by: Ed Cerier, Nexstar Network Marketing Strategist

Many members ask the marketing coaches, “What’s the single most effective marketing piece for my company?” What they’re really asking is, “Please give me the Silver Bullet,” otherwise known as the one thing that will guarantee success.

First, there are no guarantees with marketing. What works for one company may not work for another. Case in point: This week I talked to two members who are working with one of our strategic marketing partners to manage their pay per click campaigns. One member reports that his phones are ringing off the hook, and credits pay per click with much of his success. The second member is very unhappy with his pay per click performance.

Second, what works one day may not work another. Case in point: I’m working with a company that had been very successful for a period of time with a single marketing tool. They thought they’d found their Silver Bullet! But these days that marketing tool is working very poorly.

The answer to the question, “What’s the Silver Bullet?” is this: The Silver Bullet is marketing diversification. In other words, the key to marketing success is to do a lot of marketing, using a range of marketing tools. That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend a lot of money – in fact, we recommend you begin building your marketing program with basics, like magnets and stickers, and guerrilla marketing ideas (defined as creative, inexpensive ideas).

The more you diversify, the more people you’ll reach, and the more times you’ll reach them. This greatly increases the odds that people will know your company’s name when they need the services of a company like yours.

That’s good marketing.

Nexstar’s marketing strategist, Ed Cerier, says, “My greatest joy is helping Nexstar members find their ‘ah ha!’ marketing moments.” Ed played a big role in creating surefire marketing systems for Nexstar, including trade-specific marketing guides, the Marketing System (a collection of ad campaigns and marketing kits), and more.

Prior to joining Nexstar Network, Ed ran his own marketing business. He also worked as an advertising VP, winning a number of awards, including a Clio (the Oscar of the advertising industry) and two Effies (honoring creativity and effectiveness).

Nexstar Network members have been doing a fabulous job spreading holiday cheer in their communities this season. Let’s take a closer look at what’s been going on. Are you inspired? We are!

Applewood Heating, Plumbing & Electric has awarded $1000 to nonprofit, Edge of Seven, as part of their monthly Caring Community Giveaway. Edge of Seven is a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that young girls in third world countried receive an education by building schools in their villages. In a story covered by denverpost.com, John Ward is cited as believing that everyone deserves an education and that Applewood holds their technicians to a higher level by requiring licensing and he hopes that everyone strives to achieve an education.

Frasier’s Plumbing and Heating has been posting fun, family-friendly holiday recipes on their facebook page. They have also been spreading cheer by providing decorating tips and home maintenance tips. Successful contractor marketing via social media involves creating relationships with your fan base. Frasier’s is doing a great job by sharing information about their services and posting fun and useful information.

The team at Williams Comfort Air shared a video of their Christmas On Us presentation. Partnering with local radio stations, they recognize and honor hometown heroes that are truly inspirational. Thank you to Joe Huck and Suzi Nichols at Williams Comfort Air for sharing this story with us!

From all of us at Nexstar, we are wishing you the joy of family and the happiness of friends this holiday season!

By: Jodi Peter, Nexstar Network Business Coach

About a month ago, we visited the topic of capturing email addresses while on the phone with customers. Nexstar’s Call Center Excellence coach, Tom Merriott wrote an excellent article that touched on why getting an email address is important. As your business advisor, I’d like to add to this topic, focusing on the specifics of how to get the address in a customer-friendly way.

View Tom Merriott’s earlier post on obtaining customer e-mail addresses here.

First of all, don’t underestimate the power of confidence when asking a customer for an e-mail address.  When a CSR is reluctant when asking for the information, the customer can be reluctant in giving information.  Make obtaining customer e-mails part of your process.  For example, you are in the process of putting together tech bios to send out to the customer.  This is your reason for needing the customer’s e-mail address. This is what the CSR says to the customer:

CSR:  Now, I can also email an appointment confirmation to you that will have a photo ID of the technician that will be coming out so you’ll know exactly who to be expecting to arrive at your home.  Can I have your email address please?

