If you want to take your field service business to a higher level of sophistication, a great way to start is by narrowing your client pool.
The world of politics is a great example of how this works. Candidates will send out legions of assistants to territories and take polls from the people who live there. Then, they gauge which territories are in need of the most campaigning. Usually, they spend most of their time in ‘Swing States’, areas where they are on the cusp of reaching a majority.
Here is where you differ from politicians. In the U.S. system, there are really only two possible outcomes; a republican or a democrat. In the world of field service business, there are thousands of candidates to choose from. You know this, your customers know this, and it can be a little overwhelming.
Step 1 – Who is your ideal customer?
The trick to this process is keeping your criteria search simple. Notice how I didn’t say, “Who are your ideal customers?” Like preparing for a speech, it is better to imagine one ideal individual instead of trying to appease a large audience.
So is he/she? Is this person active? Does he have a spouse? Does she own a dog? kids? What type of job do they have? Try to picture the one person that you’d most want to sell your services to and your demographic will instantly start to materialize. If you can successfully visualize that perfect type of customer, believe it or not, you’re already halfway done. Whether you are in the green industry or not, you do have a demographic. finding out who that is was the hardest part.
Step 2 – Reach out
Once you’ve got the perfect customer firmly grasped in your mind, it’s time to make your presence known. It will be relatively easy to figure out where to find your customers at this point (you already know them so well!). Use your marketing savvy to build a framework around specific places or websites or whatever it is that you choose to rely on for exposure. Formulate a course of action and tailor it to your ideal customer.
Step 3 – Do your homework
If you’ve ever heard the phrase, “persistence pays off,” you might associate it with a salesman who doesn’t give up after being turned down or maybe a guy who won’t stop asking a girl out on dates. Though this may be true in some cases, chances are you will most likely lose a client base if you constantly attack it to the point of becoming a nuisance.
Where persistence really pays off is during the research stage before you even make initial contact. Research takes time and patience, but will pay off in the best way. Customers respond to businesses that take the time to research and engage themselves, which leads me to my next point.
Step 4 – A customer’s wants vs. a customer’s needs
After doing all this research; digging,sifting and mining for information, it’s time to prioritize. What is on your ideal customer’s wish-list and what is on his/her to-do list. This is a very important distinction. The wish-list has all kinds of possibilities. Does your customer want to renovate this summer? Have they always wanted to carve out a piece of their yard and build a giant gazebo? The to-do list is less interesting, but more reliable. Do they have a big yard in need of grooming and watering? Is their front yard a mess of vegetation? Not only are these different approaches for a field service business to ponder on, but they’re totally different mindsets for the customer. You have to decide which one best fits your resources, talent, and overall business outlook.
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