Below we offer a few tips and some of our services that will help you accomplish these goals…
DETERMINE THE VALUE OF EACH LEAD
Client Lifetime Value is the single most important metric for understanding your clients. CLV helps you make important business decisions about sales, marketing, service offering, and Customer Support. CLV tells companies how much revenue they can expect one client to generate over the course of the business relationship. The longer a client continues to purchase from a company, the greater their lifetime value becomes.
Basically, It refers to the total amount of money that you expect a consumer to spend in your business during their lifetime. Although CLV may not sound significant, failing to calculate it can put you behind your competitors.
How to Calculate CLV
Several methods exist, which you can use to calculate CLV. The calculations can either be predictive or historic. This implies that you may want to calculate CLV based on your prediction of what clients will spend or based on the actual purchases over the years. Regardless of the method selected, it is imperative to know the client acquisition cost, which is the amount you spent to get the clients, the average profit margin for purchases, and the duration of your relationship with the client.
When calculating CLV, get the average purchase amount and multiply with the average buying frequency rate to determine the value of the client. Then multiply the average client’s lifespan by the value of the client to decide CLV.
Here is a stepwise process that you can follow:
- Determine the mean purchase value: you obtain this by dividing the actual revenue of the business in one year with the number of purchases over that year. It does not necessarily have to be one year; you can choose any period depending on your business.
- Determine the mean buying frequency rate: divide the number of purchases within a specified time by the number of clients that made purchases within that period.
- Determine the value of the client: you calculate this by multiplying the mean purchase value with the mean purchase frequency rate.
- Now, determine the mean client lifespan: you can get this by determining the average of the number of years that a client continues to buy from your business.
- Now, calculate LTV: multiply the mean client lifespan with the client value. The answer is an estimate of the amount of revenue to expect an average client to generate for your business.
Once you get the CLV, you can calculate the possible profits the business can make. It is also important to calculate CLV so that you can focus more on retaining existing clients than incur a lot, trying to identify ways to attract new clients.
Now that you know your client lifetime value, use it to express to your team how important every lead that rings your phone or pings your email is… For example, let’s say you calculated your client value to be worth $5k, you need to treat every phone call like that is $5k calling you.
OPTIMIZE YOUR WEBSITE FOR CONVERSIONS
When clients land on your webpage, they have expectations and expect to find some basic elements.
Make your CTA a Phone Number
Most businesses should display their phone number so that clients can contact them. Users often make a note of a phone number on a site and use their mobile phones to call the number. Clients may have questions concerning the product or methods of purchasing, and mobile phones are by far the best way to obtain this information quickly. Moreover, mobile phones have become increasingly popular, and with the advancement of the internet, people use them to search for the business.
A report by BrightLocal shows that 61% of mobile users to contact a business with a mobile site. If you want leads on your business, the decision of a mobile number on your CTA is no longer an option.
Include the Number in a Site-Wide Sticky Header
Site-wide sticky headers stay in place when a client scrolls, and they are a popular element of website design. They help the client to navigate without the need to scroll up and down. Therefore, the phone number will remain visible as the user navigates through the page. A user can always contact you anytime they decide because the number remains visible as they scroll.
Display Local Phone Numbers
When shopping online, we all go for something close to where we live. Wherever possible, use local phone numbers on the website to attract nearby clients. Local phone numbers act as leads and can give you profit. It is easy for someone to contact you with local phone numbers. Well, there is the advantage of familiarity as well as low costs compared to international phone numbers. Moreover, using local phone numbers shows the client that your business is trustworthy and easy to contact.
MAKE SURE YOUR OFFERING WHAT THEY’RE LOOKING FOR
In your marketing
You run Facebook ads, Google AdWords ads, and maybe other types of pay-per-click ads too. Your ads will most likely have a headline, to capture attention, text that will dive more into the details of your offer, and then maybe a small image.
Now, what happens when someone clicks your ad? They get redirected to a webpage.
And here’s the question you have to ask yourself: Is your landing webpage consistent with your ad? Your ad has an offer, a specific message that it conveys, so will someone who clicks on your ad find the same content once they land on your landing page? In 90% of the cases, I see, nope.
This problem is called the message match problem. It happens when your ad does not precisely match the end offer on the landing page. It’s a total mismatch in terms of the message being conveyed. Chances are most people who clicked on the ad or listing did because of the advertised sale or service, but when they arrived at the destination and saw nothing mentioning the sale or service they wanted, so they left.
Message match and scent match problems are easier to avoid that you would think. The concept is pretty basic: Your ad should look and feel like your landing page, and the message and offer should be the same. Voilà. Simple, eh?
Now, the best way to obtain a perfect scent/message match is simply to create a specific landing page for each variation of your ads or service.
In your Customer Service
Offering what consumers are looking for means that you are meeting their expectations. Ensure that you know your clients by gathering adequate information about your clients. It is crucial to determine what clients frequently buy, why they opt for that product, and the frequency of their purchases. When you are determining the needs of your clients, it is vital to know details such as their interests, occupation, and lifestyle. Also, include any potential clients that have previously inquired about your products. You can find out more about researching clients here.
Every client has a unique need and holds different views and opinions concerning Customer Service. Therefore, you must know the needs of the client to provide what they are looking for and, as such, provide excellent Customer Service. Make sure you identify ways that the clients expect you to meet their needs. This involves undertaking thorough research on your target market and the marketplace to understand what the clients are looking for in your business location.
