Uncategorized – Page 6 – IFTS, Inc. Blog

SEO for House Painting Businesses: Let’s Talk About Good Search Engine Optimization Strategies for Your Painting Company

Your painting company provides a wide range of valuable services to local homeowners and businesses as a painter. The problem is that you’re simply one of many comparable businesses. So, what distinguishes you from the rest of the pack?

Customer service and high-quality products are equally as important as flawless execution. However, implementing SEO solutions to develop your organization is an equally crucial, if sometimes forgotten, component.

What is Search Engine Optimization for House Painters?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving your website’s visibility in search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, and so on, in order to attract more traffic to your site. Increased visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) means that you’re more likely to attract new and existing consumers.

Unlike PPC advertising, which suck up a significant portion of any marketing budget, SEO may be done for a fraction of the cost. PPC results can be seen instantly, while true SEO advantages may take some time to show up. For most painting contractors, a combination of PPC and SEO is suggested.

Types of Search Engine Optimization Your Business Can Use

Although SEO appears to be a straightforward procedure at first glance, digging deeper reveals a considerably more nuanced process. The “mechanism” of SEO has several moving parts, including, but not limited to, keywords and content.

There are two basic types of SEO elements – Onsite SEO and Offsite SEO.

On-site SEO is when you make changes to individual parts of your website to make it more likely to show up in search engine results. This includes things like keywords, formatting, navigation, URLs, load speed, on-site blogging, and responsive design, among other things.

Off-Site SEO is the work you do to improve your SEO by doing things that aren’t on your website. A lot of people think that link building is the most important part of off-page SEO, but it also includes things like business profiles on social media, articles, link building and more.

How Can You Get Started In SEO With Your Painting Company?

SEO is a lot more complicated than just researching keywords and putting them on your site. This is a good reason to pay more attention to it and not just ignore it. There are many parts of SEO that don’t cost anything but your time and effort, and they can be more effective than other marketing methods.

Search Engine Journal says that inbound leads (like from SEO) cost 61% less than leads that have to be bought (like cold calling). It is also very easy to use tactics once you know how to do them.

So, let’s get started!

Social Media – It’s a good idea to post material from your website or blog on social media networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and so on to increase traffic to your site. Post often and engage with users in a professional manner to build a following.

Link Building – We’ve previously established that link development is a critical component of any successful SEO campaign. Google doesn’t care about the size of your painting company. By guest blogging, submitting your pages to relevant directories, and providing valuable material that other people want to share, you may utilize link building to establish your authority.

On the other hand, anyone who uses black hat techniques, such as low-quality methods and spam, will be punished, no matter how big their business is.

Local SEO – Local SEO is the same as SEO but tailored to local search engine results. This implies that the material you generate and distribute should include information about your business’s location, city, or town.

Consumers and home service providers both benefit from Google’s preference for local content. When you have the right tools to target people in your location, your adverts and content will be more successful.

Understanding Local SEO

Here’s how MailChimp explains local organic search results:

After analyzing the behavior of users during trillions of searches, Google figured out that people seeking certain types of businesses need results from their immediate area. That’s why Google’s local search algorithm includes a proximity factor, which is a fancy way of saying that Google takes your location into account when you search for a local keyword (a query with local intent). This happens even when the searcher doesn’t include a city name or “near me” in their search.

Long-tail keywords have a large role in local SEO. To locate words that describe your painting company’s services and mention the location, you may use tools like Google Keyword Planner. Using these keywords in your article can help you rise in the ranks of search engine results.

How To Know If Your SEO Is Working

Measurability is one of SEO’s finest advantages. In order to learn more about your website’s visitors, including their origins, paths to your site, and activities while they’re there, you may use Google Analytics. Using this data, you can take advantage of the fact that a certain search phrase is directing users to your site and incorporate this keyword in your content.

How Can Local SEO Help Grow Your House Painting Business?

Let’s go a little further and see exactly what these services can achieve for your business.

Improve Your Online Visibility

Painting companies that get their name out there are more likely to expand and grow. You have the opportunity to appear at the top of search engine results by executing an effective local SEO plan.

Even if customers don’t click on your links on your website, they will still notice your brand. As a result, your company’s name and products become more recognizable to them. This is a great approach to increase your brand’s visibility over time!

Boost Your Local Sales

The ultimate purpose of an SEO strategy should be to assist you in increasing revenue. In fact, this is exactly what local SEO can achieve for your painting business. Having a Google My Business account is one way to get your business in front of more local clients.

Outrank All Of Your Competitors

As a result of employing local SEO techniques, you’ll be able to outrank your rivals in the Google search results and attract clients who otherwise would have opted for your rivals. If people see your website first, they’re more likely to click through.

