21 Complex Contractor Lead Generation Ideas

1. Offer Valuable Content in Exchange for Mail Addresses

Jerry Robertson, Marketing for Small Business Coach, More Leads Less Stress

The key to lead generation is to be unique from the competition. The best way is to offer a short guide to a problem they want solved. Some examples are”Homeowner’s Guide to Window Replacement,””What Roofing Contractors Do Not Want You to Know,” and”Sunroom Idea Guide & Portfolio.” The key is to catch their email address and send them the link to the guide. Aside from the email , simply request their first title —anything more than that and you can cut back subscriptions by more than 50%. Send an email weekly with valuable content along with a compelling message to take action at the end.

2. Make sure Your Contact Info Is Consistently Highly Visible

Jeremy Schaedler, President, Schaedler Insurance Agency, Inc

Within our industry, we operate with a lot of residential builders and have discovered that one of the greatest forms of advertising for this group is having contact information visible on all work vehicles. Contractors have reported that when doing a remodel job in a special area, they frequently get a new project by a curious neighbor who could have been considering pulling the trigger on a new job, but not got around to bidding out it. Having contact information visible on all work vehicles is a good way of letting curious neighbors know how to contact the construction company to inquire about their particular remodel plans when driving by.

3. Optimize for Voice Searches

David Erickson, VP for Online Marketing, Karwoski & Courage

Voice search is rapidly becoming the dominant mode of search (both Google and Bing forecast it will account for 50 percent of all searches by 2020). The Google Now phone program and the Google Home smart speaker utilize these listings when people do voice searches, and rank the results based on proximity and ratings/reviews. Similarly, Amazon’s Echo smart speaker uses Yelp reviews in the same fashion for voice hunts. Because of this, general contractors ought to think very carefully about how their clients experience the services they provide. Take a plan to resolve negative customer experiences and closely track their online reviews.

4. Get Listed on Local Services for Google and Amazon

Nate Masterson, Marketing Manager, Maple Holistics

Google and Amazon have started making win-win investments in local service businesses, such as most other wide firms which will supply service all over the nation simply to farm all of the work to subcontractors. Amazon charges a percentage for service performed while Google charges each lead. The benefit with them is that everybody uses Google and Amazon and whenever customers”Google something,” a few of the top search results are service providers. Everyone can promote their business using this tool. Both will require a background check that’s ordinarily based from your evaluations and customer testimonials. Google offers you access to multiple programs, including their GPS mobile application.

All Amazon requires is that you’ve got general liability insurance with a limit of $1,000,000 per occurrence and licensing for trade professionals. Amazon sends a job and you’ll be able to choose to take it. They let you set the purchase price and they simply charge extra to your referral. Amazon only works together with the best in your region.

5. Find Requests for Proposals using a LinkedIn ProFinder Account

Stacy Caprio, Creator, Growth Marketing

An effective lead generation approach is utilizing the free LinkedIn ProFinder that sends you relevant leads in your geographical location every few days via email. To have a LinkedIn ProFinder account, you need to first sign up and have a LinkedIn account (register here). When you sign up and indicate that the areas of freelancing interest and place, LinkedIn will utilize that information to match you with relevant jobs. Every few days you will receive a LinkedIn ProFinder email using a job match that you are able to submit a proposal on. If the organization or individual likes your proposal, they will respond in message form, often requesting a phone call before moving ahead. I have discovered it to be a great lead generation tool, and a bonus is that it is completely free.

6. Solicit Tips from Other Non-Competitive Firms

Brad Leahy, Vice President, Blades of Green

The construction industry runs on a good reputation. Some of the best leads come from other small companies in the area that could recommend other companies to their clientele. Homeowners don’t always understand what they’re searching for in a service business. Typically, all they’d go to is Yelp or HomeAdvisor and exactly what their neighbors have to say. A recommendation from a trusted person with origins in a home service area can go a very long way, so ally yourself with individuals in adjacent industries. Lawn care, pest management, HVAC, plumbing—when your client’s house is built, they’ll need people to help maintain it, and those businesses that you refer people to will turn about and refer people to you once their clients are searching for a contractor.

7. Claim Your Business on Google Maps

Ryder Meehan, Digital Marketing Consultant, Meehan Digital

Many tiny businesses are localized, so their lead approach should be as well. One of the top sources of small business prospects would be Google Maps, and it is both free and easy to maintain your company’ listing. Simply visit Google My Business and complete your business profile. Include images of past projects and link to your site. Google will send you a postcard to confirm your address in a couple of weeks, then you’re listed on Google Maps for thousands of local clients to locate you.

