What do the Big Water Damage Companies do that the little ones don’t?
I’m fortunate in that I’ve been able to work with over 1,000 Water Damage companies of all sizes, personally and all over the world. I’ve seen the differences between the wildly successful ones and ones that close their doors.
So, out of all the possible answers to my above posed question, I’ve narrowed it down to some of the top characteristics I’ve seen from the most successful companies I’ve ever worked with compared to the most unsuccessful:
1. They are hustlers.
Sales and marketing make up a majority of their thoughts and conversations. They know that to expand a business you have to sell and market like crazy. There is no sitting around “waiting for things to happen.”
2. They are persistent until things work.
They don’t hop from one failed marketing action to the next, they find one, make it work and stick with it. Then they find another, stick with it, and so on. This results in having many successful marketing actions going at any given time. They’d never “bank on one thing” to make them a success or quit a new program because “it didn’t work” knowing full well that for anything to work, you have to be persistent at it.
3. They are survivors.
They make it through anything. There is no such thing as a “bad economy” or a “slow season” to them, they see that as a market opportunity to get more business while the smaller guys are complaining about it and dying. When things get slow, they kick up their marketing and sales and their networking with plumbers and insurance guys to compensate for it. They don’t complain, they do something about it. Then, when the slow seasons are over and pick up, they own even more of the market share.
4. They are everywhere.
Billboards, wrapped vans, SEO, PPC, Angie’s List, BBB, Yelp, Google Maps, Home Advisor, Mr. Coupon, Val-pack, networking plumbers, property mangers and insurance companies. They make sure they are everywhere where their client is going to find them or be referred to them. They’re always looking for more water damage jobs.
5. They don’t throw $*&! to the wall and see what sticks.
I know a guy who spent $10k on a postcard campaign (his last $10k) that got him one (1!) phone call that did not turn into a job. He went bankrupt 2 months later. I know another guy who spends $250k+ per year for radio commercials. Most think he is crazy, but he’s the most well-known in his city and his return on that, per him, is excellent. I have clients that make over 50% of their Revenues from our SEO service. So, they spend a lot of money on their water damage marketing, but it’s 100% responsibly spent. What’s that mean? It gets them an ROI. They know what every thing they do is making them…or not. They keep doing what gets them an ROI and quit what doesn’t.
6. They are great business men.
They’re organized, they track profits & losses, they track where their calls come from, they watch for high profit jobs & high phone call volume areas, then market more to those areas. They hire pleasant people for the phones that don’t turn-off their customers. They don’t send their business to their competitors. They do not fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants. And let’s get real here, they aren’t doing drugs like cocaine and crystal meth. I wouldn’t write it if it didn’t happen. I once had a client sniff a multi-million company right up his nose to bankruptcy. No “Big guys” are doing this, I promise.
7. They are positive people.
They think things will work 1st, then they make it work. They don’t go, “things won’t work” first and then try it (just to prove they’re right that it “didn’t work”). I can tell these types of people when they call me right away. They’ll say something like, “I saw your ad, I know it doesn’t work, but I wanted to hear what you have to say anyway.” Bye-bye. They’ve already decided it won’t work, so of course, it won’t. My most successful clients say things like, “I’m a believer, but it’s so hard to find a good company to work with” or “It’s not working yet, but we’ll figure it out eventually.” These guys have already decided that it will work…and eventually it always does for them.
Think like a big company, become one of them. Think small, stay small.
Sincerely,
Dan York, Founder
