This topic came up in another thread, and I thought it very relevant given how competitive it is in today's market.

We've all had the experience of putting our heart and soul into a proposal we areALLY hoped to sign, only to have the prospect choose someone else. it's incredibly frustrating when we see ourselves as the obvious best choice, and discouraging to feel we are being judged as less.

I've seen some guys lose a bid and act like the prospect just took a leak on their boot and gave them the finger. A purely business choice is viewed as a personal affront and they can't help themselves from taking a parting shot:

The angry hang up
"Really!?! Well you'll be sorry."
"Are you kidding me? Did you know that guy is a crook?"
"Well thanks for wasting my time!"

I've seen it a number of times, from both competitors and subs, and it's a big mistake.

Professional salespeople are hard wired to see beyond the word ?NO?. Even if They are unable to overcome the objections to close the sale?they can usually look past it and see there's a chance that today's 'NO' might be tomorrow's 'YES'. But most craftsmen who start their own company Don't have much of a background in sales, and we learn those skills as we grow. In a lot of smaller construction companies, the lead guy in the field is the same one doing the selling. it's not hard to see how such judgments can be taken personally when the company, the choice, is YOU.

it'sucks to lose a project you've worked hard to put together. But taking it personal is unproductive at best, and damaging to your reputation as a professional at worst. It prevents you from looking at your sales process and figuring out what you could have done differently. But it's easier on our egos to find something to blame outside of ourselves, isn't it.

I've signed a lot of projects over the years that I lost on the first go around. For whatever reason, usually price, the homeowner chose someone else. My response is the same in every case:

"Thank you for the opportunity to bid your project. I wish you the very best and hope it turns out beautiful."

it's not an act either. A prospect will make the best choice they can with the information they are provided. I've either done a good job of demonstrating my value, or I haven't. Some will see it, and some won't--and some have needs I can't satisfy with my business model. But in a number of cases the owner came back and hired me later, after some issue with the other guy caused them to reconsider their choice.

If you lose a project but the prospect later decides you were the best choice, how likely are they to call you back if you handled their initial rejection poorly?

At the end of the process, you may look back and decide it was for the best that you didn?t get the job. it's still unprofessional to take that parting shot, and you'll probably lose future work because of it.

Christopher Wright is President of WrightWorks, LLC--an Indianapolis based design-build remodeling company. He started his journey in remodeling at the age of 16, as a carpenter?s helper. Since then, he has worked in nearly every trade and facet of the industry?with side trips into martial arts teaching and leadership with a Fortune 500 company. His project experience extends from inner city HUD rehabs to multi-million dollar estates. He has appeared in numerous industry publications and was recently named to the REMODELING Big50.

www.WrightWorks.net - Facebook - Twitter

You Can Get There From Here

There are numerous social media portals like FaceBook and LinkedIn, even YouTube; and yes websit's like ContractorTalk. The obvious use of these sit's is for communication, chit chat, research, but you may be missing the boat on some very big potential advertising, and some of it is FREE.

I watch the logs of my websit's and realized that people were searching for me by my real name. No doubt estimates I have written researching not only my company but also me personally. It dawned on me that social media profiles are an excellent means to allow these customers to find me, therefore I setup accounts on numerous popular social media outlets like Face Book and Linked In. I set my profle to public so anyone can find me and I made sure to limit my communication and status updates to that of a professional manner.

I also added back links to my websit's, because that's great advertising and will help increase your web site ranking. Also it gives customers a further means to contact me or research my company or services further. Plus by making status updates, posting pictures, blog posts etc... about the services you and your company offer; people performing searches can find you.

But that's less than half of What'social Media is good for. YouTube is a great way to attract new customers by putting up simple video commercials about your company. If properly formatted, your videos will come up in random web searches like Google and Yahoo. On FaceBook and LinkedIn you can also put up FREE company pages. These pages cost nothing and are like a profile page but for your business instead of your person. In my opinion because these are free, they are something every business should have. If used properly, they can't hurt, only help.

