As a striping contractor, if you are having trouble getting repeat business with customers there is a good chance that they may be unsatisfied with your crew’s results. The secret to gaining repeat business isn’t selling what you’re “going to do” for the customer but what you have proven that you “can do.” Customers don’t buy bad memories.
How you can get repeat business
1.) Get it Right…the 1st Time
Most customers, including paving or concrete contractors, will not give a striping contractor a second chance; so you better get your first job with the new customer right the first time. It is critical that you clearly understand what your customer’s needs and expectations are and that you have a written plan to address each one!
2.) Meet with Customer at Job Completion
I’m simply amazed how many contractors who are not even at the job when it is completed. They may be off getting another job started, laying out the next striping job, or selling another new prospect. As the owner, you should do everything possible to be at the job when it is completed. The senior person needs to be at the project to be able to make the first impression and sales effort toward the next project.
3.) Don’t Survey…Go Face to Face with the Customer
Many contractors still attach a customer satisfaction survey with their final billing statement. This technique has been taught for many years, I ought to know as I’ve shared this same sales tip in many NPEs over the years. Instead, make it a personal visit with the customer, especially the first time you’ve performed a job for them. Walk the job site and discuss what they like and what they want to be improved, corrected, reworked. Going this extra step will gain you a personal audience with the customer and award you with future work.
4.) Inform the Customer that You Want Their Next Project
Think about this: you’ve just completed a project that the customer verbally confirms that they like. This same customer tells you that they have another parking lot to stripe. At that moment don’t be shy to tell the customer of your interest in doing their next job. Have some fun with the customer by insisting that you want to extend their positive experience.
5.) Maintain Follow-Up “Points of Contact” with Customers
This truly takes discipline, but it is more of a scheduling issue than anything else. Set up a process in your scheduling for the year that allows you to be reminded of three to five follow-up contacts with each customer. The future contacts might include seasonal reminders to take care of their striping needs, birthday wishes, congratulations on a child’s graduation, or just dropping a note to say hi. Anytime that your company is working near a past customer, pay them a brief and unexpected visit. If out of sight leads to out of mind, then repeat follow-up will lead to repeat work.
6.) “Sell” Warranty on Your Completed Work
Selling your customers on allowing you to extend a warranty on your crew’s work will assist the effort to keep the customer leaning your way. You will find that it opens the door to more strategic planning and budgeting on your customer’s part to taking greater care of their pavement needs, including striping.
7.) Induce Sustainability with Discounted Pricing
Consider that you have little to no marketing costs associated with landing repeat business; you may not even be required to make another formal presentation but just amending the prior contract. Trust me, most customers do expect something in the form of a discount if they have worked with you before, and if you have completed more than one job for the same customer in the past I can almost guarantee you that the customer expects some kind of a financial “perk.”
8.) Work the Customer for Referrals
This effort is all consultant sales! If your customer is happy with your crew’s effort they will most likely be more than happy to give you the names of those in need of striping. Don’t be shy about asking for such names and don’t be shy about following up with your customer periodically over the next year to get additional names. Satisfied customers are never “put out” to help hard-working contractors who are honest, does quality work, and is a pleasure to work to boot.
It has been my experience that many stripers, what I call the “artist” of pavement maintenance, can build up to 40% - 60% of their annual revenues directly tied to repeat business. These same striping contractors never take such repeat business for granted as they expend a lot of energy to ensure that they get repeat work.
As you move to grow your company, don’t take any job lightly. Don’t avoid uncomfortable situations, especially if your crews have screwed up a job royally. It is often the “2nd shot” out of the rough that gets you and your company back in the middle of the fairway and set up for a great finish!