8. Focus on Content Marketing

Steve Yi, Co-Founder and CEO, MediaAlpha

This entails creating and distributing digital content such as company blog articles, informational videos, Facebook and other social networking posts that are useful for your target customer. By way of example, a blog post with a title along the lines of”Construction Mistakes 101 — Dangers to Look Out For” would be an superb resource for workers new to the space or even customers researching different construction businesses. As soon as you’ve put time and effort into creating great content, you’re going to need to make sure you reach the largest audience as possible. You may enhance your message and drive involvement through promotion over multiple channels, including paid social networking articles, sponsored listings on traditional search engines and even influencer advertising.

9. Stay in Contact with Past Clients

Chuck Solomon, Co-Founder, LineHire

Repeat business is often overlooked by home improvement contractors since they don’t have a simple system to bring that organization. Repeat business from past clients does not cost anything and is a fantastic way to cultivate a business. Most individuals don’t remember what they had for lunch yesterday, let alone the title of the business that remodeled their toilet two decades back! It is up to the company to keep their brand in addition to mind for their previous customers. Following is a very simple system to help customers remember you. First, find 12 resources that would be helpful to the majority of homeowners. It might be articles about home improvement, maintenance, decor or a free home upkeep program like HomeSpot. Next, create a string of monthly emails which highlight the source. The email can start off with”Hi, Just discovered this fantastic resource on Xthought I would discuss it with you.”

It is typically better to send out these email through an email advertising program like MailChimp so you can view who opens your emails. Each firm I have implemented this with gets repeat business each and every month.

10. Target key words to Buyer Intentions

Reuben Kats, COO, GrabResults, LLC

Clients need to see proof of work, so if you’d like leads from clients who look for builders online, you need to develop a portfolio which will sell itself. That’s how clients are ensured that your company is capable and dependable with supplying any construction service. Contractors also must earn a user friendly atmosphere for their clientele and supply potential customers with a free estimate. Lowering the price will always get a greater percentage of conversions. I also have constructed many campaigns with buyer intent keywords that convert with clicks and calls. In this manner, the company starts getting calls after a week of being online.

Google’s spiders and Bing will come across any fresh content and data normally after a week of being online, so that your company can truly appear without paying the high prices of every click in that specific industry.

11. Construct Lead Generation Assets You Have and Control

Ben Landers, President & CEO, Blue Corona

Don’t put all of your cash in lead generation websites. We’ve seen it time and time again—a contractor shovels his whole marketing budget into these subscriptions, then is frustrated with the poor quality of the leads he gets. Assembling lead generation assets you own and control–like your site and social networking profiles–would be like purchasing real estate vs. renting it. Should you rely on lead generation websites, you are out of luck if these companies get sold, acquired, or just generally go downhill. You are also sabotaging yourself, since 93 percent of internet experiences start with a search engine, and site power builds over time.

12. Create and Share Infographics

Tom Hartel, CEO, Valley Fire Protection Systems, LLC

This is especially great if somebody has written on a competitive topic and it would be really hard for you to outrank them. All you need to do would be to make a beautiful infographic that covers all of the discussed points and then link it to the author’s post. Do not forget to discuss your production on Pinterest and also make it visually more so it covers more room. Also, keep the infographic simple. Too mad design can be tough to read and we do not want that. Include a link to your website in the infographic at which you can invite your visitors to opt into notifications for special discounts or a referral program to get them interested about your services and stay on your site.

13. Join a Vetted Contractor Network That Uses a Mobile App

Rishi Matthew, CEO, Keepe

A growing number of people are drawn to the convenience of having services on their mobile phones, and contractors would easily benefit from adopting the technology into their lead generation strategy. This can be made possible by joining a community of builders where potential clients can visit when they need work done. The program matches pre-estimated tasks, which eliminates time spent on supplying estimates and following up on unqualified leads. 1 good illustration of this is Keepe, that will send you real jobs on your mobile (based on your suggested schedule or availability) which need to get done right away. The program also ensures secure payment upon successfully completing a job, making it convenient for you and your client.

14. Master the Art of Getting Referrals from Customers

Kevin Namaky, Founder Gurulocity

Obtaining referrals is sometimes easier said than done. People are active and as soon as they’re done working with youpersonally, they do not always owe you anything. That said, there are a few things that you can do to greatly improve your probability of getting positive referrals (and reviews!) To your company.

1. Request to them: It might surprise you how many businesses do not get referrals simply because they don’t ask. So, the first step is to make it mandatory and start training employees and sales on how they should ask, making it a standard practice.
2. Optimize the timing: The very best times to get a referral is in the peak of their customer experience when they are happiest with you, so think about how this may be relevant to your business. Is it in the present time of purchase? During the actual procedure of working together with you? When the whole service/job is finished? Getting this right can greatly increase the rate at which you get referrals.
3. Incentivize these : This can be in the form of a thank you (e.g., gift card, voucher, additional bonus solutions ) or as a upfront incentive (e.g., a discount on the full project in exchange for contacts that they think would also be interested).
4. Systematize: Make it part of your system which can not be skipped or forgotten. For example, you can make it a normal section of a written application type, electronic form, or arrangement. It could also be incorporated into post-service feedback forms and surveys which are shipped for all finished tasks. Should you make it part of your physical or electronic procedure, you will basically automate the process so it happens every time.

