Written By Ari Greenbaum, co-founder of conXpros
Over the last 5 weeks I have shared the proven step by step processes that will deliver success with contractor leads. Today I offer the conclusion to this series that will tie all of the previously shared concepts together (speed to call leads, thorough touch point process, and converting conversations into appointments). So, what is the glue that holds this all together? The ingredients for success are comprised of 3 primary tasks:
- Self-accountability
- Tracking data
- Understanding the metrics and taking action
Only you know you, so be honest with yourself!
Accountability is at the core of growth in any aspect of life or business. Although there are software, apps and systems out there that will aid in the accountability department, the only true accountability comes from being honest with oneself. Manipulating or searching out other ways to view things with self-analysis will only hurt you. I can tell myself that I am doing good with my diet plan because I eat well and healthy for 3 meals per day, but if I sneak in a snack before bed every night, am I really being honest with myself? Should I be surprised that I am not losing any weight? With regards to home improvement contractors, the midnight snack may be in the form of skipping a step such as sending a text or consistently making the 2nd call 10 minutes after the initial one. You must assess your processes and be honest with your findings. The process I have shared that other successful pros use for all of their lead generation sources works! If steps are being left out, can you expect the same results that the sources of these concepts come from?
Data, data, data!!!
When I was young, I found a love and success with fantasy sports. My personal favorite as a kid was baseball. Even before finding fantasy sports with my group of friends, I collected baseball trading cards. Yes, the pictures were cool, but I was always drawn to the back of the card, where the player’s yearly statistics were listed. When we organized a league and a draft for our group of friends, most of the guys drafted who they “liked” the best, were on their favorite team, or played a position they played in little league. Many draft picks were made based on these factors. Not me, rather I based my pick on statistics. I would look to identify players that were highly likely to perform for my team, because they had done exactly that for the last 4+ years. When I made some picks, I got laughed at or jokes made as the other boys could not fathom how I just picked my team. At the conclusion of the first season, I was the only one doing the laughing as I displayed the championship trophy with pride. Moral of the story; take the emotions out and follow the numbers. Numbers never lie!
Home improvement pros with companies of any size and in any category must track, report and accumulate the data available to them. Keeping logs of each lead and the processes (in full) that were deployed, is essential. Marking when the first, second, third and other calls were made. Noting when contact was established. Recording every aspect and piece of data available. Often this can be made easier by use of different software or CRM’s specifically geared towards the home improvement vertical. But there is nothing wrong with creating your own spreadsheet and doing the data tracking the “old fashioned way”. Regardless of the tools you use, data must be tracked!
Put the data in the drivers seat
Accumulating data is great, but it is only numbers until we analyze & act based on the info at hand. If the data indicates that there is a high response rate to the text messages you are sending, perhaps adding an additional text response to a lead will increase the contact rates further. Numbers indicate that 12% of appointments are made on the final attempt to contact a homeowner, it would be a wise idea to extend the touch points further to see if this helps capture a higher number of appointments. If you are using a system that is more aggressive than the one I have suggested and your data shows that a high percentage of leads are not willing to set appointments when making contact, an adjustment to be less aggressive may open more opportunities. If we are making decisions because of a previous success and not from data, you are more likely for failure. For example, you won a job with a client that was significantly above your average job price and the email is what got them engaged, should you now make the emails your primary focus? It did lead to a big job, so why not? That is an emotional decision, not one supported by any statistical fact. Will this change help win other big jobs? Perhaps, but there is no way to KNOW. Supporting and driving your business decisions with data, you can confidently predict the impact to your business. When you become data driven, it is important not to get too carried away. Make small tweaks, go back and look at the new data, and only when supported by the numbers, make the test into a rule. Steer yourself to success by letting the data act as your GPS.
To become a beast with leads from any home improvement lead generation company, you must have a process. Being accountable and aware will allow you to make the necessary adjustments to experience the same success that thousands of pros just like you enjoy. As I have shared many times, wining takes work! I have paved the road for you to achieve greatness, but you must hit the gas. I applaud those already using these processes and look forward to learning of others and celebrating the success that came as a result of application of these tools.