Do you know where your leads come from?
I’ve been helping businesses generate leads for over two decades. The methodology that I use for lead generation differs from one business to the next. Not all businesses are the same. Treating each market identically and each business the same is a recipe for failure.
The target audience for a swimming pool contractor might be very heavy on Facebook, but for a pool service company we may do better showing before & after photos of cleaned pools on Instagram. Social media has become enormously popular over the last ten years and has become a solid method of producing high quality pool leads for my customers.
One thing I’ve learned through trial and error over the years is that paying attention to the lead sources that convert into sales is the most important thing you can do in marketing. Flying on intuition will only get you far enough to crash into the mountains. Without analyzing the data and constantly optimizing the source, it’s inevitable that even the most solid marketing plan will run off course.
If you’ve ever asked yourself a question like “Was it my truck wrap that produced a lead or was it my ad on google?” you need lead tracking. Paying attention to where your leads are coming from is of vital importance these days. With so many different channels that are capable of producing leads, pool companies are often left with little recourse on how to backtrack the source of their leads. Consequently, when it comes time to renew digital marketing initiatives they have little business intelligence over which ones are performing versus which ones have not produced many sales. It’s quite easy to get sold that a marketing solution is producing results when you’re not tracking leads and don’t have solid data in front of you to dispute what is being presented to you. A CRM system is meant to integrate sales with leads and will do that for you.
That’s what it’s so important that if you are doing any type of lead generation, that you commit at least some effort into tracking where your leads come from. It’s the difference between knowing and feeling. You can feel like your SEO guy is doing a great job on your website. They are friendly and responsive and always answer your calls and emails. You don’t know that the website services they are providing are effective, but it feels great. On the other hand, knowing your leads are a direct result of their efforts — well that creates that feel good sensation all on it’s own.
Believe it or not the best leads are actually referrals from other customers. They are the ones most likely to buy your service. More often than not, consumers even when presented with a great deal and tons of information and terrific marketing material will purchase based off a referral from a friend first. In how to advertise a pool business we provide a list of ways to level the playing field for your pool company. The most important thing is to be consistent and offer great service — plus actively ask your customers for referrals. Offer them a discount on chemicals or service. Drop off a gift basket of towels and pool noodles and referral cards. As the wise man said, ask and ye shall receive.
