I read an interesting fact the other day: The average consumer will wait no more than thirty minutes for a callback from a service supplier before they go to the next listing in the Yellow Pages or the Internet. Think of all the potential business you are losing when you take your time returning phone calls. If you check your messages when you get back to the office, the person who called in the morning probably has the work done already.
Let's explore this issue.
Consumers who are spending money now are in two camps---the ones who shop and shop, getting ten quotes to put up a bathroom mirror. Good luck with this one because if you are thirty-five cents high, you lose the order.
The other half are the impulse buyers; people who decide to replace a failed unit or put a shower door in the second bathroom. Across the country, we are the "I want it now" generation. You can't afford to let any potential lead wait. The spenders in our economy are working, have families and don't have time to wait for anything. So, what's a glass shop proprietor to do?
The clock is ticking...a half-hour.
If you have someone in your office who can give a quote, get them right on it. Don't put it in the pile to take care of later. Do it now. Take the message from your receptionist and call now. It may take time to prepare a quote, but let the customer know you are working on it, and remind them that you are the best person to do this because of your special skills. If you need an appointment to see the job before you quote, make the call and setup the time now. Be the first appointment the customer has. Some people think it is better to be the last appointment, but I strongly recommend being the first one. Let everybody else chase you. Call the customer back later in the day and answer any further questions that may have arisen. Give extra services if asked for, but try not to lower your price. No matter what price you give the customer either, someone will beat you by a penny.
If you came in with a fair price, stick to it. Most often you are competing with your self! Tell the customer you gave them your very best price right up front and that it is a very fair price based on doing a super job. From start to clean up, you will do the job with no shortcuts anywhere.
When you are not in the office, impress upon your staff how important it is to call back ASAP. Have them write down the time the call came in, and the time of each call back. I don't know of too many glass shops that can afford to miss an opportunity for a sale...the only excuse to break the half-hour rule is an earthquake or a hurricane!
If your office is empty and a message is left on your answering machine what can you do?
First, check your answering machine as often as you can, at least hourly. Sure it is a pain. But is it better to miss an opportunity for a sale? Some answering machines will send you a text message or an email when they have a call waiting. Check with your local phone company for a central messaging option on your line instead of a simple machine in your office. Yes, it costs more. If you get two extra jobs a year, you will come out ahead.
Many glass shops have gone back to (gasp!) a live answering service. Consumers like a real person--they don't like getting caught up in phone tree logjams. Have the answering service beep you, text you, or black-berry you with every call that is a possible sale. Again, I say, the expense is worth it. You will never know how many hang-ups you get when a potential customer wants to get a quote, when they hear your answering machine instead of a real person. Don't you hate it when you call your distributor or fabricator and can't get through to your customer service rep?
Whether it is you, an estimator, or the person in your office, when you tell the customer you will get back to them in thirty minutes, do it. Even if you need an extra fifteen minutes, tell them you will call back in fifteen minutes. You made a promise to call back; keep it. When you call back with the actual quote, your credibility will help you close the sale.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Increasing Sales In The Glass Industry Part 3
It's as simple as 1-2-3. This is the third part of the series to improve sales in your glass shop. You don't have the marketing budget of IBM or General Electric, but you can use their ideas scaled down to your business!
- Give Away With Purchase. Buy a car, get a camera, buy a dinner, get a free appetizer. You can do this to! With every windshield replaced or repaired, give a can of glass cleaner with your label on it. Give a can to every insurance agent you talk to, and tell them you will give their customers your "Super Clean" service. Do the same thing with every mirror job. Leave the can of cleaner there that you do the final clean-up with...be sure your label is on the can. Place a small ad in the paper saying "Need glass in your picture frames replaced," bring in two and the smaller one is free." It is not a lot of money, but it will bring traffic to your door! Maybe you can upgrade them to glare-free glass!
- Help a local charity. You see it on TV all the time..."buy my product and we will make a donation to the Cancer Society for each product purchased", or "place your order now and we will pay for meals for a child for a week". Hook up with a local, well- known charity, or the Boy or Girl Scouts, or a youth baseball team, and give them 10% of your sales for a day, if they send out flyers and promote the event to their membership. You can do this for multiple days...every Saturday in May can be a different local non-profit. Then call the local newspaper and tell them about how you are helping the community. You may get a great newspaper story!
