Time is money, but how do you stop wasting time on quotes that don’t win your construction company business?
It’s the same old story; you arrive at a site to quote for a job (and spent petrol money to get there) only to find out that you’ve completely wasted your time.
Often the job’s not something your company actually offers, or the prospect isn’t actually ready to get any work done. Either way, you would have been better off spending your time elsewhere.
Want to stop it ever happening again? There is a way to avoid quoting for jobs that are never going to deliver, if you follow the simple tips below.
Only quote for qualified leads
This essentially sorts the wheat from the chaff, and helps you to distinguish whether a lead is serious about buying from your business, as well as whether you can deliver what they’re really looking for.
To help determine whether or not a lead is qualified, you should offer a 15-minute telephone consultation to discuss their needs. Ask the right questions (which you should write down beforehand) to find out how far down the buying journey they are – for instance, if they’re not even sure of what they need, they’re probably not ready for a quote yet.
If you’ve been doing inbound marketing right, the leads that arrive to the consultation stage should already be high quality. The telephone consultation should also give you a good idea of whether or not this is a real customer, before having to spend hours travelling to and from a site for a quote. Just remember to listen, not sell – that’s not the purpose of the call.
Pass on leads that aren’t the right fit
Don’t spend all your time chasing every lead you encounter, just because they’re there – it’s not the most sensible way to spend your time and run a profitable business. In order to help define who’s a good fit and who isn’t, the best advice I can give you is to create a checklist which outlines what you’re looking for in an ideal client.
You can also create a list of the services you provide, and those you don’t, along with your terms and pricing models so you can make sure your leads are 100% qualified.
A lead just isn’t right for your business? Maybe you know someone else in your trusted network who could help them out. After all, if you’re not going to benefit from the business, it only makes sense that someone else should – they may even return the favour for you some day.
Keep communication open
It’s important to remember that not all qualified leads will want to buy from you immediately, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less valuable. Instead of writing them off, give them all the assistance they need by providing them with information and valuable, helpful content – a key element of inbound marketing.
Email workflows that include links to valuable content are a good way of staying in touch with leads that aren’t quite ready to buy yet. Doing this will mean that when they are ready, you’re the one they’re going to contact first – rather than any of your competitors.
Make the most out of dead ends
So, you’ve rocked up to a quote that’s a waste of your time – but you can still make the most out of the situation. Don’t spend too long at the site, but do take the lead’s contact details for your records.
Ask them a couple of quick questions to help determine how they got through your qualification process – it may need tightened up so the same thing doesn’t happen in future.
And finally, make sure you’ve brought along some flyers or promotional materials that you can distribute in the area so that your time hasn’t been completely wasted.
Conclusion
If you want to stop wasting time on quotes that don’t win your construction company business, follow my tips above. Remember, only quote for leads that are qualified, pass on leads that aren’t the right fit, and keep communication open with qualified leads by being as helpful as possible.
Finally, make the most out of dead ends so you can tighten up your qualification process for future, and do a bit of promotion in the area – you never know, you could get some fresh leads out of your otherwise wasted journey.
Do you find yourself wasting time on quotes that aren’t bringing in any business? How do you deal with it?
Stargazer helps construction companies generate more leads and clients via their website. If you are looking of ways to connect and reach more customers why not talk to us today or read the guide below.