Water damage Restoration contractors are always on the lookout for more ways to bring in new leads. As a matter of fact, this should be the focal point of any good restoration company owner’s attention.
You will typically find that doing everything all at once for new leads is ineffective, and if you’ve done that relatively successfully and do the math, you will find that most of your leads tend to come from 3 to 5 major sources.
Here’s what we find the top 5 lead sources for restoration contractors are:
- Plumber referrals. This is as old as we are. But it works. When water damage occurs, a plumber is usually the first one on the job. The homeowner will usually call the plumber to get in there first to fix the broken pipe or unblock the sewage backup, etc. Then the plumber will refer a water damage restoration contractor to repair the job and prevent further damage from the water or sewage.
- Insurance agents. Local insurance agents provide customers with local referrals, although they may only refer two or three contractors they have developed a relationship with.
- Third-party administrators. Often called TPA’s in the business. They are part of the insurance industry and work on managing the claim on behalf of the insurance carrier. Many water damage restoration contractors, however, do not like working with them because they tend to have to agree to their pricing and terms. So work with them with caution.
- Search Engine Optimization, SEO. This is your new phonebook. When potential customers go online, they typically go straight to Google, and will go to Google Maps and the Google natural listings to find you – just like they used to in the phonebook days. However, this requires companies that get you up and Google in order to show up so that the customers actually find you.
- Lead generation – buy water damage leads from lead gen companies. This is a very common source of leads, there are many companies who specialize in generating phone call/water damage leads for restoration companies. They will typically run Google ads in order to drive calls to you and they will charge anywhere from $200 to maybe $500 per exclusive phone call lead, although companies who charges less such as $25 per lead will usually distribute that same call to 4 or 5 different companies. You do want to be careful, however of Leads sent to you intended for bigger water damage Franchises.
Will Social Media and Yelp work for getting me Water Restoration Leads?
Now, while these may be the top 5 sources for generating leads, you very much need to spend time building your social media, your Google and Yelp reviews and other sources. People will look at to see if you are a legitimate, trusted company. These activities will not necessarily generate leads, but it is hard for a person to call you if you look like a nobody or if you have bad reviews. You can sort of consider this a public relations move in order to confirm for your customer that you are a company that they want to call.
