The Customer Experience Starts Long Before the First Estimate

“How do I close more jobs at a high­er mar­gin?” It’s a ques­tion home ser­vices busi­ness own­ers love to ask, and it’s an impor­tant one. With­out a strong pipeline of jobs and a sol­id mar­gin on each, it’s very dif­fi­cult to sus­tain­ably grow your business.

But clos­ing these high­er-mar­gin jobs isn’t exclu­sive­ly up to the sales team. Clos­ing high-mar­gin jobs is much eas­i­er when every inter­ac­tion lead­ing up to the esti­mate builds trust and instills con­fi­dence that your com­pa­ny is the RIGHT com­pa­ny for the job. 

This is equal­ly tricky and impor­tant in the world of home ser­vices. ​“Your cus­tomers are invit­ing peo­ple into their per­son­al home. This real­ly increas­es the need for authen­tic­i­ty and human touch in your com­mu­ni­ca­tions,” says Kristin Kniss, founder of Alpine Design, a firm focused on increas­ing lead con­ver­sion through pos­i­tive user expe­ri­ences (UX).

Authen­tic sto­ry­telling on your web­site and social chan­nels shows HOW you do that. The idea is that each pic­ture, video, post, or blog pro­vides a piece of evi­dence that rein­forces trust­wor­thi­ness and a qual­i­ty cus­tomer expe­ri­ence, ulti­mate­ly lead­ing them to an estimate. 

Get Ready for Your Close-Up

Prospects who are will­ing to pay a high­er price for home ser­vices are buy­ing more than the ser­vice you pro­vide. These poten­tial cus­tomers are look­ing for an excel­lent expe­ri­ence with a trust­wor­thy provider. They want to know that you will respect the sched­ule, respect their home, and deliv­er a pre­mi­um prod­uct and experience.

One strat­e­gy that builds famil­iar­i­ty imme­di­ate­ly is a web­site that show­cas­es your team, cul­ture, and val­ues. ​“Putting the faces of you and your team on the web­site shows cus­tomers who will be com­ing into their home,” says Kniss.

Things you can add to show­case your team:

• Pho­tos of your team on a jobsite
• Head­shots of employ­ees on an ​“about us” page
• Pho­tos of your sales reps next to an intake form
• Blogs hon­or­ing excep­tion­al achievements

To high­light your cul­ture, include sto­ries of vol­un­teer work done by your com­pa­ny, events designed to build cama­raderie, or a behind-the-scenes look at how you tack­le a spe­cif­ic challenge.

A great way to cre­ate con­text for your con­tent and attract like-mind­ed cus­tomers is to pub­lish your val­ues. Don’t be afraid to give them their own page, and back­link to con­tent that shows you and your team liv­ing those values. 

Now that you’ve famil­iar­ized your audi­ence with who you are, it’s time to fur­ther build that trust by show­ing them how you work. The best way to build trust is through transparency. 

The thing that makes this part eas­i­er is that you and your team are already out there pro­vid­ing excel­lent ser­vice. All you need to do is doc­u­ment it. 

Blogs, pic­tures, and videos that show before-and-after trans­for­ma­tions are a great way to inspire and moti­vate vis­i­tors. Con­tent that high­lights your jobs in process can rein­force how you keep spaces tidy, how you respect fam­i­ly mem­bers and pets, and the qual­i­ty of your work. 

It bears repeat­ing: you are already doing these things every day. It’s worth doc­u­ment­ing them. No need for a Hol­ly­wood pro­duc­tion. Authen­tic­i­ty is the name of the game. 

Lights, Cam­era, Action

Many home ser­vices pro­fes­sion­als find video to be intim­i­dat­ing, but Kniss says that video is an espe­cial­ly effec­tive tool for set­ting your com­pa­ny apart. ​“A video of the own­er talk­ing about start­ing the com­pa­ny, the val­ues held dear, and the vision pro­vides a lev­el of authen­tic­i­ty and com­fort that a tem­plat­ed approach can­not,” says Kniss.

These real-life sto­ries are becom­ing even more impor­tant as AI makes it eas­i­er for any­one to put up a pro­fes­sion­al-look­ing web­site. ​“You need the gen­uine piece right up front,” says Kniss.

A qual­i­ty dig­i­tal pres­ence tells a sto­ry about what cus­tomers can expect from hir­ing your com­pa­ny and builds trust, paving the way to high­er-mar­gin sales. Not only that, it can help attract the right cus­tomers and deter the wrong ones, ulti­mate­ly lead­ing to high­er-qual­i­ty leads, low­er mar­ket­ing spends, and a health­i­er bot­tom line.

Test it out and let us know what’s work­ing for you! 

Feel­ing over­whelmed? At DC Mar­ket­ing Group, we spe­cial­ize in mar­ket­ing for painters. Our vast expe­ri­ence and insights can stream­line your mar­ket­ing process­es and help you get more prospects and close more jobs. Sched­ule Your Free Con­sul­ta­tion Call today!