raisetherank's podcast

Our show is all about digital marketing for roofers. How to get more business and Google reviews. In our show, we will talk about everything from how your website should look to Google paid ads.

What is UGC a& why should you care? 02/16/2024

What is UGC a& why should you care? Okay. Today I was just sitting around just all of a sudden I had an email company. And it was where a client added some pictures to Watkins construction, uh, in Jackson, Mississippi is Google business profile. Remember Google renamed it a few weeks ago from Google my business over to Google business profile. So I was sitting there and it came through. So I sent Michael a text message and said, man, this is huge. And the reason this is huge, let's talk about what it is first UGC user generated content. But why is that? That acronym so big? Well, let me tell you why. So be it because Google loves user generated content. It can be texts, it can be images. It can be a lot of different things, but the main two things that you want to go for. And the reason I'm having this podcast today is because I don't think that we talk about this enough inside of the community or outside of the community. Obviously our community is the most important thing. So do you ask the client if they're happy to post pictures of their products? I know that masters home solutions up in Pennsylvania, they've had it just in the past month. They've had a handful of people post images of their projects. And of course, uh, you know, it might be easier to get some pictures of a bathroom remodel than a roof, but, you know, if you prime that client to do. Then they're much more prone to put those pictures into your Google prints profile. So how do you go about getting your reviews for one? How do you go about asking them to put pictures in their Google business profile? Because Google ask you. So does apple let's talk about that too, because I just did a podcast and a screencast a week or two ago about Google maps reviews. That is going to be big room crafters. Just got a Google map. Lead a couple of days ago. And I'm going to post that in a screencast that I'm doing in the next couple of weeks, because apple is going to be a player in the next couple of years when it comes to reviews, when it comes to leads, when it comes to getting people to you. Now, of course, that might be more so for a pair of tennis shoes getting sold, but it will absolutely get you business is already doing it. I'm seeing it. So how do you go about doing it? You go about. From the word. Hello. When you knock that door, whether you're canvassing or either you're running a Google aid, it doesn't really matter. You want to introduce yourself in your warmup. It could take five minutes, whatever everybody's getting different training, but in that warmup, you want to talk to that client about the review you want to talk to about the photos, to your Google business profile at the end of the project about their project. You want to build that up. You know, Dave gross. And I, uh, at the beginning of the year, this year, we talked about this how to get more reviews and he talked about, and in Dave gross at my town is absolutely killing. And the way he does it is he starts it from the beginning. If you wait till the end of the project, the time has passed. And of course the object of the game is to put the pressure on yourself and take it off of the homeowner to begin. So you want to put that pressure on you to perform, and if you're not performing, you're not going to get a review or a referral anyway. And at the end of the day, it's not just about the review. It's about the review, but one, but if you can't get a review, how on earth are you going to get a referral? So those are the two things that we're going after. So let's get back to the UGC user generated content review and images of your project. Google loves pictures. They love images. And to prove that point over 20% of all search is image search now on Google. So in your Google, my business, and we beg you guys for pictures all the time to put in your Google my business, because Google's AI is able to see that they can read every pixel in the image and know what that image is. They can see a gap with an air gun, and they know if they see the shingle, they see the guy, they see the. They know that the guy is nailing shingles to the roof and I'm going to do it. I'm working on a video about that. So you can see their artificial intelligence into their vision. So these are the things that you need to be working towards. And that's obviously reviews because that helps in your rankings, that helps in your conversions. And it, it just helps everywhere in your business. You I've said this in many podcasts. Videos, you can build a successful business around Google reviews. Now we're going to build successful businesses around Google reviews and apple reviews. You know, you can get reviews on a place to Facebook, but let's face it. The most important is Google. Right now, apple is going to be a player and they just start getting some. So as we're winding this one down. The thinking about the process, be thinking about the guys when they're going to the door. We think about the guys when they're initiating that initial, whether it be a canvas door knock or whether they're running late and they're coming out and they're introducing themselves to the client, are you training them? Are you talking? You guys talking about that in your meetings about how you're going to get that review, get the review, get the picture of the project because that's user generated content and Google just absolutely loves it. So. Work on it. Let's talk about it. Let's focus on it. If you focus on the images, you're going to focus on the reviews and you can focus on the main thing. That's going to get you more money, the four. So as always, if you guys have any kind of questions or suggestions or anything like that, get in touch with me and I'll catch you guys on the next one, but focus on those reviews because I just can't stress enough how huge. /episode/index/show/raisetherank/id/29985423