15. Combine Direct Response Mails with Content Marketing

Craig De Borba, Founder, OnPoint Internet Marketing

A ideal not-so-typical lead generation approach for a general contractor combines direct response mail with digital advertising. Any general contractor can produce a string of reports and/or e-books that cover their service area (by way of instance, bathroom remodeling), send direct response mailers, and instruct recipients to visit theiroffer.com to get access to their free home improvement series and discounts on home improvement solutions. Visitors into the landing page will be retargeted. Be sure to keep the message very personal and from the builder himself. Don’t use”Dear Homeowner,” but instead use the homeowner’s name. Most of the leads will opt to get the service done for them ultimately. With the dedicated landing page or call-in number, the campaign metrics could be fully tracked. Better still, because barely any contractor is tapping into this, it easily enables you to stand out.

16. Get Reviews—Fast

Scott Bishop, CEOUp And Social

Obtaining more leads boils down to whether or not a client can trust you. Show them you are trustworthy with your online reviews. If you ask a customer to leave you an overview, they will say yes but in reality, they never return to it. It is not tough to depart the review on line —it is just inconvenient. A surefire way to get your customer to leave a review would be to follow up with a personalized emailaddress. Your email should include a thank you note along with a link that opens right to your Google inspection page. Recently, Up And Social launched a new product called”Review Booster.” The Review Booster enables business owners to easily solicit reviews from all of their current and past customers.

After submission of the client name and email, they will be given a message with a link that goes directly to your five-star business page ranking. On average, clients using inspection booster watch an average growth of over 500 percent of online reviews!

17. Locate Clients of Dilapidated Properties

Lucas Machado, President, House Heroes LLC

Property investors buy homes that need a great deal of work, fix the home, and flip it to the end user. Most investors rely on general contractors to control the renovations, making property investors the perfect lead for a general contractor. General contractors make contact with this guide at very low price. The general contractor should track properties available on the open market that need a great deal of work. After the sale of this foreclosed land, the public record is updated using the name of the buyer, which the general contract can look up in the public document site. That record is going to have the purchaser’s name and address, and the general contractor can either call or send a letter pitching their services. Another way to locate local real estate investors is to contact realtors.

Realtors are familiar with the local property rehabbers and can put the general contractor in contact. Realtors are always in contact with homeowner clients and might be working together with the owners to fix-up the house being recorded on the open marketplace.

18. Network with Exhibitors at Trade Shows

Konstantin Obuhov, Founder, EMS Group

Being a creative art shipping assistance, we discover that relationship building is an integral ingredient to our business design. One of the most effective strategies we use now is linking with exhibitors at upcoming art fairs and trade events. We tailor a straightforward 2 – to – three-sentence email using a creative deck, describing who we are and what we do. Our email communication serves as a segue to a in-person introduction at the fair, which strengthens our connection and builds rapport with a potential client. This very simple yet effective strategy consistently turns out to be prosperous, builds lifelong relationships with clients, and may be implemented as a lead generation strategy for general contractors as well.

19. Ask for the Attendee List and 9 Other Ways to Maximize Speaking Engagements

Do not waste your speaking opportunity by missing out on getting as many prospects as possible during the event. Oftentimes, even the ideal resource speakers tend to forget optimizing lead creation the minute they start their session. With everything moving around, it’s important to have someone to help you to keep tabs of what has to be done. Asking for the attendee listing is one of these. Attendees of your speaking engagement are already interested in what you need to give, so getting their contact details and reaching out to them after the event, when they can still recall attending to your session, is the best time to speak to them about trying your own services.

20. Take a Well-Designed Landing Page to Generate Leads

Your site’s landing page gives you the very best chance to capture leads. Thus, when assessing your site’s optimization, it must consist of criteria on getting a successful landing page. Understand the function your landing page takes in your inbound conversion path and produce a micro strategy which can effectively execute its own function. Not sure where to start? Follow this quick guide on producing killer landing pages for construction companies to improve your lead generation strategy.

21. Become the Preferred Contractor for Insurance Agencies

Obtaining endorsed by insurance companies is a huge deal in terms of lead generation. Each time insurance claims for compensation are registered with your spouse insurance provider, you can be someone who must execute the repairs. Additionally, getting your company name on insurer websites as their favorite contractor can easily get you new customers. But not everybody knows where to start. This article gives you a guide to becoming the preferred contractor for insurance agencies.