Why Bother Marketing a Tile Business At All, Anyway?

October 23rd, 2010 by Mr. Tile

If you’re really good, won’t customers just beat a path to your door?

Isn’t ‘word of mouth the best advertising’?

Well….maybe not, for you, for your business, today.

I’d agree that referrals from happy customers can lead to other business, and that’s great. And if you have great talent and manage to keep customers so happy during the remodeling process that they enthusiastically recommend you to friends and family, that’s awesome.

But are their friends and family ready to remodel NEXT WEEK, WHEN YOU NEED THE MONEY?
Will they rearrange their schedules so you can go before the carpenter so YOU CAN GET YOUR CHECK BEFORE THE NEXT RENT/MORTGAGE/INSURANCE PAYMENT YOU HAVE TO MAKE?

Of course not. They’ll call you when they’re good and ready. Which could be next month, or next year or 2 years from now. Or never. And you can’t exactly put any pressure on them to hurry up just for your sake.

No, you need your own plan to get those bills paid and cash flowing in. That’s YOUR responsibility, not their problem.

An ongoing marketing plan is designed to avoid starving to death while waiting for those referrals to add up to a regular income. This is especially important when you are just starting out and you just don’t have a boatload of former clients to call you up and ask for more tile installation. Or if the economy is slow in your area. Or if you have a crew of installers or helpers you want to keep busy and they’re depending on you to develop the work they need on a regular basis.

Guys who’ve been in the business for years may recommend ‘word of mouth’ to new business owners, but they may not be all that helpful to use that advice to a new contracting company.

Remember, government statistics say that most contracting businesses fail within 3 years. Most of them were trying to rely on word of mouth…..not very many had multiple websites, an ongoing marketing plan with professional help, and a solid program to win as much business as possible from each potential customer who gets in touch. Most were ‘winging it’…..

If you’re one of the very few in this economy who has a steady flow of work with no worries, and a backlog of jobs that provides well for your family and your employees, I salute you! And if you manage to do that with the power of just referrals and no real effort, that’s great – but you’re in the minority by a long shot. Most of us have to ‘make it happen’, it doesn’t ‘just happen’.

If you want to make it happen for your tile company, then do yourself a favor and get in touch with us so we can get you up and running online. You can either call us at 617-500-9273 or use the form below.

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