Marketing a service to businesses

[lookingahead]

Its almost launch day for my website and I've got the customer marketing side down. But I'm not sure about how to market to the businesses, my original plan was to cold call to get the first shops on there. Afterwards, hope that word of mouth could bring in more businesses. Though I know this is a bad strategy, I'm not sure how else to market to them. So what are some other ways to market to businesses and get them aware of my service. Consider trade shows to be out of the picture at this point in the game, possibly later on though.

 

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[Lakeview]

Tell us more to go on.

 

[lookingahead]

I am building a service to help customers get accident repair estimates from local auto body shops.

 

[brycer9]

If they are local, you should walk into each body shop yourself. Much better chance to close a deal then on the phone

 

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[Lakeview]

Is this a lead generation site? Will you have a directory of repair shops?

 

[Gale4rc]

If they are local, you should walk into each body shop yourself. Much better chance to close a deal then on the phone

Call first, find out when owner / decision maker will be in , then walk in and sell.

Also start small, get 3-5 repair shops to test the waters with you. Make them all very successful, once you do that you can show those stats to other businesses and get them a lot easier.

-Long time b2b hustler

 

[JEdwards]

How are you getting the users?

 

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[johnp]

my original plan was to cold call to get the first shops on there. Afterwards, hope that word of mouth could bring in more businesses. Though I know this is a bad strategy, I'm not sure how else to market to them

Yea pick up the phone and call.

I avoided the phone for the first 26 years of my life. Biggest Mistake Ever.

I have a similar situation as you. Gotta bring two sides together and all that fun stuff. I'm calling the service side up on the phone. That's really the only way that things will work for me right now to get them to my site fast...not sure if it's the same situation for you, but trust me it works.

Here is what I do:

- drive people to the site.

- Open my iphone notepad and go to a list of service providers.

- Google the service provider to get a quick idea about what exactly they do and are looking for.

- Then call. I ask to speak directly to the person who is in charge of so and so then I lay out exactly what I have. Not sure if I'm even doing it right, but it's working for me. If they say no, or brush me off, then I follow up on Linkedin and log their response in a Google doc, then I'll either try again later, or have a girl who is a little nicer and more articulate than me call.

So yea. Call, don't put faith in word of mouth as a strategy. The only word of mouth that you should have faith in are the words that are coming out of your mouth (or your sales person's mouth) into the other person's ear.

 

[lookingahead]

If they are local, you should walk into each body shop yourself. Much better chance to close a deal then on the phone

They would not be local, this will eventually be a national site. Most likely starting with major cities or a one region of the US and then spreading.

 

[lookingahead]

How are you getting the users?

Well I was going to work on SEO, do guest blog posts, participate in automotive forums, maybe a little bit in adwords but I would like to stay way from that and stick with organic traffic. I was also going to post service ads in craigslist just to help reach another audience. I even thought of going to insurance agencies and asking if they would recommend my website whenever someone comes in to get an appraisal. But I have not looked into it much so I am not sure about the ethical side of it since it could be viewed as an endorsement by them.

 

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[Gale4rc]

Well I was going to work on SEO, do guest blog posts, participate in automotive forums, maybe a little bit in adwords but I would like to stay way from that and stick with organic traffic. I was also going to post service ads in craigslist just to help reach another audience. I even thought of going to insurance agencies and asking if they would recommend my website whenever someone comes in to get an appraisal. But I have not looked into it much so I am not sure about the ethical side of it since it could be viewed as an endorsement by them.

I think you're thinking too big, unless you are already successful and have the experience to make it happen which may be the case.

If not, start small. Figure out how you can get a constant stream of customers in 1 city - once you can do that efficiently then expand from there. Big goals are good to have but, perfect the small stuff first.

Also I think you're going to have a hard-time marketing because I assume the SEO is pretty competitive for this type of thing. Also you don't have a exact demographic or target market because anyone can get in an accident and need your service, which is exactly what makes it tough to market to.

I would try to figure out if there are any key partnerships you can form to generate constant traffic to your site. What's the process people go through now? Is there any step along the way that you can form a partnership with?

I personally don't believe guest blog posts or automotive forums will work for this type of business..(just because they are on automotive forum doesn't mean they are looking for an accident repair and even if they are, it would be a low amount that trust you) Craigslist ads might work but, probably very saturated and wont bring a good amount of traffic.

getting the businesses to sign up for your site is the easy part - bringing them customers is going to be very hard

 

[JEdwards]

Well I was going to work on SEO, do guest blog posts, participate in automotive forums, maybe a little bit in adwords but I would like to stay way from that and stick with organic traffic. I was also going to post service ads in craigslist just to help reach another audience. I even thought of going to insurance agencies and asking if they would recommend my website whenever someone comes in to get an appraisal. But I have not looked into it much so I am not sure about the ethical side of it since it could be viewed as an endorsement by them.

Yea, let me save you some time. That's not going to work.

 

[johnp]

I even thought of going to insurance agencies and asking if they would recommend my website whenever someone comes in to get an appraisal. But I have not looked into it much so I am not sure about the ethical side of it since it could be viewed as an endorsement by them.

Not so easy. Agencies just don't recommend all of the time. I have this one servicer provider on my site. I'm driving a shit load of value his way. I even see him using the site on the backend to connect with his leads. I haven't seen a new signup generate as a result of his recommendation. The funny thing is that he told me that he would tell his cowokers about the site. I thought..ya sure you will....

Can't hold it against them. They have their own lives. I think if you are shooting for a recommendation then you need to get that at the end of the call. Ask them who they can recommend. Then have them give names and phone numbers. Then you do the leg work yourself. Or call back later another day.

