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<title>My Blog</title><link>http://www.marketindsalesinfo.com/index.html</link><description>Information when you need it</description><dc:language>en</dc:language><dc:creator>Jeffrey Cohn jeff.cohn@si-restoration.com</dc:creator><dc:rights>Copyright 2009 Jeffrey Cohn</dc:rights><dc:date>2009-11-10T11:03:40-05:00</dc:date><admin:generatorAgent rdf:resource="http://www.realmacsoftware.com/" />
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<lastBuildDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:10:10 -0400</lastBuildDate><item><title>Call to action on your web site</title><dc:creator>Jeffrey Cohn jeff.cohn@si-restoration.com</dc:creator><category>web marketing&#x2c; plumber web site</category><dc:date>2009-11-10T11:03:40-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.marketindsalesinfo.com/page0/files/706261ec7615b079aa0be669f762832f-11.html#unique-entry-id-11</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.marketindsalesinfo.com/page0/files/706261ec7615b079aa0be669f762832f-11.html#unique-entry-id-11</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[&ldquo; Call To Action For Plumbers Web Sites&rdquo;


A big mistake that most plumbers don&rsquo;t include on their web sites ( matter of fact most web sites) is a call to action.   A call to action is a place on your web site where visitors can answer their questions fast and easy and find the section easy as well.


So what kind of questions could they have?


Isn&rsquo;t my web site easy to find out any question they may have?   You say &ldquo; Heck I can look at my web site and it&rsquo;s very obvious to me where everything is&rdquo; !


Well, the answers to both questions are easy to answer.


Find an average person who does not know what you do and ask them to visit your web site in front of you.   Turn the web site on and then count ( to yourself ) 5 seconds and then shut off the computer.


Ask the viewer what the web site is about.   If they can&rsquo;t answer your question correctly, then you have a hugh problem.   The test you just did called a simple usability test, tells you that most visitors to your web site will have a difficult time understanding what to do.


&ldquo; What to do?&rdquo;


Yes, your web site should have a purpose. 


Is the web site for informational purposes only ?


Do you want people to call your office?


Do you want them to get more information?  
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Plumber&#x27;s customer service ideas</title><dc:creator>Jeffrey Cohn jeff.cohn@si-restoration.com</dc:creator><category>Plumber&#x2c;plumbing&#x2c;  Plumbing web site&#x2c;  plumbing web design&#x2c; plumbing web marketing</category><dc:date>2009-11-02T21:27:12-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.marketindsalesinfo.com/page0/files/5239d3f83215b5cef8646614754857fa-10.html#unique-entry-id-10</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.marketindsalesinfo.com/page0/files/5239d3f83215b5cef8646614754857fa-10.html#unique-entry-id-10</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I was commenting on  someone else's blog about customer service


when it dawned


on me about the " Emotional Bank Account"


The emotional bank account is how you can tell if your customer


either thinks your 


great or will never use you again.


Let me explain.    Just like a bank account, we all start with 0


dollars and with 


the emotional bank account we start with 0 points.   As we start our


connection with the customer 


(Ex. answering the phone when they call ) we either gain points for


being very friendly


or lose points for being rude on the phone.


When the technician gets to the house, we either lose points by not


smiling or by


blocking the other spouse's car as they try to leave for work.   We


gain points when 


we put plastic on all the floors and gain even more points if we


clean the entire 


bathroom after fixing the toilet.


The more points you gain by doing extra customer service and


avoiding bad 


behavior the better chances you will get a recommendation or a


referral  from the


customer.   The advantage to the plumbing technician is that in case


they make a mistake or


break something the customer won't be so upset if the tech has


gained a lot of points.   


