Know-How Exchange : Taglines/Names

If I might render a little advice from someone who has both helped build and built building businesses herself from the ground up.

Firstly, most people only feel in charge when they have beaten you on price - it is the crudest metric possible and the easiest to force on someone. You see it in marketing everywhere. If you are subjected to a price war, be careful. Because you can easily find yourself doing a few jobs on the side at no extra cost - that knock your rates to $5.

Then they give you a dire reference because they weren't satisfied with the results you did for them for free.

By a sleight of hand I knocked this on the head. In discussion with my ex we itemized our terms. When taking calls from new clients I would go through our terms and conditions - the most important of which was that we would have one followup several weeks later to see to any minor problems that might have occurred. We were general builders, by the way. (Of course this did not include real emergencies like a water leak).

If someone came back to me and said this wasn't necessary, it immediately sent up a warning flag. Not only that, but they usually wanted a cash job and all that came with it.

In standing by our terms and conditions, and making an item of each of the more important ones did two things: it showed we knew our business and said that we didn't take any nonsense. Both worked to our advantage - the good clients loved it, the horrid ones (and there is no other name for them) didn't.

Within three months our profits bounced by 30% and my ex worked 10% less. That 10% was mostly evenings too.

Why? Because all of the above demonstrated our trustworthiness.

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Anybody can say they are trustworthy, and by the time you find out the truth of the issue, they are across the stateline. Just saying you are trustworthy is *not* a course to go down.

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Another thought: your clients don't want a choice. They want the result they want. Which isn't quite the same thing as having a choice. That you know your business and can give them suggestions as to what you can offer will demonstrate your trustworthiness and abilities. This won't have much bearing on how much you are paid though. Keeping a firm foot on the estimated hours will though.

One possible side-step to the issue is to have a membership scheme that maintains their systems across the year (things like switching off and draining outside taps, checking heating appliances and so on - and each level of service (silver, gold, platinum/diamond) gives 20% to 35% discounts on hourly rates in emergency callouts). Just make sure that you can cover your rates by this minimal charge - it also means that such things can be handled when you don't otherwise have much business.

And all of the above has not helped you one whit with your tagline!

The Water Guard: defending your home in emergencies
The Pipe Team: keeping water where it should be.
J.C.Chrysler, Plumber. No call out charges when you're a member.

Moriarty xx

Regarding the impact of the name on search choices: Names that communicate the benefit and/or address the need explicitly are best. "Cute" names are generally less effective.

If your main approach to attracting new clients is through search advertising, you need a full complement of landing pages. Sending people to your homepage where they see a long list of the things you do will only encourage them to hit the "back button" and find someone who does what they want. (If I'm searching for "stop my faucet drip," I really don't care if you install toilets.)

A good tagline can help punctuate the benefit or extend it to an emotional end-benefit, but best is to get the name to do as much of that communication as possible. Also get professional help on your search advertising campaign. It will save you a lot more than it will cost ... and it will help you climb that steep learning curve fast. (Let me know if you need a recommendation.)

If someone is searching for a plumber in their area online, then it's important that the name convey you're "in the community" (Cleveland Plumbers, for example) - so it's more likely the name will be on the first page for the terms someone is searching for. A clever name ("Dr. Plumb") may be more memorable once someone knows you, but unless you test for the name, it's unclear if the name will truly make a difference. For trustworthiness, I'd assume you'd be bonded, just as many other plumbers would be. So, at first glance, your business isn't distinguishable from others in the area. What I would suggest is to build your social credibility early. You first highly satisfied 25 clients - offer them something special - for example, 25% off (up to some ceiling) for a great Yelp posting (or other highly used social site in your region). While you can say you're great, there's nothing better than having your clients sing your praises.

Smith Plumbing (Your Surname)
We’re a call away

Aqua Plumbing
Plumbing Solutions

Mike’s Plumbing Solutions (your name)

'TownName' SureFit Plumbing
No Wise Cracks-Just WaterTight Solutions