I have mainly used co-op style marketing (ad pages magazine, val-pac etc.), telemarketing, some door to door, along with an online presents, and referral program to grow my customer base. All these mediums being more mass marketing to homeowners. I am now wanting to narrow down my market to a select target of high end homes only. I have a good amount of high end homes and get plenty of referrels in this market and I mostly enjoy those customers.
I want to only focus on that market.
I have been brain storming new and creative ways to reach high end residential customers. It is not my desire to reach just any type of customer but rather to target only high end homes. Keeping in mind that high end homes bring in twice the revenue of an average home, and sometimes more, along with a reduced time and effort to manage, I am willing to spend a little more on marketing to make sure I grab their attention. I want to do select target marketing to these homes and neighborhoods.
I have not done direct mail post cards which I was thinking of doing, however I am not sure how effective it is for the high end market. Not that it is not effective but rather is there a more effective way than just sending a post card. For instance sending something of interest or of small value, other than just a post card, to make sure you get their attention. For instance a promotional item or even better something a little less cheesy that might be more interesting to the customer and grab their attention a little better.
The question in my mind is that there is obviously a point at which you only need to do so much to get their attention and then beyond that your just wasting your money. What has been your experience with direct mail or other forms of marketing directed at the high end market? What is the minimum to get their attention. Would spending more get a better response per piece? Maybe you don’t spend more but just do something more creative? Just thinking out loud.
I hope the question makes sense. Also I do get lost of referrals but maybe there is things I can do to get more referrals. What are some of the things you have found to get more referrals? And I don’t mean just doing a great job. I already do that and get plenty of referrals, I’m just wanting to make sure I am getting the most that can be gotten off of each customer.
A majority are quarterly, and are good friends, so I just simply ask or remind them.
“Here is your invoice, Mrs Kirk, and remember, a lot of my work comes from referrals, just like you did, so when you get a moment, could you send me a few names or just mention me to your neighbors? Thank you! I appreciate your business.”
I generally ask them to refer me but I don’t directly ask for names and numbers. Some guys have said they ask for digits but it feels to direct to me. I have always been of the mind set that if they want to refer me they will, but maybe that thinking is wrong. I may have to think of a way to ask for specific info that does not seems to direct.
You’re trying to run a successful business. I don’t ask for numbers, unless they specifically told me that so and so mentioned they wanted their windows done, too, or if I’ve met a neighbor who happened to be at their home that day. I would hate to call unsolicited. But, there is no shame or anything unprofessional about asking a customer to refer you to their friends. Nothing.
John, I hope you weren’t thinking I was implying your approach was shameful or unprofessional? I was more intrigued that you were more direct. Maybe I misunderstood when you said you asked the customer to send you a few names? I was just assuming that meant you got their contact info as well.
im sure there is also a specific time and method to asking the customer for a referrel. You dont want to come off like you are desperate for business and I think there is some study relating to the law of attraction that addresses this.
as for high end customers, I would suggest your marketing material (brochures, websites, logos, vehicle) look the part.
That’s definitely creative. Have you tried it yourself? I wonder if they would even read the info on it? I wonder if you did this in a whole neighborhood if they would consider it littering or something lol? Might work. Or it would be an expensive experiment!
This is the type of creativity idea I am looking for. Let me know if you have anymore
Yes I would agree with you. I am not desperate for work so I’m confident I don’t come off that way. Because I am narrowing my market I am just trying to put all my effort behind the avenues into that market. I don’t want to leave any opportunities on the table. I already have a large portion of my customer base from this market and I have seen my business trending that way naturally. Although the culture is a little different here in TX, in terms of appearances, I do have a cohesive and professional image to my business. I am in the process of fine tuning everything about my business to really go after this market.
90% of my work is high end homes. A few of my customers have told me my name comes up quite often on the golf course, they are mostly women and a lot of them golf, I get quite a few referrals that way. This year I am thinking I should target the clubhouses for window cleaning to increase my visibility. Back in the day when we cleaned windows at one of the clubs we always had people asking us about windows.
I was not trying to imply that it’s twice the revenue per hour. A 10,000 sq ft home at $1000.00 for in and out as compared to a 3000 sq ft home for $300.00 is 3 times the revenue. The benefit is that your cost per customer is reduced. Not to mention the time and effort and eventually cost involved in managing a customer base of high end homes vs smaller jobs.
Assuming that each customer goes twice a year, once in and out and once out only, 200 customers of average 3000 sq ft homes would bring in $90,000.00 of revenue a year. The same 200 customers of high end homes would bring in $300,000.00 a year! Which customer base would you rather have?
I do a large amount of high end huge homes. Just because they are bigger, doesn’t mean you are making more money. There is a lot more time involved in a 10,000 sq ft home than a 3000 sq ft home. Most of the time you can do 4 or 5 3000 sq ft homes on the time it takes for a 10,000 sq ft one.
The overhead cost per customer is slightly lower, but most of the time, the time involved is not.
I’m not questioning your choice of customers because you are on the right track in that regard. What I was trying to get to is how much more time are you spending on a 10,000 SF home vs a 3000 SF home? If the time is 3 times greater than you are not gaining much, if anything. What do you need to gross per hr to turn a profit?
your numbers are fuzzy. 200 average customers might take 1/3 the time of 200 high-end customers. so you could theoretically do three times the work, which would get you to the same level in a gross sales sense.
this is a double-edged sword. don’t assume that it’s as simple as the numbers suggest. i do a ton of high end stuff, and i’m not talking “luxury” subdivisions. i find that there are a ton of challenges when it comes to working in these envrionments:
-you can’t just send anyone to these homes. it takes a special kind of person to be able to conduct themselves in a way that will earn the owner’s respect. most of my jobs require someone onsite with at least several years of experience.
-these jobs are usually much more difficult in a technical sense. again, you’ll need someone with a lot of knowhow to handle them. that usually involves much higher labor costs.
-you are taking on considerably more risk. if you knock over a lamp at a $200,000 house it may cost you $50 to replace it. if you knock over a lamp at a $10,000,000 house it may cost you $5,000 to replace it.
-the owners are often far more observant. they’ve spent years accumulating wealth, and they don’t want anyone screwing it up. this leads to them having a heightened sense of awareness about what’s going on in their home. they have so much more to lose that it sometimes makes them a challenge to satisfy. again, you need the right person in place to manage those expectations.
these are just a few of the additional things you deal with when working in the high-end market. it’s a lot more complicated than “more $ per job= more profit”
i’m actually thinking about doing the opposite of what you are [MENTION=1783]whatapane[/MENTION]. trying to build up my upper middle class clientele and moving away from the high-end market.
I’m sorry that has been your experience. I do a ton of high end homes as well and my experience is the opposite. I generally come out making more money per hour on high end homes. Not to the effort and time involved in managing a customer base of 200 high end homes vs a customer base of 666 customers with an average size is significantly less.
I think you missed the point. My point was not the comparison of revenue per hour but the cost vs the return, in terms of marketing dollars spent per new customer. I am willing to spend more money to acquire a customer that is worth $1500.00 per year vs $450.00 which is more than twice the revue.
