More leads equate to more business. Nevertheless, there are always slow seasons for any business and a great way to combat rough times is by tracking the status of your currents leads and following up whenever necessary. Like any good lead manager platform, contractors should always be able to track and mark the status of your current referrals. This tracking system can be the difference between lost and closed leads.

As a business, you should always be looking for new and creative ways to get people talking about your business. Many companies, no matter what industry they are in, fail to take advantage of the simple, everyday opportunities they have to create a fun, remarkable and unforgettable experience for their customers. A funny voicemail greeting has the ability to meet all of those qualifications.

As we iterated in 5 Voicemail Message Myths, when you are leaving a message for your potential leads, there are certain rules everyone should follow. Those myths have been studied and show that dismissing them result in fewer callbacks. Nonetheless, few studies have been dedicated to voicemail greetings. Therefore, you should think outside of the box and do something different. A comedic voicemail like this famous greeting from George Costanza in Seinfeld is a great example.

Our Toolbox contributors here at CraftJack have written several articles about the benefits of blogging, on topics ranging from reasons you should blog, to blogging stats, and tips on actual blogging for contractors. All of these can serve as great tools to help get you started with your own blog. But what I want to focus on here is the idea of creating a blog that specifically documents home improvement projects that you have completed and the building process from start to finish.

The goal of lead generation is to talk to potential clients. The underlying assumption to productive lead generation is the ability to leave terrific voicemails. As I am sure all our contractors have experienced at one point or another, all leads do not call you back. One reason could be an ineffective voicemail message.

Whether it was the wrong time, wrong tone or wrong opening, there is no way to know why a lead did not call you back. However, there are certain tendencies you can implement to greatly increase your chances of getting a call back.

The marketing world has drastically changed over the last few years. Not only are businesses encouraging their fans to push their products via word of mouth referrals, but many businesses are making a killing by publishing daily content, or blogs to their website and social media channels. After all, 81% of U.S. online consumers trust information and advice from blogs.

Evident by that statistic, blogging has quickly become one of the premier and most effective forms of marketing. Whether you are managing a company blog with 10,000 subscribers or just getting into the writing business, our five tips for any contracting blog will undoubtedly increase your online exposure and win your business new jobs.

Managing a team of sales reps is an ongoing challenge in keeping the energy high, staying motivated and increasing productivity to continue producing great results. Not an easy task, but one that is vital to the longevity and success of your company’s future at every level. Remember, your sales reps are the front lines of your business. They will often be the first impression a prospective customer has of your business, and the conduit for effectively communicate the quality and care of service you offer the world. Here are 5 ways to keep your sales reps motivated and productive:

As a contractor, a phone call will likely be the first impression that a client will have of you. However, if you are unable to take the call the first time they try to reach you, your voicemail will set an expectation of what’s to come. This is why recording a professional voicemail is instrumental in your communication strategy. 

It only takes thirty seconds to set up, but many contractors fail to use their voicemail to their advantage. To learn more about what and what not to do when it comes to your greeting, read on!

My father, who was in the insurance sales business for 30+ years, used to have this incredible trick he used in sales. Ever since I can remember, he always wore a watch on his wrist. Nothing overly fancy, but a nice watch. And on the crystal face of his watch there was always a very small neon green dot sticker. Now, my father, being the quintessential sales personality that he was, would always address one’s curiosity the same way when asked about the presence of the green dot. It would go something like this:

The home improvement industry, like many others, has a wide variety of offerings when it comes to choosing a contractor for one’s project. One of the best pieces of advice for any homeowner making a decision is to allow 3-4 companies to submit an estimate for their work on a project. This allows for  objective comparisons by measuring a company’s history, references, quality of past project, capability of meeting your needs, and most importantly, the ability for the homeowner to make a decision based upon their personal gut feeling when face-to-face.

Seeing as you are reading this blog post right now, chances are you are savvy enough to navigate the internet and are already using some form of lead generation online. Many contractors and small business owners find helpful information to better improve their own businesses while reading websites, blogs and forums online. These are great sources for finding out the latest innovations and hot topics surrounding your professional field. There are plenty of great forums out there where contractors, like yourself, actively participate in group discussions about anything pertaining to their specific industry and where homeowners can ask for expert advice. Here are 3 ways you can increase inbound leads though online forums: