CHAPTER 7

Marketing Practices

A broad-based marketing strategy that stretches from Google to direct mail brings new customers in the door and maintains relationships with existing clients. Being able to automate and track that marketing drives the highest return on your marketing investment.

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SECTION 1 OF 14

Marketing Practices

‘If you don’t know how to make the phone ring…’ 

Ismael Valdez took a blended HVAC-plumbing business in Southern California from zero profitability to $30 million in four years by keeping it simple.

At NexGen Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing, the owner relied on that simplicity, right down to the most basic necessity for any business.  

“We didn’t overcomplicate anything,” says the NexGen Air CEO. “And we focused on marketing. It’s the most important thing. 

“You can have the vans, the financials, the people, the processes—you can have all of that,” he adds. “But, if you don’t know how to make the phone ring, nothing else matters.” 

While that concept is simple, executing an effective marketing plan has a lot of moving parts, starting with a disruptive logo and branding that doesn’t simply follow the norm and ending with analysis of key KPIs to assure that the marketing dollars spent all add the maximum amount to the bottom line. 

And really knowing your cost per lead, even if it means hiring an agency to help. 

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If a company is paying an agency to bring in customers, it should expect information beyond the numbers. Statistics on SEO, pay per click and direct mail are good to have. But knowing what’s behind those stats is better. 

“I need to know from search to sale how we’re doing if I’m going to truly know how my team is doing,” says Chris Yano, CEO of Ryno Strategic Solutions and co-host of “To the Point” podcast. “This is what you should expect from your agency. It will allow you to make very good decisions. You need facts down to the dollar.”  

And a plan, down to the last detail.  

Using ServiceTitan makes that easier, Yano says. “Then we can see all of our data on the front end and what you actually closed on the back end, to make that return on investment really easy to find,” Yano says. “Then it’s very transparent on exactly what is happening.”

Here’s what you need to know about building a marketing plan that works:

  • Develop “disruptive” logos and branding.

  • Provide excellent customer service to draw rave reviews.

  • Build a mobile-friendly business website with strong SEO.

  • Leverage Google, in all its forms, to attract customers.

  • Take advantage of email marketing for great ROI.

  • Don’t forget old-school tactics such as direct mail.

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