I see an awful lot of conversations here on how to deal with competition, or get along with competition. What would you do if you had no competition? How would you go about creating work if you had to start something from scratch? And just to clarify, let's say that you have a minimal advertising budget!
Let's say that you know how to provide excellent customer service, price reasonably and fairly, treat your customers like gold. Let's say that by appearance you are well dressed, neat, and clean. Your company vehicles are spotless and show well, and there is pride in your appearance as well as in what you do and how you do it. Let's take it a step farther and say that everyone that you provide a proposal for signs up, and, when you are done, they are more than happy to refer you to their friends and neighbors.
How do you get in front of more of your potential customers, when so many have no idea that you exist? How do you "train" those that have used you to be more effective at "spreading the word" about you, instead of losing that source for new work?
You think having competition is bad, try having none and being an unknown! How would you guys do it?
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Great suggestion, Don! And, I can't tell you how often I hear a company or person state "we are the best" and just assume that either everyone already knows that or that they can't improve!
I used to work for a company that had a sales manager that would tell us in each sales meeting that "we are different from the competitors". Finally I had enough, and I asked him how. His answers were so weak ("we do it right", "we are licensed/bonded/insured", "we will always be there if there is a problem") and typical of what everyone one else was saying as well! Did he really think some other sales manager was sitting around telling his guys "we don't really do a good job, we're have no insurance or workers' comp, and we're closing shop after this next job, so let's go get some work"?!
I also worked for another company that proclaimed to be the best (they may have been, and may still be), and every time that I went out to represent them, with their logo plastered on my shirt, I felt like Superman. I was there to save these people from all of the other "bad" companies that were out there that I had to compete with. Now that I was there though, they could rest assured that the sun was going to shine and the job would be done right. What a hero I was (sarcasm!)!
It wasn't until I left that company (and went to work for one of their competitors) that I really saw and heard what people thought of that company. Yes, they were good, but they were also perceived as arrogant, overpriced and difficult to deal with. No one, including me, saw that while in their employ, however, and there are many that are still there today that still do not or acknowledge the perception of them in the maketplace.
Your comment is a great one, Don, and applicable to new, no competition, and existing companies! I believe that we can always improve upon our product and service, but it is easy to lose sight of that sometimes, as you say. Thank you for bringing that back to the forefront of how all of us should run a business!
Bruce,
I think one of the most important things you can do especially if you have "No Competition" is to keep getting better at what you do and to never rest on your laurels. To often, even when you have strong competion, do business' get complacent and think that they cant do better. This is when you set yourself up to get knocked down a peg, and risk losing your customers. Competition forces us to continue to get better, and it is imperative that we do lest we find ourselves out of work.
So my suggestion would be to pretend you have a strong competitor, and always be better than they are
Thank you for the suggestions, Matt! All are appreciated, and I take nothing for granted. I am not one to be too proud to ask for suggestions, and I am thankful for them all.
We have put together a mail piece that we send out with an account we have that services 1,500 pools a month. They place it in with their billing, so we have a captured audience there! We've seen a half dozen jobs in two mailings so far (at a total cost of under $90.00 for the mail pieces), so we are optimistic that as the weather starts to turn nice again (we are holding off on the mailings with them now until March) we will see increased activity.
Here is the disappointing part about the water companies, and we learned this just recently; while we do have drought conditions, and the water companies ask (mandate) us to conserve, they are a for profit business. They have to say that we need to conserve, but then they raise our rates when we do as their revenue decreases! Additionally, they tell us that they are not "allowed" to recommend or even let folks know about us. This was a huge shock to us, as we have approached them all and have received the same response from all of them. They can suggest low flow toilets and shower heads (I once figured it would take 4,545 showers, or 12 1/2 years, to conserve the amount of water in a 20,000 gallon pool by changing your shower head!), but they cannot refer us. Sad.
We are paying referral fees, which does get folks excited, so we do know that works. The same story applies though; we have to get more folks educated and referring us. I just left SCP and spoke to 2 pool guys there. They both were pretty excited about the process (and even more excited about the referral!). Now I just have to keep them excited and spreading the word.
Thank you again for the suggestions, Matt. I am going to work on getting some counter displays with our brochures out, as you suggest. That may be a good way to not only keep us in front of the store personnel, but also something for the store customer to take along. Great idea!
Bruce,
Have you tried direct mailers? There are many ways to find out addresses of those that have pools(although in CA i am assuming most people do), then you can narrow your mailer down to solely the communities you are targeting(high end houses with expendable income). Send out a mailer to those houses, it can be either a letter and folder or an attention grabbing postcard.
What about getting on board with some communities and water departments since you are doing your part to save and conserve, especially with all the water restrictions out there.
You are going to have to be creative, but i know a properly planned direct mailer will yield results, and only needs a nominal return to pay for itself.
What about a referral program for existing clients? Offer them a discount on the next service when it is needed for every person they refer to you. Also have you contacted pool supply stores to see if they would let you place a flyer or business cards in their stores?
I guess they need it, Robert, but don't know it exists! If they knew it existed, then they could look for it, but since they don't it is difficult to find!
Therein lies the conundrum. I spent 15 years in the industry before I realized this could work and built the unit. Prior to that I always was a "drain and refill" guy, just assuming that there were no options. While I had expected the "pool guys" to jump on board like crazy, I had to realize that they are looking for those drain and refill opportunities to make extra money. They miss the fact that better water requires less chemicals, saving them money every day, not just putting quick drain and refill money in their pocket one day.
Your response is good, Robert, as you see where we are at. We have spent an enormous amount of time and money on "branding" ourselves, and we show extremely well. Once we open up our trailer to show it to folks, we often have a hard time getting them out! Our fit and finish, materials, uniforms and general appearance is a priority, and we have gone to great lengths to ensure that. However, we just need to get to more folks. Since we know how the process works, and we are anal about appearance of the company and ourselves, that was easy! Getting the word out to more folks is now the next "hurdle", and using out advertising money effectively is critical.
It's my openion that if you're offering a service that people could use, but arn't looking for, then public appearance is the answer. If it's a service their looking for, then the answer is internet web page, blog, twitter and facebook.
Nice idea Kevin - I have 3 dogs i will suit up for the parade next spring and put them in the back of the trucks - i like that one
Kevin Humphreys said:
Charles your ideas are great, you might try this if you have a cute dog put a company shirt on them and hand out flyers or business cards as you stand at the local grocery store. People love pets and they are always a good conversation starter as people generally want to pet them.
It "funny", Jeremy, how many people just decide not to show up or return calls. Here, it is often said that showing up is 80% of getting the job.
I always show up 5 minutes early (or, if I hit traffic and am going to be late, I always call 10 minutes ahead of the scheduled time to let people know I am delayed), and I always do my proposals in front of the customer, as I do the water analysis (every pool gets a complete water analysis, no charge). They often watch me doing the tests and are amazed. I tell them that I cannot fix their water if I don't know what they have (I use a Taylor K-2006C and a Taylor SpeedStir, which always gets comments as they are used to the CH and pH drop test only usually!).
Sometimes the easiest things (like you mentioned) are the things most folks miss! A little common sense and treating people the way you would like to be treated goes a long way.
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