What do you do when you your employees are waiting for the next rain? Beldon Roofing of San Antonio was faced with that challenge a couple years ago. They had grown the roof service department as their volume of business grew. Because of the dry weather, though, that department was becoming underutilized. When most people would think cost and cut their staff, Beldon Roofing thought of client needs and possibilities. Looking at the unexpressed but real needs of facility owners and managers, they developed a maintenance program for their roofs. As Beldon didn’t have the maintenance expertise at the time, they hired an expert in that area to lead their “repair” team, and went to market. On their website, they call it Roof Asset Management, which shows an understanding of the issue from the point of view of their customer. They support their offering with data from third party research showing the savings of a good maintenance program.
Today, it’s a profitable and fast growing part of Beldon's business, and the total revenues of maintenance and repair exceed $1 million. The department has grown to up to 12 teams of two men, and they have hired a second expert to meet the demand. They’ve also been asked by BOMA to write a column about roof maintenance in their monthly regional magazine, a huge opportunity for free publicity. Finally, guess who’s best positioned when one of their clients has a need for a new roof? They’re at a stage where they can choose to invest more in this program or continue to consider it a secondary part of their offering. That’s the next important strategic decision for them.
Question: how can you expand your expertise and service to meet an unspoken client need and make it a strategic advantage?
Would you like to share a remarkable marketing story? Let's talk! Email me at gerard@signalarity.com.
©2009, Gerard Migeon Inc., Signal, www.signalarity.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment