The Neighborly team spent a lot of time this past year learning and sharing cross-marketing best practices. In this month's enewsletter, we’d like to share top ideas from franchise owners.
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Co-Host Home Show Booths
Home shows require a lot of investment, both with your time and financial resources. They’re a perfect opportunity to partner with other Neighborly concepts to extend your brand presence.
Mike McCalley, Mr. Handyman of Greater Jacksonville, used the Jacksonville Spring Home and Patio show to kick off The Neighborly Project. He and a team of seven other franchise owners divided shifts over 40 hours across four days. Their efforts put the Neighborly family of brands in front of 35,000 people, with whom they shared hundreds of leave-behinds. Here’s what Mike had to say after the event: “The benefits of cost sharing are huge. When you start splitting eight ways, it opens doors for franchise owners to do things that they may not have been able to do.”
Check out exhibit options, and reach out to your brand marketing team to discuss marketing materials.
2. Use Neighborly Leave-Behinds
Leave-behinds are a great way to showcase value to our customers, especially when your technicians can use them to highlight other ways the Neighborly family care for their homes.
In the Fall 2017, Keith Pinkerton, Mr. Electric of Huntsville, and a team of franchisees saw an opportunity to combine their resources and position themselves better in the Huntsville, AL market with Neighborly. They deployed a highly successful integrated marketing campaign consisting of a TV spot, direct mail, and magnet leave-behinds. Keith and the team continue to use co-branded magnets, saying, “Magnets are a great resource to give to our customers. They show all of the services we could provide, and we can meet customers’ needs before they decide to reach out to other trade companies.”
Order co-branded magnets for your leave-behinds. Also, contact your brand marketing team if you’re interested in other leave-behinds like door hangers.
3. Plan Social Media Campaigns Together
Social media is a great channel to promote brands relatively inexpensively. In particular, Facebook advertising keeps consumers engaged throughout the year, helping your brand stay top-of-mind.
According to Paul Berry, Mr. Appliance of San Antonio, “Facebook is a great way to cross-promote Neighborly brands in our market.” He has co-led a group of 17 franchisees for more than nine years. They recently started using SOCi, a social media campaign planning tool that is now available to Neighborly brands, to highlight seasonal needs and refer customers to one another’s locations.
Reach out to your brand marketing team to learn more about using social media to promote your brand and other Neighborly brands in your community.
4. Leverage Technician Referrals
Face-to-face referrals are one of the most trusted sources for customers. Work with other Neighborly brands to identify referral moments. Train your technicians to spot new service opportunities and call other concepts to help meet those needs.
Andy Johnson, Mr. Rooter of Memphis and Mr. Appliance of Memphis, offers rewards to technicians from other Neighborly brands in his market who provide referrals that result in a booked job. He said, “Our technicians make appointments in homes for other brands just by calling their offices. Owners are giving cash spiffs for appointments booked.”
Use Neighborly referral cards with your leave-behinds. Order them on Ad Depot today!
5. Simple Steps to “Be Neighborly”
If you’re looking for ways to kick-start your involvement with Neighborly, check out these simple steps:
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Get to know your neighbors Using the Find-a-Neighbor map using your FranConnect single sign-on access.
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Reach out to other franchisees for the first time by using the Neighborly email template.
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Make Neighborly part of your daily business.
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Vehicles - Add decals on existing vehicles, or updated wraps for new vehicles, that show you're a Neighborly company.
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Magnets - Use co-branded Neighborly magnets.
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Customer data - Collect accurate addresses, cell phone numbers, and email addresses.
The Neighborly team is intensely focused on supporting franchisees in reaching more customers. Feel free to send any questions or concerns to us at Questions@nbly.com.