- Hold a contest. Every body loves a free contest. Put a large sign in your window, take a small, repetitive ad in the paper and tell everyone to come in and register for a free flat screen TV. No purchase necessary. (A 19" TV is under $200 at Best Buy). Run this for six to eight weeks. Maybe you pull the winner's name at a local event, like a homecoming parade or a Little League Championship. You gain foot traffic, get names for a mailing or email list, and have a publicity opportunity when you deliver the TV to the winner. Be sure to call the papers or the local TV and hope they send a photographer.
- Call the Physics Department at the local High School. Offer to do a demonstration of the strength of tempered, lami and annealed glass. Call your fabricator, have them give some tempered 'mistakes' that you can break. Help the teacher prepare a lesson on the physics of glass. If you need help, give the teacher my phone number, 603-242-3521, and I will walk them through the differences and discuss surface tension and compression of the tempered. The kids will tell their parents about the really exciting glass company, and you will tell the newspapers about the lesson. You can't loose.
When you see a promotion on TV or in the newspaper...steal the idea. Scale it to fit your business and your budget. You can do anything on a very short budget if you use your creativity. Good luck.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Increasing Sales in the Glass Industry Part 2
Let's Do It Again...last week we discussed no-cost ideas that will bring in customers. Here are ideas that do work. You'll have to decide if the investment is worth it...or maybe move resources from another area.
Advertising. It really does work. Magazines, newspapers, billboards and imprinted Frisbees really do help draw business to your company. It is a question of how much you pay for each view of your ad, and then if those views bring customers to your shop.
At one time glass shop advertising consisted of the Yellow Pages and an occasional ad in a local shopper newspaper. The biggest firms did some radio and TV, certainly not the average glass shop's venue. Today, the Internet is replacing the yellow pages. As you are reading this blog on the Internet, you know well that this is the future.
Spread your advertising around. A full page ad in the yellow pages is eye-catching, but it is NOT efficient. Place many smaller ads in various sections: Glass, Mirror, Doors, Windows, Home Improvement, Shower Doors, Bathrooms, Auto Glass, Screens, Board-Up Services, Bullet Resistant Products, Safety Glass, Decorative Glass, and so on.
In all advertising, in any medium, REPETITION is more important than big and bold.
So whether you add to your ad budget, or reallocate current spending, don't let your mind get lazy. Look at your advertising each year, and change it to fit the economy and your budget.
The Internet. Every glass shop should have a web site. It doesn't need to be twenty pages with cartoons and songs. It can be two or three pages. You want your customers to find you with a search engine. Many surveys have said that people who are spending money are using the Internet more and more every day, with Yellow Pages use declining.
Don't be afraid. You don't have to do it yourself. There are plenty of companies that will do the whole thing for you. Many web sites have a designer's name at the bottom of the first page. Look at sites of various local merchants, see one that you like, and click on the designer's name, or look them up on your search engine. A simple three or four page site should cost you no more than $2,000, and should be less. You can try one of the national providers, like 'Godaddy.com'.
Make sure that you own the web-site, not the developer, so you can change on your own if needed. Sure you can try creating the web site yourself, but unless you are still in third grade, give up. Let a pro do it.
Hire a salesperson. There are a many great sales people out of work now. Place an ad for a salesperson on straight commission, with your company paying expenses. Create a viable commission program for what business Mollie Salesperson can bring in. Your costs are the sales literature you need to give Mollie, business cards, your time to train her to positively portray your company, the expenses, and if she is good, place her on your benefits programs. She may stay with you for six months to a year, until she can get a job with a weekly paycheck, but you will get your name out there, and gain business at a relatively low cost. This is an interesting and complicated topic, so I will expand on this in a further blog.
Give a financial incentive to your current staff. This is often complicated and can cause problems. But it can be simple and easy. Read on. Most small businesses don't share their sales figures with employees. You don't have to share profit figures, but most of your employees can roughly guess what your gross is. They see the work and some see the dollars as they come in.
