The Problem With One Stop Shops
We all know those companies- the “fusion” companies that try to be multiple things. They try to do lawn care, pest control, crawl space restoration, mold removal and a variety of other things. For some companies, it works (Impressive! It’s not easy to be good at so many different things!) Generally speaking, this is how being a fusion company can create confusion and mistrust between your customers and staff:
- Customers- While it’s convenient that your company is one stop shop for all their home maintenance needs, customers are wary of companies who do so many different things because they know an upsell is coming their way. They also know that you have your hand in a million different pots, so how can they trust you to be an expert in the service they are requesting?
- Staff- By trying to appeal to so many markets, your sales and marketing team have their work cut out for them. Trying to do too much makes it hard for your sales and marketing team to create effective and relevant messaging in an efficient way.
The best way to avoid these issues is to clearly establish your ideal customer. In Donnie Shelton’s book, Grow! IMS, he states, “Before spending a single dime on marketing, take the time to critically think through who you want to sell to and what you want to sell them. Doing this will make all your future decisions about the direction of your company and your marketing more straightforward.”
So, how do establish your ideal customer?
- Analyze Your Market- It doesn’t make sense to have pest control packages start at $200 a month when you live in a location with a median income of $35,000, does it? It’s important to be realistic when you’re determining your target market. If your services rely heavily on location and income, think about how many people are in your service area, and how many of those people can afford your service.
- Analyze Demographics- When you think about your actual ideal customer, what’s their age, gender, marital status, income, or education level?
- Analyze Psychographics- What does your ideal customer like to do for fun? What do they value? What are they interested in?
- Create a Buyer’s Persona- Creating a buyer’s persona is a great way to dive deeper into your target market. It puts the information that you’ve already collected and information about your existing customers into a semi-fictional character. By creating 3-4 fictional buyers, you can start to think more in depth about your customers- like what are some common hesitations they have about your service or what are some of their goals or what motivates them? (get your free Buyer’s Persona Template from our eBook, “How Do Customers Buy Pest Control?”)
Taking this data into consideration will help you create appropriate pricing, marketing materials, sales calls and will ultimately help you be more relatable and memorable to your potential customers.
Understanding your ideal customer will help you understand how and why your customers purchase your product or service. Our new eBook, “How Do Customers Buy Pest Control?” takes you inside the mind of a pest control customers and walks you through every step of their purchasing decisions.
Interested? Download it for free today!