June 4, 2025 • 41 mins
Title: How to Build and Optimize Your Sales Funnel
Series: Build. Grow. Dominate. – Part 2
In this week’s episode, Janet and Caitlyn kick off Part 2 of their “Build. Grow. Dominate.” series by diving deep into how Level 2 home improvement contractors can structure and optimize their sales funnel to increase conversions. They break down the five essential stages of a contractor's funnel—Awareness, Interest, Consideration, Intent, and Purchase—and offer actionable advice, best practices, and real-world examples for improving each stage.
Whether you’re already generating leads or still building visibility in your market, this episode is packed with tips on how to turn more of those clicks into contracts. From using localized Meta ads and lead magnets to follow-up systems, sales training, and CRM personalization, Janet and Caitlyn cover it all—plus a cautionary tale about how one door-knocker lost a sale by waking a sleeping baby.
🎧 Tune in for practical ways to boost your conversion rates without increasing your ad spend.
Want to find out how we can create a custom digital marketing game plan for your contractor business? Schedule a call with us at fatcatstrategies.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Caitlyn (00:01):
Welcome to Digital Marketing for Contractors.
This podcast is brought to youby Fat Cat Strategies, a
full-service digital marketingagency based in Raleigh, North
Carolina.
We specialize in helping homeimprovement contractors just
like you grow their businesses.
Janet (00:17):
Today, you're listening to a series called Build, Grow,
Dominate, marketing strategiesfor every stage of your home
improvement business.
Every Wednesday, we take a deepdive into the lessons that
we've learned from supportingsome amazing business owners.
in the home improvementindustry.
Caitlyn (00:34):
In part one, we'll cover the essentials from
startup to your first fivemillion.
In part two, we're shiftinggears to focus on what it takes
to scale your business to asuccessful exit and or how to
dominate your market.
Now let's get into it.
Janet (00:49):
Hey, I'm Janet, the founder here at Fat Cat
Strategies, and today I amjoined by my colleague, Caitlin
Noble.
Hey, I
Caitlyn (00:57):
am Caitlin, the head of client services.
That was a little enthusiastic,but we'll roll with it.
It's the first day back afterMemorial Day, if you're
listening.
It is, and I'm enthusiastic.
I can't help it.
And it's summer.
But y'all are probablylistening to this.
It might be mid-June.
Anyways, let's get into it.
We're super excited today.
We are kicking off.
(01:17):
I'm reading Janet's line, butI'm going to go ahead and do it.
We are kicking off part two ofour Build, Grow, Dominate
series.
Janet, what is part two?
Janet (01:26):
In this two-part series, in the last several episodes, we
had a bunch of contenttargeting what we call a level
one contractor.
You're getting started.
You may be wearing all thehats.
You're building your business.
You are building your business.
Today, we are transitioninginto a whole new batch of
content.
We've got a great series ofepisodes, and we are focusing on
(01:49):
what we like to I call it leveltwo business, and that's where
you are growing.
You've already established thebusiness, and now you are
growing and scaling.
We have content for you.
You've already built a solidbusiness foundation, and now you
wanna sharpen, optimize, andscale.
You've got revenue, you've gota presence in your market, and
now it's up to you to figure outhow to convert those online
(02:12):
leads into paying customers.
So today's episode is all aboutyour sales funnel and how to
structure it.
how to optimize it, and how toget better digital conversion
rates out of the marketing thatwe know you're already doing.
So Caitlin, help us break itdown.
Caitlyn (02:29):
Yeah, I love this topic, and I love that this is
how we're kicking off the growthversion of this series.
Since we've built, now let'sgrow.
So what is a sales funnel?
Think of your sales funnel asthe journey your customers take
from the first time theydiscover your business to the
moment that they sign acontract.
(02:49):
A good sales funnel isn't justabout collecting leads.
It's about guiding those leadsstep by step, removing friction
at every stage, and creatingmoments that build trust and
motivate action.
Y'all may probably know this.
There's some amazing salespartners, tools, leaders.
I think Dave Yoho comes to mindand what the Yoho team has
(03:12):
done, Tony Hody, et cetera, whohave really, really helped you
guys start to understand andbuild your sales funnels.
There are four or five corestages within a sales funnel,
awareness, interest,consideration, intent, and
purchase.
We're gonna break down eachstage and what you can do to
optimize it.
Janet (03:33):
I love that, Caitlin.
You know I like to repeatthings because I'm usually the
slow person in the car.
So what we're doing today iswe're going to break down and
talk about these five stages,awareness, interest,
consideration, intent, andpurchase.
And this is the journey thatyour customers go through before
they buy from you.
So in that first stage thatwe're calling awareness, Let's
(03:56):
talk a little bit about whatthat is and what you can do to
optimize that part of your salesfunnel.
So awareness, this is the stagewhere people first hear about
your business.
It could be through a Googlesearch.
Maybe they saw a Facebook ad.
They could have seen one ofyour yard signs or one of your
(04:16):
wrapped trucks.
So if you're thinking about howto optimize the awareness stage
of this five-stage funnel,let's look at what you can dial
in and tweak in the awarenessstage.
Well, SEO is a great tool orweapon in this awareness stage.
(04:38):
You are optimizing for allkinds of of keywords,
long-tailed keywords.
You are trying to capturesomebody who is just at the
beginning of their research,trying to solve their problems,
and you want your company toshow up on their searches.
So SEO is one thing you can doto dial in your awareness.
Caitlyn (04:56):
I'll interrupt too.
Go for it.
Just because you said that, andI know if you have listened to
part one of this podcast, wealso have several other episodes
about SEO and how important SEOis.
I think that's a reallyimportant note though, aware if
you have your trucks wrapped, ifyou've paid for that, if you've
paid for these yard signs, youwant to make sure your business
(05:19):
shows up.
Right.
I mean, like, I know it soundsas simple as that, but it's not
as simple as that.
Janet (05:24):
Oh, you, you're talking about like a branded search.
Yes.
Oh, okay.
I see.
You're tying them to the twotogether.
So you've paid the money towrap your side, your, your
trucks.
You've bought these beautifulyard signs.
If someone sees your name inthe neighborhood and then they
Google your business name, makesure it shows up.
Caitlyn (05:43):
Correct.
And it doesn't just show up.
Right.
That it shows up.
Well, yeah.
Tune into some of our otherepisodes just to learn more
about how to make your SEO workalongside your brand name.
So sorry, we're building out ofawareness.
Janet (05:55):
Yeah.
So awareness, what, you know,if, if this whole episode is
about taking these five steps ofyour funnel and then giving you
tools to dial in and tweak eachstep in that awareness step,
really dig into your SEO.
The other thing that you candig into is your social media
content.
Um, especially your socialmedia that showcases real
(06:19):
projects with real photos.
Make that interesting andshareable.
Your Google and meta ads withlocalized, meaning
geographically localizedtargeting, that's going to help
you build that awareness in yourtarget geographies that you
want to install jobs in.
Caitlyn (06:38):
I'll give another quick example while we're going
through this.
You know, if you are expandinginto new locations, if you, I
guess that's the best way to doit, use Meta.
If you have an agency or youdon't have an agency, use Meta
to make sure you're doing thatlocalized targeting.
Don't expect you're going toget leads, but do a literally,
(06:58):
Meta calls it a brand awarenesscampaign to announce that you
are in this new location.
So it's called awareness for areason.
Right.
Janet (07:06):
Yeah.
So on that awareness front,this is, and I'm going to go a
little bit off script here.
This is where, um, I think alot of contractors, you guys are
so, aggressive in a good wayand you're competitive in a good
way and you're action orientedin a good way and your results
(07:28):
oriented in a good way and youwant to jump straight to the
point.
Where's my lead?
Before a homeowner is willingto give you money, you got to
kind of warm them up.
Right.
You're like, yeah, you know,you're not going to marry a girl
on the first date.
Well, same situation.
Well, I guess some of you mayhave, I don't know.
Grandparents in
Caitlyn (07:44):
the,
Janet (07:44):
yeah, no judgment here, but like if we're using a dating
analogy, you know, you've gotto, you've got to build up to
that.
That's what this awarenessstage is.
You've got to like, who is thiscompany?
Are they in business?
SEO, social media, Google, andmeta ads.
To Caitlin's point, those brandawareness ads.
(08:04):
And then on the offline part ofit, you know, really consistent
visual branding acrosseverything.
Make your yard signs look likeyour trucks.
Make your trucks look like thesign hanging over your physical
office or showroom.
Make that look like yourwebsite.
Make that look like your ads.
It all looks the same.
(08:25):
We've
Caitlyn (08:26):
even had, you know, clients who run radio ads and
we've had like that slogan fromthe radio ad on the homepage
hero so when somebody goes tothat client's website they're
like oh you're helping them makethat
Janet (08:39):
mental
Caitlyn (08:40):
connection
Janet (08:41):
and it reads the same as the radio ad does okay so on
this first stage in this fivestage journey of your sales
funnel funnel awareness what'sthe goal here your only goal is
to get on their radar correctdon't try to jump to the chase
and sell them something rightout of the gate they ain't ready
for that Your goal is to get ontheir radar.
