Improving Your Business
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The advent of e-mail marketing has led many businesses to lessen their use of more traditional approaches such as direct mail and telephone, and the reasoning behind this is simple: E-mail marketing is less expensive, and it capitalizes upon the technology that more and more customers are comfortable making purchasing decisions from nowadays.

However, many companies take it a step too far, in that they abandon the use of direct mail and telephone altogether, when in fact this will do more harm than good.

The most effective method of communication is a multi-channel approach whereby a mix of these methods is employed to reach as many of your customers/prospects as possible.

Keep in mind that a portion of your database will not use e-mail to consider what you are offering. The same is true with direct mail and phone solicitation. To effectively reach every potential buyer you need to employ the use of every potential channel.

For the purposes of this posting I am only going to discuss phone, e-mail and direct mail although there are numerous other strategies you should be using as well.

The question you need to ask yourself as a business is: what is the ideal mix of multi-channel marketing?

While there is no definitive answer, a recent marketing study put out by the University of California sheds some light onto how you should develop your marketing mix.

According to the study, customer spending hit its peak when phone and direct mail contacts were combined 6 times each (this does not include e-mail). The thinking is that direct mail and phone strategies are complementary in terms of their impact on customer behavior.

In regards to e-mail:

• Per every phone contact, the ideal number of e-mails is 5 to 6
• If you bump this number up to 3-5 calls, the ideal number of e-mails drops to 2 to 3
• Per every direct mail contact, the ideal number of e-mails is 5
• If you bump this number up to 5, the ideal number of e-mails drops all the way down to 1

It is also vital when developing your marketing mix that you focus on not being too intrusive. Your customers and prospects value their time and if you interrupt them too much they will begin to see you as a nuisance.

The same marketing study listed the ideal number of single channel contacts over a 3 month period of time:

• 3 via telephone
• 3-4 via e-mail
• 9-10 via direct mail

In a time where everyone wants to abandon direct mail, many customers view it as the least intrusive of all these methods, and as such you should continue to incorporate it into your marketing mix.

At least as long as it’s not horribly ineffective.

I enjoyed participating in the most recent home improvement webinar on lead generation and appreciate the opportunity to answer many of the questions on canvassing that we received in this format.

Q: What is the best way to pay the marketers in the field – by the lead or by the sale or both?

A: A base salary (per hour) incentivized by issued appointments or presentations (provided minimum goals are met), further incentivized by the number of hours taken to produce those results. The team leader’s compensation should be similar based on the average of the team.  There are typically additional bonuses paid on gross numbers but are conditional to certain “hours to demo or issue” being met first. Additionally you can create a “pool” of funds which are based on the percentage below budget. (i.e.  canvass marketing budget – 14%, actual expenditures – 12%, equals 2% of net volume generated. And you can distribute a portion of this (i.e. 20%) to individuals within the group on a “per” performance basis if warranted.

Q: Lead generation for mid to high end remodeling – what works?

A: I’d start with your database.  Leads you’ve had in the past which you have not had an opportunity to present, those to whom you proposed and did not sell and those prospects you sold who could not get financing – then examine your previous customers, solicit them for additional work, ask them for referrals and don’t hesitate to use the methods we recommend for sunrooms, basement refinishing, cabinet re-facing and bath rehab.

Q: How do I convert more of the leads I currently get into appointments?

A: I recommend to give the webinar another listen.  A great deal of the information that you need is contained in that 90 minute program.  On our website there are also numerous home improvement articles on this topic that I advise you to download at no cost.

Q: When are the best hours of the day to canvass?

A: In most markets (some differ) the best hours during the week are 4-8pm. Generally, there are more people home on weekends. Saturday and Sunday are good all year due to sunlight and temperature. 3 out of 4 of our clients experience their best days on Sundays (noon – 5pm). Saturdays usually start at 10am.

Q: How many man hours to produce a lead?  How many man hours to produce a presentation?

A: There are lots of variables, starting with your definition of a lead. No matter the client, we always begin with “budgeting by the demo” since this is a demo business (although the “issued appointment” is our preferred unit of measurement and compensation since it’s easier to define and avoids time-wasting discussions and arguments.)  Once we’ve identified the amount of money we can budget for and compensate for a demo, we work backwards to the issued appointment. The key issues are what it’s costing you, the average sale and the close rate at which your sales force is capable. Here are some safe averages. If your average sale falls in the $8,000 to $12,000 arena, you can probably make a profit up to 15 hours to a demo although you will likely be over budget. Most of our clients need to fall under 12 hours to a demo although we personally never want them over 10 hours to a demonstration. The sweet spot is when you can manage your entire canvassing operation under eight hours to a demo.

