Growing your business takes a whole different skillset than running your business. Many locksmiths are great at serving their existing customers but could use some help attracting profitable new accounts. Three recent Locksmith Live sessions from Wayne Winton and his guests provide some great advice for expanding your business.
Dominate Your Online Market
In this session, Lewis Vandervalk of Blue Crocus Solutions, gave some great tips on building your website and search engine optimization aimed at getting that website to appear near the top in Google searches. The hands-on session involved looking at locksmith websites and making helpful suggestions.
To watch the Dominate Your Online Market Workshop with Lewis Vandervalk, scan the QR code or go to at https://www.youtube.com/live/2-IfCe86njY.
The key question here is: What is it that makes Google think that your business is a trustworthy source so that when someone types in ‘locksmith near me’ or a similar search phrase, they quickly see your company? There are steps locksmith companies can take to build that trust and authority from Google. These include:
Show your credentials to show that you're trustworthy.
Show that clients have interacted with you through reviews.
Make sure all your information is consistent wherever it shows up online, same phone number, same hours, etc. if you show your hours as 24/7 on your website and 9 to 5 on your Google business profile, for example, Google will penalize and not give you a good position.
Make sure you have an updated Google business profile.
Post photos and videos that showcase your storefront, vans with signage and your technicians in a professional manner. Rename your photos with your company name and a brief description before uploading. Google does read photo names.
Spell out the services you offer. Consider having family or friends ask questions and provide the answers.
Make sure all your social media profiles are updated and linked.
Post an FYI section with information on how to identify and avoid fake locksmith scammers.
If you are posting videos on your website or social media, keep them real and relatable. They don’t have to be super smooth and it’s better if they don’t appear to be AI generated. Just pull out your phone and take a quick video of your technicians completing the job. Even better is if the customer is willing to be included.
The session went on to give some great tips on social media marketing.
Unlocking Digital Opportunities
Former HL Flake/Banner Solutions marketing manager Travis Howell recently left to start his own venture, Space and Depth (www.space-depth.com), an advertising agency specifically for locksmiths and developing e-commerce tools. He also operates a local automotive locksmith business in San Diego.
Scan the QR code or watch the presentation at https://www.youtube.com/live/2yyYRYja47o
Howell asks locksmiths this question: “How do you advertise?” The most frequent answer: “‘I’ve spent some money on Google.” He urges locksmiths to go beyond search and make awareness-based ads part of their strategy.
His presentation covered:
Why you should advertise. Awareness ads get your company name out there before folks need a locksmith. They help give your company a sense of legitimacy. Potential customers are more likely to contact a company they’ve seen or heard of before.
The digital marketing landscape: the different options out there for advertising. While search is still valuable, there are many more choices.
“I’m not saying you shouldn’t do any search. You should certainly still participate in search and even do some paid search engine marketing on Google or Google maps. If you have not stepped into any of the awareness advertising, you should carve out some of your budget and move it over there,” Howell said.
Targeting, tracking and retargeting. Social media awareness ads are very affordable and can be targeted to reach people in your area, putting your ads in front of folks who have searched relevant stuff like lost car keys, rekey home, etc. Other options that have worked for some locksmiths include local radio/television ads, which are much more expensive, and ads on streaming platforms.
Facebook ad basics. Howell walked though some Facebook ad basics, showing step by step how to get ads up and running and some real examples with real results.
Make Money from NSPs
In another Locksmith Live podcast, Wayne Winton and Texas locksmith Roger Courts Jr., president of ReKey Xpress, shared some tips for getting (paying) business from national service providers (NSPs), also sometimes called facility maintenance companies.
To watch the whole interview and hear some good stories about dealing with NSPs, scan the QR code or go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy8vc5n0kCk.
These companies act as buffer zones between the locksmith and the end user. They have contracts with large companies, such as retail chains. There is a way to make money with these organizations, but you have to know the rulebook before you get started.
Courts had some advice, based on his experience in doing a lot of business for a couple NSPs. Read your contract and understand the terms you are working under. If you don’t agree with the terms, negotiate when possible, he advised.
Make sure to spread your business so you are not too dependent on a single NSP, he added. “If you get that one big customer, that’s great. But don’t bank on it. If you are spreading yourself out there and you’ve got a larger number of customers, you’ve got a more stable company.”
Winton noted that in a true emergency, NSPs will start calling any local locksmiths they can reach. In that case, they will give you a credit card right away. They are in desperate need of your services.
Filling out the paperwork – called a vendor packet-- is the typical beginning step. You want to get on their preferred vendor list so they will call you first.
Some rules from Winton:
When a NSP contacts me for the first time, they must pay by credit card for that initial service. Once we have a good working relationship and we have one successful business transaction completed, I’ll fill out the subcontractor agreement and I will agree to 30- or 45-day net terms. I will not agree to longer terms.
Keys to the NSP gate:
Furnish the proper paperwork (downloading via app or sending electronically or paper.) Fill everything out properly and submit it in the format they require.
Take and submit before and after photos and consider taking videos.
Log into their system in the way they require. If the paperwork says to call in from the store’s phone, you have to call in using the store’s landline. If they have an app, be ready to use it.
Build into your pricing the labor time required to get the manager’s signature and do associated paperwork.
To attend or view future Locksmith Live sessions, join Wayne Winton's Locksmith Nation Facebook Group at www.facebook.com/groups/LocksmithNation or subscribe to his YouTube channel.