The Benefits of Virtual Phone and Virtual Assistant for Your Roofing Business 02/13/2024

The Benefits of Virtual Phone and Virtual Assistant for Your Roofing Business Roofing project management is not just about planning and executing projects. As one of the leading and most experienced digital marketing experts for roofing companies, at Raise the Rank, we know that roofing companies need a conversion-driven website, a solid online presence, and visibility in Google. No doubt, they need all these things, but over the years, we have realized that the biggest problem roofing contractors have is time. Adequate time is required for effective communication with the clients. Any roofing project with poor communication can result in delays, conflicts, and most importantly, the inability to capture leads. Why Phone Calls Are Important for Lead Generation And Conversion? In most cases, the problem starts with attending the phone calls. Your ability to answer the phone properly and project the right personality to convert the leads into actual customers are some of the biggest contributory factors to ensure the success of your roofing business. At Raise the Rank, we believe that burdening yourself with lead generation tasks, answering incessant phone calls, and try to text the required information to the salesman is the fastest way to lose leads. Let’s look at how a good roofing CRM with virtual phone features can help you solve this problem. How A Proven CRM with a Virtual Phone Can Help Your Roofing Business Grow? The most important thing you need to have been a good CRM like SSA. A feature-rich roofing CRM allows you to store all the information about your clients in one central hub that you and your team can access with a click of a button from anywhere and at any time. It allows you to capture the information and run the appointments effortlessly from a single location. However, it’s not just about capturing the information. It’s also about scheduling the appointment correctly. After all, this is your only opportunity to convert that lead into your actual client. As a project manager, you should be able to close that deal and serve that client the best way possible. Why Many Roofing Businesses Fail and How Virtual Phones Can Help? A new roof is a significant investment for the property owners. And whenever you’re trying to look at such a major purchase of 14,000 to $20,000 roof, you need to make sure that you have everybody there from the family of the homeowner. Do you know the number one reason why some roofing companies don't make a sale? They cannot get everyone from the family on the same page. So, whenever you’re scheduling that appointment for the project manager, make sure to include every decision-maker in the process. This way, your project manager can best serve that client by having everybody there, answer all their questions and walk them through the entire process. This is important if you want to ensure the best potential chance of getting that order and boosting your revenue. Easier said than done, you might think. Well, this is incredibly easy to achieve with our state-of-the-art roofing CRM - SSA. With a few simple steps, you can have the SSA to make this work. For instance, every project manager inside of SSA has a ‘task calendar’ that allows you to put and book the tasks onto your calendar and run the appointment right out of your calendar. And from right there, you can answer the phone, capture the information, and then book it directly onto that task counter. It’s going to be live in SSA and will be shown on your Google calendar as well. However, there’s much more to it. It allows you to follow and track everything to the tiniest detail. For example, it allows you to set the appointment, book the calendar, and assign the project manager. What’s more, you’ll also get an email saying when that job was booked, and you can even set the reminders however you want to. On the contrary, when you communicate outside of your central hub (SSA), you’ll be wasting too much time on unnecessary tasks. For instance, by taking information then texting it to a sales guy. And then that guy trying to call them and set up the appointment, you're wasting your and your clients' precious time with multiple phone calls. The virtual phone feature in SSA allows you to capture the leads, schedule those solid appointments where you can have all the decision-makers in one place. The point is, we have designed these amazing tools for roofing companies that are looking to convert their leads into actual dollars by increasing their profits and revenue. Virtual Assistant Services for Roofing Companies: Top Benefits However, in today’s cutthroat competition, just putting in the information even in the most efficient CRM is not enough. You need