Q: What should the sit (presentation) rate be for canvass leads if you have a 65% sit rate for conventional leads?

A: Sorry, your sit rate should be higher than 65% for any lead including canvass. And I’m unsure if your defined sit rate includes a full demo. We typically define a sit rate as all parties being present with an understanding (and agreement) to a certain amount of time set aside and with consent again to those terms at the door allowing us to proceed to the walk-around. Typically, our goal is to attain a 90% or better sit rate. Demo rates should be in the 80’s. Anything under 75% probably indicates that you’re inefficient in multiple areas, starting with how the initial appointment is set.

If you have any further questions on canvassing please e-mail me at david@davidyoho.com and don’t forget to check out the earlier blog posts reviewing questions from our last webinar.

Finally, our next home improvement webinar will take place on September 13th so make sure to register today!

When you are crafting your home improvement marketing strategy, there are a number of questions you need to ask yourself.

Do you know what is and is not working?

Do you know your lead cost for each of your Internet strategies?

Do you know what a ‘goal conversion’ is?

Are you reviewing your ‘goal conversions’ in your Analytics weekly?

Do you know how many leads your website is generating?

If you answered no to any of the above questions, you might be wasting valuable marketing dollars and not be aware of it. You have many great opportunities to be able to use your website data to track your results for better goal conversion and see a significant return on investment.

First, let’s start with some definitions:

1. Goal conversion – Any action that a visitor can complete on your website that results in a lead (or data acquisition) being submitted to you for follow up.

Are you aware that 50-60% of your conversions online will come in by phone? Do you have a separate 1-800 number to track and credit your website  for this call?

2. Google Analytics – Tracking software that monitors vital statistics on a website and shows how many visitors came to the site; the amount of time visitors spent on the site; how many pages per visitor that were viewed; the bounce rate (percentage of people entering and leaving from exact same page); and percent of returning visitors vs. new visitors, etc.

In order to be tracked properly in Analytics, goal conversions need to be set up and tracked by “unique” thank you pages. Once this is done, Analytics can report goal conversions by your various traffic types:

Direct – Visitors coming directly to your website

Organic – Natural, ‘unpaid’ website traffic

Referral – Outside websites sending traffic back to your website

Paid – Pay per click traffic

Other – Traffic from unique trackable links (such as newsletter traffic, for instance)

Wouldn’t it be nice to have this info at your fingertips to let the data tell you what the best decisions are for your website and Internet marketing strategies? Are you interested in tracking these results so you know what is and what is not working in order to increase the number of goal conversions from your website?

To end with, let me leave you with a quote: “The value of web Analytics solutions is not in their ability to collect data, but to measure customer behavior which provides a basis for replicating success or driving change.”

Bring Me My Leads is unique in developing Internet marketing strategies for the home improvement industry because of our association with Bee Window, so we have proven benchmarks from our clients. We understand what works and what does not work, and since we live and breathe it on a daily basis we understand how to crunch all the necessary numbers (cost per lead, demo rate, conversion rate, etc.) and how to track all of these results.

Search Engine Optimization is rapidly becoming one of the best ways to promote your website online and ensure that you get listed high in the rankings by Google and various other search engines.

For those readers who are not familiar with the practice of SEO, expert Aaron Wall defines it as: “The art and science of publishing and marketing content in a way that brings significant profitable and targeted traffic to your website.”

Because of this shift in Internet promotion there are numerous providers available that make ridiculous promises that are unattainable. Be very dubious of any company that:

• Promises to take you to the top of Google’s search rankings in a matter of days
• Only fixes your “meta-keyword” tags
• Offers to fix your website to make it “SEO-friendly” so that fine tuning over time will not be a necessity
• Creates numerous doorway pages and mini-sites that are simply duplicate copies of your primary site. This is a sure way to get black listed.

However, there is another problem with SEO that exists further below the surface and it involves the conflict that it can create with your website copy.

A company that you end up working with may do all that they promised in helping you work your way up the search engine rankings – - yet as a website owner your ultimate goal should be conversions whether they be in the form of leads or sales. Just because something is 100% SEO optimized doesn’t mean it’s engaging for visitors.

There is a practice called “keyword stuffing” that involves placing keywords an inordinate amount of times within the copy on your website. There are two types that can be damaging to your brand:

1. The over-reliance on these words are deemed to be “black-hat” tactics, and can get you penalized or even banned by Google
2. An abundance of keywords is used, not to the point where you will be penalized but where it detracts from the copy and does not leave the website visitor with a good impression of your company.