Here is your 'to-do list'. Find last year's sales by month, and get an average of the three months before and after you want to start this program. Tell your employees this is what your average was last year, and if you beat it for the coming month, everyone gets a cash bonus. The amount is based on how far you beat it. Let's say a 5% increase gets everyone X dollars. A 10% increase should be 3X, and a 15% increase would be 6X. If you hit a 20% increase, go to 10X. 'X' can be $5 or $10 dollars, it can start small and grow with the increase in sales. Show your employees the sales figures weekly and get them involved. Teach them to ask customers, "What else can our firm do for you?", and "Can you recommend us to your friends and neighbors?" It is easy to create your own contest. In the employee lunch room, show a chart with daily or weekly sales. Have the employees write a wish list with what they would do with the 10X bonus and keep the contest alive for two or three months. Don't go longer than that, as employees will begin to think of it as automatic, and then when you want to end this promotion, it will bring grumbles.
There are many more ideas...next week we will continue these thoughts.
Advertising. It really does work. Magazines, newspapers, billboards and imprinted Frisbees really do help draw business to your company. It is a question of how much you pay for each view of your ad, and then if those views bring customers to your shop.
At one time glass shop advertising consisted of the Yellow Pages and an occasional ad in a local shopper newspaper. The biggest firms did some radio and TV, certainly not the average glass shop's venue. Today, the Internet is replacing the yellow pages. As you are reading this blog on the Internet, you know well that this is the future.
Spread your advertising around. A full page ad in the yellow pages is eye-catching, but it is NOT efficient. Place many smaller ads in various sections: Glass, Mirror, Doors, Windows, Home Improvement, Shower Doors, Bathrooms, Auto Glass, Screens, Board-Up Services, Bullet Resistant Products, Safety Glass, Decorative Glass, and so on.
In all advertising, in any medium, REPETITION is more important than big and bold.
So whether you add to your ad budget, or reallocate current spending, don't let your mind get lazy. Look at your advertising each year, and change it to fit the economy and your budget.
The Internet. Every glass shop should have a web site. It doesn't need to be twenty pages with cartoons and songs. It can be two or three pages. You want your customers to find you with a search engine. Many surveys have said that people who are spending money are using the Internet more and more every day, with Yellow Pages use declining.
Don't be afraid. You don't have to do it yourself. There are plenty of companies that will do the whole thing for you. Many web sites have a designer's name at the bottom of the first page. Look at sites of various local merchants, see one that you like, and click on the designer's name, or look them up on your search engine. A simple three or four page site should cost you no more than $2,000, and should be less. You can try one of the national providers, like 'Godaddy.com'.
Make sure that you own the web-site, not the developer, so you can change on your own if needed. Sure you can try creating the web site yourself, but unless you are still in third grade, give up. Let a pro do it.
Hire a salesperson. There are a many great sales people out of work now. Place an ad for a salesperson on straight commission, with your company paying expenses. Create a viable commission program for what business Mollie Salesperson can bring in. Your costs are the sales literature you need to give Mollie, business cards, your time to train her to positively portray your company, the expenses, and if she is good, place her on your benefits programs. She may stay with you for six months to a year, until she can get a job with a weekly paycheck, but you will get your name out there, and gain business at a relatively low cost. This is an interesting and complicated topic, so I will expand on this in a further blog.
Give a financial incentive to your current staff. This is often complicated and can cause problems. But it can be simple and easy. Read on. Most small businesses don't share their sales figures with employees. You don't have to share profit figures, but most of your employees can roughly guess what your gross is. They see the work and some see the dollars as they come in.
Here is your 'to-do list'. Find last year's sales by month, and get an average of the three months before and after you want to start this program. Tell your employees this is what your average was last year, and if you beat it for the coming month, everyone gets a cash bonus. The amount is based on how far you beat it. Let's say a 5% increase gets everyone X dollars. A 10% increase should be 3X, and a 15% increase would be 6X. If you hit a 20% increase, go to 10X. 'X' can be $5 or $10 dollars, it can start small and grow with the increase in sales. Show your employees the sales figures weekly and get them involved. Teach them to ask customers, "What else can our firm do for you?", and "Can you recommend us to your friends and neighbors?" It is easy to create your own contest. In the employee lunch room, show a chart with daily or weekly sales. Have the employees write a wish list with what they would do with the 10X bonus and keep the contest alive for two or three months. Don't go longer than that, as employees will begin to think of it as automatic, and then when you want to end this promotion, it will bring grumbles.