Generating Organic Traffic For Your Site

Search Engine Watch conducted a study that arrived at some incredible findings: 63 % of people use multiple devices to find a local business.

Four out of five searches via mobile devices lead to a purchase, often within a few hours, the survey said. Compared with other devices, the mobile phone showed the highest conversion rate, with nearly 80 percent of mobile phone searches ending in a purchase.

When consumers in your area search for the services you provide, it’s critical that you show up in local search results. And the best way to achieve it is through a local search engine optimization approach.

You Need SEO For Business Success

In order to be successful and relevant in today’s business environment, Search Engine Optimization is a must-have. SEO is essential for painters. Even if you have a great service, you won’t be found online if you don’t have SEO. To put it another way, customers can’t discover you when they search for what you do online.

If you’re in the painting business, knowing your local customers better than anyone else might provide you an edge over your rivals in the home service industry. It’s an excellent chance for you if they’re depending only on outbound marketing or are simply hoping for the best with their websites. This happens more often than you think.

There’s no need to start off with a huge budget – start small and build up as your business grows. Keep in mind that SEO is a long-term process, not a sprint!

The Top 18 Social Media Post Ideas For Painting Businesses To Engage Your Online Audience and Save You Time

Posting organic content in today’s world is crucial for social media success. Keeping up with posting daily to your social media sites can be very time consuming – and you don’t want to be spending all of your valuable time creating content that your social media followers might not even see or want to read. This is especially crucial if you, as the painting business owner, are creating this content.

In order to simplify the social media process, we have put together this easy to follow social media post ideas list. These top post ideas will help you stay relevant and engaging on social media while saving you time.

Before you start posting though, you need to get to know your audience!

Discover Your Audience In Depth

Knowing who your audience is will make creating content for your social media THAT much easier!

You’ll want to know your audience’s

likes and dislikes
interests
pain points
biggest questions
age

If you are trying to figure out who your target audience is, check out this blog post on how to define your target audience where we walk you through a few steps that will help you identify who is already engaging with your company (and your competitors) and how to utilize that information to establish a clear target group.

To get you started, most painting businesses have an active audience that mainly consists of women 35-65 that live within 20 miles of your location. They are normally the primary decision makers in a household. Also, the household income is in the top 40% in the area.

Now, the age may skew younger or older depending on your location, but this is a good jumping off point.

1. This or that

As a painting business, you can ask people what cabinet color they prefer in a kitchen. This dark set or that bright white set.

There are a number of things that you can compare using the “this or that” post option.

2. A, B, C or D

This type of post is similar to “this or that” but instead, you are giving them four different options to choose from. You could post a question such as “If you could choose one thing to update in your home right now, what would it be?”

With this question, post four images such as a new kitchen, interior painting, exterior painting and bathroom remodeling and have them share their feedback. This can help you figure out ads to run and pain points to touch upon in upcoming posts.

3. Customer Review

Customer reviews are one of the most impactful posts you can put out there, yet you rarely see it being done by most businesses. This type of post allows you to toot your own horn a bit while letting others know that your previous clients have been absolutely satisfied with your services.

You can showcase reviews that have been left for your company on Facebook, Google, etc., videos that customers have shot on their cellphones, or even emails or text messages that you have received about your work.Does your business not receive many reviews? Here are 10 proven ways to get more online reviews for your business!

4. Story Time

There is nothing more engaging to the human race than storytelling. It goes back to the time of cavemen. So, why not use this to help liven up your social media?

This could be a story about you and how you started your business. It could be a story about one of your clients and their story of how you have made something in their life better through your services. It could even be a story that discusses why a client chose you over someone else to tackle their home project.

The story post allows you to connect with your audience on another level while establishing yourself as a personable brand. It’s a very humanizing post type.

5. Showcasing Styles

If you offer a wide range of choices in your work, let them know! Show off various styles and options within the services you provide. If you are a home remodeling company, show off a few different kitchen styles and ask your audience which they would pick for their own home.

Showcase your abilities to your audience will help them understand exactly what your company is about and the kind of work you do.

6. Transparency

When creating this type of post, you’ll be taking something that isn’t typically discussed in your industry, and share it with your social media audience. You’ll need to make it very clear for the customer to see, such as how your business operates or how you estimate work with integrity. Offer them a deep dive into your processes.

Transparency posts are engaging because they help you build a relationship with your audience. Discuss topics on which your followers are desperate to learn more about.

7. Business Details

If you are a painting company, including business details such as the process of making an estimate or how long it typically takes to complete a project can attract social media followers who are in need of your services. This is a topic that not many companies speak openly about.

You could also share the training process for your employees and how you only hire experienced professionals. Your followers will be glad to know that there won’t be just any average joe painting their home.

This type of post gives you an opportunity to showcase your professionalism.