In either case you are setting yourself up for failure in the long run. Strong SEO takes time and practice (and in many cases some struggles along the way). However, make sure you take the time to educate yourself before you invest thousands of dollars into optimizing your website.

Also, take a look at the latest list of the top SEO companies in the U.S. and if you have any questions about best practices don’t hesitate to contact me directly at brad@daveyoho.com.

At Dave Yoho Associates we have been teaching the value of a structured sales methodology for over 45 years, yet even our best customers have employees working for them that waver from their script.

Nowhere is this more damaging than with your sales personnel. Of course, there are always a few cases that buck this trend.

One of our clients has a salesperson whose personality is an anomaly, and the only script he follows is to be pointed in the direction of his next appointment. He has now broken the company sales record two years running. Now, in an extreme case like this, we advocate letting the sales rep function in the way that works best for him.

However, these cases are the exception rather than the rule, and their is an inherent danger in allowing this salesperson too much latitude. You have to be careful that you don’t let his personality effect the rest of your sales force.

Brian Smith, whose client has this unusual type of sales rep in their operation, says that the salesperson is given leeway to do things his way with the understanding that during sales meetings he has to actively participate and contribute in concert with what the company methodology is.

If he were not forced to do so, the fear is that his habits could corrupt the rest of the sales department who need the system to succeed.

Do you have any of these people in your operation? They are extremely rare, and 9.9 times out of 10 we advocate the use of the scripting system below.

There are two parts, selling the appointment and setting the appointment and I am going to cover both of them.

Selling the Appointment:

• Make a great first impression
• Engage them – Obtain basic information – Identify their dissatisfaction
• Sell the value of the visit
• Obtain agreement to the terms

Setting the Appointment:

• Identify all the owners (and decision influencers)
• Select the best time
• Jog, reinforce and confirm
• Make a great last impression
• Build anticipation and confidence

Of course this is just the tip of the iceberg, but it will give you a better idea as to how to structure your scripting.

For more information on this topic, we invite you to download the free mp3 on The Science of Successful In Home-Selling – - or you may call our office at (703) 591-2490.

Some years ago, while head of Surfa Shield Institute, I decided to do a test to see whether our franchisees were actually reading the mail that they received. I sent out a 3-page memo to the over 30 franchisees except an integral part was missing. There was no second page…

Out of this large number, only 3 actually responded. Was it because they skimmed the memo and didn’t actually read it? No, because at the bottom of page 3, I gave brief mention of a $100 prize that one of the franchisees would win that had been explained in detail on page 2. Had they skimmed the memo they certainly would have noticed this.

So what does this mean? In all likelihood, the large majority of these franchisees never read the memo.

The reason I bring this up is twofold:

1. I wonder if your employees are doing the same thing. Be proactive and run tests like this in your business to show your employees the importance of inter-office communication and how messages can be lost when a lack of attention is given.
2. I encourage you to continuously follow up through different marketing channels with your prospects and customers because there is a good chance they are not seeing your message the first couple of times that it is sent.

There is a lot of great news to report even though we are only 1 month into 2011. Many companies in the industry are already reporting significant growth over 2010. This recent report from the National Home Builders Association echoes these thoughts, while other reports are predicting significant future growth within the industry.

However, despite these positive reports, it is vital to stick to a system. If you don’t stress this to your employees and colleagues on a daily basis then there is a strong likelihood that you will begin to “freelance” which leads to nothing but trouble.

If you don’t have a system for managing your leads, here is one that we recommend to all of our clients and customers:

• Log every lead into your database.
• Every lead must contains a name, address, phone number, email address and fax number and a permission to call slip attached.
• Leads are confirmed (optimally within 48 hours) into appointments.
• Lead issuance is supervised and the number of leads issued daily is regulated. Unsold leads are reported, detailed and returned within specific time parameters which can range from 30 days down to 24 hours.  (The shorter time allowed the better).
• Measure the efficiency of the salesperson who is issued leads – by    dividing the number of leads issued into the net sales volume produced from the leads.
• Rehash unsold leads to confirm appropriate use by the salesperson and if not sold they are entered into a database for future solicitation.
• Review and analyze the presentation rate, gross close rate and net close rate (gross close less credit rejects, and cancellations) for each salesperson and the company as a whole.
• Salespeople generate up to 20% of their business from leads which they developed personally (self-generated leads).
• Teach and enforce referral solicitation as part of the sales plan
• Adopt a performance model which spells out for the salesperson the projected number of leads which will receive a presentation and the percentage of closes – vs. – leads issued as well as the estimated percentage of business the salesperson is expected to develop from self-generated leads.
• Management conducts ride-alongs and performance appraisals of the salespeople.

