Marketing is one of the most critical functions for any business. It positions your company in the minds of the customer. It establishes your brand so people think of you when then need your product or service and it can be the beginning of your sales process by generating leads and setting the stage for your first contact. In this era of social media, search engine optimization and a whole host of marketing tactics, both old and new, it is more important than ever to be able to distinguish your company from the competition.
According to Merriam-Webster, a quip is “a clever usually taunting remark” or “a witty of funny observation or response usually made on the spur of the moment”. I am going to suggest that QUIP can be a marketing tool for helping your business stand out.
Stand Out
It is important to note that setting your company apart from other remodeling companies is a challenge because more of our prospects do not do a major remodeling project very often. So they don’t have much experience distinguishing one remodeling company from another. The challenge is even greater because the things that make a remodeling company a good choice are easy to say, hard to deliver, and very difficult to prove to a prospect in advance. In fact, much of what we say about our company, our customer service, our quality and our passion – though they all may be true – can often be found, sometimes word for word, on the websites and in the social media posts of contractors far less committed to those ideas.
We need to take a different tact to set our companies apart from the competition in our communities. To do this use QUIP: Qualifiers that are Unique, Important, and Provable.
Steps to Take
Step 1: Q. Start by generating a list of qualifiers: the things that you say about your company on your website, on social media, in you marketing materials, in advertisements and other collateral. Keep in mind that it is this list of attributes and assertions that the customer must use to distinguish you from other companies they might consider.
Step 2.: U. Once our list has been created, our next step is to rank on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the best) if that particular statement or attribute is unique when we compare it to other remodeling companies in our area. Take the time to look at other companies that serve the same area and do similar projects as your company. Are they saying the same things on their website and in their social media? Find those things that will set you apart, the attributes with the highest score for being unique.
Step 3.: I. Then, we need to look at those things that we identified that make us unique, and determine which ones are really important to the customer in choosing a remodeling company. We could be unique because all of our carpenters are 6’2” or taller, but would that really matter to the customer? Probably not. Again, we rank each attribute on a scale from 1 to 5. When we do find those attributes that are important, we also need to be sure that the importance is clear to the customer. We also need to be sure that if we deem something to be important, it would be obvious to a prospect as well. For example, we might say that we specialize in waterfront projects. To some, that may just sound like a preference. In reality, our point might be that we understand the regulations associated with these projects and can navigate the permitting and approval processes faster than a company that does not have that experience. A good test of something you deem important is to ask the question “so what?” from the perspective of the potential customer.
Step 4.: P. Finally, is it provable. Again, using our 1 to 5 scale, indicate if you can offer proof that this attribute is true of your company. It could be a testimonial, a review, an award you have won, a picture of a project or some other indicator that what you are saying is to be believe. A testimonial that says “Doug Howard is the greatest guy and we would recommend him for any remodeling project” is nice but nearly as clarifying as “DH Construction managed our expectations by providing us a roadmap for the project, checking in with us weekly and consistently meeting project deadlines”. Go through your reviews and find the ones that tell the story that sets you apart.
The bottom line is that if your closing rate needs to improve and you are losing projects that you should be getting, maybe there is an opportunity to QUIP and set yourself apart.