8. Customer Spotlight

This post can be focused on one of your customers and the project that you helped them with. Shining the light on a customer will make them feel great, and more likely to share your social media post with other potential customers. This is a great way to get your business in front of new eyes. In fact, try to tag the customer that you are highlighting if possible.

This also shows how much you care about your clients and helps them to feel more connected with your company.

9. Quick Tips

Quick tips are social media posts that showcase a helpful tip or trick for something relevant to your industry. These can be beneficial as they will provide your audience with the knowledge they need to take advantage of a daily situation.

With someone who has as much experience and knowledge in your industry as you do, start sharing some helpful tips! If these valuable tips will help somebody, they are going to think of you every time they use it.

10. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

FAQ social media posts are great because they answer the questions you get asked most often! This is perfect for businesses that have social media accounts that get a lot of comments or messages. Instead of replying to each message, share it with your social media audience so everyone can get the answers to their questions without having to ask them.

[Bonus Tip – If a question is really popular, be sure to add it to your website as well to help with your SEO]

Ask your question in the opening line of the content with the answer written out below. This is how you turn frequently asked questions into questions that are no longer asked, saving you time in the long run. These work really well as videos too.

Need help?

Get templates to the top 18 social media posts to engage your online audience and save you time!

11. Before and After

As a home services business, before and after posts are a must! Showing your social media audience the before and after of a project will help them to understand how your services make a difference!

If possible, be sure to use a picture taken from the same angle with similar lighting. Try to use images that have stark contrast, such as going from light paint to dark paint or vice versa.

12. Feature Your Employees

We can guarantee your employees will love the fact that you take the time to showcase them, what they do for you, and how much of an asset they are to your company. When you share social media posts that include the team members, it helps to provide a friendly face behind your business and that will make your audience feel more connected!

People want to do business with people.

13. Comparison

The comparison post can relate to anything within your industry and it simply compares one thing to another. This could be comparing different brands of paint and how they are used, types of flooring, the quality of one painting process vs. another etc.

14. Pros and Cons

Anything that relates to your business can be a comparison with benefits and drawbacks. This can be in relation to your industry, your competitors, or things that your customers are doing.

What are the pros and cons of hiring a company who specializes in kitchen remodeling over a general contractor? What about one coat of paint vs two?

Be sure to highlight the situations where your business comes out on top!

15. Customer Generated Content

This is a piece of content that was created by someone who has used your services. This could be a photo of them in their new kitchen or a testimonial that they may have written about your business on their personal profile. Anything that is published by one of your customers is customer generated content.

When customers see you sharing their posts about your business, this encourages others to do the same!

16. Talk About Trends

There are trends that are relevant in every industry, which is why social media users are so engaged with content that discusses them. Trends can be anything from popular paint colors to tile and flooring patterns and accent walls.

If you have your finger on the social media pulse, share some of these trends with your audience and provide some insight about them. They may just see something that catches their eye! This also sets you apart as an expert in your area.

17. Long Form Content

You want to make sure that you are also posting long form content here and there. This consists of longer videos and blog posts that allow you to really share your message. Longer form content can be used when you want to explain something that is beneficial for your social media audience and internet browsers alike!

Some popular long form content topics that we have seen work for painters are as follows:

Popular color trends for the year
Tips for painting children’s rooms
One coat vs two coat
Warranty explanation
Pros and cons of certain paints or paint brands

18. Community Related Posts

If you are a local business, you should absolutely be talking about community-related activities. For example, you can talk about projects that your business has completed around the community. So, when people see that your company has done work on a common spot around town, they are going to think of you every time they see it!

You should also post about any charity work that your business has done.

Want To Know More?

This is just the start when it comes to creating engaging content that helps get you more clients!

If you need help creating social media content for your business or if you would like it done for you, contact IFTS today at 412-715-6266 to discuss a social media plan that is a good fit for you and your business.

Bonus! Get these templates sent directly to your inbox along with an instructional video on how to make personalized edits! Click the link below!

18 social media posts to engage your online audience and save you time!

Grow Your Painting Business by A Factor of 10 With These 5 Steps

Do you want to expand your painting business but don’t know where to begin?

It’s challenging to determine where to put your time and money or what measures to take. However, we’ve put together a step-by-step guide that will help you 10X your painting company.

Part 1 of 5: Implement A Follow Up System

Step 1 – Implement A Follow-Up System So Your Potential Clients See You Over and Over

Did you realize that just 3% of your market is ready to buy from you at any time?

This suggests that 97% of the individuals who see your advertisement will require a bit more time. Every day, your average consumer is exposed to around 10,000 marketing communications.

What are the possibilities that your marketing message will stand out among the 10,000 that your client is exposed to (particularly if they have never heard of you)?

