referrals | National Inventory Certification Association

29 Dec 2020

What You Can Do To Get Through These Tough Times

Question Mark During the many shut-downs and other restrictions we are facing this year, some members have expressed concern about being able to continue their home inventory business. Most likely, one-on-one meetings are few or nonexistent. The same with in-person networking meetings. Many organizations have canceled their group meetings until further notice.

So, what can you do now to help keep your business viable? Stay in touch with current and reach out to new prospects and referral sources. Use the extra downtime you have now to:

Update your website to give it a fresh look. (You might even want to put a notice on the home page that you wear a mask for your clients’ safety.)
Call current referral sources and let them know you’re still doing inventories.
Contact small business owners. If they are shut down, this would be a good time to do an inventory and not interrupt the workflow or be in contact with their employees.
Deaths and disasters are still happening, so these inventory services are still needed. Contact these professionals to let them know you’re still providing your inventory service.
Pop in to meet insurance agents (be sure to wear a mask!).
Call your current clients and offer virtual updates. You can use virtual apps or have them send photos.
Start a blog and/or newsletter.
Increase your social media presence.
Review your processes and procedures to update or refine what you are currently doing.

Believe in yourself, your business, and the need for your inventory services! Be creative! Stay positive!

28 May 2020

Open For Business!

Open Many states are completely open, while others are still opening in stages. Either way, it’s a good time to begin to promote your business again. When you are able to begin providing inventories, be sure to follow the advice of social distancing, wearing a mask, etc., per the guidelines from your state officials.

Here are some tips that can help you gain traction and reconnect with clients, professional referral sources, and prospects:

Begin attending networking events as they re-start their meetings.
If you updated your website, send an email with a link so they can view your new information.
Announce that you’re open again on all of your social media platforms. Use an “open” sign as a graphic to help draw attention.
If you send out a newsletter, send a special “now open” issue, letting everyone know that you are now (or your projected date) ready to create their inventory.
Call or send emails to current customers, asking for referrals.
Call or send emails to referral sources to let them know you are once again providing your inventory services.
Call current clients to see if they need an on-site update of their inventory.
Contact those you’ve given estimates to and schedule their inventory.
Offer a “back to work” special pricing (always include a deadline on discount offers).

When speaking to prospects, be sure to stress that you will use safety precautions while you are in their home or business. The next article covers the key steps in providing a safe service for you and your clients.

08 May 2019

Finding New Referral Sources

Mary Gillen

In an effort to grow your home inventory business, you are most likely seeking many ways to locate new professionals who can end up being great referral sources.

Prospecting Directories Are All Over Town

How many times have you walked into a building to meet with a new prospect and totally ignored the building directory in the lobby? Make it a point to check out the directory after your meeting and write down the names of the other tenant companies. Going to drop a last-minute package at FedEx? Have a doctor’s appointment? Have a working dinner meeting for one of your Chamber of Commerce committees? There may be more business under that one roof than you think.

Trade Shows: How to Easily Gather Prospect Email Addresses

Getting folks to sign up for your email mailing list from your busy trade show booth can be a challenge. Here are a couple of options to make it easier on everyone.

1) Have folks send you a text message with their email address from their mobile phones as a request to subscribe. You can add this information to your list after the show.

2) Create a subscription form on your Web site, a page no wider than 400 pixels so it can easily be viewed on a mobile phone. Prospects with “smart” phones (i.e., Web access capability via their cellphones) who visit your booth can complete the sign-up process right away, filling out the subscription form from their mobile. This can save you a ton of work after the show.

Join LinkedIn Groups

Who are your prospects, and where do they hang out on LinkedIn? Spend your time wisely on LinkedIn by participating in Groups where your prospects spend time. Where can you find them? Go to the search bar at the top of your home page and search for prospect Groups.

Example: If your inventory business is located in New York, and one of your prospect groups is insurance agents, search for insurance agents groups New York in the Search Box. Search results give you the options to View or Join a Group. View means that the group is open to everyone. Join means your profile will be reviewed before you are allowed to join the Group.

Use SocialMention.com to “Listen” to Prospect Conversations on Social Media

Looking for new prospects via social media? Try SocialMention.com >> http://socialmention.com. It allows you to track and measure what people are saying about products, services, or any topic across the web’s social media landscape in real-time. Social Mention monitors 100+ social media properties directly including Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube, Google and more.

The author of this article is Mary Gillen, an Associate Member of NICA. If your website isn’t getting the traffic you expect, Mary can optimize it correctly so search engine robots can efficiently index your site content. She is also highly skilled in creating a new or updating your current website so it is accessible and will meet all ADA requirements. https://accessiblewebsiteservices.com/

03 Apr 2019

Referrals Are Key To Growing Your Business

Mary Gillen

Referrals are key to growing any business and especially important for home inventory service providers.

It Just Takes a Phone Call

A local dentist has built his successful practice one simple way… the follow-up phone call. He spends one hour of his busy day personally calling patients who were treated the day before to ask how they are feeling. This consistent calling campaign has brought him more referrals than any other marketing method.

You can use this same idea by calling your clients shortly after completion of the inventory project to verify that they were pleased with the results. (This phone call also gives you another opportunity to ask for referrals.)

Repeat Referrals

Looking for referral business? Make sure that the Insurance Agents, Financial Planners, Attorneys, and other business professionals in your local area know that your business exists. They can be a major source of referral business, as they are important influencers on how their clients spend money and conduct business. These types of professional referrals can provide you with a consistent flow of qualified business.

Are you ready for an upgraded website? Maybe a completely new one? Mary Gillen will create YOUR site to represent YOUR business. She is also an excellent writer so she can create professionally-written content as well. Content and web design by someone who knows our industry!