How to take advantage of slow winter months: Part 1

This four-part blog series will discuss how to take advantage of slow winter months. Downtime is not a bad thing as long as you are building an effective business strategy.

HERE ARE A FEW OPTIONS TO CONSIDER:

1. Nurture Current Customers
2. Find New Customers
3. Learn New Skills
4. Prepare Your Business

   NURTURE CURRENT CUSTOMERS

How important is it to nurture your current customers? Regardless of your industry, current and past customers are your best source of potential income.

• If a customer has previously made a purchase from your company, there is at least a 60% chance that customer will make at least one more purchase. However, new customers only have about a 20% chance of making a purchase, according to Marketing Metrics.

• More than 71% of consumers have ended their relationship with a company due to poor customer service, according to KISSMetrics.

• Read more statistics about Why Customer Experience is Critical for Success.

These statistics should motivate you to nurture your current customers. Don’t let anyone you’ve worked with slip through your fingers! Take advantage of slow winter months by keeping in contact with customers you’ve worked with in the past. Here are a few ideas of how to stay in contact without seeming aggressive:

   1. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEYS

You can use a paid survey service like Survey Monkey or Qualtrics, or you can just build your own as a Google Form for free.

Ask your customers why they liked working with you, but also ask for ways you can improve. People connect better with authentic communication, so don’t just seek the positive feedback. Learn from your customers how you can improve your services for future home improvement projects.

After you create the survey, simply email the link to all your current and past customers.

   2. CREATE VALUABLE CONTENT

Have you noticed common questions your customers ask you? That’s a strong indicator that you have an opportunity to provide valuable content. Write entire blog articles about the questions they are asking. When you have the content developed, you can build email drip campaigns that specifically target the needs of your customers. Here is an example of content you can create and send in a series of emails:

• How do payment options work?

• How long will the project take?

• Do I have to change my routine to accommodate you?

• What to do if the noise is bothering you

• Quality checklist for when the project is complete

• Customer satisfaction survey

   3. ASK FOR REFERRALS

Asking for referrals is a great way to generate new business. When your customers have family or friends over to their house, they’ll probably notice any upgrades. If you’ve done a good job, your customers will explain the work that was done and who did it. But they probably won’t think to refer any of them to you until you ask.

Remember, there’s a lot you can do to take advantage of slow winter months. Make sure you read the other articles in this series to see what will work best for your business.