To serve as the voice of the pest control industry, protecting the livelihood of pest management professionals while fostering education, promoting professionalism, raising ethical standards, enhancing environmental stewardship, improving public health and quality of life.
Tim Dollmeyer, ActionCOACH, Business Coach
If you have read any books on marketing or taken a class on the subject, one of the basic concepts is that of market share. Obviously, gaining market share is a good thing. But in today’s economy, that can be expensive. Expanding your market share involves finding new prospects and convincing them to buy from you instead of your competition.
So, what other options do you have to grow your business? The only other way to increase your revenue using your current business model and staying within your traditional market is to go for wallet share. What is wallet share? If market share is the amount that you penetrate into a market, wallet share is the extent to which you penetrate into your customer’s wallets.
Now hold on a minute; doesn’t it sound a bit greedy to talk about getting as much out of your customer’s wallet as you can? Is it greedy to provide the best service to your customers? Go back to your mission statement and reaffirm why you are in business.
Let me give you an example of a wallet share strategy. We once worked with an insurance company that needed to increase revenue. On closer inspection, we determined that they never educated policyholders on all of their product lines. So, over the next six months the agents called every client whose policy was about to expire and asked if they could quote on all other policies that they had with someone else. Not only did this strategy more than double the sales of the insurance agent, but it saved their policyholders money as well.
In a retail setting, wouldn’t it make sense to determine how all of your products relate to each other? For example, if you have a paint store, wouldn’t it make sense to keep a painting project checklist at the counter for each time someone comes in to buy paint? Perhaps it would even make sense to have one list for do-it-yourselfers and one for professionals.
Another way to tap in to wallet share is to bundle goods or services together. Look at how the fast-food industry has captured wallet share by bundling products together as “meals” at a discounted price. One of our clients who sold cell phones had a hard time understanding how he could bundle anything with cell phones. Then his coach pointed out all of the accessories that graced an entire wall in his store.
The best part about going after wallet share is that you don’t have to advertise to find your customer. They already buy from you, and therefore they have decided that they are comfortable with you. All it takes is a little imagination and the resolve to take action.
Tim Dollmeyer is a certified ActionCOACH business coach. If you have questions or would like to learn about coaching email timdollmeyer@actioncoach.com.
Mark L. Hendrickson, Wingra Group
You probably do not have to be convinced on the importance of a good web site for your pest control business. Without one, your customers cannot find you. Today, a web site is as vital as your phone number, your business card, and your yellow pages ad. However, minor issues can drag down your site’s effectiveness – issues that could be costing you.
I am not talking about issues that require a total site rebuild. I am not even talking about features that might increase the “wow” value of your site. Those days have passed. Users now expect information from your site, and information that is delivered fast. With this in mind, here are five everyday fixes you can take to improve your site’s effectiveness.
1. Increase the speed. Today, the era of “wow, that was cool” has been replaced by “wow, this is fast.” Focus on information first and speed second. Your site should allow users to get in, find what they need, ask for more information about your services, and get on with their lives. If that is not the case, make some changes. Increasing your site’s loading speed does not have to involve a lot of technology or time-consuming fixes. For example, some experts claim that Adobe Flash is out because it slows things down and people find it annoying. It also has yet to make it onto iPhone and other smart phone models, which are growing in number each day. Visitors to your site are after information and a solution to their pest control problem. If you have a Flash intro, make sure you give visitors a quick way to enter your site and bypass the Flash. Most sites need imagers of some sort. Make sure your image files are small. Additionally, make sure any content that is non-essential is moved to the bottom of the page load. This helps the important stuff appear first.
2. Write for SEO, and develop effective service descriptions. Keep SEO (search engine optimization) in mind. Here are a few tips:
- Summarize first. Put the main points of your document in the first paragraph, so that readers scanning your pages will not miss your point.
- Be concise. Use lists rather than paragraphs, but only when your prose lends itself to such treatment. Readers can pick out information more easily from a list than from within a paragraph.
- Write for scanning. Most web readers scan pages for relevant materials rather than reading through a document word by word. Guide the reader by highlighting the salient points in your document using headings, lists, and typographical emphasis.
Spend some time reading your service descriptions to make sure they are succinct and mean something to potential customers. You need to convince visitors that your services will solve their pest problem. Avoid hyperbole and convey the facts and your expertise.
3. Facilitate online payments. People are increasingly comfortable with buying on line. It is tempting to think that once a customer has made up their mind to hire your firm, you’re all set. However, a counter-intuitive electronic payment system or a third-party payment window can sink the sale. If you use a third party for payments, make sure it looks like you. Do not have a payment window that opens in a different window that takes customers to another website. Such a move plants seeds of doubt in your customers’ minds, which can torpedo the sale. For customers on a regular, monthly service contract, online payment systems provide an easy, hassle-free way for your customers to settle up.
4. Use Unique Titles On Every Page. I am talking about the words that appear in the bar at the top of the browser window. Boring yes, but important. Even if users don’t see them, search engines do. If you have seven pages on your site and they all say “ABC Pest Control”, search engines will not see them as different and that affects your search ranking. Also, make sure the title at the top matches the content on the page.
5. Shorten the response forms. It is a good idea to give your visitor the chance to describe their pest problem. However, on your web form only ask for the information you really need. For example, if you are going to call everyone who fills out a form, you don’t need to ask for their physical address on the form. Also, be careful with required registrations. One-time buyers do not want to become members.
Your online customers don’t need to see the latest bells and whistles. What they need are pest control services – and they want answers quickly.
Mark L. Hendrickson is President of The Wingra Group, a Madison-based marketing and business development company. He can be reached at mark@wingragroup.com.