You want potential customersand homeowners in your area to
(09:04):
first of all, know that youexist, And you specialize in
solving their problem.
And that's the awareness stage.
Caitlin, what is the nextstage?
Remind everybody.
So the second
Caitlyn (09:14):
stage in this sales funnel process is the interest.
It's now that you're on thesite, now that you've gained
their interest, they've seenyour yard sign, you know, maybe
they visited your website,visited your website, you've got
some good social, etc.
You know, they may be reading ablog post or checking out a
gallery.
(09:35):
The goal is to capture thatinterest so they've seen you
they've heard about you they'venow visited your site how do we
continue to spark that interestso there's a couple different
tactics that you can use um thatwe recommend as well for the
digital side of things leadmagnets that is going to be
probably our most favorite umthose are going to be uh either
(09:59):
by hidden probably behind a formso right now like you've got
somebody's interest you want tohave their contact in
information, obviously, whetherit's a phone number or email.
So you're going to put achecklist on how to keep your
siding clean or tips to makesure your shower is safe for
(10:21):
guests this summer, somethingalong that.
Put it behind a form, at leastan email, capture that, and
that's one of the best ways tojust go ahead and grab
somebody's interest.
way to keep somebody'sinterest.
Once you've got their emailaddress, grab Sorry, I'm not
really finishing my thought, butnow that you've grabbed their
(10:43):
email, put them through an emailsequence.
Follow up with content that'sgoing to help them let this user
know that you know what you'retalking about.
So they've downloaded a guideon Windows for their kitchen.
Make sure that that guide isfollowed up with content about
(11:07):
Windows.
Janet (11:09):
So to be clear, you're not, at this stage, unless
somebody has gone ahead andasked for a quote, you're trying
to give people a reason to giveyou their contact information
because they've shown someinterest, but they may not be
ready to move to the next stepyet.
That's exactly,
Caitlyn (11:27):
yeah, no, yeah, cart before the horse, right?
If that's the saying.
It is.
Yeah.
They've seen you.
They know about you.
You brought awareness.
You piqued their awareness.
Now let's keep them interestedin who you are and what your
business can offer.
So you've got lead magnets.
You now are sending thememails.
(11:48):
I think like the top notchversion of this is possibly
inviting them to like, you know,maybe a showroom, a demo.
Yeah.
I know I've, you know, receivedpostcards in the mail for a
local window company.
company who wanted to like justbuy my husband and I drinks and
apps to learn more about I knowno
Speaker 03 (12:10):
way
Caitlyn (12:10):
yes at a little at a local bar I was nine months
pregnant so we didn't go but umbut like we didn't know this
company but this company knewthat our neighborhood was filled
with homes that needed windowreplacement and they invited us
to a
Janet (12:28):
demo to like a demo and a wine tasting yeah that's a
great idea you know years ago umOn a personal note, I remodeled
my kitchen.
It was probably the firstreally big home improvement
project I did.
It was in 2008, I think.
Looking back on it, I realizedwhat kind of ominous timing that
was.
But at the time, anyway, weremodeled our kitchen.
(12:50):
It was a huge investment for usat the time.
It was kind of scary.
There's a lot of moving partsand pieces to a full kitchen
remodel.
I mean, they ripped everythingout down to the studs.
You could see my crawl spacethrough the floor joist when
they were done with that firstdemo day.
I mean, it went down to thewires and the studs and there
was a dumpster in my driveway.
(13:10):
So from a homeowner'sperspective, that's a scary
project and it was a veryexpensive project and it was the
most...
money we'd ever spent on a homeimprovement project.
The company that we hiredprobably six months before I
hired them, they had myawareness.
I knew who they were, you know,local company, kitchen and bath
(13:32):
galleries here in Raleigh,North Carolina, Raleigh and
Cary, very well known, goodreputation, multiple showrooms
in our area.
They hosted, um, a free, Idon't even know what you call
it.
It was like an educationalevent.
Exactly.
It was like design your kitchen101.
And I went to that probablyfour to six months before we
(13:53):
were comfortable pulling thetrigger.
And in that event, it was onlike a Sunday afternoon.
They had drinks, they hadsnacks, and they had multiple
speakers.
And the speakers were like onespeaker was about picking
cabinets.
Another speaker was all aboutcountertops.
Another speaker was about likeworkflow and the work triangle
(14:16):
in your space.
You know, where the sink is,where the fridge is.
Anyway, this is right at thatinterest phase.
I wasn't ready to buy, but Iknew who they were and I was
interested and they offered me ahigh value way to interact and
engage with them that was lowrisk for me.
(14:38):
Exactly.
It was free for me.
And then I went on to spend$80,000 with them.
Absolutely.
Was there at the end of that,was there like a hard ask?
I mean, this has been so longago.
I'm sure there was, but at thetime, you know, I was I can't do
the math right now.
Let's say 18 years younger thanI am now.
Sure.
If there was a hard ask, I wassort of oblivious to it.
(15:03):
Sure, sure, sure.
Because I had not done many bighome improvement projects yet.
Sure, sure.
So it might have like flownover my head even though they
were putting me in their salesfunnel.
Totally, yeah.
I'm sure they were.
Caitlyn (15:15):
Claws in.
Janet (15:16):
Yeah, claws were in.
The hook was set.
They were reeling me in.
I was like a little floppingaround fish and didn't even know
it.
But I was happy to be caught.
Caitlyn (15:24):
Totally.
So if you don't have theresources, though, to host
something like that.
Yeah, what's a low-tech versionof that, a
Janet (15:31):
low-key
Caitlyn (15:31):
version?
A
Janet (15:32):
low, low, low-key version, literally.
The thing you said I think isbrilliant.
I didn't know that.
I didn't know that you and Johnwere invited to drinks.
Yeah.
So they invited everybody inyour neighborhood.
Yeah, yeah.
You had to
Caitlyn (15:44):
RSVP.
Janet (15:45):
Was it within, like, a good driving distance?
Yes, absolutely.
It was
Caitlyn (15:48):
at a local bar, like around the corner.
Janet (15:50):
This is brilliant.
So this was a windowreplacement company totally
targeting your neighborhood.
and your home was built when?
1990.
1990.
It's 2025.
Yeah, 35 years old.
So it's a 35-year-old home.
I've been to her neighborhood,by the way.
It's a very nice neighborhood.
She lives on a golf course.
It's swank.
They're older homes, butthey're nice older homes with
(16:12):
big yards.
So this company, this windowreplacement company, is totally
working their sales funnel.
They're really doing twothings.
They're doing that firsttwo-step, awareness and
interest.
And they're doing it...
Through outreach and education.
I love
Caitlyn (16:27):
it.
So that's low key.
I mean, that's still hosting anevent, but still, like, I think
a nice, you don't have to havea showroom, basically.
Janet (16:35):
You don't have to have a showroom.
Did they mail you theinvitation or did they stick it
on the flag in your mailbox?
Mail.
So it was the cost of a directmail piece, the cost of a list.
Unknown (16:44):
Yeah.
Janet (16:45):
And the cost of like the facility and the drinks.
Caitlyn (16:49):
Yeah,
Janet (16:50):
absolutely.
Caitlyn (16:51):
So not a very high cost.
No, no, it wasn't.
So we have awareness.
We have interest.
Janet (16:59):
Janet, what's the third stage?
Consideration.
So now you've got, if we'regoing to go back and forth
between all my wild metaphors.
Yeah.
You know, this is, you know, afish is swimming by your lure.
It's wiggled in the water.
They're like, I think I'm goingto bite.
I think I'm going to bite.
That's the consideration phase.
(17:19):
So if we're talking aboutoptimizing your sales funnel for
this consideration, they knowwho you are.
They're interested in gettingthis project done.
And now they've started toconsider your company.
What are they doing?
This is the point wherehomeowners are starting to
compare.
They're looking at you versusyour competitor.
They're looking at your offers,your history and your
(17:41):
background versus another localcontractor.
So how can you Right, right,right.
You can actually createcomparison pages on your
(18:10):
website.
Tell people what makes youdifferent from your local
competitors.
You can use retargeting ads tostay top of mind.
So as a reminder, you guys, youprobably know what a
remarketing or retargeting adis, but just quickly what it is,
someone comes to your website,they don't call you, they don't
fill out a form, and they leave.
(18:32):
Your agency can configure adsto show across all kinds of
websites, news websites, sportswebsites, social feeds, video
pre-roll, so that that homeowneris being reminded every day, oh
yeah, I was looking at thiscompany about replacing windows.
(18:53):
So retargeting ads is how youcan stay top of mind.
You can showcase and highlightyour company's track record,
history, and positive reviews.
So at this consideration stage,It's all about building trust
and credibility.
You have to show proof that youare the right choice.
