what their needs are, and then offer your suggestion on the best way to go about fulfilling their needs.


6. Keep Your Promisesif you say you’re going to do something, make certain you do it. It’s part of being an expert. If you want extra time on something, you must allow them to know as quickly as possible, now not after you’ve already overlooked the cut-off date. Honoring your commitments is very vital
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7. Don’t Confuse Clients with JargonTry to explain regardless of the hassle is as first-class as you may without making the client feel silly. Whilst featuring a solution, ensure you nation it in terms they recognize. You can use analogies which are applicable to them. Examine more approximately how to speak to clients successfully in addition to a way to get your thoughts throughout to customers.


8. Be PatientI’ve lost count of how many times I’ve exhausted my patience on my clients. But I’ve never actually shown them my agitation. If you feel like the client is overstepping their boundaries, let them know in a cordial and professional manner. You just don’t want to start yelling and cursing at the people you make a living off of. Maintain professionalism at all times.


9. Know Everything You Need to KnowYou're a paid expert. A person is giving you their tough-earned money to do something they trust you have a high degree of mastery of. You need to preserve yourself up-to-date with the profession and always be ready to answer questions your customer wishes to realize. In case you showcase signs that you don’t know your craft inside out, you change the danger of ruining your professional reputation.


10. Put Yourself in Their ShoesIn case you have been in their shoes and have handled the way you’re treating them, could you revel in that experience? In that case, you’re doing a good process. If not, you probably need to get a touch higher. It’s important to continuously compare the manner you talk with others. Our profession is heavily reliant on conversation competencies.

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How To Use Images Effectively In WEbsites

12/29/2020

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​Many net experts pontificate the significance of inclusive photographs in an internet site’s layout and content.
visual enchantment is vital.
however, you may not just use any image and expect it to do wonders.
permit me to speak some ideas to preserve in mind as you move about the usage of photos for your websites.

Use Images with Purpose
Occasionally we are tempted to use a picture in our internet site simply to have one. A web page looks bare without one, and so we suppose something is higher than not anything.
Jakob Nielsen, a nicely-regarded usability researcher, carried out an eye-tracking observation to examine the effect of photos on websites.
In the examination, Nielsen located that members left out pictures after they served no purpose other than to fill the web page with a visible space.
So how can we determine if a picture is beneficial or not?
Ask yourself the following inquiries to help decide if a photograph you intend to apply to your internet site is suitable and functional:

  • Are there any benefits to using this particular image? For example, does it show off my product or service well?
  • Does it help the user understand the point I’m trying to make?
  • Does this image create emotional appeal? For example, does it help the customer visualize himself using the product being featured in the photo?
  • How does this image relate to my brand? Does it speak to my target audience?
  • What message does this image send? Is there a message being sent at all?
  • How will my visitors respond to this image? Will it change their opinion? For example, will it help facilitate the buying process?

Use Photos of Real People
Studies show web designs that include people are more persuasive than those without.
Take a look at the results of an A/B testing study conducted by web app company, 37signals.
They saw a 102.5% increase in signups just because they added a picture of a smiley, happy person in the landing page of one of their web apps!

Point Out the Obvious
Not only should you include people in your photos, you should also use them to guide the user.
Usability specialist James Breeze did an eye-tracking study that suggests that a photo’s subject can guide the user’s eye fixations on the web page.
More specifically, Breeze found people fixating on the eyes of the subject in a photo. When the photo’s subject faced forward, towards the viewer, the viewer rarely connected the model with the content of the web page:

However, when the subject gazes directly at the product or text, the eyes of the viewers follow the direction:
Using eye direction isn’t the only tactic.
Sometimes, images should just point out the obvious.


Parting Words
Don’t just use images for the sake of using images. Use images for a greater purpose beyond filling up white space or making a web page more visually interesting.
With a little forethought and consideration, images can be a powerful type of content that will enhance the user’s experience on your website.
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Biggest Plumber Marketing Fails

12/24/2020

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10 Easy Ways to Waste a Whole Bunch of Money

Focus too much on advertising. Sure, there’s a distinction among advertising and marketing. In a nutshell, advertising is simply one part of your marketing plan, and its motive is to get attention. marketing, however, is a wide method designed to develop interest in your plumbing services. If all you’re doing is advertising—spending money on print advertisements, radio spots, billboards, or even digital campaigns—and not carrying out advertising—constructing relationships, gaining believe, including value, imparting unmatched customer service—you would possibly as well pile up your advertising dollars and set a match to them. You’re burning money.

