Written by This is a guest post provided by a contributor from Referral Rock.
If people need your service, they are going to find you. In fact, service businesses benefit from word of mouth marketing, because well… friends talk, which means lead are likely going to follow.
But what if the leads stop? And what if your customers aren’t spreading the love anymore? Chances are it’s not your customer’s fault, instead it might be something you did or didn’t do.
Yes, you can spend money on ads and big fancy marketing campaigns. But, before you do all that you need to set yourself up to succeed in the first place because if you don’t have organic leads (in other words, non-paid leads) coming in, you might have trouble getting paid ones to convert too.
To be frank, you won’t get leads without doing a little bit of work. Here are 4 things you need to consider if leads aren’t coming in.
1. Your Customer Service Isn’t As Good As You Think
Customers talk. And if you’re giving out bad service, you can guarantee you’ll have word of mouth buzzing about you, but it will be in all the bad ways.
Let this sink in… An unhappy customer will tell more people about you than a happy one. A study by American Express Survey found that Americans tell an average of 15 people about poor service experiences vs the 11 people they’ll tell about a good experience.
Therefore it’s imperative to give good customer service because you probably won’t get leads if people aren’t talking about you and you definitely won’t get them if people are telling others bad things about you.
2. You Aren’t Considering Customer Feedback
Listen to your customers. They are your first line to figuring out what you need to do to improve your business. Be sure to provide them with the tools they need to write reviews and voice their concerns. Many people turn to social media to provide feedback, but others will turn to your contact form. Our tip is to get your business on some listing sites, like Google My Business, Facebook, HomeAdvisor, Angie’s List and Yelp, which can promote you and help with with feedback requests. Then use your feedback to grow! Build your product up and make changes that fit with demands.
3. You’re Not Writing Content That Prospects Can Find
No, we’re not talking about the “Hi, my name is…” introduction, although, that can work too. Here we’re talking about providing resources and content in your niche. If you aren’t at least keeping up with your main competitors, no one is going to know you exist.
You may have heard that content is king and it’s true. By putting resources out there, you’re increasing your social proof and making a name for yourself.
Having a company blog may be your easiest way to do this, but depending on your business type you may find it difficult to come up with enough content to write about. Nonetheless try to provide something because this is the stuff that makes you searchable and proves your authority in the field. A suggestion is to write homeowner tips related to your industry and publish it on a page on your website.
Plus if you have good resources out there, it makes you shareable, which can result in other people learning about you. You can incentivize this sharing and further your lead generation efforts by offering finder’s fees to clients and partners.
Example:
Even if you’re a very niche service, like lawn care, you can provide insight to potential prospects by providing a few blog articles or resource pages.
You can write about:
- Seasonal lawn upkeep tips
- How to lay pavers
- Proper tips for pruning rose bushes
As you can see, providing generalized tips, as such, can make you that much more ‘findable’ while prospects are searching for specific terms. This is just more opportunity to bring in leads.
4. You Aren’t Asking For Reviews
Often times a person will only write a review when they are either very happy or extremely unsatisfied, but, if you’re providing a good experience to every customer, chances are they’d be happy to give you a review if you just ask.
But why are reviews important? People do their research before deciding on what service or provider they are going to choose or even check out.
Example:
Take a look at this. Of these results, two of them have a fair share of good reviews. The top one however does not.
Who would you choose? Well, you’d likely not call the first one. You’d probably start with the highest rating, and then work your way down, even if you are looking for the cheapest route possible. One thing is certain: you most likely wouldn’t call the company at the top of the listings.
So remembers, reviews aren’t just feedback for you. Prospects love learning about you this way. They want see what others have to say about you or learn about real-life situations or experiences with your company.
Bonus: Just as you ask for reviews, you can ask customers to share their friends with you. Running a referral program is a great way to bring in leads. By using the right referral program ideas, you can save yourself missing out on getting some leads. Why not ask those who give you a review to refer as well?
Wrap Up: Go Get Leads for Your Service Business
If you’re all about the customer, leads are probably coming in on their own, but if you’re doing everything you can and still aren’t seeing leads coming, check your funnel. See if you can find at what point it becomes leaky.
You may also find that what works well for a couple months will not cut it forever. Continue tweaking your marketing strategies and adjusting along the way.
However, if you practice the general best practices covered above, you should be able to get leads even if you’re testing and switching up your marketing strategies.
Megan Mosley is the marketing specialist at Referral Rock who believes every business has the potential to increase their word of mouth. When she’s not working, she enjoys sipping on coffee and hanging out with her dog, Mollie.
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Last modified: September 13, 2018