(19:14):
So
Caitlyn (19:15):
I'll continue the story about the invitation to the
drinks and the demo, basicallyabout windows and why this
company, um, so spot on, like,are you going to get your
windows replaced?
We already did.
So, Oh, I know.
I know.
I thought about this.
Janet (19:31):
Um, I didn't know you got your windows replaced.
Oh yeah.
Well, look at you all growed
Caitlyn (19:35):
up.
Oh, So, but this kind of likeis, is funny and it kind of goes
along with this whole salesfunnel.
So this company, um, becauseobviously Janet and I have been
doing this for so many years,they're, they're a big player in
the area.
Um, I didn't want to go withthe cheapest.
I mean, and I did not withwindows.
(19:56):
No, I didn't.
And I didn't want to go with,um, honestly, a franchise.
Like I, and I just didn't like,and, and we have a local client
that I wanted to use.
Um, But that being said, thetiming was great.
They knew we had just moved in.
This company did.
We got invited to drinks.
They knew our home needed newwindows.
(20:19):
And they had alreadydemonstrated to you that they
were interested in serving yourneighborhood.
Exactly, exactly.
So that's great.
Personally, as I mentioned, thetiming wasn't right.
For us, it was summer, about tobe summer.
I was about to have my firstbaby.
We had just moved into thehouse.
Expenses were already what theywere.
(20:40):
I heard babies were cheap.
Free, yeah.
Janet (20:42):
Free.
Totally free.
I think they pay you,
Caitlyn (20:45):
don't they?
Yeah, we'll see.
Janet (20:47):
We'll
Caitlyn (20:48):
see how those taxes come back.
But that being said, so itwasn't out of mind, especially
as the summer started to, like,get super, super, super hot.
And downstairs got super hot.
And we were all inside allsummer because that's what you
do when you have a baby.
(21:08):
So
Janet (21:08):
you were– I'm just going so off script.
I know.
Here we are.
our consideration.
This is your like talking aboutjourneys and stages.
This is Caitlin becomes anadult where she's starting to
have thoughts about energyefficiency and like why the hell
is my air conditioner runningso much?
Why
Caitlyn (21:28):
is the air conditioning running so much?
Why is my bill so high?
I'm already hot and on fireanyways because you're like
horrible.
And these windows suck.
And these windows suck.
Oh and all of these bugs weregetting in my house and so
you're already Just like sosuper hypersensitive.
So that being said, we reachedout to that
Janet (21:47):
company.
We told them that.
So you had already done thedrinks thing or had been invited
to it.
You didn't go because you werepregnant.
Right.
Correct.
And just money.
Caitlyn (21:56):
Right.
But we told them like, hey,thanks for inviting us.
Not interested at this time,but maybe later on.
So cue this hot ass summer.
Yeah.
New baby, not knowing whatwe're doing.
That same company comes throughand we have like a thing on our
door that says, hey, baby issleeping.
(22:16):
Do not disturb.
They still knock on our door.
Got the dogs riled up, woke thebaby up.
This same company.
I haven't told you the storybecause I like blocked it all
out, honestly.
Like that to me lost thebusiness because I was already
Janet (22:36):
like, what other signs?
Yeah.
I was wondering where thisstory went.
I was thinking like knowingyou.
Yeah.
I could see you had kind ofearmarking in your head or
bookmarking in your head.
Like I'm going to replace mywindows.
I like this company.
I like their marketing.
Knowing you the way I know you,if they woke up your baby and
riled up your dogs, you willfire bomb their house.
(22:56):
Oh, I left them a Googlereview.
Yeah.
I
Caitlyn (23:00):
swear to you, and if you go...
I'm surprised you didn't takeout a mafia hit on their
extended family.
I did, and now that Googlereview has gotten a ton of likes
and appreciation.
Janet (23:11):
Okay, so here's a tip.
This is not in our scriptanywhere for this episode.
No.
If you have a Canvas team...
You need to talk to them aboutlooking for signs.
Like, is there a little storkthing in the yard?
Correct.
One of those little signs.
There was.
Like, hey, just had a baby.
Maybe don't knock on that door.
(23:33):
Or, like,
Caitlyn (23:34):
caution, loud dogs.
Right.
Like, just don't do it.
Yeah.
And so all of that to be said,we were talking about
consideration, like comparingcompetitors, et cetera.
So, like, they had my interest.
There was already awarenessthere.
But then they totally.
to drop the ball.
Totally drop the ball.
By knocking on your door.
And so like the considerationside of things was I knew this
(23:56):
was a company.
I knew it would like that wasreputable franchise.
The pricing would definitely belower than going with somebody
local.
But I wanted to go withsomebody that i knew i trusted
iris that respected you knowright not only me and my family
but they also had work done umhad done work in our
(24:17):
neighborhood too so i'm justtelling you that whole story
because you're wanting to buildtrust you're
Janet (24:23):
wanting to build credibility oh i think this is a
fantastic story because I don'tknow this for a fact, so I'm
just going to go out on a limb.
I'm going to guess that thecompanies that have canvassing
teams, I'm going to guess...
I'm just throwing this outthere.
At least...
Half or 75% of companies thathire canvassers, I'm guessing
(24:45):
you're hiring 1099 contractors.
These are not long-termemployees of your company, I'm
guessing.
You can contact us and tell ushow wrong we are if I'm totally
wrong about this.
But the point of my digressionhere is if you are this company
that Caitlin's talking about,you've got a fantastic website,
you've got 300 Google reviews,you've been in business 20
(25:09):
years, you've got a showroom,and now you've targeted her
really nice neighborhood on thisgolf course in an up-and-coming
area, a suburb of Raleigh.
A lot of good business can bedone out there.
So you've stacked up all of thecomponents of a great...
(25:29):
reputation and a greatmarketing campaign.
And then your 1099 contractorthat was poorly trained.
Yeah.
And I'm not blaming the doorknocker.
Correct.
I'm blaming whoever the fieldmanager was training, the field
manager and the training for,for like nailing into them.
Like here's, here's thescripting.
Here's what you do.
Here's what you don't do.
And I'm going to guess thatthose canvassers were probably
(25:53):
incentivized by the number ofdoors that they knocked.
Oh, for sure.
Not hot summer.
And it was hot.
And so they were probablycranky.
I'm just saying that you canhave a really great campaign and
you can have a really goodmarketing director and you can
do so many things right and thenlose an opportunity that kind
(26:16):
of falls through the cracksbecause of poor execution and
poor training with what I'mguessing was a 1099 canvasser
that might have only worked foryou for like two weeks.
I know.
Caitlyn (26:29):
And you know, like I, again, I do this for a living.
I, right.
So we're
Janet (26:34):
very
Caitlyn (26:34):
critical of it, you know, like for, for what we do
in terms of getting reviews andmaking sure your reputation and
your credibility and your, youknow, your proof and all of
that's on your website.
And so I knew what I was doingwhen I went on to leave that
review which I have found and Iwill let Janet read after we
finish recording this itliterally says 11 months ago
(26:56):
which is so funny because mybaby's going to be one in two
weeks so it was so so so so andso you were like out of my mind
Janet (27:03):
you were like the most stable you've ever been making
the best decisions you've evermade with the most sleep you've
ever had and not at allrecovering from a major life
event like
Caitlyn (27:17):
you were calm And, like, the moral of the story is,
like, I knew what I was doingwhen I left that review.
And so not only that.
I knew you burned somebody'shouse down.
I just didn't know how.
I did.
But that being said, like.
Just build a consideration.
Like, I already know who yourcompany is.
Like, you've already done agreat job with the marketing.
(27:37):
Just don't knock on my door.
Janet (27:39):
Don't knock on a door that's got one of those stork
signs in the yard.
Yeah.
Because the woman who just hadthat baby will never forgive
you.
Mean.
And she will hunt you down.
Okay.
Yes.
So we went way out.
So we were talking aboutconsideration.
Caitlin, the next one, stagefour of the funnel, is intent.
Intent.
So
Caitlyn (27:57):
they're almost there.
You know, I'm almost there.
I was, like, so ready, like, atthat point at the end of the
summer of to get new windows.
I already knew what company Iwas not going with.
That being said, you know, younow have that form submission
and they've requested quote orthey've called you.
Ways to really push somebodyover the edge, you know, if they
(28:20):
are comparing and priceshopping, free consultations,
limited offers or discounts.
I'm telling you guys, like,things are weird right now and
It's a hit or miss when I sayoffer something, don't offer
something.
And you'll know that ourclients will tell you that.
But right now, right now, a bigdiscount is performing well on
(28:44):
your website.
It is pushing somebody over theedge to choose your company
over a free consultation or afree lifetime warranty.
Offering $1,000 off, buy one,get one free, that's going to
help somebody make thatdecision.
Are
Janet (29:03):
any of your clients that you're working with running
overt messaging about Potentialcosts going up.
Like, lock your costs in now.
Lock in before themanufacturers, you know, put...
We've talked about it.
I mean, it's such a touchysubject.
I don't even want to say thetariff word.
(29:25):
Don't say the T word.
