You can advertise your roofing business as much as you want, but when it comes down to it, people trust friends and family members more than any form of advertising. This is especially true when it comes to finding contractors to do work on their house.
So, before you rent that billboard you’ve been eyeing, consider using word-of-mouth marketing, so your past customers can help you get future customers. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s talk about what word-of-mouth marketing is.
Word-of-Mouth Marketing Basics
Word-of-mouth marketing is exactly what it sounds like: it’s a type of marketing that depends on people talking about your business to their friends and family members. The idea is that if someone has a good experience with your company, they’ll tell other people about it, and those people will seek you out when they need your services.
Studies have shown that 72% of customers will share their good experience with others, and 72% of customers will tell six or more people if they have a satisfying experience. On the other hand, 65% of customers said they have changed to a different company because of a poor experience. So, good word-of-mouth is all about providing a good customer experience.
It’s easy to see how a good customer experience can snowball and lead to more roofing jobs—one happy customer tells three people about their experience, then two of those three people hire you for their roof repair, and then each of them tell more people, and on and on.
Why Word-of-Mouth Marketing is Effective
Lots of marketing strategies have the potential to get you more business—social media marketing, online marketing, local advertising, etc.—but word-of-mouth marketing offers specific benefits that other marketing tactics don’t:
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Trust
As I mentioned above, people trust recommendations from their family and friends more than any other form of marketing. So, if someone they know trusts your roofing company, they’re more likely to trust you as well.
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Credibility
When someone recommends your roofing company, they’re essentially vouching for your quality and expertise. This can give you a level of credibility that’s hard to achieve through traditional advertising methods.
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Cost-Effectiveness
Word-of-mouth marketing is essentially free, which every business owner likes to hear. You just need to provide excellent service, and your satisfied customers will do the rest.
How to Start a Word-of-Mouth Campaign
The major downside to word-of-mouth marketing is that you don’t have control; it’s all in the hands of your customers. But there are things you can do to help get the ball rolling.
Provide Great Service
Yep, like we said before, you need to provide your customers with excellent service. That means you need to communicate with your customers, be clear about expectations, show up on time, and do a good job.
If you really want to impress your customers, consider offering drone roof inspections as part of your roofing service. By offering a free IMGING drone roof inspection, your roofing company can:
Differentiate Itself
In a crowded marketplace, it can be hard to stand out. But an IMGING drone inspection will set you apart from other roofing companies and show potential customers that you’re willing to go the extra mile to provide excellent service.
Provide Unmatched Accuracy
The IMGING drone inspection software provides highly accurate information about a roof’s condition. This can be very helpful when diagnosing roof issues.
Credibility
IMGING drone roof inspections are incredibly fast. So, you can provide your customers with detailed information and models of their roofs in a matter of hours, instead of days or weeks.
Increase Trust
It’s all about trust. When you provide potential customers with a free, detailed inspection of their roof, you establish trust and credibility. They know you’re willing to do the job right and help them understand their roofing needs.
Create Upsell Opportunities
Often, when potential customers reach out to you, they don’t know the extent of their roof damage. They may call you about one issue, but an IMGING drone roof inspection may reveal a need for other repairs or maintenance. By providing detailed information about the condition of their roof, you can show potential customers the value of additional services.
Share Social Media Profiles
As a business in the 21st century, you need to have an online presence. You should have an updated website, a Facebook business page, an Instagram account, and, if you’re really cool, a TikTok account.
Whenever you meet with a customer or finish a roofing job, be sure to leave your card or send an email with your website and social media profiles. Encourage your customers to like and follow your social media profiles and leave a review. Sometimes an online review is just as effective as a personal recommendation.
Encourage Customers to Tell Their Friends
It sounds silly, but sometimes starting good word-of-mouth is as easy as saying, “If you’re happy with your roof, we’d appreciate it if you told your friends and family about us.” You don’t have to be pushy, but sometime people need a little reminder that they should spread the word.
Word-of-mouth marketing is a powerful tool for roofers, and offering free drone roof inspections to potential customers can be an effective way to boost your sales. And again, never underestimate the power of providing good work and great customer service.
For more information on how you can start offering free IMGING drone inspections to your roofing customers, check out our drone software for roofers.
