by tradesmeninsights | Apr 27, 2016 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
The biggest challenge manufacturers face today is the ability to keep contractors interested and engaged in their brands. It’s much easier to keep an existing contractor than going out and trying to convert a new one.
In a recent eMarketer article they talked about how B2B International surveyed 266 U.S.- and Western Europe-based B2B marketers from a variety of industries in October and November 2015. The market research firm found that 62% of respondents said building market share remained the top challenge among others.
But how do you build market share without building relationships with those you sell to? Contractors are looking at solutions, not new products! If your product can help them do their job better or quicker, then you have a winner.
What can you do? One way is helping them identify pain points in their daily routine. A common one is getting new business leads. Owens Corning has a great website where on the one page it focuses on getting the user to the right contractor.
Another pain point for contractors is training employees, both old and new. Most good contractors are limited on growing their company because they can’t find qualified people to do the work. Dust off those YouTube videos and training tips and tricks and offer them to contractors. They can be offered online and you can incentivize the recipients for taking and passing the course. What better way to build brand loyalty from both the contractor and the worker.
There are plenty of ways to build market share and one of them is loyalty. You need to get and keep them engaged and always answer the question, “What’s in it for me?” Word gets around (contractors talk to each other).
by tradesmeninsights | Feb 10, 2016 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
I recently read a post by John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing, People Buy Stories Before They Buy Stuff, that reminded me how true that statement was, especially when talking with contractors.
Tell me, do you know a contractor that won’t talk your leg off? If you do, it’s a rarity. Contractors learn by telling and listening to stories. Whether it’s about how they developed a short cut in their process to save them money, to a funny story about one of the new hires screwing up a job royally until they stepped in and saved the day.
I think we all agree that stories are an important part of the selling process. For you, it starts with how you write an email or blog post, to your interaction when face to face with a contractor. They need to feel comfortable with you.
Yes, they know you want to sell them something, but most want to do a little talking first (consider it foreplay). There is a right way to use stories as a way to guide contractors to that perfect journey.
John outlines several keys to building a better framework for storytelling:
- The ideal contractor persona – you need to know what drives them, what they believe and what they fear. Your local distributor should be able to help fill in the back story on each contractor. It’s about establishing yourself as the right person to help them.
- Make them the hero – the main character must be your ideal customer persona. You’re there to help them understand the real problem and that you can help them solve it.
- Help them understand their problem – and give them practical and proven methods of fixing it.
Understanding contractor’s goals and questions during every phase of the buying process gives you, the manufacturer, a chance to create content and campaigns aimed at satisfying their needs.
Do you really know your ideal customer’s persona?