Put all your eggs in one basket. You have potential clients at a couple of ranges of the sales funnel and striking out in all kinds of spaces—at home where they may get your door hanger, scrolling via social media, doing studies of the usage of Google, and out in the network speaking with their pals and circle of relatives. Spend an excessive amount of your marketing finances on one channel, and you’ll leave out the massive percentage of people who are looking for you somewhere else. A advertising and marketing method designed to convey you more leads, and consequently more clients, might be purposefully different.


Ignore your current customers. It feels some distance much less cash to preserve a current consumer than it does to get a new one. Research has the same opinion: prospective customers are most effective 5%-20% likely to buy your services, whilst modern-day customers are 60-70% Sure, you want more customers, and I want that for you, too. But I also want you to be profitable, and the fastest way to improve profitability is to keep the customers you already have.

Be dazzled by pretty packaging. Don’t be wooed by using steeply-priced advertising and marketing “partners'' that promise slick brochures and terrific websites. the coolest plumber internet site and the nicest tri-fold received add one penny on your backside line if no person sees them. Yes, appealing advertising pieces are useful, but they need relaxation on a strong marketing strategy that consists of things like SEO and reputation control.
Some other word approximately web sites: If your internet site isn’t mobile responsive, you may as properly now not have one.In 2018, 52% of all internet traffic has passed off on cell phones, and Google is now taking a mobile-first approach to indexing. which means in case your website isn’t cellular, your capacity clients will likely in no way realize it exists.

Letting leads die. I’ve seen it far too often: Contractors spend money on advertising plans that bring them leads—however they haven't any formalized technique to convert the ones leads into clients. Customer courting control (CRM) software—and someone who's a wizard at the use of it—are a need to for plumbing shops.


Don’t have a marketing plan. To grow your business, you ought to allocate nine-15% of your annual sales toward advertising and marketing. That's quite a little bit of money, and to keep away from losing it you’ll need a plan to spend it accurately. Be sure to comprise your advertising and marketing planning into your annual sales forecasting. Those two pieces need to work together with a purpose to achieve success.

Be anti-social. Your potential customers are on social media. When they type, “Anyone have a recommendation for a plumber?” as their next Facebook status, it would be fantastic if people mentioned you. It would be even more fantastic if they could tag your Facebook page so someone could go check you out, learn what kind of company you are, and see what other customers have said about you. But if your Facebook page is dead or dying, that sends the exact wrong message. Do not underestimate the importance of Facebook in your marketing plan.

Ignore keyword research. If you’re investing in pay-per-click (PPC) Google Ads for your shop , please be certain you’re targeting the best keywords. If you’re guessing, you’re very likely wasting money or, at the very least, missing opportunities to leverage your ads for even more leads.

Show your ads to everyone, everywhere. Be sure to configure your social and Google ads to show simplest for your real provider region. if you’re in Pennsylvania, what suitable does it do to have a person in Alabama click to your advert? That mistake actually simply takes money right out of your pocket and places it instantly into Google’s. Don’t do this.

Set it and forget it. You might set your marketing budget annually, but don’t sit at your computer on January 1, set up all your ads, and then wait 12 months to check in. The digital space is in constant flux, and your marketing strategy must move along with it. Check in on your ads every three or four weeks and make adjustments as necessary. Stay in-the-know on marketing trends and add and delete channels when it makes sense to do so. If you want to avoid wasting your plumber marketing budget, you’ll need to be a little obsessed with your analytics.

And here’s one more, sure-fire way to waste money on your marketing: Be a lousy plumber. The best way to grow your plumbing business is to be an amazing plumbing shop. If your techs do shoddy work, have terrible attitudes, and embody the stereotypical plumber narrative, your competitors will, sooner than later, eat you alive. Be the best, and you’ll have customers knocking down your door.
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How Web Design Impacts Content Marketing

12/22/2020

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The layout an agency chooses affects potential clients perceives them. From color desire to style, special elements add up to create a first impression.
This means that bad layout – or loss of layout – may have capability for clients finalizing the browsing and therefore seeking other businesses. As a result, your employer’s web design layout can have an effect on numerous components of your virtual marketing approach, and this is especially true on content marketing.
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What's content marketing?
Content material advertising is the practice of publishing content that doesn't immediately promote an agency’s product or brand, but generates interest in those things providing relevant and useful information. Content advertising as a method is one of the maximum essential sub-techniques of SEO (search engine optimization). SEO is an inexpensive advertising and marketing technique that lets in you to seem higher in search effects. To peer those boosted search engine optimization rankings, don’t forget to use your Google Analytics search engine optimization dashboard!