I really hate this word of mouth shit. It's one thing if you are going to blend a brick in a blender and throw it on YouTube, but I think it's a whole different story if you're straight up doing a lead gen/ service biz.

 

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[campbellronald7]

Thus Marketing means communication ,Always try to show that what are you selling and how many people have used your product and benefited from it .As said that Action speak louder than words so go to the prospect’s show them your work and how your services are different from others.

 

[The-J]

Start in your circle. Always.

Your first customer needs to be someone who will be your first testimonial.

Copied from this post by James Altucher:

GG) How should I network?

Make concentric circles. You’re at the middle.

The next circle is friends and family.

The next circle is online communities.

The circle after that is meetups and coffees.

The circle after that is conferences and thought leaders.

The circle after that is mentors.

The circle after that is customers and wealth-creators.

Start making your way through the circles.

Start from one circle and move your way out. I'm sure you know a lot of people.

(Online communities: very important!)

Once you get that first client and first testimonial, everything else becomes so much easier: cold calling, web marketing, PPC... all of it.

 

[lookingahead]

I think you're thinking too big, unless you are already successful and have the experience to make it happen which may be the case.

If not, start small. Figure out how you can get a constant stream of customers in 1 city - once you can do that efficiently then expand from there. Big goals are good to have but, perfect the small stuff first.

Also I think you're going to have a hard-time marketing because I assume the SEO is pretty competitive for this type of thing. Also you don't have a exact demographic or target market because anyone can get in an accident and need your service, which is exactly what makes it tough to market to.

I would try to figure out if there are any key partnerships you can form to generate constant traffic to your site. What's the process people go through now? Is there any step along the way that you can form a partnership with?

I personally don't believe guest blog posts or automotive forums will work for this type of business..(just because they are on automotive forum doesn't mean they are looking for an accident repair and even if they are, it would be a low amount that trust you) Craigslist ads might work but, probably very saturated and wont bring a good amount of traffic.

getting the businesses to sign up for your site is the easy part - bringing them customers is going to be very hard

I get what your saying about starting too large. I think I'm trying to run before I can crawl. I also do not have much marketing experience, since this is my first serious venture.

You hit the nail on the head with the SEO, the keywords are pretty hard to rank for. I also see what you are saying with not having a target market/demographic to focus on. I do have an idea of who I would like to market to, and by what your saying is to form my service around them. Correct?

What exactly do you mean about partnerships, are you talking about with other businesses?

The reason why I was going to do guest blog posts and auto forums, is to try and connect with the customers a little more. Try to keep my name in front of them, that way when they do need to have their car repaired they will think of the business and use it.

 

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[lookingahead]

Yea, let me save you some time. That's not going to work.

Other than what Gale4rc stated, what is your reasoning behind why it won't work.

 

[lookingahead]

Not so easy. Agencies just don't recommend all of the time. I have this one servicer provider on my site. I'm driving a shit load of value his way. I even see him using the site on the backend to connect with his leads. I haven't seen a new signup generate as a result of his recommendation. The funny thing is that he told me that he would tell his cowokers about the site. I thought..ya sure you will....

Can't hold it against them. They have their own lives. I think if you are shooting for a recommendation then you need to get that at the end of the call. Ask them who they can recommend. Then have them give names and phone numbers. Then you do the leg work yourself. Or call back later another day.

I really hate this word of mouth shit. It's one thing if you are going to blend a brick in a blender and throw it on YouTube, but I think it's a whole different story if you're straight up doing a lead gen/ service biz.

I see your point, thanks for the information. So essentially, get the information I need from them and do the work myself. Don't depend on them to recommend my service.

 

[exige]

Local cable TV ads?

 

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[johnp]

I see your point, thanks for the information. So essentially, get the information I need from them and do the work myself. Don't depend on them to recommend my service.

Yea exactly. Do the work yourself, or get a sales person to do it. But I suggest doing it yourself so you can figure out the process.

Also, if these people are not in your circle then you need to build a circle around them. I have 0 connections in my industry so J's advice wouldn't work for me. So my approach is that I call the people, and then after the call I pull them into my circle as much as possible. I connect with them on Linkedin, I follow them on twitter, I send emails. If they call me annoying then good, it means I"m in their face and on their mind. So try that.

 

[JEdwards]

Other than what Gale4rc stated, what is your reasoning behind why it won't work.

Experience....

 

[Gale4rc]

What exactly do you mean about partnerships, are you talking about with other businesses?

The reason why I was going to do guest blog posts and auto forums, is to try and connect with the customers a little more. Try to keep my name in front of them, that way when they do need to have their car repaired they will think of the business and use it.

You probably want to learn for yourself but, if I can save you some time I can say pretty confidently this won't work.

Yes are there any businesses/services people use after they need accident repair? Then if there is anyway you can partner with those services it can be a way to generate traffic to your idea

 

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[Tom.V]

Though I know this is a bad strategy, I'm not sure how else to market to them.

This is both your problem and your solution. Back up, reevaluate, fill in the gaps in your plan.

Lead gen is very lucrative if you can make the deals and deliver. But if you have a shaky, if any, understanding of the work involved (from the marketing aspect to the deal making and lead buyer/distributor acquisition aspect) you may want to reevaluate your idea.

 

[lookingahead]

Is this a lead generation site? Will you have a directory of repair shops?

It is a lead generation website, no directory of shops.

 

[royalasg]

It would be better if make it lead generation process, run some google saerch ad and mobile ad, use ad extension from google ad to add your phone number on the ad and it will make them call to you when they see ad on moblie. You can use other ad service like double click, Ad mob etc.

 

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