If you need more samples of gaining points for the customer


emotional bank account ,


just email me at jeff.cohn@si-restoration.com .   Please put in the


subject  emotional


bank account for plumbers.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Plumber Marketing Tip 2</title><dc:creator>Jeffrey Cohn jeff.cohn@si-restoration.com</dc:creator><category>Plumber&#x2c;plumbing&#x2c;  Plumbing web site&#x2c;  plumbing web design&#x2c; plumbing web marketing</category><dc:date>2009-10-30T10:12:27-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.marketindsalesinfo.com/page0/files/49751ad4ab8f95d4fc3597e8d4fa4874-9.html#unique-entry-id-9</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.marketindsalesinfo.com/page0/files/49751ad4ab8f95d4fc3597e8d4fa4874-9.html#unique-entry-id-9</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Plumbers if you are reading this in the year 2009, the plumbing world has changed.


With the economy slowing, you&rsquo;re not getting as much business as you used to.   Customers are holding off getting the basement or second floor toilet fixed.  


But this economic slow down should be a benefit to you.   Before you throw the toilet plunger supply at me from your warehouse, just hear me out.


Now that the phone isn&rsquo;t ringing off the hook, with new home construction companies and remodelers this situation may open your eyes to new marketing concepts.


My favorite is referral marketing( although that will be for a future blog)


This blog is going to concentrate on internet marketing.   Most of you have a web site, but are wondering how to get web site visitors to call you from your web site.


Yes you may have a beautiful well designed web site that you are very proud of, but unless visitors call your office you might as well have a web site that sells .... toilet plungers.


Now marketing your plumber web site isn&rsquo;t difficult but there are a couple of steps that need to be done.


One of the big steps that need to be addressed is what is called &ldquo; Call To Action&rdquo;


You see if you look at your plumbing web site and other web sites you will notice that if you want to contact the company you actually have to &ldquo; find the contact information&rdquo;


Yes, you may know where the contact phone number is on your site, but remember that studies have shown that most web site visitors actually spend no more that six (6) seconds viewing a web site.   If they can&rsquo;t find what they are looking for, they move on to another web site. 


Also if I have a specific need when searching for a plumber on the web like a water heater question, I have to search for an icon that mentions water heater.   Just because you have it listed on your navigation ( in small letters) doesn&rsquo;t mean people will find it right away.   Rememberer 6 seconds is ticking away, tick tick...... 


This is where you need to develop a &ldquo; Call To Action&rdquo; section on your web site.   If you look at my web site www.marketingandsalesinfo.com , you will notice a couple of call to action sections


I give the visitors a large area on the right side upper corner to spot my call to action without trouble.   Although some experts suggest that the call to action section be in the top middle of the page, I follow Jeffrey Eisenberg a call to action expert advice and have it on the upper right corner.    ( For more information on Jeffrey Eisenberg Call To Action Book click on  Call TO ACTION BOOK BY JEFFREY EISENBERG )


Another problem that plumbing customers find ( they may not even notice), when visiting plumber web sites is that they may be looking for a plumber for a future project. 


The plumber web site visitor may be planning to have their mother in law move into the house, yet it maybe 6 months away.   They know they need a bathroom in the basement ( sorry mother in laws ), but they can&rsquo;t afford it now.


What I recommend is to offer sending free advice to the plumbing customer so that they can make an informed buying decision.   The fact that you are sending just helpful information ( not pushing your company or a brochure on your company ), the visitor will be more encouraged to request information. 


So you know that having the customer email you and then you emailing them back can be a pain.


Well, hold on to your wrench, because there is an inexpensive service that you can control that will do this for you.   Matter of fact the system not only automatically sends the visitor your free helpful information when requested, but can send additional information on a regular basis without you lifting your wrench.


When you go to my site called www.marketingandsalesinfo.com ( a web site that assists plumbers to get more free information on web designing and web marketing) you will notice a section offering a free newsletter on web site marketing).   It asks for their name and email address and automatically sends the free information.   If you want go to www.marketingandsalesinfo.com and try it out for yourself.


For those who want to know how to do it right now just click to  a company called AWEBER.Com .   AWEBER is what I use to send the information automatically.


Just go to the site AWEBER.COM  and follow the instructions.


I promise if you have traffic to your site, you will see results for helpful information from you.


Good luck and tell me how you did or if you have questions just email at jeff.cohn@si-restoration.com


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