In this instance, the customer will understand why it is important to share their information. They will also gain something in return. People have more confidence in giving you their information if you have established trust and if there is a valid reason in giving you their information.

Nexstar has a Call Center Excellence Series that contains a variety of scenarios and scripts for you to view. As a member, you can also check out the 6 CSR e-learning modules on the member side of the Nexstar website to aid in training CSR’s so they can hear how to obtain information.  Members can go to On-line learning > Call Center Excellence Training.

View Tom Merriott’s earlier post on obtaining customer e-mail addresses here.

Are you a service manager? Are you new to the role, or have you been in the position for a while? Regardless, your level of importance is huge and you have the pivotal and powerful role of generating revenue for your shop.

You are a big deal. And like Spider-Man, you understand the truth in that, “with great power comes great responsibility.” You also understand great responsibility can be overwhelming.

In a typical month, you know that you need to review the goals that the management team has set for the business. For example, let’s say that your team has indicated that they want to:

• Convert 90% of the calls run
• Increase the number of tasks per call
• Increase the dollars per task
• Increase the technical on-the-job efficiancy

So, you notice that there are lots of holes in your call schedule. How can you best convey to your dispatcher that the schedule needs to be filled and your techs need more time in front of the customer?

If you are a Nexstar member, and you’ve attended Service Management School, you are well prepared to handle this situation, because you have tools and systems in your arsenal. If you are not a member, or if you haven’t attended Service Management School, this situation may seem very challenging.

So, what do you do? Get yourself to service management school! In this leadership training program you’ll tackle the real life issues you face every day. This class is very hands-on and experiential and you’ll use specific tools and resources designed to integrate with all other areas of your service business. Here’s some of the tools you’ll master:

• The Nexstar Coaching and Tracking Manager
• 3-Day Call Report
• The Nexstar web resources available for you to maximize your efforts and help you motivate your team

Intrigued? Give us a call–we’re happy to answer your questions.

To build awareness of their business and to connect with their community, many members have created “Like” campaigns for their Facebook page. In most instances, this means members are giving someone something if they click the “Like” button on their page. In “Liking” a page, people will get updates in their news feed.

When using a “Like” campaign, it’s important to keep in mind that you should not necessarily count on likes as an immediate predictor for future sales. The point of increasing likes is to build brand awareness and develop relationships. It’s up to you to keep viewers engaged by posting interesting content and communicating the value of your services. Following are a few examples of what members are doing.

Bob Hamilton Plumbing, Heating, A/C & Rooter’s like campaign is charity based. For every like from November 15-December 15, they will donate $1 to charity. They are promoting this campaign on Twitter and their webpage, as well.

My Plumber Heating & Cooling is also holding a charity based like campaign. For every like, they donate $1 to those faced with food insecurity. My Plumber holds an annual food drive and has garnered over 79,000 pounds of food since they began. This is the first year they have extended their efforts to Facebook. We can’t wait to see their results!

Are you running similar “Like” campaigns? If so, we want to know. Share a link with us!

A few weeks ago, marketing coach Susan Kimball had the pleasure of presenting at the Ohio Regional Meeting in Mansfield, Ohio., coordinated by Darlene Johnson of Johnson Heating & Cooling/Fixzit Man Susan did a full day presentation featuring marketing planning and internet marketing.

Attendees were assigned pre-event homework to get the most out of the meeting. They prepared by making copies of their current marketing, tallying their current customers and calculating the percentage of repeat business. They also ran their websites through a grader, conducted a customer survey of their website, and ran their website analytics before the meeting. All of this information was sent to Susan in advance of the meeting for review.