But we are only half way through What'social media and social networking is worth. We've discussed the free side, but there is also paid advertising as well. If you could target your advertising by job title would that be something that interests you? If you can target your advertising by age, gender, zip code, interests etc... would that be of interest to you? With social media you can tailor your advertising so specificially and really zero down on your target audience that it's something all businesses should be doing... and for now at least, it's very affordable.

Using the paid advertising you can drive traffic to your facebook or linkedin pages, or drive traffic to your website. You can use the banners to really brand your company with your logo and a tag line about your business. You can pay per click, or pay per impression, or do both. With just one of my facebook pages I got nearly 8,000 followers in 1 month. I could have got that in a month or maybe a week, but I set a low daily budget . That's a nice surge for a new business.

Think about the #1 reason to use faceBook: Your customers are probably already using it.

This will certainly stir the pot some.

I have to call it like I see it, though. In the year(s), localized search marketing has been the big "buzz" that internet marketing companies are pushing on everyone.

They sell us stories about "local search marketing being the fastest growing segment online", and get you irritated when you see your competition ranking for a localized search term and you're not.

So, whats the big deal?

I'm here to show you why it's a big bunch of junk.. at least compared to what your expectations are.

What Is Localized Search Marketing?

If someone searches for "kitchen remodeling" on Google, are they your client if you do this type of work?

Maybe they are. The problem is....

... you Don't know where in the world they are located!

With localized search marketing, the concept is to add location specifics to keywords, in order for people in your coverage area to find you. So, for example, attempting to rank your site for the phrase "kitchen remodeling in Orlando, FL", instead of simply "kitchen remodeling".

Why's it's A Bunch Of Junk.

Here's the simple answer. People do not typically search this way. Don't get me wrong, some of your customers will, and they certainly has been an increase (from what I've seen in analytics reports) in localized search terms driving visitors to sit's. However, its an increase on a super small amount of traffic I generate.

Remember this...

What Good Does It Do To Rank For Words That People Do Not Search For?

You already know the answer to that one.

Here's The Proof.

So, by now, I'm sure you're thinking "Oh yeah, prove it". OK, let's do that.

Here's some data from the Google Keyword Tool that I just pulled up. I picked 3 random services (kitchen remodeling, plumbing, vinyl siding). I used the cities of San Diego, Houston, Boston, and Norfolk. Ya know, big cities. If any city in the country will get this localized search traffic, it has to be where the population is.

Here's the results:

As you can see, the OVERWHELMING majority of searches are done on the generic, non-location based version of the word, not the localized version.

Localized Search Marketing Isn't Bad, it's...

...just not what it's made out to be. Keep in mind, there actually are some advantages. Locaized searches typically indicate a person who is farther down the "sales path" and is more likely to convert into a contact, compared to the generic search version.

Plus, if you get leads from it - how can that bad? As long as the investment (time, energy, money) is worthwhile compared to the returns you get.

So Why The Big Push For Localized Search Marketing Then?

Here's the part that most interent marketing companies Don't want you to know.

The key reason is the deliverable that is expected.

An internet marketing company typically is not compensated for bringing you leads, or sales, or revenue. They get paid to get your site to rank for words. if it ranks, it's assumed that they have done their part.

The catch here is that, the levels of competition for localized versions of keywords is DRASTICALLY lower than the generic version.

With less competition, it's easier to get your site ranked. Make sense?

Let me show you some examples.

Note, I've used the "allintitle:" search flag, which tells you teh nubmer of pages Google has that has that exact phrase in the title of the page (a pretty strong indivator that the site is trying to rank for that keyword)

Here's the competition levels for "kitchen remodeling":

Over 1 million pages of competition to beat out, in order to show up on the first page.

Now, let's look at a localized version:

Only 229 pages. If I'm trying to rank a site for words, I'll have a much better chance ranking for this localized version, because there is a lot less competition to beat out!

