Locking in leads

When it comes to lead generation, there is not one simple method that will work best. Effective lead generation results from a combination of activities you and your team do every day to cultivate relationships and build brand awareness.

It is important to realize lead generation is two-pronged: There is a need to attract customers, but you also must sustain them. Whether your clients are homeowners or building owners, they need to be nurtured so your company comes to mind when they have roofing needs or the opportunity to refer your company.

Customer relationship management

Before starting a lead-generation campaign, you will need strong customer relationship management (CRM) software. In the roofing industry, there are many CRM software offerings that help manage customers and often are connected to project management and/or accounting software.

Whichever CRM software you use, you must maintain a strong, up-to-date list of customers. By using CRM software instead of a spreadsheet or other methods, customer contacts can be automated. This can include notes, past correspondence, property data, material preferences and/or future projects.

This information is critical to properly segment your customers and offer strong communications. Once a CRM program is in place and information (past and present) has been entered into it, you will have an organized method of capturing leads and using them for long-term marketing efforts.

Networking

One of the best ways to find and nurture long-term customers is through community involvement. Are you a member of your local Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club or Jaycees? And if so, do you attend their events and meetings? People do business with people they know and like. Get to know the members in these groups so when they need a roofing contractor, you will be one of the first people they call.

During these events, collect business cards, directories and other publications to help build your CRM database and create a history that will help steer your conversation during sales calls.

Professional events

Although networking and relationship building within organizations are good ways to generate leads, there are many other potential customers in your service area, such as facility managers, whom you may never meet through community involvement.

Home improvement and facility management events, including county and state fairs, local building owner events and home improvement shows, can provide fertile ground for lead generation. Before attending these events, do your research, ask for references and see where your competitors are exhibiting. Once you decide on an event, create an experience that will attract potential customers and differentiate your business, such as integrating technology in your booth.

Home improvement shows generally are attended by homeowners who will be taking action on a project in the near future. They attend these shows to get ideas, see what's new, meet contractors and establish a dialogue regarding their needs. Differentiating yourself during these events is the trick to gaining new clients.

If your competitors also are attending an event, it's important to make your company stand out by doing what your competitors are not. For example, there was a roofing company in the Midwest who rented space at a local home improvement show and beyond the standard backdrop and manufacturer samples, the company integrated technology into its booth that allowed homeowners to receive aerial views of their homes and overall squares of the roofs within one hour.

Equipped with a laptop, printer and tablet, the company's owner used his tablet to order the aerial measurement reports and request a copy be emailed to each prospect. This process allowed him to gather critical CRM information including names, addresses and email addresses. Potential customers were asked to come back in an hour to receive their printed copies.

Every prospect returned to get his or her printout and the contractor's contact information. Each time a prospect returned to his booth, the contractor scheduled an appointment for a home visit to deliver the full estimate. Not only did he now have multiple leads, but he also had critical contact information for his long-term marketing efforts.

Any type of technology is impressive and can create buzz. Social media promotions, estimating or visualization software demonstrations, and tablet presentations can draw customer interest. Whether your work primarily is commercial or residential, by implementing a promotion or technology in your booth during an event, you can engage new customers and create a lasting impression while gathering valuable leads.

Social media

Not all lead generation has to involve financial outlays for booth space or exhibiting materials. If there is one way to reach just about anyone, it's with social media. According to Statista, an online statistics portal, more than 1 billion people have Facebook accounts, and Twitter sees more than 305 million active users per month.

Studies by Nielsen have shown 90 percent of people trust a friend's recommendation for a service or product versus 14 percent who trust advertisements. When your business has a presence on social media, you become a trusted friend.

Many roofing professionals have not discovered the value of social media outlets because they have been slow to embrace them as potential sources for leads. Those who use social media are finding it is one of the most important tools in their marketing programs. For residential contractors, Facebook continues to grow in popularity. It is a great referral tool, letting your customers speak for you. For commercial contractors, LinkedIn provides a better platform to reach building owners and facility managers. LinkedIn allows you to take the in-person networking you have done through your community involvement and extend it to the online realm.

The key to social media success is to make your website and social media posts interesting and sustainable. Ask yourself why a homeowner or business owner would want to follow your company on social media. Why would customers want to "like" your page or return to find out more information? It starts with you and your team. Every one of your employees has a group of friends in the community. They are involved in schools, religious institutions, and nonprofit and professional organizations along with multiple community activities. Your employees are your voice in the community. They need to think of themselves as your company's brand ambassadors.

Empowering employees to be a part of your social media program is the first step. They should be the first ones to like your company's Facebook and LinkedIn pages and share them with their groups of friends. The sales team can use this effectively by inviting past, current and potential customers to find out more and check out what other customers are saying on your company's Facebook page. Creating a space for discussion, referrals, recommendations and basic camaraderie is essential in this medium. Be sure to research employment law issues concerning employees and social media. Having a plan in place before encouraging employee involvement is important.