In the morning, Susan shared key points to consider when building a marketing plan. Each company displayed their marketing materials for a review of brand consistency and creativity and shared a successful marketing tool with the group. Members then viewed a display all of the Nexstar marketing materials arranged by trade and seasonality as Susan provided an overview of the tactics, as well as the specific tools Nexstar has to help build a marketing plan.  Attendees completed a master chart of what marketing tactics they are currently using to retain and grow current customers or to attract prospects, indicating what they will continue (and perhaps improve) as well as what they would like to add for their 2012 marketing plan

The afternoon session was focused on internet marketing. Members shared the results of their customer experience survey of their website. Susan then gave a presentation on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) basics and current useful and engaging internet tools.  She did a live review of several attendees’ sites offering suggestions for improvement and then facilitated as members reviewed each other’s websites in small groups using an SEO checklist.  Showing attendees’ actual Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools and Google Places dashboards as examples, Susan also demonstrated how to find the great information you can gain from these programs to analyze and improve your internet marketing results.

Darlene Johnson was inspired to host the meeting because she feels that it is yet another way members can connect and learn from each other. “By meeting more often and becoming friends with other members locally, I feel that we have a better chance of actually using our training and implementing change. Overall, it raises our accountability.”

Darlene encourages other members to host regional meeting and shared this tip: “Develop a small group to lead or spearhead the project. Determine a rough outline or plan to get things on a path, with input of all interested members. Have a plan! And as always, check in with your coaches for help, guidance and direction!”

Want To Hold A Regional Meeting?

Nexstar wants to make it easy for you to get together with other members in your area. We want you to hold a meeting that is not only enjoyable, but educational. While it is up to you to determine the location and work on the logistics, Nexstar can help you promote the meeting to other members via Nexstar News, etc..

Looking for meeting topics? Check out this list:

Marketing & Sales

• Lead Generation Tactics: traditional , guerrilla and internet strategies
• Lead Generation Tactics: Website design, writing and lead conversion strategies
• Improving Sales Performance: How to be a Sales Manager
• Improving Sales Performance: Improving Conversion Rates and Average Sales
• Improving Call Center Performance: Maximizing inbound and creating outbound opportunities
• Relationship Sales Process: How to sell relationships to large commercial accounts

Finance & Operations

• Managing by the numbers: Proper income statement and balance sheet structure and key benchmark reviews
• Daily, weekly, and monthly management review strategies: What statistics need to be reviewed by management
• Direct Cost Management Strategies: techniques for managing direct labor and material expenses
• Month end close process and income statement preparation
• Creating a vibrant, energized company culture

If you’re ready, reach out to your peers and to your Nexstar coaching staff to get the ball rolling. Get your event on the calendar now and enjoy the benefits that come from Nexstar’s Incredible Peer Connections.

Keith's farewell message to Altrol in Alaska

Nexstar’s Sales Trainer, Keith Mercurio, just finished a 5-day training session at  Altrol Heating and Cooling, Inc. in Fairbanks, Alaska. Check out the awesome message he left for them.

By: Jodi Peter

Do you have a fancy budget? One that’s printed in a nice 3 ring binder that makes you proud to say, “I have a budget!”

Or….

Do you get your budget out every so often and say to yourself, “We made our budget….I wonder why?”  Or do you say to yourself, “We didn’t make our budget….I wonder why?” 

Regardless, a budget is a must have. If you need help crafting your 2012 budget, you need to get in contact with your Nexstar business coach. We’re here to help you focus and make the most of your efforts to increase profit and improve your business.

Believe it or not, creating the budget is the easy part. A budget should be a method of accountability for you and your team but without an action plan, it’s just numbers on a piece of paper.

Your Nexstar membership enables to connect with your peers and coaches to stay accountable. If you have not already attended a business planning workshop, you should consider it.  Along with a handful of other Nexstar member companies, you will you’ll spend three full days strategically planning and creating a budget with the help and advice of your business coach. The business planning workshop includes a 6-month follow up program that will ensure that you get the results you desire.

We’re working to get the next business planning workshops up on the 2012 calendar. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your business coach. We are here for you.