In order to make an informed purchase choice, your potential clients will often need to see and hear from you many times. This is why you must CONTINUE TO FOLLOW-UP. In fact, according to a Google study from 2011, a customer requires 7 hours of engagement over 11 touch points in four places.

Let’s take a look at that in more detail. You (or your marketing) must interact with (or be seen by) your prospective client 11 times. Snail mail, videos, ads, phone calls, emails, or anything else that brings you in front of them can be used.

Then, these 11 exchanges must take place across four different online locations. This implies you can’t always call or send an email. You must increase the number of places where people may see you. You must be “everywhere” your customers are. As a result, adding to phone or email, Text, Facebook Ads, YouTube, the Google Display Network, LinkedIn, and other platforms is a good idea. Consider where your clients commonly are when accomplishing this task.

Finally, these touches must provide around 7 hours of interaction. To put it another way, you want a prospect to spend roughly 7 hours thinking about you. This is when having video comes in handy. Customer testimonials are excellent advertisements for a house painting company. It lets others “toot your horn” for you so you don’t have to.

A downloadable document with information about your organization, examples of your previous work, before and afters, and testimonials are other wonderful interaction pieces. You may share this on your website or through social media.

How To Implement A Great Customer Follow-Up System – Set Up A 3×3 Contact Matrix

First and foremost, automation is your friend. Don’t be afraid of technology because it appears to be complicated. It will be worthwhile in the long run.

So, what’s the first thing you’ll need to do?

Use a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system like GoHighLevel, CorkCRM, or Keap to get started. In the long term, it will more than pay for itself in the time that you save and the clients that you gain.

You’ll need to create a 3×3 contact matrix in your CRM. As soon as a potential customer inquires about your services, you want to follow up with them by phone call, text, and email. If you don’t hear back from them within three days, try again. Do it again in 5 days if they don’t reply or engage. This means that you’ll have nine encounters with people on three distinct platforms.

“What if they become angry or tell us it’s too much?” is a typical concern expressed by painters.

They are not going to. Remember, they were the ones who contacted you first. It will be appreciated if you provide them with as much information as possible to help them make an informed selection when hiring a home painter. Providing additional information about working with you and your company should not be a deterrent.

“What should I say in these emails, messages, and phone calls?” is another regular question we hear.

CALLS: The calls can just be follow-ups following the first contact for an estimate, as most painting companies are accustomed to.
TEXTS: The texts should be brief messages requesting a response in order to keep people engaged. This is also a good time to offer a special deal that they can only receive if they respond. Keep these short, sweet, and to-the-point.
EMAILS: Emails are where you can truly shine and promote your business. Send them more details about what it’s like working with your company. Do you have a video testimonial? This is the ideal time to share it with them. Do you provide anything truly unique in your area, such as a guarantee or a special technique? Share it here.

People buy with their emotions and justify their purchases with logic. To get people emotionally involved, use these 9 points of contact. Then provide them the facts to back up their decision.

How To Implement A Great Customer Follow-Up System – Play The Follow Game

Have you ever looked at a toaster on Amazon and then realized you’re seeing it everywhere? The same principles should be applied to your painting business.

The Facebook pixel and the Google cookie are two tools that can be used to accomplish this.

Install them on your website (and make sure their use is included in your terms and conditions), and they’ll start tracking your website visits. You may now show Facebook advertising to people who have visited certain pages on your website. In a similar way, you may utilize the Google cookie. This allows you to retarget all website visitors with ads for your house painting business!

Using Video Ads is another approach to interact with people several times based on their previous browsing activity. Create a series of three videos in which you respond to typical questions about hiring home painters. Use the questions that potential clients ask you all of the time. These videos don’t have to be formal or expensive to be effective.

This can be accomplished using a video that was filmed with a cell phone or tablet. Just make sure that you have decent lighting, so they can see your face!

Use these three videos to reach a large audience on Facebook. You’re going to use them to screen people out. Then, in a follow-up, market your services to those who have watched at least 25% of one of your videos.

Why just 25% of a video?

Because no one will watch a video on frequently asked questions about house painting unless they are looking to paint their home. This is a fantastic technique to narrow down your target audience and show your call to action to interested parties.

This strategy may be used on YouTube as well.

How To Implement A Great Customer Follow-Up System – Advertise on Multiple Platforms

You must promote on various platforms in order to be “everywhere.”

Google Ads is a fantastic tool that allows you to promote your business on Google, YouTube, Gmail, and the Google Display Network (GDN). The GDN enables your ads to appear on websites where Google has leased space. Google lets you choose the sort of website “lease” you wish to rent. As a house painting business, Home Improvement or Home Decorating sites can be a smart place to start.

Side note – you may want to avoid the “DIY” categories.

Facebook Ads are another wonderful way to target certain audiences with various sorts of advertising. Videos outperform static ads, so start filming! Don’t be afraid to let your potential clients put a face to the name of your business.

