At Matrix Roofing & Home Solutions we advertise differently than a lot of other companies. Marketing can cost thousands of dollars. It can either help the business by bringing in leads or it can be a bottomless pit of disappearing cash flow. As an owner, I enjoy finding ways to market without spending a ton of money. Utilizing your customers AND your employees as brand ambassadors is an inexpensive way to market your business. More on that later.
First, I’d like to back up. I want to clarify marketing vs. brand. Ultimately this is the foundation of this topic of employee ambassadors.
Branding is deciding what is and who is the company. What is your focus? Quality? Speed? Community involvement? Low Cost? Colors and logos are then brought in to differentiate this company from others. This is an area I’d recommend consulting with a professional. Noticing how customers respond to certain colors and shapes is important and it’s not usually our area of expertise.
Once brand is set, THEN marketing begins. Read that sentence again.
Marketing is the act of placing your logo, colors and name in places where your customers will notice. WHO are the customers? Homeowners? Builders? Who buys the product? A few customers outside the box are Realtors, Property Managers, and Home Inspectors. Churn on this for a bit, who else could call asking for roofing help?
Since brand has been established EVERYTHING is a potential marketing opportunity. Notice logos, billboards, vehicles, business cards, signs, Facebook ads, Instagram and more. The job we face as owners, is knowing which ones bring in leads. Gather information and think outside the box. At minimum, customers that call must be asked “Where did you hear about our company?” every time. Keep stats so that future marketing can be profitable. Until you have stats, marketing is a best guess opportunity.
Are you thinking yet? There are SO MANY places to potentially advertise and most of them come with a price tag. I’ve known companies who spend over $100,000/year on marketing and yet they still can’t say what was the most profitable. What best brought in sellable leads. Don’t be that company.
Customers: Brand ambassadors create conversation about your business. Customers make exceptional brand ambassadors IF the job was done right. Focus on quality to ensure their positive reviews. People often find roofers by asking a neighbor, friend or family member who was used on their personal job. Give your customers tools to use. Provide them with additional cards after the install and offer referral gifts. Typically, this is a low-cost, great response tool.
Another opportunity lies within your workforce (and we’re finally back to the topic!). Employees offer another low-cost opportunity to market your company. Here are the ways we utilize our workforce to bring in customers.
Employees:
Hopefully I’ve given you things to think about. Utilizing your employees as brand ambassadors is a low-cost way to market your business. It also engages your employees within your community and enhances their relationship with your company.
None of us ever “arrive” to doing all of this perfectly. Remember, owning a business is a marathon and checking in and adjusting along the way are the keys to success. After 13 years in business, we launched a new website at www.matrixroof.com. Feel free to let me know what you think and how I could do better at marketing our company. Even the day of the launch, I already had ideas about things I wanted to change. AH, the life of a business owner.
Wendy Marvin is CEO of Matrix Roofing. See her full bio here.
Comments
Leave a Reply
Have an account? Login to leave a comment!
Sign In