As an example, Home Depot has a whole section on their web page dedicated to DIY tasks and thoughts, where they publish publications and tutorials to assist owners make easy repairs themselves instead of hiring a contractor or different professional.


It provides homeowners with the facts they had to make upkeep on their own, and is broken down into distinct rooms inside the house and labeled by using styles of development, like electric and plumbing.
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Although these courses aren’t straightforward commercials, the traffic who study them are likely greater willing to buy the specified components from domestic Depot, instead of a competitor. The association of the guidebook – and useful facts – with Home Depot opens the door to the possibility of sales.


How web design impacts content marketing
Even though these publications are typically driven through content material, domestic Depot’s web design affects how users get admission to and read them.


Accessibility
One of the most important issues in designing a content content-heavy site is accessibility. if you submit informational content material for your web page, it needs to be smooth to discover and examine. Your navigation should allow users to find the statistics they want, without clicking through pages of irrelevant content.
If a visitor has to dig through page after web page to get to the statistics they’re attempting to find, they’ll be possibly to give up and go to any other site as a substitute. developing a trustworthy navigation setup with drop-down menu selections is a great way to help visitors to locate what they're in search of and access it quickly.


Appearance
Visitors will make judgments about the quality and trustworthiness of your content based on how professional your site looks. Even if your content is easy to find, the design can turn people away.
If your site looks outdated or is visually unappealing, users may be hesitant to consider you a valuable resource. You need to have a clean design that illustrates your professionalism and gives visitors confidence that they can trust your advice.


Readability
Along with the overall look of your site, your text should be visually appealing and easy to read. Too many fonts can be overwhelming and unprofessional, and you can typically stick to one font for titles and another for body copy.

Choosing the right fonts and colors is essential for helping your visitors read and comprehend your content. You might publish the most helpful content available on a specific topic, but if your font color is too similar to your background, your visitors may not even bother to read it.

Your body copy also needs to be clean and large enough to be read without a struggle. These details all seem minor but can have a major impact on how effective your content marketing strategy is with potential customers.


Comprehension
Many people are visual learners and need graphics and photos to fully understand new topics and information. This means it’s essential to include visuals with all of your content.
For example, one popular type of online content today is quick cooking videos with directions and ingredients for a simple recipe.
People who watch these videos learn exactly how to make the meal or snack being shown, which makes it easier for them when they decide to try the recipe out for themselves.
Regardless of your industry, visual content like photos and videos can help your potential customers get a better idea of how they can use your products or services. From a design standpoint, this means that your site’s layout should work well with visual content, and make it easy for readers to scroll through photos and watch videos.
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5 Things You Should Never Say To A Potential Customer

12/17/2020

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When you run a thriving (or 'need to be thriving') HVAC or plumbing store, you recognize the tough work that goes into it. you've invested hours into getting the right licenses, you figure long days in a crappy climate, and also you do your best to display your keep's economic health. In reality, did you realize that plumbing & HVAC shops have one of the highest screw ups prices of all industries in a 5-12 months duration? Your job is difficult enough as it's miles... No cause to make it any harder than it has to be.

Yet, somehow, so many hardworking, good-intending, multiple-license-carrying contractors making some of the completely avoidable mistakes when talking with leads- and it kills the relationships with their customers.

So, without further ado, here's the listing of five things you need to in no way say to a client or lead once more. 
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1. Expecting people to leave you a message.
As a plumbing or HVAC contractor, you need to recognize this: your customer isn't always calling you due to the fact they may be curious or they may be bored; they're calling because they've a problem. Now. inside the international of advertising, we name this ' immediacy '. They need to recognise that you may repair their problem, and you can restore it the previous day.

If you want them to leave a message, they'll just go on to the next contractor listed in Google.

2. "Can you call me back later?"

Maybe you didn't read the first rule. Answering a customer to say " I don't have time to solve your problem right now, and I won't remember to call you back, but will you call me after a while? ".
Look- I get that you're busy. But your customer doesn't care. Same outcome as #1: they'll bounce.

3. "I don’t know."

Lazy grammar aside, announcing "I don't know" to a client (or lead) doesn't exactly make you look like an expert to your area. Granted, perhaps it's something you definitely do not have an answer for, like "when turned into my ultimate protection take a look at?". whilst this occurs, don't say "I dunno". instead, say "it's an incredible question- i'll look at that and get back with a solution for you ASAP."

