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In my last post, I shared how Sears has natural advantages over local home improvement companies when it comes to online lead generation.  Sears has national buying power—online advertisers just love that because they work with a single client that can buy out their entire inventory of online leads and advertising.

Smaller home improvement companies can’t make national buys. That puts them at a significant disadvantage over the big national players.

So, how do the local guys fight back? The answer is for them to look to the brands and manufacturers of the products they sell.

If you’re in home improvement, you’ve no doubt noticed that Sears is everywhere online.  And they’re especially strong in some key categories: replacement windows, siding and cabinet refacing.  You’ll see their ads in the paid search listings, some organic listings, e-mails and a host of other online advertising channels.

The folks at Sears are undoubtedly smart, so you can assume that if they’re advertising, they must be doing so because it’s profitable for them.  Here’s the question you should be asking yourself:  “Why them and not me?” Said another way, how can Sears find it cost-effective to advertise across so many channels, while local home improvement companies seem to have so few profitable online advertising options?

A dealer of replacement windows asked me a common question when we spoke a few weeks ago.

“I don’t understand it,” he said. “My Web site ranks #2 in Google’s natural search rankings. But I’m still not getting any leads from my listing. What’s going on?”

I answered his question with a question: “Exactly what keyword do you rank #2 for?”

And he replied,

“REPLACEMENT WINDOWS SMALLTOWN, ILLINOIS”

I responded that that was great…but that he shouldn’t expect many leads from that listing. Which was exactly the case.

Think a voice mail or a Web form from a homeowner means you can call back at your convenience? Think again.

Rapid call backs not only connect you with your prospects more easily…they get your new relationship (and your sales process!) off on the right foot.

Think 5:00 p.m. is “quitting time”? Think again. The evening can be the best time to reach and set appointments with many homeowners you just can’t connect with during the day or on weekends. Learn how to work the Magic Hours, and you’ll take a big step towards making most out of your precious sales leads.

Take a few minutes to consider how your company really handles its voice mail. How and when (and even if) your company responds to its voice mail can turn great leads…into a money pit.

I like to write about the Web marketing concerns of home improvement companies.  That said, sometimes it’s easier (and a fresh change) to simply share links to some videos on these topics.

With that in mind…and because I’m sweating profusely from our 95-degree temperatures this week in the Boston area… here are a few really good videos on some key Web marketing topics.

A Quick Primer on Domain Names and Key Ranking Factors

Social Media for Small Businesses

Third Party Review of Constant Contact Email Marketing Platform

Happy viewing!

Upon completing a home improvement installation, it’s standard practice to ask the homeowner for a referral. That is, an introduction to neighbors, family members or anyone else that homeowner thinks could also be interested in purchasing your product.

Fact is, these are among the best sales leads you can get.  First, because they don’t you cost anything.  And second, because attached to them is an implicit recommendation of your company direct from your newest satisfied customer.

So, you hired somebody to answer your incoming calls, call back your Internet leads and set your homeowner appointments.  Now you can move on to selling, installing and making some money, right?

Wrong.

Arranging for someone to “cover the phones” is certainly a convenient solution. But it’s also an ineffective one. Why? Because for most home improvement companies, even smaller ones, a single individual just simply can’t provide the telephone coverage you need.

Why’s that?  When a hot homeowner prospect calls in, just consider what else your phone person might be doing:

• Answering another call

Want to turn more leads into appointments? More appointments into sales? You may not be able to have it both ways.

Whether you know it or not, there’s a tug of war going on in your company right now.  And the folks who set your appointments are right in the middle.

On one side is your marketing team.  That includes your homeshow reps, SFI teams, canvassers and the like.  They work feverishly to generate connections with homeowners interested in what you sell.  You pay many for each appointment they produce, and as far as these folks are concerned, every lead they generate should turn into an appointment. And they naturally want to be paid for all of them.