Here's another comparison using vinyl siding:

450,000+ pages of competition, compared to...

9 pages! Wow, I could create a page today, put those words in the title tag, and I've got a good chance of ranking on the first page. Business opportunity, anyone?

So, What's The Way To Go Then?

If you try ranking for localized keywords, you likley won't generate a lot of business (compared to what is out there).

If you try to rank for the generic keywords, you'll have a lot of competition to beat out, and will generate leads out of your coverage area that you can't use.

(Of course, you could sell those leads off and become the next Service Magic ;) )

Here's The Trick To It All

The trick here is ranking for the generic keyword version (which is what people typically search by), and appearing in the results when the person searching is in your area.

Have you noticed in Google (and Bing/Yahoo) they automatically detect your location and tell you that on the page? Like this example:

Google uses the searcher's location to display the "localized" websit's for that area.

Here's an example, where I searched for the generic term "plumber". My location is set to Virginia Beach, VA (where I'm located), and you can see Google is showing me localized results/business's based on my location:

Now, by simply changing my location (to Boston, MA), and searching for the same generic term "plumber", I can see different, "localized" results:

So, Summing It All Up...

Peopel typically do not search using localized versions of keywords. They use the generic form. The key is to get the search engines to recognize your lcoation and coverage areas, and to show up for that generic search term when someoen is located in your coverage area.

As to how you do that... that's the next post if you guys want it. Just let me know!

I remember when I was first starting out, all the tricks the customers could pull over on me. If you've been dealing with customers for any period of time you've probably heard some of these: "If you do a good job on this job, there'll be 3 more.", "If you do a good job on the repair, I'll give you the whole replacement when I'm ready." and the list goes on and on...

To overcome these common tricks is really pretty easy. If someone says they have more work and want a discount, tell them "That's great, I can certainly offer a discount. Let's bundle the jobs together." or "let's worry about this job now and if all goes well we can talk about a discount on the other work."

If the customer asks for a discount on the repair with an offer of future work, to overcome this is also pretty easy. "Well it'll be cheaper in the long run if we just do the replacement now, so you won't be throwing away your money on a repair that we'll just be ripping apart in a year." or " Well I'll have to charge you full price on the repair, but when you do want to do the whole job maybe I'll be able to give half the repair price as a credit towards the down payment."

But What's more important to watch are the tricks we use against ourselves. How many times have youheard a contractor say, "I gave them a low price to get my foot in the door." In my opinion, that's just plain silly. I have learned this from years of experience, that it'simply does not work! Here is why...

If the customer is buying low price now, what do you think they will buy in the future? Chances are likley unless you completely WOW them, They are going to get more than one quote on the work.

There have been numerous times I have nursed someone's roof along for years, making various repairs here and there'stopping leaks... and when the time came to replace the roof I didn't even get asked to bid it. I can tell you about one guy who I bent over backwards for time and time again, every repair was an emergency with him. He needed a new roof bad and I kept telling him. One Sunday he called, he needed me out right away, I told him I could see him the next day. I called him Monday no answer no return call, a week later another company is replacing his roof.

The point is, if I were going cheap on those repairs in hopes I would get the full roof replacement job I would have lost on the investment of time and energy when the big job went to someone else. Make sure each and EVERY job you do is profitable.

There was a job on a condominium where they had mansards roofs and a flat section. Each was quoted seperately and the association decided they wanted to only replace the mansard roofs at this time. I messed up a little bit on my math, so I was most likelyt he low bidder. I was awarded the job, found my mistake realized my profit wouldn't be the greatest but we would be making some money, so I decided to do the work. I nursed their flat roof for 3 years. This year I found out they hired another company to add another layer over the flat section even though minimum code says 2 layers maximum and they were already at the max.

The point is, they hired cheap in the first place, the customer was never really mine, and they stuck to their pattern of hiring cheap. you've got to make money on every job that you do, there is never any guarantee of future work.