Even higher, provide them with a precise time when they can anticipate a response. (Ex: "i'll get again with you in 10 minutes with a solution.") however, because you just created an expectation, you better supply on that timeframe.

4. "That's not my problem", or "that's not really my job".

When a client reaches out to you, they are seeking out you to remedy their trouble- now not pass the greenback. Rather than wiping your fingers of some thing their difficulty is, try and help them remedy it. For instance, if a purchaser wishes to help know-how their bill, simply say "this is a top notch question- allow me stroll through it with you" or "permit me get the workplace on the line, and we're going to help ruin it down".

Even better if it's something that absolutely WOWS your client. For example, if your client left you a residence key so that you can do their process whilst they're at work, take the greater step to take their poodle for a stroll earlier than you go away. Taking a few minutes extra to head the greater mile to take care of your clients can pay returns in huge dividends- and remarkable reviews online.

5. Do not get into arguments with your customers. Period.

I know that your job is tough, and I know that you deal with some 'interesting' people from time-to-time. But there is no positive outcome of arguing with a customer. Ever.

Especially if that argument is online. If a customer leaves you a bad review, avoid responding tit for tat. The thing about digital reviews are- they're permanent, and very, very public. Future leads don't care about the nuances about sorting through your public dirty laundry. Again- they want you to solve their problem, not make more of them.

When you have a difficult customer, do everything in your power to take the high road.
You've got a tough enough job without adding to the noise. Make your company stand out by the rest by always displaying professional customer interactions at every turn. Your company's bottom line will thank you.
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Pricing Strategies: Price vs Value

12/15/2020

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If you want to develop your plumbing or HVAC business (and i’m sure you do), here’s a vital question you want to cope with:


What is your potential customer’s number-one fear?


On the subject of their plumbing or air conditioners, homeowners have quite a few worries. however what they’re genuinely afraid of is getting ripped off. Few clients will come proper out and say that, however you could hear it in their voice, can’t you? In truth, you may almost see them bracing for effect after they ask, “What’s this going to cost me?” The fear of being taken advantage of makes some customers seem defensive—maybe even rude.
 
At the flip aspect, we suspect your number one worry is losing business. Those  fears mixed make conversations about pricing especially hard. You realize you need to be aggressive to cope with your customers’ fear of being ripped off. but you couldn't just provide away your services, or you’ll quickly be unemployed.
 
So how clearly a success HVAC and plumbing shops make pricing decisions? They element within the cost of the services they provide, and that they craft their pricing shape—and advertising messages—with that during mind.
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Price Vs. Value
There’s a difference between the price of a product or service and the value of that product or services.


As consumers, we’re willing to spend extra money on services or products we perceive to be more precious. In reality, we’re willing to pay more for the same genuine product in some contexts as compared to others. We’ll pay $2 for a beer in an air-conditioned bar and eight for the exact equal beer on a 98-diploma day at the ballpark. We’ll spend $10 for a bath of popcorn in the theater, whilst that equal $10 could purchase three metric heaps of the stuff at the grocery keep.


The same common sense applies to plumbing or HVAC offerings. Fixing a leak in someone’s basement may cost you just a few greenbacks for components and fuel on your service truck. but to a owner of a house who’s narrowly escaped a plumbing catastrophe, your services are far more precious than just a few dollars. And if all of that occurs at 3 am and with a contented disposition out of your technician, you’ve upped the value-add.
 
you could fee clients for the price of your substances and hard work plus something you want to turn a profit. That’s called “fee-plus” pricing, and it’s a completely common approach. In fact, many contractors structure their prices that manner.
 
Or, you could charge clients the amount you believe you studied they’ll pay in your services, based totally on the blessings they’ll get hold of with the aid of deciding on you. Being competitive doesn’t require you to be the least high priced, and also you are probably really worth more than you’re charging.


Setting Your Plumbing Fees
Obviously, you may just take a wild bet at your charges and notice the way it is going. Studies what your competition price is. Compare your business dreams for the year and element in the associated prices (e.g., greater salaries) and ability revenue (e.g., 10% boom in service calls). Recall political or economic conditions that could impact your business.
 
I recognise you’ve probably executed this. I'm hoping you have got, besides. However how lengthy has it been because you’ve revisited and reevaluated your pricing shape? If it’s been some time, it’s in all likelihood you may make changes to benefit your enterprise and your clients.
 
