By RB Staff
The Pro Tips On series puts roofers, contractors and builders in a unique position. Our Affiliate Program puts you and your business in a professionally produced digital or print book, even including one of your pictures on the book’s cover. This book can help close more business.
How many of your prospects get excited about the project, provide a quote and then you cannot close or lose to a competitor? If that is too familiar, these books may help bridge the gap.
Any sale has an emotional and an intellectual component. The emotional component is simple to see. You help the customer develop a picture of what they want and let them see themselves take ownership of the finished product. This a huge part of the sales process. It is the reason why many manufacturers launched visualizer programs. It helps people see their dreams and makes them real. This step of making a positive end real is necessary to get people to agree to a sale. This part of the sales process is something a good salesperson controls.
The problem comes when the prospect leaves and thinks about the project. This is where control of the sales process is lost and the intellectual portion of the sale starts. Once offsite, they begin to examine what they see as facts. What does it cost? What are the mechanical specifications of the products? What is the warranty? What is the reputation of the contractor? When can the project be completed? Does what they want work with third parties like banks, insurance companies and Home Owners Associations? All of these questions are asked and compared to the information provided by your competitor.
The key to success is controlling what happens when the prospect goes home with a proposal. There are three parts to controlling the client’s internal dialog after they leave.
1. What questions does the consumer ask?
2. What are the answers to those questions?
3. How credible, reliable and complete does the consumer see you and the information you provide?
Pro Tips On addresses all those needs.
1. What questions does the consumer ask?
One huge obstacle is prospects not knowing what to ask and how to distinguish between a good end product and a substandard one. Without that knowledge prospects look to price as the primary metric.
Pro Tips On provides information from recognized industry experts. It goes through the features of the subject exploring important elements and identifying which ones are less so. Knowing which questions customers will likely ask allows you to tailor the information you provide so you can either address the questions before they are asked or provide context so that the customers understand the questions.
2. What are the answers to those questions?
There is an expression in sales that says you never ask a question if you don’t know the answer. To know the answer, you need to know where the consumer’s research will lead them.
Pro Tips On educates the consumers by providing information and data that answers their questions.
3. How credible, reliable and complete does the consumer see you and the information you provide?
Consumers have an ingrained tendency to question information from someone selling them a product or service. There is an inherent conflict of interest between the seller and the buyer. It does not mean the seller is being dishonest, it means the buyer has a legitimate concern regarding the veracity of the information sources and claims from the seller.
Pro Tips On is information from a 3rd party source. The source of the information has been publishing for builders and contractors for over 50 years, and does not have a vested interest in the sale. A 144-page book is obviously more complete than simple handout literature, so it can be seen as an actual resource.
The ability to include a brief writeup about your company and pictures enhances your own credibility as a resource worthy of being in an actual book.
Pro Tips On Affiliate Program builds your status as a recognized contractor, helps consumers decide which questions to ask and provides answers directly to your prospective customers.
The best asset for a quality product is an educated consumer. Consumers need to know enough to distinguish between offerings. Providing the information necessary to make that distinction is the objective of Pro Tips On.
If you provide a quality product, your next questions will be the details of how you can utilize the Pro Tips On Affiliate Program to create a competitive advantage.
Pro Tips On is distributed as a Shield Wall Media Product, sold directly to consumers digitally and hard copy.
It is also distributed through the affiliate program by builders, contractors and manufacturers. Affiliate program copies will be branded for the sponsoring companies and include a cover picture, text on the Introduction page and pictures in the Inspirational Gallery.
Affiliate Editions can be bought in bulk for hard copies, in bulk as digital downloads and/or sold by affiliates through a link where the affiliate receives a commission.
In addition to the actual books, a marketing plan is included for the books. The marketing plan is an ongoing project and will be under constant revision. Please remember this is a new project for us and will assuredly change as we learn more about the individual markets and how our affiliates use the books. The marketing plan includes print ads, press releases and other marketing collateral to support the books.
Some potential ways to use Pro Tips On:
• Give the books free (digital or print) and use the requesters as lead generation
• Sell the books through a link and take the commission as an additional revenue source
• Use the books as hand out literature to high value prospects
• Brand the books as a manufacturer to support your dealer, distributors and contractors
• Use the book as a textbook to host an “Introduction to” type seminar in your area for lead generation
• Donate copies to areas following weather damage as a public relations move
• Provide the book as a resource to introduce the subject to zoning committees and Home Owner Associations.
Feel free to contact Tracy Schubert [email protected] to request more information regarding the Affiliate Program and how you can use Pro Tips On in your business.
We are also interested in input on what we can include in the Marketing Program to create the most value for you. RB
