Know-How Exchange : Taglines/Names

Dear Cac10,

Before you get too hung up on a name, both you and your hubby (hello Paul!) need to figure out what it is—in terms of service—that you're going to be offering potential clients and which niche you're going to be targeting.

See, the quality goes in first, THEN you add the wrapper. With me?

Painting businesses might be a dime a dozen, but painting businesses for luxury condos, or restaurants, or casinos, or retail stores might not be. The more targeted you can be, the better your chances might be of making a decent living because you'll have fewer overall competitors within your chosen niche (or niches, because it might be better to serve more than one niche, but to still retain an atmosphere of exclusivity).

With previous experience it's obvious that your husband's name is known, and that his work is recognized for its quality, speed, and attention to detail. It ought to also be the case that you either had, or have an existing (or previous) client listing.

If that list is still on file, whip it out and dust it off because it has two uses: previous happy clients, and possible referrals.

To drum up new business, consider writing a short, customer-focused, benefit-driven letter to every previous client telling them you're back in business and that you're looking for leads.

For all leads that result in an active contract, offer your referrers something of value, but something you can afford and that has appeal: their names dropped into a hat from which one person will win a flat screen TV, or a $50 gift certificate.

Then record the winners (photographs with cheesy grins, names, and comments from winners) and use that information (with a permission slip from all such winners) in your next mailing, because this offers instant social proof that people are winning, thereby giving your list people more incentive to offer referrals.

Make sense?

And as for not being crazy about alliteration? Well, do you want to get work and be remembered and referred to do more work for other people?

Or do you want to sit around waiting for the damn phone to ring and cursing the day you went back into the painting business because no one's contacting you for estimates?

Paul? This bit is for you. Read this very carefully.

Name schname! Here YOU must step aside. Here, you must realize and, more importantly, UNDERSTAND, that the service you offer is not about YOU.

OK?

You, as nice a chap as I'm sure you are, YOU DO NOT MATTER. Your service being the best in town or being the best since the invention of sliced bread or paint pads and drop cloths: does not matter.

It's not about you. No business is EVER about the PERSON offering the service, or the product, or the goods. Nor is it EVER about the length of time one's been in business, or one's attention to detail, or one's time-honoured this or that. None of this matters—at least, not to the client.

Why? Because none of any of this is about THEM. And for ANY business to flourish, it MUST talk to its customers about the things that are important to THEM as customers. Any business that talks about itself or about its owners is one thing and one thing only:

DULL!

So Paul? Do you want to be dull? Do you really, REALLY want to be dull? I didn't think so.

So Premier Painting (or even Paul's Premier Painting — You'll Like The Way We Make You Look) instantly makes your service about your customer. It instantly sets you apart.

Your business isn't about paint on walls. It's about decorated rooms and spaces and the events activities and experiences that happen TO the people IN those spaces and how much they, as clients will LOVE the things they experience.

With me?

You've got to make clients fall in LOVE with the results you'll provide, and with the events that have yet to happen ... events that only you can nourish because you—AND ONLY YOU—offer the service that will make it happen.

So your name will serve you better by being about projected experiences, and here, Paul's Premier Painting tells people who you are, what you do, and also gives an air of class:

"Oh, we went with ACME Painting because their prices were so low!" says Mrs. Jones.

"Really?" says Mrs Heffendorfer "We went with Paul's Premier Painting because our daughter is getting married."

So now, the Jones family is in the odd position of having to keep up with the Heffendorfers!

See the difference? The first is an example of sales. The second is an example of marketing.

The secret here is to cater to what will be, not to what is. With me?

Many years ago in England, my Dad ran his own small general contractor business, but not once did he ever need to sell any service or result. He never ran an ad, he didn't have so much as a leaflet or even a business card, and for years didn't even have a telephone! [I swear this is true, and this was a 35 years ago].

But he was seldom if ever out of work.

Why?

Because he marketed himself by appealing to the experiences that people would end up with, not to the nature of the job and what it would cost. Because of this, everyone for miles around knew that if you wanted a quality job done right—and more importantly, if you wanted a job you could show off to other people—you knocked on Des Bloomer's door.

Paul, I hope this helps, truly I do. And I wish you hearty success with your return to the world of decorating quality and excellence.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

Trim & Fit
Ahead Of The Tape
New Heights
Fresh Ideas
Fresh Coat
Start To Finish

YourTown Painting Co. (boring, but very specific)
Painting Experts
Paint By Experts
Paintastic!

"Painted Way"
"Colours of Life"
"Paint Up"
"Creative Paints"
"Paint-O-Royale"
"Colourful People"
"Colourful World"


Thanks
Rakesh