It also is important to let current and past customers know you are on social media. Be sure to note on your website, marketing materials and correspondence that your company is on social media. As they like your company, word spreads that, in turn, not only can make the telephone ring but also increases your social media presence. From a lead-generation viewpoint, it is easy to see who is liking your company and start nurturing them into stronger customers or referral sources.

Website and online leads

Your website is the main source of information for potential customers and needs to provide information in such a way potential customers will take action and request an estimate. A customer wants to feel confident you are experienced, your team is professional, and you are backed or trained by leading roofing manufacturers. You need to validate you will support your work with follow-up service if needed and you are knowledgeable about the latest products and technologies. By using customer testimonials with some before and after photos, you show and validate your expertise to third parties.

Your website also should be dynamic, meaning the content needs to be fresh and up-to-date. Include a section on your site that provides short articles and information your customers will find interesting. Post your press releases and other news regularly on your site.

In addition, help potential customers see you the same way they see themselves—as a person with a family who works hard. Tell your story. How did your business start? Has it been in the family for generations? List your community involvement, and show pictures of your team to humanize your company.

A good website will have a prominent button or link on every page that potential customers can click to request an estimate. Ask them to complete a form that captures their contact information (names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses), and use the opportunity to gather some basic qualifying information.

This could include the ages of their roofs, the ages of their homes and what style roofs they are interested in. Try to limit the questions to three or four, and make answering them optional. You don't want to risk losing a lead because they were impatient with the form.

Websites can be used for validation, lead generation and/or education, but in the end, your site needs to be optimized to bring in leads. The forms and opportunities to engage customers are crucial and need to be easy to use. As you look at your website, ask yourself whether it is attracting customers and engaging their interest in your services.

Search engine optimization (SEO) also is essential. You want your company to appear on the first page of any online search in your local area. Keywords and backlinks help position your website toward the top of search results. It is worth the money to make sure whoever is working on your website understands SEO rules and can consistently apply them. The site's content will determine a majority of the SEO, so be sure to include words that will be top of mind when someone searches for a roofing company.

Social media and information in additional directories or sites also influence SEO. One medium that is becoming critical for not only social media success but also for website SEO is Google+, a social networking site owned and operated by Google. Google is giving Google+ content a higher ranking than websites that have similar content. Google+ is indexed immediately for search so take a few extra minutes and be sure to post your content there. It also will help to register your business with Google+ Local in addition to other online directories.

Ideally, your website will be connected to your CRM software, creating a strong process for following up on leads quickly and efficiently. A strong lead follow-up process provides potential customers confidence in your company and offers them the ability to form a personal relationship with your team. Everything should be noted in the CRM system so your sales, estimating, production and finance staff are accessing the same information, helping them continue to build a great customer experience that leads to additional referrals and future leads.

Implementing an email program

As you gather customer information and email addresses, it's vital to think about how you will communicate with customers. By creating an ongoing email campaign, you can maintain contact with your customers and potential customers, keeping your company top of mind and enabling current customers to share information about your company with others.

Consider using subscription-based email programs, such as Constant Contact^® or MailChimp. Sending large numbers of emails through your email system can flag your emails as spam. Web-based email programs charge a monthly fee for services or charge based on the number of contacts and emails you send. It is worth the cost, which usually is minimal, to protect the security of your web domain name against being blacklisted as a spammer.

I suggest you start out slowly by sending quarterly emails or e-newsletters. To be successful, it is important to create strong content for the newsletter that engages customers and potential customers to call or email you or visit your website. Be sure the email contains numerous links to your website or form pages to make responding easy. Once a customer reads about one of your large projects, community events or new hires, he or she may want to reach out. This is one way to continually generate qualified leads.

In your emails, deliver news that is easy to share, such as useful tips and information that will help customers engage with you. Consider profiling an employee or highlighting community involvement. Remember, you want the information to attract business. As you begin to search for content, you will realize you are creating great stories every day simply by running a high-quality business, so shout it out and post it for the world to see.

Follow-up

There are many additional ways to generate leads. You need to look at what works best for your employees, customers and community. Analyzing what has worked in the past and what you see other businesses in your community doing successfully can help you create strong lead-generation campaigns.

No matter how leads are generated, it is critical a follow-up plan be put in place to create the best customer experiences. Word spreads, and if leads are not treated with excellent customer service, potential customers will go elsewhere. Your employees need to work together to create sustainable, scalable lead generation and sales processes. Together, these teams can create and execute successful lead-generation campaigns.

Heidi J. Ellsworth is owner of HJE Consulting Group, Camp Sherman, Ore.