to utilize this information to get a consistent supply of high-quality leads and conversions. However, burdening your sales team with lead generation tasks is not a good way to utilize their skills. This is where our virtual assistant services can prove to be invaluable for your roofing company. · Get Qualified Lead More Consistently At Raise the Rank, our professionally trained roofing experts are going to answer your phones. These are experienced and knowledgeable professionals that have been using SSA for years. They know these systems inside out and are extensively trained in setting appointments for roofing companies. Your sales team can fully concentrate on running the demos and not lose track of your leads while we focus on booking the best quality leads for your roofing business in SSA. · Work With Trained and Knowledgeable Experts There is no denying the fact that there are hundreds of answering services out there, but all they're doing is babysitting. And the worst part is that they don't know anything about the roofing industry. So, they can't answer even a basic question related to roofs. At Raise the Rank, we work with a solid sales strategy and a concrete action plan to make lead generation and conversion work like a well-oiled machine. Our expert team has extensive experience and in-depth roofing knowledge to deliver results in a short period. · Gain from Cutting-Edge Technology Besides virtual phones and our innovative virtual assistant services, SSA is equipped with everything you need to put your roofing business on autopilot. So, capturing that information, getting on the calendar, and then getting a welcome email immediately can help keep your leads warm. As your reliable partner, we will give you clear feedback on the success rate, lead quality including qualified and unqualified leads. In Conclusion: The decision to implement advanced technology in your roofing business and boosting your appointment setting and lead generation process is an important one. Now that you know the benefits of using a proven CRM, and services like a virtual assistant and virtual phones, it should be an easier and better-informed decision. Get in touch with our experts at Raise the Rank and we'd love to do a demo with you and show you all the features and functions in SSA. /episode/index/show/raisetherank/id/29934793

Lead Nurturing for Roofing Companies 02/13/2024

How to get more Google reviews 02/13/2024

How to get more Google reviews Chuck: Welcome to raise the rank digital marketing podcast, just for roofers, get marketing tips and strategies from Chuck muggy, digital marketer and roofing company owner. Let's start leveling up your roofing company with entrepreneurs that practice what they preach and live what they teach. Okay. Welcome to our latest podcast. Brandon is going to be on with me today. Brandon has been working with me for about, I guess, what nine years. So Brian, his background is he started off as a roof salesman, like say nine years ago. And then he did some sales manager duties and sales training. So he's, he's sold, he's trained, he's managed. So he's run a ton of leads, closed many, a deal commercial deals. He's done some big commercial deals along with residential. So condos and apartments and things like that. Okay. So Brian has got a lot of experience at running leads, talking to clients, phone calls, all that kind of stuff. So our topic today in, uh, just remind everybody that we grab a topic and we don't really have a script or anything. We talk about what's going on. And today we're going to be taught. We're actually, we're going to be doing a series on the phones because the phones are such a problem. According to Google, over 50% of all phone calls for small to mid-size businesses go unanswered. That's a huge problem. So Brandon are going to talk about. And Brandon wanted to talk about what happens before the call and what does the homeowner thinking? Okay. That's important too, because before the call, you're either going to get a Google organic lead or you going to get a Google paid lead either way. These are important. Now I'm going to let Brandon talk just a little bit about how hard it is to, or hard, but it's a little harder to close a Google. An organic lead or Google my business lead. And simply because you're probably going to be up against more companies because they can't stop them from calling other companies. And that's why it's so important to answer the phone. Then you're going to say you're going to be in a bid situation in some cases. And at that point, your demo is going to be extremely important. How well did you demo this client or this prospect? And that, that leads us back to a lot of conversations at Brandon I've been having, because pretty much everybody in our community runs from a Google paid as PPC. And the problem is when you don't answer that phone, the analytics that come with answering the phone, the call duration for one. Does not get fed back into Google ads. So Google analytics, CallRail, all this tracking that we do is going to feed back into the Google, your Google ads account. And then Google is going to know that a 92nd. Okay, well this keyword or this key phrase generated this particular impression, and then we've got this click. So we got this click on this particular keyword and we had a three minute call duration. Okay. Well, that's a, that's a conversion for Google. So Google's going to go out and search for