After you have got a clear (and current!) image of the fee of doing business, begin creating a listing of the other advantages you deliver on your customers:

  • Do you offer unheard of, over-and-past customer service?
  • If yes, do you have got an extensive quantity of online reviews to lower back up that claim?
  • Do you operate better-first-rate components and components than your competition do?
  • Do you offer discounts to copy customers?
  • Your customers cost Transparency


In addition to the price-adds already noted, there’s one which deserves special attention: Transparency.
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Let’s go back to our nervous—and possibly cranky—potential customer who’s worried you’re going to rip them off. They have no idea how you set your rates and if they’re fair and reasonable. All they know is they’re standing in three inches of water and the home services industry has a bad reputation for overcharging for shoddy work.
Since that’s not how you run your business, your first task is to help your potential customers see how you’re different:
 
  • Point out the elephant in the room. Let the homeowner know that you empathize with their situation, you know plumbers have a poor reputation for taking advantage of people, and you pride yourself in treating customers better than that.
  • Offer up-front pricing. Customers don’t appreciate expensive surprises and most people don’t like to haggle. Consider going the route many car dealerships have headed and offer hassle-free pricing. If you’re thinking.
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ranking #1  is not the point.

12/10/2020

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Being first on Google isn't everything.
I bet you have heard it a hundred times. It looks like each enterprise is wanting to be #1 on Google. It would not matter what town you are in, or in case your company does HVAC or Plumbing or other domestic services, the idea of being #1 sounds incredible.
Any why shouldn't it? If you could be #1, greater strength to you.
But you want to know a secret?


Ranking #1 is not the point.
So there you have got it. Maybe the whole lot you've ever studied about on-line advertising, or about coping with search engine optimization for your enterprise, is all messed up.


SEO for Plumbers and HVAC companies is clearly all about one issue: new leads, new sales, more conversions. Let me say it again- the goal of SEO isn't rating, it is leads.


Sure, when you're #1 for your search terms, it sure feels awesome. But to create leads- and the revenue that those leads provide- it really requires a different way of thinking. It means challenging assumptions... about caring about things like code and user experience. About thinking through the little details that are easy to overlook, and the big things like leadership and team development.


Ultimately, the aim is to pressure greater leads and get extra sales, without stressful approximately ranking first, so you spend much less time and less money, and get more results.


So wait- does my online rating nevertheless rely?

Perhaps yes. Perhaps no.


Looking, ranking first is good, of course. But sometimes, it's just not possible. And frankly, it's becoming less important all the time. The goal, then, isn't just ranking or clicks... it's about new customers.


So, thinking about your customer acquisition plan that way means thinking about the long game, and avoiding shortcuts.

For SEO, it's really just one part of the equation. For most businesses, it's important to keep in mind that a website is not a marketing strategy... but it's part of a marketing strategy. Look at a comprehensive digital marketing plan so that you maximize your traction across all fronts. This includes websites, SEO, PPC like AdWords, social media, and more.

If you want a key metric to look at, Cost Per Sale should be one of the most important. More than ranking, even.

If you've never thought about CPS before, think of it this way: how many dollars did it cost to you to create one sale?

This matters for everything. For SEO. For PPC. For direct mail or TV ads. It also helps create a bit of clarity.

For HVAC and Plumbing companies, it's not uncommon for $25 for a single click in AdWords. Is that good? Maybe. If you're selling a $29 dollar home visit, then no. Simple math would tell you that it's not worth it. However, $25 for replacing a furnace or a water heater? That $25 is a steal.

Keep in mind, a $25 click in AdWords doesn't always guarantee that you'll get a phone call from a potential customer. It does mean, however, that they'll land on your site. It's important to factor in your web design into the conversion funnel your customer is in.

As a HVAC or Plumbing corporation, your intention is to maximize your value in step with Sale. which means the usage of all your equipment together (like directories, schema, and percent) collectively to boost your odds.


So yes- ranking first on Google is exceptional. But to do this requires tons of resources (normally money and time) that would be used some place else to get the identical outcomes for less money.Perhaps even better consequences for less money.


Need to maximize your leads?


1) Improve your Click Through Rate (CTR).
​Typically, the better the CTR, the better the conversion.


Right now, the average CTR among all industries is around 1.91%. For home service companies (like Plumbers or HVACs), that number drops to around 1.4%.

If you maximize your CTR, and if you convert more of the SERP clicks than the person ranked higher than you, likely, Google will reward your site with a better ranking.

This means focusing on clicks for your customer can pay off huge .

2) Write a better headline.
Look, this is a trick as old as time. If you can write a better headline, a more intriguing page title, or a more interesting article, chances are, your customer can't resist the temptation to click on you.