Your level of service should meet the expectations of the clients. Go beyond to make the client say ‘wow’ after receiving your products or services. Some ways to know whether you are offering what clients are looking for is to undertake a client survey, client focus groups, or use the suggestion box. You can obtain a lot of input from such activities. If you have an online page, use add-ons, such as “Would you like computer monitors as well?”
The message match problem is one of the most cited by marketers. The problem occurs when your ad fails to match with the end offer on the landing page. As such, a user clicks on the ad but does not see anything mentioned when they land on the site. Ensure that your ad looks like your landing page.
NURTURE YOUR LEADS
Nurturing leads is the process of creating a relationship with clients at every stage and throughout their journey. It involves focusing on communication and marketing efforts on listening to the needs of clients and providing them with adequate information. To develop leads effectively in today’s marketplace, you need to establish and nurture client relationships with a thorough content marketing plan.
Normally, most clients will not take a step in the client life cycle, unless they hear from you or feel engaged with your content at least more than seven times. This is very important, especially in this age of constant information and competitive advertising. Just having a webpage will not do it. To reach clients, you must diversify your message to communicate both when and how leads would like to hear from us. It is crucial to nurture your leads towards sales. Therefore, you will have to use more than one medium such as email, retargeting ads, social media messaging, and SMS, among others. When your Plumbing and HVAC company creates mixed media messages that have highly engaging content, your business will garner more leads and generate consistent sales.
When you venture more into business, you will start realizing the vitality of having an effective nurturing strategy. Research by Forrester shows that marketers experience a mean of about a 20% increase in sales opportunities from nurtured leads compared to those who use non-nurtured leads. The same report shows that companies that nurture their leads have a 33% lower cost and 50% more sales.
ONCE THEY CONTACT YOU, SHOW THEM YOU ARE THE RIGHT CHOICE
The fact that your phone is ringing constantly does not mean that you have hit the jackpot yet. You may have leads, but the main issue is converting those leads into sales. This process requires effective Customer Service and the ability to convince clients to purchase.
Tip 1: Capture the Lead Right Away
The way that you present yourself to a client matter a lot. When the phone rings, use a kind tone and take time to listen first without responding. Once you understand the query, portray a willing spirit. It is crucial to collect the lead info early on like the name of the caller, their phone number, and their address and anything else you need- without this, you may not have a second chance.
Tip 2: Develop a Relationship with the Caller
You want the caller to feel comfortable so that they can talk freely, and to achieve this; you have to establish rapport. You should act very professionally. Remember that you are representing a Plumbing and HVAC company. Therefore, your tone of choice and how you tackle the issue matters a lot. The client will perceive the value of your Plumbing and Heating & Air services based on these things. In the opening line, mention the name of the company and be at service for the client. Show your willingness to help.
Use excellent listening skills by giving the caller time to explain the issues and ask follow-up questions that can help in clarification ensure that you focus on the problem presented by the caller in the best possible way. Doing this will leave the client satisfied.
Always assure the caller then you can solve the issue. You do not want to start creating doubts or suggesting incompetency in your Plumbing and HVAC company. Assure the caller that is the specialty of your Plumbing and Heating & Air service, and you will handle it immediately. If it is something that your department cannot solve, tell the caller that you are transferring them to an individual department that can help them better.
Tip 3: Book the Appointment
During the call, one of the things that you do is understanding the needs of the client. Once you know these needs, proceed to book an appointment. Book an appointment as early as possible to encourage the client to look for your Plumbing and Heating & air services. Before calling you, the client may call two more companies to make informative decisions. Book that appointment if you want to convert your calls into a sale. You can convince a client to purchase by giving them an attractive incentive such as a discount or wave if they book in the next ten days. Try to sell your company by convincing the client that you offer the best services compared to competitors. Once the client schedules an appointment with you, you can be sure that they will come to purchase. Ask them to choose a day that they will be free to book and send them a message reminding them of the appointment.
Tip 4: Regularly Audit Your Call Handling Team
All call handlers need training. If you check well, you may find that there are one Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) in your Plumbing and HVAC business who does not represent your company well to the clients. You must undertake frequent auditing. Auditing does not focus on punishing or sacking an employee.
On the contrary, it helps you to check drawbacks and train employees to represent the company well. You may need to incur a little amount on training whereby employees can learn how to talk to clients can convert your leads to sales. During auditing, it is also vital to commend your staff if they are doing a good job. Never underestimate the power of motivation. You can do verification by listening to call records when made and correcting later. Alternatively, you can encourage employees to listen to each other’s calls and help to improve each other’s skills. Employees with excellent call handling skills can mentor others.
One way to do this is through BlackStorm’s phone call tracking and tagging services (our BEST clients fully embrace this service). With our phone call tracking software, you can monitor all the calls that are coming into your Plumbing and HVAC business and be able to determine precisely where there are holes in your conversion process. You might think your call staff is doing a great job, but how would you know unless your sitting right next to them while they answer every phone call, well with us, you can listen in on every call that you wish.
READY TO BOOK MORE APPOINTMENT FOR YOUR Plumbing and HVAC BUSINESS?
Do not wait long to book an appointment to grow your Plumbing and HVAC business. After going through the above tips, you should be feeling motivated and ready to generate leads. Just follow the steps slowly and ensure that you nurture leads to create sales. In every step that you take, remember that the goal is to convert leads to purchases. Start today.