There are many more ideas...next week we will continue these thoughts.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Increasing Sales in the Glass Industry Part 1
OK, enough of the funny columns and jokes. Let's get serious about increasing sales in your glass shop. Yes-- yours. Don't tell me about the recession or the lack of building going on. Our national economy is down 5%--that leaves 95% out there. The glass industry is down anywhere from 20% to 30%. That still leaves 75% out there....let's go get it. And, by-the-way, none of these ideas will cost you a dollar.
Step 1. It ain't gonna come to you. Get out of the shop, visit every contractor you have ever worked with. Even the ones that were a pain-in-the-neck. If they are still in business, then they did change for the better.
Pull up in your clean and polished truck. Smile and have the attitude that you have the world just where you want it. (I ran that last sentence by my editor, Mollie, and she made me say it politely.) Let your contractors know that you are still around because you do the job with the least amount of grief, and your customers love it. Sure, you are not the cheapest one in town, but you will bring a job in on-time and within budget. Practice your statement in front of a mirror until you can say it smoothly in a minute or two.
As you drive around, stop at anything that looks like a construction site. Find out who the GC or owner is and make your pitch to him or her about your capabilities.
Stop by city hall and check out every building permit that is issued. Follow up on each and every one.
Step 2. Open the yellow pages and seek out the new contractors in your area. While you are there, look up the categories that use a lot of glass. What are they, you say?
Step 1. It ain't gonna come to you. Get out of the shop, visit every contractor you have ever worked with. Even the ones that were a pain-in-the-neck. If they are still in business, then they did change for the better.
Pull up in your clean and polished truck. Smile and have the attitude that you have the world just where you want it. (I ran that last sentence by my editor, Mollie, and she made me say it politely.) Let your contractors know that you are still around because you do the job with the least amount of grief, and your customers love it. Sure, you are not the cheapest one in town, but you will bring a job in on-time and within budget. Practice your statement in front of a mirror until you can say it smoothly in a minute or two.
As you drive around, stop at anything that looks like a construction site. Find out who the GC or owner is and make your pitch to him or her about your capabilities.
Stop by city hall and check out every building permit that is issued. Follow up on each and every one.
Step 2. Open the yellow pages and seek out the new contractors in your area. While you are there, look up the categories that use a lot of glass. What are they, you say?
- Museums
- Colleges and Universities
- Hospitals
- Real Estate Management Companies
- Showcase Manufacturers
- Chain Stores
- Local School Districts
Step 3. Let's make some strategic alliances. Huh? Call every glass film company, pick the two or three busiest, and make an offer to send them referrals on film and they will send you referrals on glass replacement.
Do the same with lumber yards that sell wood windows. Most often they will sell someone all the stock windows, but they will have custom situations which need on-site glass expertise.
Do you do auto glass and flat glass? If you don't, then hook up with a reliable company that does what you don't, and swap out leads.
One of the best lead generators for you is professional window cleaners. They see the broken or failed units first. They see the rotted sill or the loose frame. They have the ear of the customer because they are there every week or two. The professional window cleaner can be your best friend--but make sure you work a two-way street. Give their name out to your commercial and residential clients that ask about periodic maintenance.
Step 4. Call your key suppliers and ask them what is new. Sounds so simple, but I know many glass shops who continue to sell the same products year after year. Your vendors will jump on the opportunity to train you in new products. If they don't, they shouldn't be your vendor.
Step 5. Never, ever, say that things are not good. When someone, anyone, asks, "How's business", always say that you are on top of the world. Smile. Act like a winner, and you become one. Your potential customers want to deal with companies that are winners, that get things done. Show them that label belongs on you.
Step 6. I've said this many times before--make your showroom a place to create sales, not a place to store samples and half-used tubes of caulking. Put up pictures of jobs you have done. Frame testemonial letters and place them in prominent places. Have good lighting. Get a shower door sample from your fabricator.
Next time we'll talk about some ideas where you may want to invest a few bucks.
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