Depending on the type of work you do, LinkedIn advertising may be able to assist you in reaching out to certain professionals. This typically tends to help with commercial work contracts.

How To Implement A Great Customer Follow-Up System – Let’s Look At An Example

To really illustrate how powerful just this one step is, let’s look at an example painting business, ABC Painting.

Let’s say that ABC Painting gets 60 leads per month, their close rate is 15% and the average painting project in their area is $5,000. This means that they will get 9 clients and the company will gross $45,000 per month.

If you implement the follow up systems discussed above, you will increase your leads by about 60%.

To use the numbers above, this means that instead of 60 leads, ABC Painting will now have 96 leads per month. They will close on 15% of them, which is 14 clients and the company will now gross $70,000.

See, the CRM really will pay for itself…

Keep reading to learn how to double your leads!

Part 2 of 5: Double Your Number Of Leads Today

If you want to expand your painting business, you must commit to taking the steps to grow. By just doubling your leads (at the very least), you will have more work coming in than ever before.

This is when things become a little complicated and people get confused.

“How exactly do I double the leads for my painting business?” is a commonly asked question.

The honest answer is that you should try a variety of options and find what works best for you and your company. Lead tracking strategies will be required in order to determine what is working and what is not. This will tell you where exactly to spend your marketing budget.

Let’s go over a couple methods (or combinations of methods) for doubling your leads.

Marketing Tactics To Try To 2X Your House Painting Leads

Marketing Tactic 1 For Painting Companies – Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads, as indicated in Part 1, may be an efficient strategy to attract new clients.

Because video outperforms photos, make sure you record a number of short videos at your next job site. Most clients will be ecstatic to have their house transformation featured.

You’ll need to make two video sets. Videos that do the following should be included in Set 1:

Provide an answer to a frequently asked question about home painting.
Talk about getting a house ready to paint.
Discuss why and when to paint certain areas.
Discuss how the weather affects the painting process.

Video set 1 should consist of videos that people would watch solely if they were considering painting their interiors, exteriors, cabinets, or other surfaces.

Set 2 of the video should introduce your company and explain why they should hire you. The following should be included in these videos:

Showing off the quality of your work
Awesome before and after shots
How tidy you keep the work area
Anything else that makes your stand out

Set 2 videos should also have a call to action for them to contact you or make an appointment.

Schedule Video Set 1 to individuals in your region. The following options are typically recommended to get your Facebook targeting a bit more specific:

Age – 40+

Gender – Female (Women tend to make the household buying decisions)

Radius – Within 20 (or 30) miles of your business

The radius should really reflect how far you are willing to travel for house painting projects.

You’ll want to schedule Video Set 2 after Video Set 1 has been running for a few days. Only those who have seen at least 25% of one of the videos from Set 1 should be shown these videos. This way, you know you’re reaching out to people who are at least considering painting their home.

If you have the Facebook Pixel set up correctly, you can also show Video Set 2 to users who have visited your website.

Marketing Tactic 2 For Painting Companies – Google Ads

Google Ads may be a powerful tool for generating online leads. In fact, we’ve seen leads for companies we’ve worked with come in for less than $50 per lead. When it comes to the settings, though, Google Ads can be a little complex. This complexity typically leads to mistakes and can cost a painting business money if they are not careful.

Let’s look at some of the most frequent Google Ad “gotchas.”

First, you must choose the type of advertisement you wish to run:

Search Ads are the text ads that you see at the top of the results page, before the map and the organic results
Display Ads are the image ads that you see across the web when browsing

Although both types of ads have advantages, you should never create a Search Ad that also targets the Display Network or vice versa.

Second, double-check that you’re utilizing keywords in the way you intended.

Google has multiple types of keywords:

Broad match
Phrase match
Exact match

According to Google, a broad match keyword is one that “may show on searches that are related to your keyword, which can include searches that don’t contain the keyword terms”

One of your keywords, for example, may be House Painters In My Area. However, those hunting for famous painters or automobile painters may see your ad.

Rule #1 of not overpaying for Google Ads – DO NOT USE BROAD MATCH KEYWORDS.

Google defines a phrase match keyword as one where “ads may show on searches that include the meaning of your keyword”. To denote a phrase match keyword, you’ll need to put it in quotes.

To use the example above, you would define one of your keywords as “House Painters In My Area”. Now, if someone entered in that term, your ad would appear. It may also appear if someone types in “Painters Near Me” or “House Painting Near Me.”

These are acceptable keywords (as long as you have a good negative keyword list, which we will discuss in a few moments).

Exact match keywords are the last type of keyword from Google. You put the keyword phrase in square brackets to indicate this. Google defines these as “Ads will show on searches that have the same meaning or same intent as the keyword.”

