There’s never a bad time to plan ahead and earn more customers. We must always stay hungry for business, and a great way to accumulate new leads and stay busy during the slow months ahead is by ramping up your email marketing campaigns.

We discussed the importance and how-to’s of email marketing in other articles, but we also wanted to show you how you can target your past and current referrals via the CraftJack Lead Manager.

Have you thought about attending a trade show recently? Are you unsure of how your business can benefit from the experience? Here are a few things to ponder that can help you decide whether a trade show is right for you.

Because trade shows are geared toward a crowd of people in a specific industry, they become a great tool in addressing your target market. Trade shows also help in bringing awareness to your company and your services since they are usually open to the public.

If you’re looking for a reason to attend the next trade show near you, look no further. Here are six benefits that contractors can reap from trade shows.

We have spent the last month explaining how social media can help your business and what platforms you as a contractor should take advantage of. With both in the rearview mirror, it’s time to talk about the type of content, imagery, blogs and videos you should be sharing on social media.

The key to social media success is connecting with consumers. A homeowner needs to feel as if you are talking to them and only them with every single Facebook post, Pinterest image, tweet, video and blog post. Your target audience may be broad, but each message needs to feel individualized.

Dealing with an irate customer is usually not the most pleasant task. However, it’s something we all have to deal with at one point or another. It is vital for you and your business to know how to take a customer complaint and turn it into a positive experience. Complaints are great because they tell you the services your clients are not happy with and also give you the opportunity to address the issues at hand.

The CARP method, developed by author Robert Bacal, is based upon the sequence and timing of defusing angry customers. Bacal has taught many universities the importance of performance management and appraisal and how to improve business communication. The CARP acronym consist of these helpful tips to remember when trying to calm an angry client.

It’s always important to know your audience. Of course, calling everyone in your area is nearly impossible, but using a survey is a good way to paint a picture of how homeowners feel about the industry. Our friends at HomeAdvisor conducted a survey asking homeowners some basic questions about their opinions on the home improvement contracting industry. Some of the results may shock you, some may be expected, and others may change the way you engage with your next referral.

Simplicity is the key to any business, and lead generation is no different. As you may have seen in The Dos and Don’ts of Lead Generation, home improvement lead generation is different than lead generation in other industries.

In short, contractors pay to get contact information of those interested in home renovation. Now that we have a basic understanding, it’s time to simplify the CraftJack Lead Manager system even further by explaining exactly how it works and how it can help you close your next deal!

No matter what industry you’re in, whether it be home improvement, auto sales or even professional sports, you’re going to hear your fair share of complaints over the phone. When people have an issue with your brand, they are going to call to complain. Since you can’t control how other people act, you must decide how you’re going to respond.

Reacting to an irate customer over the phone is no easy task. You have to first digest all the information they are telling you, relax the customer, and then respond in a calm and professional manner. Needless to say, this process is easier said than done.

If you’ve missed Part 1  or Part 2 of using the laws of persuasion to help your business, I recommend you get familiar with them to understand some of the principles behind people’s decision making. While this is the final post of that information series, it will not fall short of sharing what you need to see improvements.  By evaluating and applying these next few laws of persuasion, you will be well equipped to see great changes in the present and future. 

We’ve seen from Part 1 of using the persuasion laws that it could greatly assist in people’s decision making process. As I will discuss more thoroughly in this post, we tap into a few that can make more of an impact in receiving a quality business turn around with clients. Could this work for you? You may seem a bit skeptical, but by applying these next few laws of persuasion to your business methods, you can yield some pretty incredible results in the long run. 

Have you ever reflected after a customer conversation and realized that your approach did not have an impact? Couldn’t close the deal? Do not fret, as there are a few laws that can work for you and your business. These are the laws of persuasion and they play a major factor in the human decision-making process. Using the following can be the difference between just “quoting” and truly “closing.”

Law #1 – The Law of Scarcity 

This law suggests that a person perceives someone or something to be of limited quantity or quality and perceives greater value for it not being available to all.