This isn't even rocket science.

PPC is a great tool to test various options because you can do A/B testing to your heart's content. Figure out which copy gets more clicks, and run with it!

It's important to keep in mind that people make decisions for one of two reasons- money, or emotions. With home service companies, you can bet your bottom dollar that emotions are playing a huge part in why they're searching to begin with ( help! my water heater is out! , or dang, my house is hot! )... but when it comes down to it, money may play a huge roll in your customer's trigger.

3) Social media isn't evil.
Look, a lot of companies may be afraid of using Facebook, Twitter, or Yelp to get more customers. Or, if they're not afraid, they might not know how . Here's the bottom line: if you're a Plumbing or HVAC company, dollars to donuts, your customers are on Facebook, and they're informed by Yelp. You cannot afford to avoid being present on these domains.

Your competitors know this, of course, and they're already using social media to help drive more clicks.

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Use caution with internet marketing fads.

12/8/2020

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Five years in the past, no person heard of influencer advertising. These days, you may not stop listening about it. whether or not it’s content advertising, native advertising, voice search or something else, marketers are continually chasing the modern fad — and sadly, you, the customer, often get stuck up in the frenzy.
Be careful of investing closely in “fresh” advertising techniques. Every so often, the best idea is a real winner. but more often, the recent stuff both fizzles without having an awful lot of effect, otherwise grows less and much less powerful as more and more humans jump on the bandwagon.
Influencer advertising appears to have fallen into the last category. 
Can small and midsize groups benefit from an influencer marketing campaign? maybe, but possibly now not. Over the previous few years, quite a number corporations wasted huge sums of money on influencer advertising and marketing. They jumped in too quickly for the worst of reasons — everyone else was doing it.
Of course, it’s suitable to preserve up with internet advertising and marketing traits and to explore new regions of lead technology. nonetheless, use caution:
 
  • Just because a big company is successful with a particular type of Internet marketing doesn’t mean you will be. Look for examples of success achieved by companies of a similar size and a similar lineup of products/services.
  • Be careful about diverting marketing resources from tried-and-true campaigns. If your lead generation numbers are stagnant, make sure you’ve considered all options to tweak or expand existing programs before shutting them down. You’d be surprised how often fairly minor changes to an SEO or PPC campaign can result in dynamic improvement.
  • Being an early adapter is great for the corporate ego, but not always great for the bottom line. Big companies with deep pockets can afford the luxury of getting out in front of a new trend, experimenting, refining and tweaking as they go. Smaller organizations must be more careful: Even if the latest trend turns out to be a winner five years down the road, can you afford to wait four years for your base of prospects to catch up with you? In the early days of blogging, a lot of small companies had blogs as good as any that have ever been created, and yet these blogs never drove revenue because their customers didn’t understand blogging and didn’t read blogs. When customers finally caught on, those companies had exhausted their blogging creativity — at the very time their more cautious competitors had initiated blogs of their own.
Timing is everything.
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Ready to Sell Your Plumbing or HVAC Business?

12/3/2020

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Step 1: prepare Your HVAC or Plumbing commercial enterprise to sell
watch out, children: this first step is a doozie. You cannot—I repeat, you can not—determine to sell your enterprise on some random Thursday afternoon and list it the following morning. properly, I mean, you could do that, but if you do, you both received it sell or you’ll get a fraction of what you can have, had you carried out a few making plans and training. This is especially true in case you’re selling just because you’re bored with the entire game.

Listen, very few buyers are interested in sinking ships. So, before you put your commercial enterprise in the marketplace, it needs to be marketable:
  • Your daily operations need to be fine-tuned. (After all, it's your company's process & systems that have value- not your equipment and inventory.)
  • Your team—from the front office to the techs—must be well-trained and happy. Also, they should know, well in advance, that you’re looking to sell, and you should encourage them to work their tails off for the new owner. (Of course, this is more likely to happen if you include a sales contingency that specifies how long current staff will remain employed after the sale.)
  • Your pricing and marketing strategies should be thought-out and effective.
  • Your bottom line should be moving in the correct direction.
  • Your books need to be in order (inventory lists, contracts, taxes, and so on). 3 years of solid financials is an absolute minimum.
  • Your receivables should be in good shape. No one wants to inherit bad debts or the type of customers who create them.
  • You need to have a diverse business model with multiple revenue streams.
  • You ought to offer a five-year business plan—a blueprint the next owner can follow to improve their chances of success—particularly if they’re not an HVAC or plumbing pro themselves. (See Step 2 for more on that.)
  • You shouldn’t have any pending litigation.
  • You should not hit the golf course the moment your business is listed. Keep working hard so your business stays profitable and, therefore, interesting to potential buyers. Like I said, this step is a doozie. It takes loads of time and energy—and that’s admittedly tough to do when you’re ready to call it quits.