more of that same thing, that same type of client, uh, in today's world of security and things like privacy and stuff like that. It's called cohorts. So Google's got everybody out there grouped, and co-head already knows all this stuff. So it is searching for that particular type of person for that particular. Keyword or key phrase and it wants to serve it to you again. But if we don't answer that phone, we're missing a lot of analytics. So it's going to hurt your paid ads account. And if you don't answer the phone, they're going to keep right on call. And so let's just say that you're busy and you call back in 10 minutes. Okay. It's highly likely, they've called at least one to two more companies. So now we're in a competitive mode. So we're on our heels instead of on our toes. It's almost like being in a boxing match. So we don't want to be on our heels. We want to be in autos and be proactive and stop them from calling. So now you got to think about what's the intent. Okay. Well, I was telling Brandon there's only three types of searches on Google, transactional, informational, and navigational. So we don't care about navigation, it's informational or transactional. So. They could be in the high power of the funnel and looking for information. So you guys have got to give them that information, you and your website have got to answer questions, solve problems, and build trust. And then we're going to get to what Brandon, the CC or the contract. So we've got to answer the phone. It is so important. And Brandon, and we've got Brandon listening to call rail right now, simply because of his background. And Brandon, I'm gonna let you talk about some of the calls that you're here and, uh, some of the problems that we're seeing, because in some cases we're seeing what, 60, 65%, maybe even 70% of the calls not being there. Brandon: We are seeing that, unfortunately, you know, the number one thing with the calls that I've seen myself as we just get busy, they go unanswered for whatever reason. Um, I think, I think we forget that the most important thing is is those phones ringing. You know, that how we handle that phone call it experience that customer has Google leads are really hard. I heard you mentioned that they're really difficult to run. For various reasons. But I believe if we were to make that homeowner feel at home, feel comfortable and feel like you're confident that they reached out to a professional because we answered the phone, we took the client's information and then we got out there in a timely manner. It's going to, it's going to ease a lot of things. It's just, like you said, it's gonna, they're gonna stop possibly calling more people. Or if they do call more people, did they answer the phone the way you did? You know, there's some, there's some things that can be set right up front to gear them to feel that you're more professional. By the way that we answer that phone. Now you did say, we were talking about the analytics. I've got a question for you. What can we do if we miss the call? How do we get that? Is there any way to redeem yourself with Google? Is there any way we can call the client back through call rail? Is there any way to get that? Well, Chuck: you can call them back through call rail and, uh, we're, we're trying to, uh, we're launching what's called lead center. W actually they launched it. What we're trying to do is get everybody in it. Uh, we tested it. Of course it's relatively new. It was only about four or five months old. Maybe it may not even be that old, but no, to answer your question, uh, there is no. Redeeming yourself at that point, you miss that opportunity for Google to care. Cause you got to remember we're coming from that keyword, that key phrase out of it, out of an ad group. And from that particular phone call. So yes, we can call him back from call rail and there's some cool things going on there. We'll get to a future podcast, but no, we lose those analytics and it hurts. So, I mean, when we miss that, then Google is going okay. One is not getting any of the analytics, but two is looking for that call duration for a conversion. So, you know, three minute call, four minute call a five minute call. That's telling Google a lot of things and Google will feed you because at the end of the day, yeah, you're. You're paying Google and Google's making a ton of money, but let's face it. We make money behind Google. I mean, done. Right. And you've run your leads, right? You're going to make money behind Google and Google. That's what Google wants. Google wants you to make money because guess what? You're going to spend more money with them. So. Yeah, the phone is important. We got to answer the phone. We've got to get those analytics back into Google ads. Of course, if it's a foreign film, things like that, that's all going back into Google ads. So the call rail metrics are extremely important in getting future clicks. Because if we say, say they Christ roof repair is going to get us on the roof, we're going to be able to get up there and get an inspection. That's what a solid. But there's all kinds of different intent there with different keywords. Keywords are going to drive different intents. So you may have large, we've got two clients right now that are in the middle of, well, actually three or four clients that are in the middle item, actually. The intent, there has gone strictly from informational to transactional. They're looking for, they're