I mean, that's something that Ijust don't know if the
messaging is...
Yeah,
Caitlyn (29:33):
and I hope, like, if somebody's listening to this in
a year from now, it's adifferent story.
Um...
We have not.
We've talked to our clientsabout that exact messaging.
Lock in this price right now.
Before our costs go up.
Before our costs go up.
I think people are referringback to offers that worked
(29:54):
towards the end of last year,last summer.
Typically, summer are some ofthe slower times, so they're
doing their better offers.
I wouldn't be surprised if...
Not to go completely offsubject, but we see that...
tariff messaging come the falltoo.
Janet (30:12):
Yeah.
That's the sort of businessanalysis that I'm reading.
Yeah, yeah.
Is that's when...
consumers may start to see.
Oh, for sure.
Um, I keep reading stuff aboutback to school shopping.
Absolutely.
You know, when you really startto go back to school shopping,
you might not have the choicethat you know.
And then, you know, the storeis stocking for Christmas.
(30:34):
Right.
Um, so, so some of thosemessaging messages in terms of
discounts and offers, I guesswhat we're saying is we
anticipate that we'll just bedoing a lot of testing and
experimenting and we'll reportback and let you know.
Caitlyn (30:47):
But don't give up like Because if you've already made
the effort to build theawareness, build the intent, to
build the consideration, do notstop there.
Capture somebody with somecompelling messaging.
A time-based offer thatexpires.
Yeah, a time-based offer,visuals, et cetera.
(31:07):
So again, this is going toreinforce urgency and help those
people take the next step tomake sure it's just a
no-brainer, let's go with yourcompany.
Last stage in the sales funnel.
That's the purchase stage.
Janet (31:22):
It's the stage everybody wants to get to.
They try to very quickly.
Yeah, and I guess the mistake,and I've said this earlier in
the podcast, is where we seepeople wanting to skip all the
steps and go like, where's myleads, where's my sales?
We all want the same thing, butyou've got to give homeowners
respect and let them go throughtheir process.
So stage five is that purchasestage.
(31:43):
This is all about sealing thedeal.
You generated awareness, youcaptured a lead, you booked and
confirmed the appointment, don'tdrop the ball there.
So at this stage, what can youdo to dial in your sales funnel
at that final purchase stage?
The very first thing that werecommend is just really fine
(32:05):
tuning all of the follow uptouches from your team.
It needs to be fast, it needsto be clear.
You can work on this and tweakyour systems with call center
scripting when they call toconfirm the appointment.
You can tweak this withautomated text message reminders
(32:26):
and automated emails.
All of that communication atthis, you're almost at the
finish line.
It needs to be so clear, sofast, so dialed in.
Speaker 03 (32:35):
The
Janet (32:36):
other thing that you can do is really work on your
quoting and your contractprocess.
Your sales reps need to be sotrained and so confident and
really know how to work the roomwhen they're in those in-home
sales appointments.
So that in-home consultationcan make or break this deal.
(32:59):
If your marketing is deliveringthe leads, but your reps are
struggling to close those deals,now you have a data point where
you know where you can focusyour energy.
You don't need more leads.
You need to improve yourclosing ratio.
And the good news is that inthis industry that we all know
and love, there's so many greatresources to help you improve
(33:20):
your sales game at that finalstage of your sales funnel.
And I think that you can thinkabout improving this final stage
in two categories.
One category is training andthe other category is
technology.
So if you're thinking abouttraining organizations like Tony
Hody, you know, we don't dosales training.
(33:41):
We know others who do salestraining and Find somebody that
you really like and get someoutside expertise to help you
really dial in every step ofhow, when, where, and how
homeowners are beingcommunicated with.
And those sales trainers canhelp your team.
(34:01):
That's on the training side.
On the technology side, there'ssome really cool stuff out
there.
Like Engage, for example.
Engage with an eye.
That's the iPad salespresentation software where once
you get that deployed and inplace you can start to get some
metrics let's say you got a teamof 10 sales reps you can see
(34:25):
through technology like that howfar they got into the sales
presentation and then you canstart to map against okay the
reps that get all the waythrough the sales presentation
have a higher or lower closingratio and then you can start to
figure out well maybe mypresentation is too long right
so At this point, you're almostat the finish line.
(34:46):
There are tools and consultantsavailable to help you fine-tune
the purchase stage of yoursales funnel.
And we just encourage you toput systems in place to help you
know where to focus your energybecause this is a lifelong
(35:09):
pursuit, fine-tuning thisprocess.
So if your process here at theend is clunky, then you're just
losing money.
And you need to work on makingthis step for homeowners as easy
and frictionless as possible.
Caitlyn (35:22):
Yes.
I...
I'm trying to decide if we savethis part and do it as a
separate.
But we'll go through it.
So we just went through thefive stages of what sales funnel
looks like.
This last part of the episodeis optimizing the funnel.
What are some of the bestpractices?
(35:43):
Which we kind of touched onthroughout the episode.
Yeah, exactly.
So just fine-tuning your entirefunnel.
So you're going to analyze andrefine.
You're going to look at themetrics.
When are people dropping off?
The bounce rate is somethingyou should always be looking at.
Do they ghost you after gettinga quote on your website?
You can refine that.
What are some other bestpractices?
Janet (36:03):
Yeah, so...
I want to kind of underlinewhat Caitlin just said.
The analyze and refine is truefor all five stages.
Exactly.
You've got your awarenessstage, your consideration stage.
If you put the right systems inplace, you can see where are
people falling off and then youcan fix that part.
So you're analyzing, refiningevery stage.
(36:23):
The next thing you can do ispersonalize everything.
If you can tailor yourmessaging based on where the
homeowner is in their journey,then then it's just going to
resonate with them so much more.
So you can use CRM tools tosegment and deliver the right
message at the right time tothose leads.
And then, you know, kind ofgoing back to what Caitlin said,
(36:47):
analyze and refine that, youknow, our best practice is use
data, not your gut feelings.
I mean, your feelings are goingto change day to day, uh, based
on the last person you justtalked to.
If you're still running someappointments yourself, you're
going to come out of thoseappointments either on a high
cause you sold something orpissed off cause you didn't.
(37:08):
Um, try not to use those day today gut feelings to make big
decisions.
Instead, there's so manyanalytics tools heat maps call
tracking call recording that cangive you even like that engage
presentation tool I was talkingabout at every stage in the
funnel there are usually so manytools that you have trouble
(37:30):
picking them but if you can getthe right ones in place then you
can use data and not feelingsto continue to refine this whole
journey for your customersCaitlin what are some other
Caitlyn (37:42):
best practices best practices We've already kind of
said it.
I'm going to combine these andalso just echo again what
Janet's been saying, butleverage technology.
We've mentioned a couple ofdifferent technology partners.
I mean, there's a lot of heatmapping tools, like Janet said,
that also exist, call trackingtools, presentation tools.
(38:03):
There's landing page tools, youname it, where you can use
technology to see what works,what doesn't work.
I mean, it could be as simpleas the color of a button.
It could be, I mean, we justran this experiment for a client
out in California, but twoseparate offers.
Like one was a- So you A-Btested the offers.
(38:24):
Yeah, exactly.
We A-B tested the offers.
One was a 50% off installation.
Another one was $2,050 offinstallation.
I'll let you guess which oneworked.
But you can test that.
There are tools out there,leveraged technology.
2050, that's a weird number.
2050?
I know, but hey.
Okay.
I know.
And then I'm like, is it likebecause we're in 2000?
(38:47):
I don't
Janet (38:49):
know.
They may not go through allfive, but they're going to go
(39:22):
through at least three of thembefore they write you a check or
give you their credit card.
I guess what we want you toknow is that optimizing your
sales funnel is not a one timeproject.
Honestly, as an entrepreneur,this is your life's work.
Yes.
This is it.
And it never ends.
Think of it more like a dailypractice.
(39:42):
You brush your teeth every day.
You comb your hair every day.
That's what optimizing yoursales funnel is.
You're always working on it.
So it's not a project with astart and end date.
But with the right tweaks inthe right places, you can double
or even triple your conversionrates at different stages
without having to double yourmarketing budget.
(40:04):
So it is a worthwhile practiceto shoe.
So if your business isgenerating leads, but they're
not turning enough of them intocustomers, this is your
opportunity to refine yourfunnel, remove friction, align
your sales team, and turn thoseclicks into contracts.
Oh, that's cute.
Caitlyn (40:25):
Next week.
Next week.
Yeah.
What are we talking about nextweek?
So we're going to tackle adecision that can quite
literally make or break yournext stage of growth.
We've talked about it in partone.
We're going to love it.
level it up and talk about itin part two, how to choose the
right digital marketing agencyas your business scales.
(40:46):
So you've likely outgrown theset it and forget it marketing
vendors if you even have amarketing vendor.
But now you need a strategicpartner that truly understands
where your business is headedand how to help you get there
faster.
Janet (41:00):
So thank you.
Thank you so much for yourtime.
