I’m writing this pest control marketing article out of sheer frustration. I’m about to vent big time…so please bear with me. It’s not personal OK.
I am upset because I see PCOs and WCOs struggling each and every day to get customers and make money to support their families. I have spent the past 44 years in this industry and I see the same scenarios played out over and over, time and time again. As a matter of fact…I used to be in that same boat….struggling to keep my business afloat and profitable. I worked long, hard hours. I came home exhausted. I had phone calls to make at night in order to get my schedule together for the next day. My wife was upset with me. Etc. Etc. Etc……..
All I knew at the time was that there had to be a better way. But I didn’t have a clue what it was. So I began a search for answers. I found mentors who were willing to share powerful information with me about how to get customers. And more customers meant growing more routes and I could hire people to do the service work and I could be in the office or out networking in my community to get MORE customers.
My mentors began to suggest books to read and audio programs to listen to and workshops to attend…all related to selling and buying behavior. And I followed their advice.
And the more I learned the more I realized that there were common behaviors and instincts that drive people buy things. So I began to study neuro-science, psychology, selling, direct response marketing, hypnosis, motivation, buying response triggers, subconscious communication, and anything else I could get my hands on that would unlock more secrets of the human mind related to buying and selling.
I eventually became so passionate about this that I sold my pest control business and began a quest to teach what I had learned over the past 15 years to other PCOs and WCOs who were struggling with slow growth, low profits, long hours, and businesses that were out of control. I wanted them to see that selling is easy. Finding customers is easy. Making money is easy. Growing a pest control business is easy. All you have to do is know how!
So…why am I so frustrated. You were wondering when I was going to get to that.
I’m frustrated because the vast majority of small business owners…including PCOs and WCOs are so set in their ways and committed to the way they do things right now…today…that they are going to keep on struggling and there is nothing anyone can do to help them.
They refuse to change.
Why?
Because change represents threat. Change in scary. Change makes human beings feel uncomfortable. Yes…we hate change and will do anything to avoid it. We can’t help it. It’s the way our brains are hard-wired. That’s why people stay in bad marriages, bad relationships, bad jobs, even bad health. It’s more comfortable to stay the same.
That’s why 82% of small businesses fold before the end of the third year. They don’t learn. They don’t step out. They don’t seek out and follow advice. They don’t change.
Successful marketing is not any one big thing…it is a thousand little ones. And, the more of those little things you learn and implement, the more new customers you get and the more sales you make. It’s as simple as that.
If you want to be successful at growing a thriving, profitable and FUN business, you must be adaptable. You must be willing to embrace change. You must learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
Bob Dylan said it best. “The times they are a changing!” They always have been and they always will.
Thanks for reading this…and I hope YOU have a great day!
Hal Coleman is a sales and marketing trainer, business coach and motivational speaker specializing in the pest control industry. He is past president of The Georgia Pest Control Association. His company, Coleman Services, Inc. focuses on showing PCOs and WCOs how to double, triple…even quadruple their businesses faster than they ever imagined.
He can be reached at 770-993-0004 or email Hal@HalColeman.com.
Visit his website, http://www.PestControlMarketer.com for more information about his coaching and mentoring programs.
Also visit:
http://www.PestControlMarketingPodcast.com
http://www.PestControlMarketingGold.com
http://www.PestControlMarketingVideoService.com
http://www.HalColeman.com/coaching
