subject: Sales Strategy For Student Painters [print this page] In the summer, sunshine finally floods through our windows, raising our spirits, but also cruelly exposing the wear and tear that has accumulated in the past twelve months on our beleaguered walls, attacked by grimy hands and fine layers of stale winter dust. Tis the season of home maintenance. Of minor and major renovations. Sales management teams at student painter companies must act quickly in June to secure a steady line-up of customers until September. Here are some sales strategy tips to consider.
Flyers
This classic sales strategy is still effective today. After all, people cant hire you if they havent heard of you, can they? But savvy sales management teams know that irresponsible flyering can also harm their reputation. Before sending out your teams to distribute flyers, provide some brief sales training, reminding them that flyers must be properly inserted into mailboxes, and not left to litter the street.
Other responsible flyering strategies for your sales management team to consider:
- using post-consumer recycled paper
- using smaller sheets of paper
- using water-based eco-inks for printing
- respecting no flyer stickers on mailboxes and doors
- where possible, speaking to potential customers directly, before insisting that they take a flyer (this is a good sales strategy, period, more likely to secure bookings)
Company vehicle
A popular sales strategy with student-run painting companies is to post the company name and contact information on the company vehicle or fleet. It doesnt take sales training to realize that a passively parked car, van or truck can earn its keep by doubling as a promotional tool for your sales management team.
Cold calling
The thing about home maintenance is that people know they need to do it, but procrastinate. Savvy sales management teams make it easy for customers to hire painters by appearing to fall into their lap. Provide your team with sales training, then have them phone potential customers to ask them if they have any painting needs. You may be surprised at how many will.
Signs
Most sales management teams at student-led painting companies use their works-in-progress as an opportunity to secure more clients. Posting your company name and contact information on a sandwich board outside of your sites in progress is a good sales strategy. Even better: make sure that the jobs your team does are always excellent, so that one-time clients will refer their friends and neighbours to you.
Keep in touch with past customers
As your sales management team gains experience, it will realize the truth behind a basic tenet of sales training: it can sometimes be more profitable to focus your efforts on retaining the customers you have then on seeking out new ones. Provide your team with sales training that teaches them how to note the future needs of existing customers, e.g., Mr. Jones has expressed a desire to repaint the front trellis next year.
Good luck!
Visit Fusion Learning for more information on sales strategy.