Thank you for joining us onanother episode.
If you've gotten value fromtoday's episode, please do us a
quick favor.
It helps us deliver morecontent like this.
It helps the algorithm so thatother people can find us.
Leave us a five-star review onApple or Spotify.
It helps other contractors likeyou find the show and it keeps
(41:21):
us bringing you better contentevery week.
Thank you so much.
And I hope you join us again.
Thanks y'all.
Speaker 00 (41:29):
Digital marketing for contractors is created by
Fat Cat Strategies.
For more information, visitfatcatstrategies.com.
Welcome to Digital Marketing for Contractors.
This podcast is brought to youby Fat Cat Strategies, a
full-service digital marketingagency based in Raleigh, North
Carolina.
We specialize in helping homeimprovement contractors just
like you grow their businesses.
Janet (00:17):
Today, you're listening to a series called Build, Grow,
Dominate, marketing strategiesfor every stage of your home
improvement business.
Every Wednesday, we take a deepdive into the lessons that
we've learned from supportingsome amazing business owners.
in the home improvementindustry.
Caitlyn (00:34):
In part one, we'll cover the essentials from
startup to your first fivemillion.
In part two, we're shiftinggears to focus on what it takes
to scale your business to asuccessful exit and or how to
dominate your market.
Now let's get into it.
Janet (00:49):
Hey, I'm Janet, the founder here at Fat Cat
Strategies, and today I amjoined by my colleague, Caitlin
Noble.
Hey, I
Caitlyn (00:57):
am Caitlin, the head of client services.
That was a little enthusiastic,but we'll roll with it.
It's the first day back afterMemorial Day, if you're
listening.
It is, and I'm enthusiastic.
I can't help it.
And it's summer.
But y'all are probablylistening to this.
It might be mid-June.
Anyways, let's get into it.
We're super excited today.
We are kicking off.
(01:17):
I'm reading Janet's line, butI'm going to go ahead and do it.
We are kicking off part two ofour Build, Grow, Dominate
series.
Janet, what is part two?
Janet (01:26):
In this two-part series, in the last several episodes, we
had a bunch of contenttargeting what we call a level
one contractor.
You're getting started.
You may be wearing all thehats.
You're building your business.
You are building your business.
Today, we are transitioninginto a whole new batch of
content.
We've got a great series ofepisodes, and we are focusing on
(01:49):
what we like to I call it leveltwo business, and that's where
you are growing.
You've already established thebusiness, and now you are
growing and scaling.
We have content for you.
You've already built a solidbusiness foundation, and now you
wanna sharpen, optimize, andscale.
You've got revenue, you've gota presence in your market, and
now it's up to you to figure outhow to convert those online
(02:12):
leads into paying customers.
So today's episode is all aboutyour sales funnel and how to
structure it.
how to optimize it, and how toget better digital conversion
rates out of the marketing thatwe know you're already doing.
So Caitlin, help us break itdown.
Caitlyn (02:29):
Yeah, I love this topic, and I love that this is
how we're kicking off the growthversion of this series.
Since we've built, now let'sgrow.
So what is a sales funnel?
Think of your sales funnel asthe journey your customers take
from the first time theydiscover your business to the
moment that they sign acontract.
(02:49):
A good sales funnel isn't justabout collecting leads.
It's about guiding those leadsstep by step, removing friction
at every stage, and creatingmoments that build trust and
motivate action.
Y'all may probably know this.
There's some amazing salespartners, tools, leaders.
I think Dave Yoho comes to mindand what the Yoho team has
(03:12):
done, Tony Hody, et cetera, whohave really, really helped you
guys start to understand andbuild your sales funnels.
There are four or five corestages within a sales funnel,
awareness, interest,consideration, intent, and
purchase.
We're gonna break down eachstage and what you can do to
optimize it.
Janet (03:33):
I love that, Caitlin.
You know I like to repeatthings because I'm usually the
slow person in the car.
So what we're doing today iswe're going to break down and
talk about these five stages,awareness, interest,
consideration, intent, andpurchase.
And this is the journey thatyour customers go through before
they buy from you.
So in that first stage thatwe're calling awareness, Let's
(03:56):
talk a little bit about whatthat is and what you can do to
optimize that part of your salesfunnel.
So awareness, this is the stagewhere people first hear about
your business.
It could be through a Googlesearch.
Maybe they saw a Facebook ad.
They could have seen one ofyour yard signs or one of your
(04:16):
wrapped trucks.
So if you're thinking about howto optimize the awareness stage
of this five-stage funnel,let's look at what you can dial
in and tweak in the awarenessstage.
Well, SEO is a great tool orweapon in this awareness stage.
(04:38):
You are optimizing for allkinds of of keywords,
long-tailed keywords.
You are trying to capturesomebody who is just at the
beginning of their research,trying to solve their problems,
and you want your company toshow up on their searches.
So SEO is one thing you can doto dial in your awareness.
Caitlyn (04:56):
I'll interrupt too.
Go for it.
Just because you said that, andI know if you have listened to
part one of this podcast, wealso have several other episodes
about SEO and how important SEOis.
I think that's a reallyimportant note though, aware if
you have your trucks wrapped, ifyou've paid for that, if you've
paid for these yard signs, youwant to make sure your business
(05:19):
shows up.
Right.
I mean, like, I know it soundsas simple as that, but it's not
as simple as that.
Janet (05:24):
Oh, you, you're talking about like a branded search.
Yes.
Oh, okay.
I see.
You're tying them to the twotogether.
So you've paid the money towrap your side, your, your
trucks.
You've bought these beautifulyard signs.
If someone sees your name inthe neighborhood and then they
Google your business name, makesure it shows up.
Caitlyn (05:43):
Correct.
And it doesn't just show up.
Right.
That it shows up.
Well, yeah.
Tune into some of our otherepisodes just to learn more
about how to make your SEO workalongside your brand name.
So sorry, we're building out ofawareness.
Janet (05:55):
Yeah.
So awareness, what, you know,if, if this whole episode is
about taking these five steps ofyour funnel and then giving you
tools to dial in and tweak eachstep in that awareness step,
really dig into your SEO.
The other thing that you candig into is your social media
content.
Um, especially your socialmedia that showcases real
(06:19):
projects with real photos.
Make that interesting andshareable.
Your Google and meta ads withlocalized, meaning
geographically localizedtargeting, that's going to help
you build that awareness in yourtarget geographies that you
want to install jobs in.
Caitlyn (06:38):
I'll give another quick example while we're going
through this.
You know, if you are expandinginto new locations, if you, I
guess that's the best way to doit, use Meta.
If you have an agency or youdon't have an agency, use Meta
to make sure you're doing thatlocalized targeting.
Don't expect you're going toget leads, but do a literally,
(06:58):
Meta calls it a brand awarenesscampaign to announce that you
are in this new location.
So it's called awareness for areason.
Right.
Janet (07:06):
Yeah.
So on that awareness front,this is, and I'm going to go a
little bit off script here.
This is where, um, I think alot of contractors, you guys are
so, aggressive in a good wayand you're competitive in a good
way and you're action orientedin a good way and your results
(07:28):
oriented in a good way and youwant to jump straight to the
point.
Where's my lead?
Before a homeowner is willingto give you money, you got to
kind of warm them up.
Right.
You're like, yeah, you know,you're not going to marry a girl
on the first date.
Well, same situation.
Well, I guess some of you mayhave, I don't know.
Grandparents in
Caitlyn (07:44):
the,
Janet (07:44):
yeah, no judgment here, but like if we're using a dating
analogy, you know, you've gotto, you've got to build up to
that.
That's what this awarenessstage is.
You've got to like, who is thiscompany?
Are they in business?
SEO, social media, Google, andmeta ads.
To Caitlin's point, those brandawareness ads.
(08:04):
And then on the offline part ofit, you know, really consistent
visual branding acrosseverything.
Make your yard signs look likeyour trucks.
Make your trucks look like thesign hanging over your physical
office or showroom.
Make that look like yourwebsite.
Make that look like your ads.
It all looks the same.
(08:25):
We've
Caitlyn (08:26):
even had, you know, clients who run radio ads and
we've had like that slogan fromthe radio ad on the homepage
hero so when somebody goes tothat client's website they're
like oh you're helping them makethat
Janet (08:39):
mental
Caitlyn (08:40):
connection
Janet (08:41):
and it reads the same as the radio ad does okay so on
this first stage in this fivestage journey of your sales
funnel funnel awareness what'sthe goal here your only goal is
to get on their radar correctdon't try to jump to the chase
and sell them something rightout of the gate they ain't ready
for that Your goal is to get ontheir radar.
You want potential customersand homeowners in your area to
(09:04):
first of all, know that youexist, And you specialize in
solving their problem.
And that's the awareness stage.
Caitlin, what is the nextstage?
Remind everybody.
So the second
Caitlyn (09:14):
stage in this sales funnel process is the interest.
It's now that you're on thesite, now that you've gained
their interest, they've seenyour yard sign, you know, maybe
they visited your website,visited your website, you've got
some good social, etc.