looking for tarps, they're looking for roofs, they're looking for words. So it is hard core transactional. So we need to be, and there's a lot of phone calls get missed down there and that situation, I mean, everybody's to their eyeballs and swinging elbows. So it's, it is what it is. But you know, on any given day, the phone is the most important thing. That you can do it it's, you know, in my, in my, my recommendation is no matter what you think, as far as the money hire somebody that does nothing, but answer that phone and set appointments. Don't just answer the phone and then text it to a, how many times have we seen somebody answering the phone, then they take that information. They text it to a PM or salesman. And then it gets dropped. The ball gets dropped right there. So that also leads to the client or the prospect having to field two calls from you. So they're going to get one call then they're gonna get a PM to call them to set an appointment. Okay. That's not good. We're starting off on our heels again. We need to answer that call and book that appointment so we can run a demo. If you can't run. The demo at that appointment time, then either the PM can reset or you find somebody else that can run that appointment at that given time. Brandon, you should have a lot of experience in this. I mean, if you had a lot of problem doing resets or, I mean, that's typically not a huge. Reset reset on your point. Brandon: No, it just depends. I mean, you, you don't want to reset if you don't have to, but you don't want to go out and you don't want to burn, you spin your wheels. So, you know, if you don't have both, decision-makers there or something like that, you definitely want to reset, but it getting that client, getting that call, capturing that information and setting that appointment right there, one and done is the best way. No doubt. Chuck: Okay, well, uh, Brandon we're, we're starting to run long, but I think we've covered the fact that it's important to answer the phone, uh, the analytical part of the phone call itself. What's going on the duration time of the call. Uh, course we record the calls, but that's simply to qualify the lead. Google is not listening to the call. They're strictly looking at the call duration time to figure out if this was a conversion or not, you know, 32nd phone call is not. So we're going to do a series on this and, uh, you know, we'll do another podcast next week, Brandon, on more of the phones. Cause this is this, this is so important. We're seeing it really hurt some guys. And we're, we're seeing, we're seeing a lot of lost money. Just go down the drain. Brandon: Yeah, for sure. And I don't think it's intentional, but I think there's some things being missed that could definitely help for sure. Chuck: All right. Well, next week, maybe we can go in a little bit more about maybe what does the homeowner do if you don't answer the call, things like that. So, you know, we could go on and on about this for hours, but it probably an entire day, if you want to know. Brandon: Oh, yeah. You know, I want to talk about for sure next week, you know, what, what's that person what's that person's job answering the phone. What's their number one job. What are their number one duties? You know, that, I think that's something that gets blurred. Sometimes. I think we should cover that as well. Chuck: Well, let's wrap this one up today and I will see you next week and we'll, we'll plow into another. Brandon: See you next week. /episode/index/show/raisetherank/id/29932098

The Power of Google Reviews 02/01/2022

The Power of Google Reviews Okay. Today's video is all about reviews. Responding to reviews and what reviews will do for your business. You know, I've said it for years, you can build a great roofing company, remodel company off the backbone of Google reviews. And today what we're going to do is go over the bright local. And let me just give you a quick background, who bride locally as they're one of the top sources for reviews and they have a ranking tool. On the planet. So they keep their nose in it and give a ton of information out all throughout the year. And this is their local consumer review survey results for 2022. And I'm going to break this down for you today. It may take a couple of videos, but I'm gonna try to squeeze it into, to this one because some of these statistics are going to be just blowing. And this first one is one of the first ones that is just Saturday. Check this out. Okay. More consumers are rating online reviews, never before. I'd say they are in 20 21 7. And this is last year, 77%. Always regularly read a review when looking for a local business. And check this out. That is up from 60% in 20, 21 year. You're up 17%. So are we starting to get it? Power, power, power. I'm going to go quickly through some of the ones that are not as big of deal, like right here, you know, 67% of people will live in Ruby for a positive experience. 