Marketing Painting Services

Every new painting contractor (and even a lot of seasoned professionals) wants to know the best way to market his business. While there is no "best" way, there are certain principles that one must follow.

Joe Garcia of givetogetmarketing.com offers some insight on this issue.

People don't really buy products and services. They buy what the products or services can do for them. People don't buy quarter inch drills, they buy quarter inch holes.

People buy solutions to their problems. Therefore, all products and services must be the solution to a problem. The problem can be a relatively easy one to solve, like the problem of being hungry and going to a restaurant for the solution. Or it can be a major problem, like the problem of having a serious illness and going to a specialist for the solution.

In the context of a painting contractor, we don't sell painting services. We sell beautification and protection services. We add color to walls and protect surfaces from the elements. We enhance lives and protect asset values.

This has significant implications for our marketing. If we focus on painting, we look just like every other painting contractor. But if we focus on the benefits to the customer-- enhancing their environment, transforming a drab interior into a den of luxury, reducing maintenance costs, etc.-- we present an entirely different image.

About the only difference you may find between marketing products and services, is that services may require more personal contact between you and your potential buyers. This personal contact may be in the form of a face to face presentation, or a telephone presentation.

A face to face presentation allows you communicate the benefits to the customer. If you simply submit a price, the benefits of the products you use may not be understood. The benefits of using your company might be overlooked.

Marketing and sales are all about communications. What we communicate is just as important as how we communicate it.