Step 2: Have an exit strategy
Potential buyers want to recognize how you plan to leave your business. I know that sounds atypical, but there’s way greater to handing over the keys than… turning in the keys. You’ll want to think through several questions, together with:
  • Will you notify your current customers and leads of the alternate in possession?
  • Will there be a few types of transition period, or will you disappear the day your customer hands you a take a look at? (most consumers will respect having you stick round for a bit.)
  • Are your coverage policies and contracts in true order? If not, what needs to show up to get them there?
  • Do you need to guarantee the new owner maintains your modern-day team of workers ? if so, for how long?
  • Who might your successor be?
    ​


Let’s talk about that last one for a minute. Because you own your plumbing or HVAC commercial enterprise, you would possibly count on the subsequent proprietor might be a plumbing or HVAC professionals, too—and that’s no longer always the case. if you’ve skilled someone from inside your commercial enterprise to take over your enterprise, it’ll be attractive to all forms of potential buyers.

I’ll say it this way: Investors are interested in making profits. They’re no longer always inquisitive about operating the enterprise that’s making them the cash. So don’t limit your field of capacity consumers to plumbing or HVAC professionals. you could emerge as selling to a first-time investor, a competitor, an entrepreneur, or maybe a non-public equity organisation. (Heck, some of the biggest acquisitions of HVAC & plumbing companies of the past 15 years have been to big-money-Wall-Street-types.)

The factor is this: teach someone to take your location, so your business is a superb funding for absolutely everyone . It’s best—in the beginning—to grow your enterprise using your non-public knowledge, persona, aura, revel in, and so forth. however now you’re leaving, and your purchaser obviously knows that. You need so one can point to whoever’s taking your seat—in each aspect of your commercial enterprise—and display how you’ve prepared them to make the brand new proprietor large cash.


Step 3: Right-Size Your Expectations
On the subject of selling your plumbing or HVAC business, you’ll need to have affordable expectations in two areas: Money and Time.
Money: How a great deal is your HVAC or plumbing business truly well worth?
Most HVAC and plumbing enterprise proprietors dream of making bank after they sell. Few have any concept of what their commercial enterprise is absolutely well worth. customers will seriously compare values as they consider your enterprise: Your current bottom line and your future potential bottom line.
Your current bottom line is easy enough (for an accountant) to determine, and it even has its own acronym: EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Buyers will typically base your business’ value on a multiple of EBITDA after certain expenses are added back in.
The other critical fact buyers explore is potential value, and this gets lower back to the entire concept of making sure your commercial enterprise is marketable. As an example, buyers are going to look closely at what number of leads you’re getting. Even if you aren’t doing an incredible task converting those leads, a savvy investor may also have techniques to restore that hassle. however first they want to realize there’s a few possibilities available.
So, what are you able to moderately count on to get in your business? well, it relies upon. There are literally dozens of valuation techniques that can be used to decide your business's fee. however according to the country wide Federation of independent commercial enterprise, “small groups are usually well worth 3 to six instances their annual coins glide.” 
Keep in mind, the cost of your commercial enterprise is entirely negotiated. Valuation strategies could have large variance in what they are saying your business is really worth - so long as you may discover a customer that you could negotiate a price that you both assume is truthful, it truly is the intention.
Don’t forget about the price of promoting. similar to selling your property, if you contain a broker (and you must), you could count on paying among 4% and 12% of the sale rate.
Time: How long will it take to sell your HVAC or plumbing enterprise?
It’s probably going to take longer to sell your business than you want it to. If your company, financials and exit plan are in great shape, plan for a 9- to 12-month process at a minimum.


Step 4: Get help
You’re already busy managing your HVAC or plumbing shop, and you’re approximately to be truly busy preparing to advertise. You do not now have time to do all the things involved in certainly selling the element. You want a commercial enterprise dealer. Yep, I recognize hiring assistance is going to reduce your income, but you'll sell faster, for more money, if you involve a professional.


