Asphalt & Sealcoating Business Basics:
Asphalt & Sealcoating Business Basics:
As in any business, ‘Perception is Reality’. Make sure you present yourself in a professional manner. By this we mean make sure that your truck or trailer and the way that you and your people are dressed looks neat, clean and professional.
The way you look and present yourself will have a direct impact on your sales effectiveness, closing ratios and the price you are able to obtain for your work.
In most cases you will be making cold calls in person, driving through a neighborhood and stopping door to door. In some cases you may be making phone calls to set up free estimate meetings. In all cases it is critical that you practice your presentation skills, develop your own script and approach.
From our experience there is nothing more effective than ‘being there’ on a bright sunny day and speaking one on one with a perspective customer and once you’ve got one job underway on a street and you start knocking on the next persons door and they see you are already doing a job close by……your chances for landing a series of jobs on that street are very good which will have a big impact on your profit potential that day.
When you get a job there are a number of important Service Level elements to deliver on:
- Appointments - When you make an appointment for a specific time and date, i.e. 10 a.m. Wednesday versus some time next week and BE THERE on time……your customers time is valuable and they have many other things to plan and do in their day.
- Prompt service - Basically, when the customer says “yes” then make every effort to complete the job as soon as the client says “Do It!” In the event you have a sales representative out pre-selling that make sure to get a deposit when you can and make sure you are there at the time and date agreed. If there is any change make sure to call the client and make alternate arrangements. People are very understanding when you speak to them in advance. They don’t want to be waiting for you or your team and no one shows up.
- Any Time, Any Day - The Asphalt and Sealcoat business is a weather dependent business so ‘Make Hay well the sun shines’. Seal on Saturday and Sunday, or any other day.
- Repeat Business – Get ALL your customers contact information, Name, Phone, Email, Address. You have a golden opportunity to build an ongoing, long term relationship with your customers that will allow you to pre-book jobs with them for years to come. Getting the right information and developing a Customer Relationship Management system will also allow you to build a high valuation for your business is you should ever decide to sell your business.
Use the Best Asphalt & Sealcoating Product:
The quality of the Sealcoating product you use will have a direct long term impact on your success. You can use the QUALITY element as a key feature of your sales presentation and DEMONSTRATE the specific BENEFITS that the quality of your product provides to your clients. Appearance, durability and longer life are all key benefits of the SealQuick products.
Getting your Business Started:
- People You Know. Family and Friends….once you let them know you are in this business they will be delighted to have you do their driveway and when you do a good job for them they will tell others which leads to :
- Word of Mouth. Word of mouth is the best advertisement there is. With word of mouth, individuals are personally vouching for you and your work.
- Fliers. Fliers are effective when targeting specific areas. Fliers allow you to include a variety of information about you, the product and your FREE estimate service. Fliers are an excellent tool to generate interest and awareness and you can feature a ‘special limited time savings coupon’ as part of your offer to drive immediate response to your offer. business.
- Follow up Service. In the springtime touch base with last years customers and offer them a spring time special offer. This will allow you to secure an early start up for those customers who are particular about the appearance of their drive way and you will make sure to touch up and repair any winter damage caused by snow plows, snow blowers, shovels etc.