February 6, 2010 – 7:22 pm
Unless you have consistent window cleaning work coming in, you have no viable business.
Translation: Dead in the water. 30 days from being a Walmart greeter.
The solution is finding a way to get your prospects to pick up the phone and call you, or write you an email, or at the very least, visit your webpage to give you a chance to like you, know you, and trust you more.
And unless its the first day of Spring, or the boss is breathing down their neck, they’ll almost never do that unless you give them a reason to care: A reason to get off the couch, stop surfing the interweb, put down the remote, and take 3 precious minutes from their day to interact with you.
In other words: An intelligent ( as foolproof as possible) beginner’s marketing plan.
Therefore, bookmark this page (it’s a permanent link), and from now on use the following 5-step marketing plan to getting people to care, and getting them to sit up and notice your window cleaning company.
Step One: Define your Market: Who are these people?
Man or woman?
Married? Single? Divorced?
35ish or 55ish?
3 kids, zero kids or 3 grandkids?
Healthy or sick?
What cultural/linguistic background are they?
Create a demographic profile, and start defining these people. Give them a name, like Betty or Gary or Biff or Rajit. Just name them, and start differentiating them from the other kinds of people you interact with and are attempting to do business with.
Complete this first step for your window cleaning company.
***
Step Two: Create the Right Message: What do these people care about?
What do they spend money on?
What do they care about?
What do they crave?
What do they close their eyes and dream of?
What do they hate?
What do they fear?
Trader Joe’s is an interesting case study in this kind of demographic analysis. Trader Joe’s has defined their target consumer as a “retired university professor who drives a very, very used Volvo.” Now that they now what kind of person they’re dealing with, they have a substantially more effective marketing focus.
Complete this second step for your window cleaning company.
***
Step Three: Choose the Right Media: How do they like to communicate?
First – If they could choose their communication preference, what would it be?
Email?
Text?
Phone?
Fax?
A human standing in front of them talking to them?
A brochure?
A webpage?
A postcard?
Second – What kind of unusual media would really capture their uniquely tuned attention?
A dollar store glass vase?
A Hot Wheels car?
A particular book?
A DVD player delivered to their door, with a special video?
A rock?
An umbrella?
A (peanut-free, remember) chocolate bar?
A gorgeous guy or girl knocking on their door?
Complete this third step for your window cleaning company.
***
Quick recap: Train yourself to go through this initial 3-step exercise every single time you create a new piece of marketing interaction for your window cleaning company, whether it’s a postcard, flier, lumpy mailing, phone solicitation, email solicitation, yellow page ads (yuck), webpage development, or even a door-to-door interaction.
Step One: Define the Market.
Step Two: Craft the Right Message.
Step Three: Choose the Right Kind of Media to Communicate With.
Got it?
Okay, good, now here are two more quick but essential steps before you’re done. They are both questions. You have to ask these too, before you put pen to paper and get started creating the actual marketing interaction.
***
Step Four: Create a Powerful Offer. What kind of offer would really and truly resonate with and appeal to this particular kind of person?
Step Five: How Can You Become Remarkable? What could you do to create an interaction and service offering for this particular kind of person that would absolutely blow them away? What could you do to make their entire service transaction experience so remarkable that they HAVE to tell everyone they know about their amazing window cleaning company?
In fact, do yourself a favor, and answer those two questions out loud, right now. I’m not kidding, this is for your good. I’ll repeat them:
1.What kind of offer would really and truly resonate with and appeal to this particular kind of person?
(Before you keep reading, please say an answer out loud)
What did you say?
20 windows for $200?
Free gutter cleaning?
A free coffee cup with every service?
Fresh cut flowers?
Why did you say that? How do you know? Start testing and see if you’re right! Next, ask yourself what the answer would be if you were dead wrong? Try that one, too!
***
2.What could you do to make their entire service transaction experience so remarkable that they HAVE to tell everyone they know about their your amazing window cleaning company?
(Before you keep reading, please say an answer out loud – isn’t this fun?)
What did you say? Is that the best you can do? What if you pushed the envelope even more? Before you consider toning it down, what would happen if you toned it UP a few notches first? (I’ve gotta give Seth Godin props for that question) Now that you know what it would take, what is stopping you from starting to do this today, or worst case scenario – tomorrow? If it’s too expensive, is there an almost-as-good-but-far-cheaper alternative?
***
That’s it.
3 steps + 2 steps.
Now you have a foolproof 5-step beginner window cleaning marketing plan.
Get started. No one is going to do it for you.
Kevin
P.S. If you are going to be anywhere close to Baltimore on March 12, 2010, I’m hosting a special 2-hour event for one night only.
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