This type of keyword gives you the most control over when your ad appears, but it also restricts the number of people who see it. In the previous example, you would type [House Painters In My Area] as one of your keywords. Then, when someone types in this phrase or anything extremely close, such as the same words in a different sequence, your ad will appear. One example of this would be someone typing “House Painters My Area” into the search bar.

You’ll also want to make a list of negative keywords after you’ve entered your keywords. This is a list of terms and phrases that you input into Google Ads that informs them not to show my ad if this word appears in a search phrase. It allows you to filter out buyers who aren’t qualified.

Good negative keywords to use for your painting company:

Any painting or store brand, like “Home Depot” or “Behr”
“How To” or “How Much” (People searching these phrases are typically in the education phase of their searching and aren’t looking to purchase yet)
Automobile, car, auto etc.
Boat
Bicycle
Paint and Sip
Face Paint
Etc.

Put any terms or phrases that come to mind that are linked with painting but aren’t related to home painting on the list.

Finally, double-check that your keywords correspond to what you state in your advertisements, and that the landing pages you lead visitors to correspond to your ads. This is known as “Ad Congruity.”

For example, if you utilize the term “house painter” in your keywords and ads, make sure the page they are directed to emphasizes that you are a “house painter.” In fact, “house painter” should occur in your H1 header and your page title.

DO NOT SEND ANY OF YOUR ADS TO YOUR HOME PAGE! This is a significant, costly error that we see a lot of painting companies make. When people get sent to the home page, they don’t know what action you want them to take. A confused mind never buys, so be explicit in what you want all of your prospects to do.

Some Other Marketing Tactics For Painting Businesses

We wanted to review a few tactics in depth in this article. However, there are tons of other tactics to try, like:

Door hangers
YouTube ads
Radio ads
Appear on Podcasts
Networking
Find non-competing partners
SEO
TV
Get featured on the local news
And more!

Always Important to Remember – Measure Your Results

You must measure your results to determine which approach or tactics performed best. Call tracking is one technique used to accomplish this. For each tactic type, use a different phone number to determine which one generates the most leads. One vendor that provides this service and makes it simple to set up is CallRail. You get 10 phone numbers included with the basic account and the cost is less than $50/month.

You might want to attempt one tactic every month, though seasonality may have an impact on the results…or you can try them all at once!

To separate them out, each ad might be sent to a different landing page. Then you’d be able to tell which ad was the most effective according to your website’s analytics.

You just want to make sure that everything is measured, regardless of how you go about it. Once you know your metrics, you don’t have to limit yourself to just one! It’s best to eliminate the duds though.

Let’s Return To Our Example Company With Double The Leads For Our Painting Business

Again, let’s see how powerful doubling the number of leads that we bring in actually is.

Remember, ABC Painting started with $45,000 monthly gross revenue. Then, we implemented a follow-up system, which will increase the leads by about 60%. This took the gross monthly revenue to $70,000.

Now, through the tactics discussed in this article, we have doubled our leads from 96 to 160 192 per month.

If that 15% close rate remains, this will result in 29 new clients and a monthly gross income of $145,000! We have already more than tripled the revenue using just 2 steps of this proven system!

Part 3 of 5: Work On Increasing The Closing Rate For Your Painting Business

Have you ever heard someone say – “People love to buy, but they hate to be sold to?”

I beg to differ. That statement is simply false. People like both buying AND being sold to. However, it has to be presented to them correctly with a certain mindset.

The important thing is that they need to have a quality sales experience. They’ll be delighted to be sold to!

What Exactly Constitutes A Great Sales Experience

As an example, think about buying a car.

When you go to buy a new BMW or Mercedes Benz, the salesmen in their luxurious offices offer you endless Starbucks and snacks. You get to relax in a beautiful lounge while the cars you wish to test drive are being prepared. Typically, you’ll be able to go out for a long test drive to check out all of the car’s features. Then, for the following months after you buy the car, you get fun small additions in the mail. They may even invite you to special track events where you will get the opportunity to drive souped-up cars.

Let’s compare this to purchasing a new Honda. You begin by entering a bare-bones sales floor and taking a number. When it’s your time, you’ll receive a 10-minute test drive during which the salesperson will go through the features briefly. You’re taken into a regular cubicle and the contract is placed in front of you when you return to the dealership. This isn’t meant to knock Honda, it’s just how they operate.

Although both automobiles will get you from point A to point B, which sales experience would you prefer? Most people, I believe, would agree that the BMW/Mercedes experience is preferable.

Selling Is A Process

The easiest way to get a client is for them to know, like and trust you. You can begin this process even before someone requests a quote from you or calls you on the phone.

As indicated in step one of this series, create a set of videos that answer frequent questions that you receive from clients all the time. You may also create videos that answer the most common objections you get from individuals who don’t hire you.