For more information on how to implement this system in your organization please e-mail us at admin@daveyoho.com.

While many companies that operate within the home improvement industry spend a great deal of effort procuring leads, we find that the management of leads is an area that frequently slips through the cracks.

Think of how much time and money are going into lead development – if you are not doing anything to track and monitor these leads then you might as well be flushing your money down the toilet.

Here are steps that we recommend you undertake in your business to manage your leads:

• Measure and benchmark all “fall-off” from leads issued to presentations given
• Calculate and know precisely what the fully loaded cost of a lead is
• Understand the asset value of leads
• Utilize an efficient asset recovery program such as Marketsharp
• Place a huge value on face-to-face marketing by participating in events, home shows and canvassing programs.
• Take responsibility to “develop” the sales staff and don’t expect them to adapt to your methodology without help
• Use Google Analytics to track all Internet leads

Most importantly, don’t wait – - because the longer you go without managing your leads, the less control you will have over your business.

Are you looking to get more bang out of your marketing buck? With marketing budgets through the roof, it is vital to look for inexpensive ways to promote your products and services to your customer base.

Here are a few recommendations:

Utilize the Energy Savers Booklet in your marketing efforts.

There are two ways you can do this effectively:

1. Procure a bulk supply of the energy savers booklet for as little as 65 cents per copy. Have your salespeople bring a copy with them into the home to reinforce the value behind your product(s). Incorporate the booklet into your sales scripting so that it becomes second nature in the home.
2. Download a copy of the free PDF of the energy savers booklet and design an e-mail campaign around the importance of saving energy in the home. The law of reciprocity states that when you provide someone with an item of value at no cost, they will frequently “return the favor” by buying from you, or at the very least request more information about what you have to offer.

Make social media a priority in your business

It shouldn’t be the priority in your marketing efforts, but make no mistake about it, if you are not participating in social media you are falling behind your competitors. I am going to devote more time in later blog posts to social media, but for now, if you haven’t joined the social media landscape because it feels overwhelming, try to participate in at least one network. If you are in the home improvement industry, facebook is a great place to start.

Create a page promoting your business, and try and model your approach similar to what other successful home improvement companies are doing.

Follow our lead

Do you have a blog in your business? There is no better method of communicating with your customers and prospects than through a corporate blog. Unlike e-mail or snail mail you do not have to concern yourself with becoming part of the marketing clutter, because the individual has taken the time to visit your site to read your material, and in many cases they will subscribe to your blog so that they can receive updates as to when the next post is written.

Are you looking to improve your search engine ranking? Unlike websites that remain static, blogs are constantly being updated, so they are valued highly by search engines.

Traditional forms of media should not be abandoned, but they should be supplemented by new age, less expensive marketing tactics if your goal is to reach every prospect in a cost-effective manner.

In-home presentations have evolved over the years. If you are still showing up in the prospect’s  home with an over-sized, clunky presentation book then you need to come into the 21st century.

This is not a knock against anyone who presents this way, the purpose of this blog posting is to provide you with another alternative that will be easier for sales professionals in the home, while providing prospects with a more dynamic experience.

The majority of companies have taken the next step, moving from presentation books to Power Point presentations. This has proven to be very effective, as long as the presentation avoids much of the “I, we, me” language that is not in sync with the prospect’s wants or needs.

The problem with Power Point is that the majority of prospects have seen everything that there is to offer in these type of presentations. They are not “blown away” by the typical Power Point anymore.

Would you like to know how you can recapture that feeling?

One of our clients has been utilizing an iPad for in home presentations for a few months now, and the benefits have been remarkable.

• As opposed to your average laptop, an iPad is incredibly lightweight and small. However the screen size has not been sacrificed so the presentation is still easy to view.
• The presentation on the iPad is incredibly dynamic, something that is lacking in most Power Points.
• Our client’s surveys have shown a large increase in the “professionalism” factor of their salespeople.

However, these statements do not do the ipad’s presentation capabilities justice. Watch this video to see how easy it is to create powerful presentations with a program called keynote.

Our experience has proven that if you combine the right customer-centric language with a powerful presentation your sales will increase dramatically. This tool will assist you in doing just that.

For more information on how you can replicate this process in your business, you can reach me at brad@daveyoho.com.