You know, they may be reading ablog post or checking out a
gallery.
(09:35):
The goal is to capture thatinterest so they've seen you
they've heard about you they'venow visited your site how do we
continue to spark that interestso there's a couple different
tactics that you can use um thatwe recommend as well for the
digital side of things leadmagnets that is going to be
probably our most favorite umthose are going to be uh either
(09:59):
by hidden probably behind a formso right now like you've got
somebody's interest you want tohave their contact in
information, obviously, whetherit's a phone number or email.
So you're going to put achecklist on how to keep your
siding clean or tips to makesure your shower is safe for
(10:21):
guests this summer, somethingalong that.
Put it behind a form, at leastan email, capture that, and
that's one of the best ways tojust go ahead and grab
somebody's interest.
way to keep somebody'sinterest.
Once you've got their emailaddress, grab Sorry, I'm not
really finishing my thought, butnow that you've grabbed their
(10:43):
email, put them through an emailsequence.
Follow up with content that'sgoing to help them let this user
know that you know what you'retalking about.
So they've downloaded a guideon Windows for their kitchen.
Make sure that that guide isfollowed up with content about
(11:07):
Windows.
Janet (11:09):
So to be clear, you're not, at this stage, unless
somebody has gone ahead andasked for a quote, you're trying
to give people a reason to giveyou their contact information
because they've shown someinterest, but they may not be
ready to move to the next stepyet.
That's exactly,
Caitlyn (11:27):
yeah, no, yeah, cart before the horse, right?
If that's the saying.
It is.
Yeah.
They've seen you.
They know about you.
You brought awareness.
You piqued their awareness.
Now let's keep them interestedin who you are and what your
business can offer.
So you've got lead magnets.
You now are sending thememails.
(11:48):
I think like the top notchversion of this is possibly
inviting them to like, you know,maybe a showroom, a demo.
Yeah.
I know I've, you know, receivedpostcards in the mail for a
local window company.
company who wanted to like justbuy my husband and I drinks and
apps to learn more about I knowno
Speaker 03 (12:10):
way
Caitlyn (12:10):
yes at a little at a local bar I was nine months
pregnant so we didn't go but umbut like we didn't know this
company but this company knewthat our neighborhood was filled
with homes that needed windowreplacement and they invited us
to a
Janet (12:28):
demo to like a demo and a wine tasting yeah that's a
great idea you know years ago umOn a personal note, I remodeled
my kitchen.
It was probably the firstreally big home improvement
project I did.
It was in 2008, I think.
Looking back on it, I realizedwhat kind of ominous timing that
was.
But at the time, anyway, weremodeled our kitchen.
(12:50):
It was a huge investment for usat the time.
It was kind of scary.
There's a lot of moving partsand pieces to a full kitchen
remodel.
I mean, they ripped everythingout down to the studs.
You could see my crawl spacethrough the floor joist when
they were done with that firstdemo day.
I mean, it went down to thewires and the studs and there
was a dumpster in my driveway.
(13:10):
So from a homeowner'sperspective, that's a scary
project and it was a veryexpensive project and it was the
most...
money we'd ever spent on a homeimprovement project.
The company that we hiredprobably six months before I
hired them, they had myawareness.
I knew who they were, you know,local company, kitchen and bath
(13:32):
galleries here in Raleigh,North Carolina, Raleigh and
Cary, very well known, goodreputation, multiple showrooms
in our area.
They hosted, um, a free, Idon't even know what you call
it.
It was like an educationalevent.
Exactly.
It was like design your kitchen101.
And I went to that probablyfour to six months before we
(13:53):
were comfortable pulling thetrigger.
And in that event, it was onlike a Sunday afternoon.
They had drinks, they hadsnacks, and they had multiple
speakers.
And the speakers were like onespeaker was about picking
cabinets.
Another speaker was all aboutcountertops.
Another speaker was about likeworkflow and the work triangle
(14:16):
in your space.
You know, where the sink is,where the fridge is.
Anyway, this is right at thatinterest phase.
I wasn't ready to buy, but Iknew who they were and I was
interested and they offered me ahigh value way to interact and
engage with them that was lowrisk for me.
(14:38):
Exactly.
It was free for me.
And then I went on to spend$80,000 with them.
Absolutely.
Was there at the end of that,was there like a hard ask?
I mean, this has been so longago.
I'm sure there was, but at thetime, you know, I was I can't do
the math right now.
Let's say 18 years younger thanI am now.
Sure.
If there was a hard ask, I wassort of oblivious to it.
(15:03):
Sure, sure, sure.
Because I had not done many bighome improvement projects yet.
Sure, sure.
So it might have like flownover my head even though they
were putting me in their salesfunnel.
Totally, yeah.
I'm sure they were.
Caitlyn (15:15):
Claws in.
Janet (15:16):
Yeah, claws were in.
The hook was set.
They were reeling me in.
I was like a little floppingaround fish and didn't even know
it.
But I was happy to be caught.
Caitlyn (15:24):
Totally.
So if you don't have theresources, though, to host
something like that.
Yeah, what's a low-tech versionof that, a
Janet (15:31):
low-key
Caitlyn (15:31):
version?
A
Janet (15:32):
low, low, low-key version, literally.
The thing you said I think isbrilliant.
I didn't know that.
I didn't know that you and Johnwere invited to drinks.
Yeah.
So they invited everybody inyour neighborhood.
Yeah, yeah.
You had to
Caitlyn (15:44):
RSVP.
Janet (15:45):
Was it within, like, a good driving distance?
Yes, absolutely.
It was
Caitlyn (15:48):
at a local bar, like around the corner.
Janet (15:50):
This is brilliant.
So this was a windowreplacement company totally
targeting your neighborhood.
and your home was built when?
1990.
1990.
It's 2025.
Yeah, 35 years old.
So it's a 35-year-old home.
I've been to her neighborhood,by the way.
It's a very nice neighborhood.
She lives on a golf course.
It's swank.
They're older homes, butthey're nice older homes with
(16:12):
big yards.
So this company, this windowreplacement company, is totally
working their sales funnel.
They're really doing twothings.
They're doing that firsttwo-step, awareness and
interest.
And they're doing it...
Through outreach and education.
I love
Caitlyn (16:27):
it.
So that's low key.
I mean, that's still hosting anevent, but still, like, I think
a nice, you don't have to havea showroom, basically.
Janet (16:35):
You don't have to have a showroom.
Did they mail you theinvitation or did they stick it
on the flag in your mailbox?
Mail.
So it was the cost of a directmail piece, the cost of a list.
Unknown (16:44):
Yeah.
Janet (16:45):
And the cost of like the facility and the drinks.
Caitlyn (16:49):
Yeah,
Janet (16:50):
absolutely.
Caitlyn (16:51):
So not a very high cost.
No, no, it wasn't.
So we have awareness.
We have interest.
Janet (16:59):
Janet, what's the third stage?
Consideration.
So now you've got, if we'regoing to go back and forth
between all my wild metaphors.
Yeah.
You know, this is, you know, afish is swimming by your lure.
It's wiggled in the water.
They're like, I think I'm goingto bite.
I think I'm going to bite.
That's the consideration phase.
(17:19):
So if we're talking aboutoptimizing your sales funnel for
this consideration, they knowwho you are.
They're interested in gettingthis project done.
And now they've started toconsider your company.
What are they doing?
This is the point wherehomeowners are starting to
compare.
They're looking at you versusyour competitor.
They're looking at your offers,your history and your
(17:41):
background versus another localcontractor.
So how can you Right, right,right.
You can actually createcomparison pages on your
(18:10):
website.
Tell people what makes youdifferent from your local
competitors.
You can use retargeting ads tostay top of mind.
So as a reminder, you guys, youprobably know what a
remarketing or retargeting adis, but just quickly what it is,
someone comes to your website,they don't call you, they don't
fill out a form, and they leave.
(18:32):
Your agency can configure adsto show across all kinds of
websites, news websites, sportswebsites, social feeds, video
pre-roll, so that that homeowneris being reminded every day, oh
yeah, I was looking at thiscompany about replacing windows.
(18:53):
So retargeting ads is how youcan stay top of mind.
You can showcase and highlightyour company's track record,
history, and positive reviews.
So at this consideration stage,It's all about building trust
and credibility.
You have to show proof that youare the right choice.
(19:14):
So
Caitlyn (19:15):
I'll continue the story about the invitation to the
drinks and the demo, basicallyabout windows and why this
company, um, so spot on, like,are you going to get your
windows replaced?
We already did.
So, Oh, I know.
I know.
I thought about this.
Janet (19:31):
Um, I didn't know you got your windows replaced.
Oh yeah.
Well, look at you all growed
Caitlyn (19:35):
up.
Oh, So, but this kind of likeis, is funny and it kind of goes
along with this whole salesfunnel.
So this company, um, becauseobviously Janet and I have been
doing this for so many years,they're, they're a big player in
the area.