Then, promote these videos to your target audience on Facebook. Before they even contact you for a quote, they’ll get to know, like, and trust you.

Why?

Because you have provided value to them and demonstrated your expertise in the painting field without coming off as pushy. These videos serve as the initial stage of your sales pitch (and they don’t require much of your time). You want people to see you again and again. As a result, you establish yourself in their mind as the go-to painting company in the area.

BONUS TIP: Testimonial videos are a terrific method to build trust with potential clients while also showcasing your work without having to brag!

You’ve already gotten the hard part out of the way when someone calls you for a quote after seeing your videos. They know, like, and trust you because of your videos… and Individuals like to buy from people they like. It becomes a lot easier for you to seal the deal.

“Selling” Is A Dirty Word

“Sales” or “Selling” has recently earned a bad rap. You may immediately think of shady used car salesmen or worse. It just carries a negative connotation.

However, keep in mind that when you sell someone a quality house painting project, you are definitely helping them.

Perhaps you’re assisting them with painting their kitchen cabinets in order to increase their asking price when they sell their home. Perhaps you’re painting their house exterior and assisting them with weatherproofing for the winter. Perhaps you’re assisting a family in having a wonderful holiday in their newly painted living room.

Whatever the situation may be, you are assisting others in achieving positive goals. They are in a better position than they were previously! Remember this the next time you’re trying to close a deal. You should be in a completely different mindset than “straight sales”, which will help your close rate.

Increase Your Closing Percentage

Create a positive sales experience for customers that begins even before they contact your company. Your closing rate should more than double if you follow the advice above.

Let’s Return To Our Example Company With Double The Close Rate For Our Painting Business

Remember, ABC Painting started with $45,000 monthly gross revenue. Then, we implemented a follow-up system, which will increase the leads by about 60%. This took the gross monthly revenue to $70,000 with a close rate of 15%.

Next, we doubled our leads from 96 to 192 per month using the tactics in Step 2 of this article This resulted in 29 new clients and a monthly gross income of $145,000.

Now, if we can double the close rate from 15% to 30%, we will have 58 clients per month with a monthly gross income of $290,000! This is more than 6X the starting monthly revenue and we have 2 more steps to go!

Continue reading to learn about adding a special upsell that will score you some high-ticket clients right away!

Part 4 of 5: Create a Premium Service Offering To Upsell Your Top Clients

Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule or the Pareto principle?

It states that “80 Percent of Your Results Come from 20 Percent of Your Efforts, and 20 Percent of Your Results Come from The Other 80 Percent.”

This rule also applies to your customers. In most cases, 20% of your clients account for 80% of your income. Let’s apply the 80/20 rule to the top 20% of your clientele. 4 % of your clients account for 64% of your income.

So, what does this mean?

There will always be a tiny group of individuals at the top who are willing to pay a premium price.

Are you giving them that opportunity?

There will always be at least 5-10% of your clients that are willing to pay a higher price for a premium level of service.

A premium service will be superior to the services you now provide in terms of quality, speed, and ease…

It will also cost 2-3 times as much.

To create your premium service offer, you need to ask yourself 3 questions:

What can you do to offer a better painting service than other companies?
What can you do to be faster than other companies?
How can you make your process easier than other companies?

Let’s look at a few examples for each question…

What can you do to offer a better painting service than other companies?

Take the time it generally takes you to finish a work and reduce it by 30% or more if possible to provide a speedier service. Offer kitchen cabinets painted and re-installed in a week (obviously kitchen size matters, so there can be a disclaimer). Offer rooms completed in a single day which are of high quality.

When you provide a faster service, it definitely sets you apart from the competition. People are always willing to pay a premium for speed as it lessens the inconvenience to them.

How can you make the painting process easier than other companies?

You have a variety of premium alternatives to offer, starting with the sales process. You may FaceTime someone as soon as they contact you and give them an estimate right away. As the first quote, this also puts you ahead of your competitors and allows them to put a face to your name.

You could offer a free hotel stay or a mini vacation (of course included in the price) while you work on their home. They don’t have to deal with the mess or upheaval…and you don’t have to deal with them as a bonus. This is something that a lot of companies do. Travel companies can provide you with excellent group prices.

If they have pets, you may pay pet sitters to take care of them while you are working in their home. There will be no accidents, and the pets will not be exposed to an unfamiliar situation.

Consider the problems that you are creating by painting their house and give remedies to develop your premium service.

How To Present The Premium Painting Offerings

Include premium services in your proposal. People enjoy having options, but not too many. People are more likely to make a purchase when given fewer options, according to research conducted in 2000. When it comes to premium services, just provide 2-3 selections at most.

This also makes individuals who choose your standard pricing feel like they got a great “deal” on your service.

