3 Things You Can Start Today To Boost Customer Relationships - Plumbing & HVAC SEO - Internet Marketing

What is relationship marketing?

Before I answer this question let me say that the easiest and most cost effective customers to sell to are the customers you already have worked with. That said it's important that you nurture these customers so the next time they are in need of plumbing or HVAC services your company is the one that gets the call.

Here are three things that you can do to develop a relationship marketing plan for your business.

1. Community Newsletter

This can be printed and sent in the mail or to keep costs down send via email. Email community newsletters are an excellent way to stay in touch with your past customers and keeping your company top of mind is important in this crowded workspace because there's many of other plumbing and HVAC companies in your city.

Just because you service a customer today doesn't mean they're going to remember you the next time they need a plumber or HVAC company to fix a problem in their home. Not using your company the next time a problem happens is not necessarily because they received poor service, it's a good chance they may just forget you. This is more prevalent in the plumbing business than the HVAC business. Let's face it we live in a much noisier world today than we did thirty years ago. For a plumber, it might take six months to several years before they are in need of your services again. But when they do need you, it's important that they remember you.

This makes email newsletters a powerful tool for keeping you top of mind every 30 days or maybe even every two weeks. The important thing to remember is that this is a community newsletter, not a marketing newsletter. I usually would say use the 80/20 rule send 80% info and 20% sales, but in this case, I think you should strip that down even further. How about 90% helpful info and 10% sales?

A community newsletter is just that a newsletter about the community where your customers live. Some ideas for content would be working with other contractors in your town or city to share specials with. Create news about events; a community calendar would be a big bonus. Homeowner tips and decorating ideas is another great thing to add. All of this fulfills the 80% goal. The final 10% I what call sales is, of course, a mention of your company. This can be in the form of a coupon or special or just a simple reminder that you are just a phone call away if needed.

2. Hand Written Thank You Cards

Handwritten thank you cards are a powerful tool. First, it shows gratitude that you appreciate the business you received from your customer. You may not think this is important, but it's a powerful marketing tool.

This will spotlight you as a first class company because it's so rarely used today. The internet and email have reduced the number of direct mail businesses do today leaving a gap you can take advantage of.

When a customer opens a hand written thank you card they are blown away. It's a simple thing that cost very little and takes no time at all. The customer feels like you took the time to stop and show appreciation for their business. Trust me when I say implementing hand written thank you cards in your business is a home run.

3. Happy Birthday Cards

People love their birthdays even as you're getting older your birthday is as the special day it's the one day a year that everyone celebrates you. Adding customers birthdays to your CRM is an easy way to alert you.

Like the thank, you card a birthday card makes your customer think you stopped and took the time to remember them on their special day.

These three things I like to call relationship marketing are cost effective things you can do today to help build customer awareness down the road.

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