Regardless of whether your potential customer was referred to you or not, that customer is going to research your business online. This is who we are as a society, no website, no business. Websites instill trust to customers. Your website, your reviews and your overall web presence has to back up the referral they have received. There are no if, and’s or buts about this simple truth.
Your first step is to have a professional website that is comprehensive and branded. It needs to have the right calls-to-action in place, meaning the correct contact information, online estimates or appointment-scheduling capabilities. It also needs to have the correct keywords and tags to improve search engine optimization (SEO) and it absolutely cannot have any grammar or spelling errors. Your attention to detail will make every bit of difference in your success or failure.
You will also want to be sure that your website is mobile ready so that a customer can easily read your information right from the accident site. Most important is that your site has reviews. Customers rely heavily on the thoughts of your past customers. If they say you are sub-par then your hope of gaining quick, on the fly business is shot. You need to be able to provide proof and value to your services and again, they need to be able to find this information easily from all devices.
Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down
When looking to acquire new customers, you need to know what works in your business and what doesn’t. You need to be hyper-aware of your customer’s responses to your services and which marketing tactics have proven themselves to be the most effective. Based on collision repair shops and PDR technician’s customer responses, the following is what has worked and what hasn’t:
Works
Referrals, in person marketing with insurance agents and online reviews.
Doesn’t Work
Social Media, Email, Billboards and TV.