Let’s Return To Our Example Company With A Premium Offering For Our Painting Business

Next, we doubled our leads from 96 to 192 per month using the tactics in Step 2 of this series. This resulted in 29 new clients and a monthly gross income of $145,000.

Then, we doubled the close rate from 15% to 30%, which gave us 58 clients per month with a monthly gross income of $290,000.

Now, if we add a premium offering at $14,000 that 10% of our clients choose – we’ll have 192 leads per month with a 30% close rate. That gives us 58 clients. 90% of them, 52 clients, choose the regular offering at $5,000 and 10% of them, 6 clients, choose the premium offering at $14,000. This gives us a total revenue for the month of $344,000.

This is an increase of 7.6X

Read on to step 5 where we will talk about being the irresistible option, which allows you to charge what you want!

Part 5 of 5: Increase Your Pricing By Being THE GUY (or Girl)

Are you hesitant to increase your pricing for painting jobs?

The majority of painters are…

But you shouldn’t be, because competing solely on price is inherently bad. You only have 2 options: be the highest or the lowest. It won’t matter if you’re the second or third cheapest in town.

When you’re the cheapest, you’re also implying a low-quality component. Typically, the cheapest services are never the best. You don’t want your painting company to be associated with that stigma!

People will pay your prices, no matter what they are, if you are the most in-demand painter in town.

So, how can you become the town’s most sought-after painter?

You become the most well-known, well-liked, and well-trusted person. You can accomplish this using the videos, content, and Facebook ads we talked about in Step 1.

People in your neighborhood already know, like, and trust you because you provide information and value through your videos and articles. They are aware that you are an expert in your field and have seen proof of this.

As a result, when it’s time to hire a painter, they’ll think of you first. In fact, there’s a high possibility they won’t shop around at all. They will need to hire you because you’re the one they can trust with their home.

When this occurs, they will gladly pay whatever you ask… and because you are offering value and outstanding service, you can surely charge at least 50% more than you are charging today. You’ll receive the same number of clients and make more money.

Let’s Return To Our Example Company With A Premium Offering For Our Painting Business

Next, we doubled our leads from 96 to 192 per month using the tactics in Step 2 of this series. This resulted in 29 new clients and a monthly gross income of $145,000.

Then, we doubled the close rate from 15% to 30%, which gave us 58 clients per month with a monthly gross income of $290,000.

In step 4, we added a premium offering at $14,000 that 10% of our clients chose, resulting in 90% of our new monthly clients (52) with the regular offering at $5,000 and 6 of them at $14,000. This gives us a total revenue for the month of $344,000.

Finally, in this step, we are going to increase the regular pricing by 50%. The 90% of our monthly clients (52) will now be at $7,500 and 10% of our monthly clients (6) will be at $14,000. This gives us an end result of $474,000 for the monthly gross income.

We have just 10X’d your monthly revenue in 5 easy steps!

BONUS Tip: Increasing Your Recurring Revenue For Your Painting Business

Would you like to start each year knowing that you have at least $500,000 on the books?

You should be able to depend on at least 10% of your previous year’s clients to have a job for you in the current year or suggest you to someone who has a comparable job.

You want to stay “top of mind” for them in order to ensure that they remember you. There are a few options to stay in front of your current customers.

First and foremost, send out a monthly email newsletter. It doesn’t have to be fancy, and it shouldn’t be only focused on your business. Send out some monthly useful advice that would apply to your ideal customer, much like your videos and social content.

For example, if you were a painter in Virginia, September or October would be ideal for sending out an email with recommendations on weatherproofing your deck.

IFTS offers a service that does this automatically for painters for under $300 per month, so it pays for itself if you get just one repeat client.

Turning current clients into a Facebook audience is another way to stay in front of them. You just enter your customer list into the Facebook audience wizard. Then you can be sure to put helpful videos and articles in front of them on a regular basis via Facebook.

Note: You can use this audience to create a lookalike audience to send videos and fresh content to via Facebook Ads.

A final way to get in front of current customers to send them something via snail mail. Most businesses will send Christmas cards or something similar, but this will not set you apart from the competition. We recommend picking a holiday that most other businesses ignore, such as St. Patrick’s Day. Send them a “We’re Lucky To Have You As A Customer” card and see how many people come back to you!

By staying “top of mind”, you should see at least a 10% repeat from the year before.

If you followed the 5 step process that we discussed, you’d have a monthly revenue of at least $474,000…which is over $5 MILLION DOLLARS annually. So, if you have at least 10% of the people from last year hire you this year, you will start off knowing you have over $500,000 already on the books.

Ready To Get Started, But Want Some Help?

IFTS, Inc. can help your painting business implement these systems and more! Click the link below to schedule a meeting to get started or call us at 412.715.6266!