Sterling the Plumber

Sterling the plumber just left my house. We had a minor backup and I found Sterling through a Google search. There were two reviews of his services, both positive. Some of his bigger competitors had quite a few negative reviews, so I called Sterling. Sterling is self-employed, competent, reasonably-priced, and a nice guy. I'll definitely call him when I need a plumber in the future.

But I'm not really writing about plumbing issues. You see, Sterling did everything right to earn my future business (he even took his shoes off at the door), but he's missing the boat in terms of promoting his business in the digital age. I asked Sterling how he promotes his business. He does some direct mail and Yellow Pages advertising. Pretty common for service providers like Sterling...and pretty expensive, too. I asked Sterling if he'd ever considered doing email marketing and he said he wasn't very good with computers (a very common response among many sole proprietors). He wasn't even collecting his existing customers email addresses.

As a small business owner or an international conglomerate, one of the most important things you must do is collect your existing customer's email addresses. Put a place on every document you collect from customers for their email address (invoices, work orders, receipts, estimates...anything that your customer signs or fills in needs a place for their email address). Of course, some people won't give you their email address, but most will and with that information you can send them personalized emails containing information relevant to them. When your list is small you can use your existing Yahoo!, AOL, Comcast, or Gmail account for free. As it gets larger, you'll want to use services like AWeber or Constant Contact to manage your subscriber list and send your emails. Think about this: Let's say that Sterling's business is cyclical and during certain times of the year, drains don't seem to get clogged as often. He needs to generate some cash flow, so he does a simple email blast to his existing customers offering a time-limited discount on preventative drain maintenance or other preventative services. Maybe he offers a time-limited special price on a 10-point household plumbing inspection. Perhaps his email even includes a brief article on teaching the kids responsible plumbing habits (like not putting socks down the drain or what doesn't work in the garbage disposal). You get the idea.

Here are some simple tips on gathering email address:

Include a privacy statement. One that I like says, "Privacy statement: We want you all to ourselves, so we won't share your information ever." Of course, that means you must never share that information ever.

Tell your customer what they get by sharing their email address. Say things like, "Please provide your email address so we can send you an occasional special offer while reducing our use of natural resources."

The point is simple: By collecting email addresses, you can stay in touch with your customers inexpensively and effectively. You can reduce your carbon footprint while enlarging your financial footprint. Even if you don't plan on using them right away, start collecting them now so you'll have them in the future.