There have been many approaches to marketing restoration services and as many different ideas as there are coaches out there to promote them. My ideas are a strategy that is used by hundreds of marketers all over the country with great success.
Long gone are the days of basic route marketing where your best strategy is “Stop, Drop, and Roll” – visiting someone on the route, dropping off donuts, and rolling on to the next prospect. It is certainly good for the donut shop but doesn’t get you more business. That’s simply a form of bribery.
The topic of collaborate is all about working with a prospect or client to help them help their own customers! It’s so much more than ”what you can do for them” and is really what you can do for your prospects’ customers!
SUMMARY MOVE
Every elevator speech that I hear when a marketer is in one of my classes is
“my name is Susie with XYZ Restoration and we do Fire, Water, Smoke, and Mold.” Sadly, they think they are bringing value by saying this, but NO ONE cares! Nobody is interested in ‘what you do.’ They want to know what you are going to do to help them “get more business” and that’s all they care about.
We call the ‘elevator pitch’ the Summary Move because it is all about the client and their client! It focuses on how you help them and their prospect or client. The summary move strategy is to be thinking several ‘moves’ ahead and anticipating what they’ll say and be prepared to make the next ‘move.’ That’s what good chess players do – think several steps ahead.
COLLABORATE
By making it about their client, you are effectively taking the “salesyness” out of the conversation and are acting more like a ‘trusted advisor.’ Neither you, nor I like to be sold and we are not fond of salespeople! Don’t be one of the obnoxious salespeople that you dislike.
Find ways to make the conversation about them and their customers. When the client (or prospect) feels that you are mostly interested in them and their business, they’ll be far more likely to seriously consider working with you. Since you have their interest at heart, they will want to refer business (jobs) to you.
VERY DIFFICULT
Yes, it’s quite a challenge to think only about “what you can do for your clients client, but until you get into that mindset – you’ll come across as salesy or worse. For most of us, that mindset is a big struggle to achieve because we are in the mode of “getting jobs.” Our boss or owner wants you to get more referrals so he or she is constantly pushing you to do this – even reminding you of how many referral you got last month!
TRUSTED ADVISOR
You want to be considered a ‘trusted advisor’ but you often don’t take the time to know something about them or their business or even about their industry! You can’t be considered a Trusted Advisor to them if you don’t have any advice. Donut dropping candy jar refilling services don’t make you a trusted advisor!
If you want to become an expert and a million-dollar producer then be sure to attend an RMS™ class, held throughout the country two or three times a year. The Restoration Marketing Specialist course will teach you how to be a marketer that knows how to collaborate and get more business. See you soon! We strive to get you producing $1 million in annual revenue for your company. (And yes, many of our clients are at that level)!
Author: Dick Wagner, Co-founder of the CREST Network
Dick Wagner is a Nationally recognized marketing coach, consultant, trainer, and speaker
Creator of the renowned PREP™ pre-disaster program
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