40 for not. 89% of consumers are highly or fairly likely to use a business that responds to all of their online reviews. That's one of the things that we talk about in your Google review management is you need to be responding to every single Ruby. Doesn't matter if it's a five-star three-star. Obviously you to pick that phone up and try to talk to those people and get that one up. But you see what the power is of just responding to it. It's the way you respond to leaving them. One is fine if you respond to it, right. Okay. Check this one out 57% of people say they would not very likely or likely use a business that does not respond to reviews at all. And most, and this is most companies that I see don't respond to reviews. So if you're not responding to reviews, you see just how strong that is. And that, that response is what you look for. Yeah. You want to say thank you to the person that bought a row for a remodel or whatever from me, but you also may remember the main person you're talking to is the lead that you're trying to. Alright, now let's get to the grill. More consumers, use Google to evaluate local businesses than ever before. Check this 20, 21, 80 1%. But the year before that it was just 63. Google is a behemoth. They been a behemoth and I believe it, or not 10 years ago, let years ago Google reviews were really not a thing, but when. Kicked it in and said, we're fixing the ticket and they took it and you can see right now that is a huge number right there. So I would expect that growth, obviously you can't keep growing at that rate, but I would expect that growth to still be extremely strong. Okay. This is one that a year or two ago was a really big. People wanted to see fresh reviews. So they wanted to see a review from this week, last week. Uh, millennials would worst about that, but as you can see right now, that number has dropped from 50% to 22%. So the freshness of the review is not as important as it was just a year or two ago. Now, let's talk about that star rate, check this one out just 3%, 3%. I mean, that matters when I'm talking about anybody said they would consider using the business with an average star rating of two or fewer stores. That's down from 14%. So the power of the star rating is also getting really strong, too. Okay. Now let's talk about a question that I get asked all the time. Uh, 62% of people say they've seen a fake review for a local business in the past year. Yeah. They probably have of some sort. I have guys ask me all the time. These guys bought me a negative review, gave me an it or either they bought themselves positive reviews. Well, there's really not much you can do about that. There is a resource out there that can actually track down these reviews. Not just to the IP, but they, they really dig deep and, uh, it's a paid report. But even with that, it's still hard to go to Google and get those down. But the thing is, you just have to have reviews and you're going to see some, some people still buy. But Google is getting better and better at catching that. And if they get caught by them, very likely that they're going to lose their Google business profile. And if you lose it for that, you you'll never get it back. So now let's just talk about a few trends before we get too long here. Let's talk about what this all boils down to. Okay. Now I actually got asked this question. Should I get a review on Angie? Okay, well, let's take a look at where are people going to look at a business? Check this out. Consumer use of Google to evaluate a local businesses jumped from 63% last year to 81%. This year, 2021. Now that's going to jump again in 2022. So Yale, I, you know, I contend that Yelp is not thing and roofing and remodeling reviews don't even count unless you're what they call it. A Yelper that you use it all the time. So I certainly would not even worry about Yelp, but I would be concerned about. Apple, I've done a video about that. And so you need to put that one on your radar, but check this out. Consumer use of Facebook to evaluate local businesses and dropped from 54%, 48%. Okay. 13% used apple. Okay. You're going to see that number. Over the next five years. And that's why I say you need to put this one on your radar and start getting a few of them, the real easy for somebody to leave one. And if you've got a couple, which you know, people more willing when they go to jail, they're going to leave a bathroom you need anyway. So if you've got a few Yelp reviews out there, if you'll go and get some apple map reviews, and I don't know how many, I certainly get over five. But the apple reviews will take precedence over the actual Yelp because apple uses Yelp as of right this minute in a lot of markets in a lot of cases. But if you go get a handful of apple maps, Reviews, which is basically a thumbs up thumbs down. I think that may have a couple of attributes, but you can get rid of. So I would encourage you to get out there to get your handful of these. But the biggest takeaway today is I want you to, to know about responding to the reviews. You see how big that is, and you see who the gorilla in the room is that will beat you over there. If you don't have many reviews, or if you have bad reviews, this is where you're going to build your business. The most in the market is what you want to go for, but get you a consistent. Review acquisition, Google causes the velocity, you know, whether that's foul 10 a month, whatever that case might be. But you can see right now just how powerful Google is. And the reason I'm really drive this point, home is Google is power Google. You can build a business, a successful business. Around good Google. So I want to leave it at that. I'm starting to get kind of long and really have you been tore into these statistics? I'll do another video for another week, but you can see the power of Google and that's what I wanted to leave you with today. Thanks and see. /episode/index/show/raisetherank/id/21977144