Um, I didn't want to go withthe cheapest.
I mean, and I did not withwindows.
(19:56):
No, I didn't.
And I didn't want to go with,um, honestly, a franchise.
Like I, and I just didn't like,and, and we have a local client
that I wanted to use.
Um, But that being said, thetiming was great.
They knew we had just moved in.
This company did.
We got invited to drinks.
They knew our home needed newwindows.
(20:19):
And they had alreadydemonstrated to you that they
were interested in serving yourneighborhood.
Exactly, exactly.
So that's great.
Personally, as I mentioned, thetiming wasn't right.
For us, it was summer, about tobe summer.
I was about to have my firstbaby.
We had just moved into thehouse.
Expenses were already what theywere.
(20:40):
I heard babies were cheap.
Free, yeah.
Janet (20:42):
Free.
Totally free.
I think they pay you,
Caitlyn (20:45):
don't they?
Yeah, we'll see.
Janet (20:47):
We'll
Caitlyn (20:48):
see how those taxes come back.
But that being said, so itwasn't out of mind, especially
as the summer started to, like,get super, super, super hot.
And downstairs got super hot.
And we were all inside allsummer because that's what you
do when you have a baby.
(21:08):
So
Janet (21:08):
you were– I'm just going so off script.
I know.
Here we are.
our consideration.
This is your like talking aboutjourneys and stages.
This is Caitlin becomes anadult where she's starting to
have thoughts about energyefficiency and like why the hell
is my air conditioner runningso much?
Why
Caitlyn (21:28):
is the air conditioning running so much?
Why is my bill so high?
I'm already hot and on fireanyways because you're like
horrible.
And these windows suck.
And these windows suck.
Oh and all of these bugs weregetting in my house and so
you're already Just like sosuper hypersensitive.
So that being said, we reachedout to that
Janet (21:47):
company.
We told them that.
So you had already done thedrinks thing or had been invited
to it.
You didn't go because you werepregnant.
Right.
Correct.
And just money.
Caitlyn (21:56):
Right.
But we told them like, hey,thanks for inviting us.
Not interested at this time,but maybe later on.
So cue this hot ass summer.
Yeah.
New baby, not knowing whatwe're doing.
That same company comes throughand we have like a thing on our
door that says, hey, baby issleeping.
(22:16):
Do not disturb.
They still knock on our door.
Got the dogs riled up, woke thebaby up.
This same company.
I haven't told you the storybecause I like blocked it all
out, honestly.
Like that to me lost thebusiness because I was already
Janet (22:36):
like, what other signs?
Yeah.
I was wondering where thisstory went.
I was thinking like knowingyou.
Yeah.
I could see you had kind ofearmarking in your head or
bookmarking in your head.
Like I'm going to replace mywindows.
I like this company.
I like their marketing.
Knowing you the way I know you,if they woke up your baby and
riled up your dogs, you willfire bomb their house.
(22:56):
Oh, I left them a Googlereview.
Yeah.
I
Caitlyn (23:00):
swear to you, and if you go...
I'm surprised you didn't takeout a mafia hit on their
extended family.
I did, and now that Googlereview has gotten a ton of likes
and appreciation.
Janet (23:11):
Okay, so here's a tip.
This is not in our scriptanywhere for this episode.
No.
If you have a Canvas team...
You need to talk to them aboutlooking for signs.
Like, is there a little storkthing in the yard?
Correct.
One of those little signs.
There was.
Like, hey, just had a baby.
Maybe don't knock on that door.
(23:33):
Or, like,
Caitlyn (23:34):
caution, loud dogs.
Right.
Like, just don't do it.
Yeah.
And so all of that to be said,we were talking about
consideration, like comparingcompetitors, et cetera.
So, like, they had my interest.
There was already awarenessthere.
But then they totally.
to drop the ball.
Totally drop the ball.
By knocking on your door.
And so like the considerationside of things was I knew this
(23:56):
was a company.
I knew it would like that wasreputable franchise.
The pricing would definitely belower than going with somebody
local.
But I wanted to go withsomebody that i knew i trusted
iris that respected you knowright not only me and my family
but they also had work done umhad done work in our
(24:17):
neighborhood too so i'm justtelling you that whole story
because you're wanting to buildtrust you're
Janet (24:23):
wanting to build credibility oh i think this is a
fantastic story because I don'tknow this for a fact, so I'm
just going to go out on a limb.
I'm going to guess that thecompanies that have canvassing
teams, I'm going to guess...
I'm just throwing this outthere.
At least...
Half or 75% of companies thathire canvassers, I'm guessing
(24:45):
you're hiring 1099 contractors.
These are not long-termemployees of your company, I'm
guessing.
You can contact us and tell ushow wrong we are if I'm totally
wrong about this.
But the point of my digressionhere is if you are this company
that Caitlin's talking about,you've got a fantastic website,
you've got 300 Google reviews,you've been in business 20
(25:09):
years, you've got a showroom,and now you've targeted her
really nice neighborhood on thisgolf course in an up-and-coming
area, a suburb of Raleigh.
A lot of good business can bedone out there.
So you've stacked up all of thecomponents of a great...
(25:29):
reputation and a greatmarketing campaign.
And then your 1099 contractorthat was poorly trained.
Yeah.
And I'm not blaming the doorknocker.
Correct.
I'm blaming whoever the fieldmanager was training, the field
manager and the training for,for like nailing into them.
Like here's, here's thescripting.
Here's what you do.
Here's what you don't do.
And I'm going to guess thatthose canvassers were probably
(25:53):
incentivized by the number ofdoors that they knocked.
Oh, for sure.
Not hot summer.
And it was hot.
And so they were probablycranky.
I'm just saying that you canhave a really great campaign and
you can have a really goodmarketing director and you can
do so many things right and thenlose an opportunity that kind
(26:16):
of falls through the cracksbecause of poor execution and
poor training with what I'mguessing was a 1099 canvasser
that might have only worked foryou for like two weeks.
I know.
Caitlyn (26:29):
And you know, like I, again, I do this for a living.
I, right.
So we're
Janet (26:34):
very
Caitlyn (26:34):
critical of it, you know, like for, for what we do
in terms of getting reviews andmaking sure your reputation and
your credibility and your, youknow, your proof and all of
that's on your website.
And so I knew what I was doingwhen I went on to leave that
review which I have found and Iwill let Janet read after we
finish recording this itliterally says 11 months ago
(26:56):
which is so funny because mybaby's going to be one in two
weeks so it was so so so so andso you were like out of my mind
Janet (27:03):
you were like the most stable you've ever been making
the best decisions you've evermade with the most sleep you've
ever had and not at allrecovering from a major life
event like
Caitlyn (27:17):
you were calm And, like, the moral of the story is,
like, I knew what I was doingwhen I left that review.
And so not only that.
I knew you burned somebody'shouse down.
I just didn't know how.
I did.
But that being said, like.
Just build a consideration.
Like, I already know who yourcompany is.
Like, you've already done agreat job with the marketing.
(27:37):
Just don't knock on my door.
Janet (27:39):
Don't knock on a door that's got one of those stork
signs in the yard.
Yeah.
Because the woman who just hadthat baby will never forgive
you.
Mean.
And she will hunt you down.
Okay.
Yes.
So we went way out.
So we were talking aboutconsideration.
Caitlin, the next one, stagefour of the funnel, is intent.
Intent.
So
Caitlyn (27:57):
they're almost there.
You know, I'm almost there.
I was, like, so ready, like, atthat point at the end of the
summer of to get new windows.
I already knew what company Iwas not going with.
That being said, you know, younow have that form submission
and they've requested quote orthey've called you.
Ways to really push somebodyover the edge, you know, if they
(28:20):
are comparing and priceshopping, free consultations,
limited offers or discounts.
I'm telling you guys, like,things are weird right now and
It's a hit or miss when I sayoffer something, don't offer
something.
And you'll know that ourclients will tell you that.
But right now, right now, a bigdiscount is performing well on
(28:44):
your website.
It is pushing somebody over theedge to choose your company
over a free consultation or afree lifetime warranty.
Offering $1,000 off, buy one,get one free, that's going to
help somebody make thatdecision.
Are
Janet (29:03):
any of your clients that you're working with running
overt messaging about Potentialcosts going up.
Like, lock your costs in now.
Lock in before themanufacturers, you know, put...
We've talked about it.
I mean, it's such a touchysubject.
I don't even want to say thetariff word.
(29:25):
Don't say the T word.
I mean, that's something that Ijust don't know if the
messaging is...
Yeah,
Caitlyn (29:33):
and I hope, like, if somebody's listening to this in
a year from now, it's adifferent story.
Um...
We have not.
We've talked to our clientsabout that exact messaging.
Lock in this price right now.
Before our costs go up.
Before our costs go up.
I think people are referringback to offers that worked
(29:54):
towards the end of last year,last summer.
Typically, summer are some ofthe slower times, so they're
doing their better offers.
I wouldn't be surprised if...