A business broker will do all the heavy lifting for you:

  1. Appraise your business. You’ll know what your shop’s actually worth, and your potential buyers will feel confident that your sticker price is in the right ballpark.
  2. Develop a prospectus. Business brokers know all the questions investors will ask, so they proactively create a multi-page document with all the answers.
  3. Market your offering. Once your prospectus is complete, a business broker will release it to their database of buyers/investors. This is a critical benefit. You likely have no earthly idea who’s hoping to buy a plumbing or HVAC business, and this isn’t the sort of thing you put on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace.
  4. Manage inquiries. When questions start rolling in about your business, your broker will handle all of them. When they’ve found a viable buyer, then you can have a conversation. Until then, you don’t have to field any calls or answer any questions. That’s the broker’s job.
  5. Review letter of intent. It would be nice if interested investors would just hand you a check, but that’s not the way the business world works. Instead, the buyer will draw up a letter of intent that outlines the terms of their offer.
  6. Help you select your buyer. With any luck, you’ll receive multiple letters of intent. Your broker will help you sort through them to decide which buyer is the best fit for your business.
  7. Navigate the due diligence process. Selling a business involves a gazillion moving parts and a ridiculous amount of paperwork. A broker will keep everything in motion and will help respond to buyers’ ongoing questions about your accounting and data.
  8. Verify the final offer. When your buyer makes their final offer, a broker will review every word and negotiate until you’re happy with the results.
  9. Assist in setting up an escrow account. Even after you accept a buyer’s offer, they still don’t hand you a check. Instead, they go into an escrow account and will only be released to you after you transfer everything to the new owner. At that point, you’ll finally get your money.
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common veterinarian social media questions -answered

12/1/2020

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We hear several questions on how to utilize facebook and Twitter and different popular social media channels. Due to the fact the questions are so extraordinary, we desired to share them with you in hopes which you’ll also locate them helpful!
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 Questions about Facebook: 
1. “Is there a way to capture emails or other information about people who visit and/or liked your posts or your page?”
facebook is not allowed to proportion statistics that might help become aware of the user, as a substitute, the person needs to determine if he/she wants to proportion that statistics with you. One manner a consumer would possibly share their statistics is if you make a decision to market it and ask for that statistics thru a form.

2. What is Facebook’s profanity filter? Should you keep it turned on or off?
According to Adweek, “[facebook’s] profanity filter will block the maximum typically stated phrases and terms marked as offensive with the aid of the wider network. Admins can set the profanity clear out to strong, medium, or none, although fb does no longer provide a listing of exactly what words could be filtered below every setting.
It’s endorsed to turn it off, as turning it on can accidentally restrict engagement in your page. Instead, try modifying “visitor posts” settings so you can review what users submit for your web page, or block overtly offensive phrases under “page moderation” (determined below your “settings” tab).
 
3. What is the best day and time to post on Facebook?
This solution is specific for everybody. find out through travelling your Insights tab to examine when your followers are online through selecting “posts” in the left-hand column. There you may see a dashboard categorised “when your fans are online.”
 
Questions about Twitter:
1. Are you required to tweet a certain amount of times in an interval to stay active?
No. The secret is to tweet continually. it's far endorsed that you tweet at least as soon as an afternoon.

2. Tweeting once per day and posting three days a week is significant. How do you recommend having something valuable to put out there?
There are a number of ways to maintain sharing valuable content. Turn a blog article into three-four specific posts, spread out 6 weeks apart. Locate articles pertaining to your enterprise online and share them, and put up your advice/opinions on it. Post updates about your exercise. Percentage funny tales. Testimonials. seek #hashtags to see what kind of questions human beings are asking and answer them. View your follower’s demographics to guide your topic choices, which can be discovered through viewing your Twitter analytics dashboard.

3. What is the value of Twitter to a veterinarian practice? Are my clients really on Twitter?
Twitter’s demographics range from business proprietors to teens. You could appeal to new customers via posting content that could interest them along with articles about new puppy toys, practice updates, guidelines on dog training, and other subjects that your target audience would experience.

4. Is there anything you can do to make your Twitter page pop up when people are searching for a veterinarian in your area?
Twitter does not directly influence your rankings in local search results.

Questions about content:
1. When you Google pictures to go with a social media post, do you have to give credit for the photo?
You should credit content that is not your own by tagging the Facebook page or Twitter profile of the source.

2. What are the best ways for posts to have the furthest reach?
Use photos/video. Social media algorithms reward multimedia posts and are therefore more likely to show your content to followers.

3. Where do you get your photos?
Royalty-free photo sites are available such as Death to Stock Photo, or Unsplash. You can also create your own graphics with free tools such as Canva.
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