Introduction
Let’s say you had an amazing in-home consultation with a prospect, let’s call them Mr. and Mrs. Jones. You gave them the quote, they loved it, they said they would review and get back to you, but they were likely going to go ahead. And then… NOTHING. They disappear off the face of the planet. You call them, you text them, you email them, you even drive by their house to make sure it didn’t get hit by an asteroid.. And you’re completely ghosted for weeks.
As a sales person, you’re busy working new leads, writing up new quotes and closing new deals. But you keep thinking about the Jones’ and what happened to them.
Well, this is where having an effective lead nurture campaign can salvage that prospect and turn them into a customer when they’re ready!
And there are many buckets of homeowner prospects that may not be ready to buy on the spot, or may have more juice to squeeze even if they do.
Hubspot says that 73% of millennials prefer communications from businesses to come via email. And 99% of consumers check their email every day.
In fact, email marketing is the lowest cost form of marketing and the easiest to automate and have working for you behind the scenes as you carry on with your day to day business.
So why not set yourself up for success and treat every email address like a golden nugget opportunity?
In this blog, we’ll cover 6 types of homeowners in various stages of their journey with you and what types of automated emails you should be sending and when.
Prospect got a Quote, then went Cold
After you’ve done your rounds of personalized salesperson outreach, and you’re still getting no response, put these homeowners into an automated email sequence so they don’t get forgotten about.
About once a month for 3 months, remind them they once had a problem, and you’re still there to help if they need it.
These emails should continue to support their buying journey. Send them engaging tools like a Renoworks Pro visualizer, or case studies/testimonials from other happy customers,
Net New Prospect (requested a quote on website/lead form)
Create a series of touchpoints over the first 7 days, including calls, texts and emails. Hatch has a great e-book outlining this Speed to Lead cadence.
In terms of the email content, you’ll want to do something like this:
- First email: Thank them for their interest.
- Second email: Build trust for your brand.
- Third email: Share how you’re different from competition so they feel good choosing you.
- Fourth email: Create a sense of urgency by reminding them it’s already been a week since they first contacted you to have their problem solved, and that’s one more week still facing that problem. Create a special offer or reason for them to act right away.
Customers
Now that they’ve signed the contract, squeeze all the juice you can from that new relationship. Stay in touch with them until it’s time to do the work on their house, and after.
The first email seems like the obvious one. Congratulate them on moving ahead with their remodel, that you’re honoured to do the work and reassure them they made a great choice choosing your company. This could also be a good time to reiterate what they can expect next from you.
After the job has been completed, send another email wishing them well with their new remodel and remind them to keep your business in mind for future projects.
A few weeks later, check in to make sure everything is still looking and working as it should, and ask for a review or testimonial.
Past Customers
There’s still juice here too and you may not have resources to call all your past customers next year so enter customers into this sequence to make sure they hear from you again on auto-pilot.
One year later send an email reminding them of all the other services you offer and check if they need any more work done, or if they have family and friends that do. You could also offer a referral incentive here if you’d like.
Top of the Funnel Homeowner Emails
These are emails that you collect from offering giveaways at an event or home show, or emails collected from people that aren’t ready for work this year but maybe next year. What do you do with these people??
Well, you don’t want to spend a lot of valuable time chasing them around, so stick them into an automated email sequence.
Since they’re not as serious of buyers, you’ll want to do your due diligence here so that you don’t get marked as spam because they forgot they ever gave you their email address. The first email should be an “opt-in” email. Thank them for signing up, and ask them to add you to their “safe senders” list. You may lose some here but that’s okay. The ones that stick around are better quality anyway.
The next email they get from you should share a little bit more about the services you offer and to build trust for your brand by sharing accolades or testimonials.
The next should focus on how you’re different than the competition. You want them to have good vibes towards you so they can feel good about choosing to work with you in the future.
Renoworks Pro Visualizer Emails
These homeowners are also in a unique stage of their buying journey and if you create personalized email content to recognize that, your emails will have much more impact.
The first email you send should be asking about how their designing experience is in the visualizer so they remember how you got their email address. In this email you could also be bold and outright ask if they’d like to meet with a sales rep for a quote/consultation.
A few days later, send the same 2 emails you’re sending to the top of the funnel homeowner leads. First, talking about the services you offer and build trust for your brand by sharing accolades or testimonials. And second a few days later again, sharing how you’re different than the competition so they have good vibes towards you.
You can send a final email to these leads mentioning their use of your visualizer again and remind them to book a consultation/quote to see the home they were designing come to life.
Newsletter
Now if you’ve got a good writer on your team with a bit of bandwidth to keep up with this, you
can also connect with everyone that enters your pipeline in a non direct or non salesy way by adding them to your regular “newsletter list”. The only things your newsletter emails will include are valuable and interesting to the homeowner such as tips about your trade, or ways they can take care of their home, or ways your company is giving back to the community. This is just an indirect way to stay in touch. This cadence will depend on your team’s capacity to put together this kind of content but aim for once a month to once every 3 months.
That way you’re always in their minds if they have friends that need work done, or they decide to do work with you either for the first time or again at a later date.
If possible, allow your email lists to unsubscribe from the newsletter list only, but not all your emails.
Conclusion
Effective email lead nurturing is a game-changer for your sales process. By staying in touch with your prospects through targeted and timely emails, you ensure that no opportunity slips through the cracks. Whether it’s a prospect who went cold, a new lead, a current customer, or even a past customer, having a structured email strategy can turn these contacts into loyal customers. Remember, every email address is a golden nugget waiting to be nurtured. With the right approach, you can maximize your chances of closing deals and building long-term relationships. Start implementing these strategies today and watch your business grow with the power of email marketing.