Not to go completely offsubject, but we see that...
tariff messaging come the falltoo.
Janet (30:12):
Yeah.
That's the sort of businessanalysis that I'm reading.
Yeah, yeah.
Is that's when...
consumers may start to see.
Oh, for sure.
Um, I keep reading stuff aboutback to school shopping.
Absolutely.
You know, when you really startto go back to school shopping,
you might not have the choicethat you know.
And then, you know, the storeis stocking for Christmas.
(30:34):
Right.
Um, so, so some of thosemessaging messages in terms of
discounts and offers, I guesswhat we're saying is we
anticipate that we'll just bedoing a lot of testing and
experimenting and we'll reportback and let you know.
Caitlyn (30:47):
But don't give up like Because if you've already made
the effort to build theawareness, build the intent, to
build the consideration, do notstop there.
Capture somebody with somecompelling messaging.
A time-based offer thatexpires.
Yeah, a time-based offer,visuals, et cetera.
(31:07):
So again, this is going toreinforce urgency and help those
people take the next step tomake sure it's just a
no-brainer, let's go with yourcompany.
Last stage in the sales funnel.
That's the purchase stage.
Janet (31:22):
It's the stage everybody wants to get to.
They try to very quickly.
Yeah, and I guess the mistake,and I've said this earlier in
the podcast, is where we seepeople wanting to skip all the
steps and go like, where's myleads, where's my sales?
We all want the same thing, butyou've got to give homeowners
respect and let them go throughtheir process.
So stage five is that purchasestage.
(31:43):
This is all about sealing thedeal.
You generated awareness, youcaptured a lead, you booked and
confirmed the appointment, don'tdrop the ball there.
So at this stage, what can youdo to dial in your sales funnel
at that final purchase stage?
The very first thing that werecommend is just really fine
(32:05):
tuning all of the follow uptouches from your team.
It needs to be fast, it needsto be clear.
You can work on this and tweakyour systems with call center
scripting when they call toconfirm the appointment.
You can tweak this withautomated text message reminders
(32:26):
and automated emails.
All of that communication atthis, you're almost at the
finish line.
It needs to be so clear, sofast, so dialed in.
Speaker 03 (32:35):
The
Janet (32:36):
other thing that you can do is really work on your
quoting and your contractprocess.
Your sales reps need to be sotrained and so confident and
really know how to work the roomwhen they're in those in-home
sales appointments.
So that in-home consultationcan make or break this deal.
(32:59):
If your marketing is deliveringthe leads, but your reps are
struggling to close those deals,now you have a data point where
you know where you can focusyour energy.
You don't need more leads.
You need to improve yourclosing ratio.
And the good news is that inthis industry that we all know
and love, there's so many greatresources to help you improve
(33:20):
your sales game at that finalstage of your sales funnel.
And I think that you can thinkabout improving this final stage
in two categories.
One category is training andthe other category is
technology.
So if you're thinking abouttraining organizations like Tony
Hody, you know, we don't dosales training.
(33:41):
We know others who do salestraining and Find somebody that
you really like and get someoutside expertise to help you
really dial in every step ofhow, when, where, and how
homeowners are beingcommunicated with.
And those sales trainers canhelp your team.
(34:01):
That's on the training side.
On the technology side, there'ssome really cool stuff out
there.
Like Engage, for example.
Engage with an eye.
That's the iPad salespresentation software where once
you get that deployed and inplace you can start to get some
metrics let's say you got a teamof 10 sales reps you can see
(34:25):
through technology like that howfar they got into the sales
presentation and then you canstart to map against okay the
reps that get all the waythrough the sales presentation
have a higher or lower closingratio and then you can start to
figure out well maybe mypresentation is too long right
so At this point, you're almostat the finish line.
(34:46):
There are tools and consultantsavailable to help you fine-tune
the purchase stage of yoursales funnel.
And we just encourage you toput systems in place to help you
know where to focus your energybecause this is a lifelong
(35:09):
pursuit, fine-tuning thisprocess.
So if your process here at theend is clunky, then you're just
losing money.
And you need to work on makingthis step for homeowners as easy
and frictionless as possible.
Caitlyn (35:22):
Yes.
I...
I'm trying to decide if we savethis part and do it as a
separate.
But we'll go through it.
So we just went through thefive stages of what sales funnel
looks like.
This last part of the episodeis optimizing the funnel.
What are some of the bestpractices?
(35:43):
Which we kind of touched onthroughout the episode.
Yeah, exactly.
So just fine-tuning your entirefunnel.
So you're going to analyze andrefine.
You're going to look at themetrics.
When are people dropping off?
The bounce rate is somethingyou should always be looking at.
Do they ghost you after gettinga quote on your website?
You can refine that.
What are some other bestpractices?
Janet (36:03):
Yeah, so...
I want to kind of underlinewhat Caitlin just said.
The analyze and refine is truefor all five stages.
Exactly.
You've got your awarenessstage, your consideration stage.
If you put the right systems inplace, you can see where are
people falling off and then youcan fix that part.
So you're analyzing, refiningevery stage.
(36:23):
The next thing you can do ispersonalize everything.
If you can tailor yourmessaging based on where the
homeowner is in their journey,then then it's just going to
resonate with them so much more.
So you can use CRM tools tosegment and deliver the right
message at the right time tothose leads.
And then, you know, kind ofgoing back to what Caitlin said,
(36:47):
analyze and refine that, youknow, our best practice is use
data, not your gut feelings.
I mean, your feelings are goingto change day to day, uh, based
on the last person you justtalked to.
If you're still running someappointments yourself, you're
going to come out of thoseappointments either on a high
cause you sold something orpissed off cause you didn't.
(37:08):
Um, try not to use those day today gut feelings to make big
decisions.
Instead, there's so manyanalytics tools heat maps call
tracking call recording that cangive you even like that engage
presentation tool I was talkingabout at every stage in the
funnel there are usually so manytools that you have trouble
(37:30):
picking them but if you can getthe right ones in place then you
can use data and not feelingsto continue to refine this whole
journey for your customersCaitlin what are some other
Caitlyn (37:42):
best practices best practices We've already kind of
said it.
I'm going to combine these andalso just echo again what
Janet's been saying, butleverage technology.
We've mentioned a couple ofdifferent technology partners.
I mean, there's a lot of heatmapping tools, like Janet said,
that also exist, call trackingtools, presentation tools.
(38:03):
There's landing page tools, youname it, where you can use
technology to see what works,what doesn't work.
I mean, it could be as simpleas the color of a button.
It could be, I mean, we justran this experiment for a client
out in California, but twoseparate offers.
Like one was a- So you A-Btested the offers.
(38:24):
Yeah, exactly.
We A-B tested the offers.
One was a 50% off installation.
Another one was $2,050 offinstallation.
I'll let you guess which oneworked.
But you can test that.
There are tools out there,leveraged technology.
2050, that's a weird number.
2050?
I know, but hey.
Okay.
I know.
And then I'm like, is it likebecause we're in 2000?
(38:47):
I don't
Janet (38:49):
know.
They may not go through allfive, but they're going to go
(39:22):
through at least three of thembefore they write you a check or
give you their credit card.
I guess what we want you toknow is that optimizing your
sales funnel is not a one timeproject.
Honestly, as an entrepreneur,this is your life's work.
Yes.
This is it.
And it never ends.
Think of it more like a dailypractice.
(39:42):
You brush your teeth every day.
You comb your hair every day.
That's what optimizing yoursales funnel is.
You're always working on it.
So it's not a project with astart and end date.
But with the right tweaks inthe right places, you can double
or even triple your conversionrates at different stages
without having to double yourmarketing budget.
(40:04):
So it is a worthwhile practiceto shoe.
So if your business isgenerating leads, but they're
not turning enough of them intocustomers, this is your
opportunity to refine yourfunnel, remove friction, align
your sales team, and turn thoseclicks into contracts.
Oh, that's cute.
Caitlyn (40:25):
Next week.
Next week.
Yeah.
What are we talking about nextweek?
So we're going to tackle adecision that can quite
literally make or break yournext stage of growth.
We've talked about it in partone.
We're going to love it.
level it up and talk about itin part two, how to choose the
right digital marketing agencyas your business scales.
(40:46):
So you've likely outgrown theset it and forget it marketing
vendors if you even have amarketing vendor.
But now you need a strategicpartner that truly understands
where your business is headedand how to help you get there
faster.
Janet (41:00):
So thank you.
Thank you so much for yourtime.
Thank you for joining us onanother episode.
If you've gotten value fromtoday's episode, please do us a
quick favor.
It helps us deliver morecontent like this.
It helps the algorithm so thatother people can find us.
Leave us a five-star review onApple or Spotify.
It helps other contractors likeyou find the show and it keeps
(41:21):
us bringing you better contentevery week.
Thank you so much.
And I hope you join us again.
Thanks y'all.
Speaker 00 (41:29):
Digital marketing for contractors is created by
Fat Cat Strategies.
For more information, visitfatcatstrategies.com.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.