INTERNET MARKETING

This is a form of marketing you can’t ignore. Be sure to have a strong SEO, social media and web presence. Online reviews will be a key factor in your success.

VEHICLE WRAPS

The key to making these work is ensuring your products, services and contact information are BIG, bold and clear. Fancy images and graphics are less effective.

MAILERS

Sending periodic cards or postcards to your customer base can be very fruitful. Many dealers thrive off repeat business, so why not stay in touch with your previous customers?

MAXIMIZING THE COMPLETED JOB

Top performing dealers have recommended the following:

1. Take pictures of every completed job. (Some may make great social media/website content.)
   
2. Put a yard sign out front, if the customer is open to it.
   
3. Knock on the door of the neighbors next door and across the street. Hand out your business card and introduce yourself. “Hi, I’m Ed. I just installed your neighbors window treatments. If you’re ever in the market, we’d love to help you out!”
   
4. Call the customer a week later to thank them and ask for an online review.
   
5. Send a handwritten thank you card.Top performing dealers have recommended the following:

BNI/NETWORKING GROUPS

Find a group with members in the home services industry. The key here is building relationships. Your best referral sources will be real estate agents, interior designers, general contractors, flooring specialists, etc. https://www.bni.com/find-a-chapter

FIND LOCAL REFERRAL SOURCES

You can make connections outside of networking groups. Stop by your local interior designer, flooring specialist, general contractor, etc and introduce yourself. Dealers who have created structured referral programs/incentives have been very successful. Always thank your referral sources with a phone call or handwritten card.

HOME SHOWS

Sign up for a booth at your local home show. The key here is to have someone very outgoing working the booth. Talk to everyone who walks by and offer them a design booklet or business card. You could hold a raffle to collect contact information.

YOUR LOCAL SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER (SBDC)

This is a free (government funded) program that provides top of the line business consulting to new or existing businesses looking to grow. http://americassbdc.org/home/find-your-sbdc/

ASK “HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT US?”

Be sure to ask every single customer. If you want to go above and beyond, keep this information in iCM or a spreadsheet.

TV/RADIO/PRINT

These forms of marketing can be successful or a total flop. It completely depends on the stations or magazines you choose, budget and a variety of other factors. We’ve found that niche/local neighborhood magazines have been successful for some dealers. We typically always recommend Internet advertising if you have a limited budget, as it almost always provides a better return-on-investment.

GOOGLE 360° VIEW/VIRTUAL TOUR

Build trust with a high-quality virtual tour that lets people experience your location before they arrive. These immersive, virtual experiences inspire greater confidence among prospective customers. We recommend you contact Chris Sardinas at CS3Design Inc. His email address is info@cs3design.com and his phone number is (407) 636-7053. Mention that Creekmore Marketing referred you and you should receive a discounted rate of $650.

ONLINE NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS

Websites like NextDoor or Facebook Neighborhood Groups are excellent ways to get referral business. Claim your business and be sure to stay active in these groups.

ANGIE’S LIST

We’ve heard good and bad things about Angie’s List. Their program has changed quite a bit over the years. To make it work, it’s important to get a lot of reviews.

HOUZZ

Houzz works well for interior designers. We haven’t found it to be as fruitful for window treatment dealers. Ultimately, many people use Houzz to get design ideas, but end up going to Google when they’re ready to make a purchase. We feel this may change as Houzz continues to gain popularity. That being said, it has worked for some dealers, so we keep an open mind.

YELP

In certain markets, Yelp is widely used and can be effective. We’ve heard overwhelming negative feedback about Yelp from window treatment dealers, so it’s not currently something we recommend.

LINK BUILDING

Getting links pointing to your website from other websites helps your brand gain exposure on Google, Bing, etc. /local-link-building-ideas-for-small-businesses

WINDOWTREATMENTWEBINAR.COM

We host webinars regularly to help window treatment dealers grow. Register at www.windowtreatmentwebinar.com.

UPDATE YOUR SHOWROOM

Your showroom should be clean, easy to navigate and professional. It should represent your brand. If you haven’t remodeled in a while, you may want to consider it!