Marketing for a Service, Business Owners would rather ignore!

[Easy Workplace Safety]

Hi

I am sure someone can assist me.

I am an OHS Consultant and until recently, my business grew from direct referrals. Once I have developed and implemented an OHS Management systems the small business owners then take responsibility and run their own OHS programmes. So in effect each client only lasts about 12 months. These clients have now finished and I am finding it challenging to get new clients.

I have tried a number of approaches and have had limited success - cold calling, business introduction letters, presentations at meetings, etc.

OHS is not a priority for most businesses because unfortunately most Employers wait until a worker is injured and then introduce systems reactively instead of proactively. Employers cannot see any return for their investment, so they would rather risk being prosecuted than following the law. Even worse, a worker has to be hurt first for them to do anything.

Can anyone provide some advice as to which way to go next?

Thank you.

[LeelaCosgrove]

I think the first step is to really nail the target market. Micro businesses are a waste of your time - they won't spend the money. Small businesses are probably much the same ... so, at what point do businesses HAVE to have this stuff in place? Once they get an employee?

Let's face it ... while it's optional, most businesses are going to avoid tying up their cashflow no matter HOW important it really is ...

So, get hard core on the target market you want ...

"Retail businesses with 1-5 employees, turning over $X a year".

Cool - now you know WHO you're talking to. See, that's the problem most people have when they try all of the things you've mentioned below - they just haven't NAILED their target market ...

So now, the next step is to be honest about what you know is the case ...

"Most of our clients hate working with us ... until something goes wrong"

We know you think we're an expense. We know you would rather not spend money on us. That's why we aim to simplify your OH&S to a point where you don't need to worry about it ... we'll do what you HATE doing and what you shouldn't be wasting your time doing.

Once you've got these two things together (that is, the target market and the value proposition ... value prop is especially good if you can add in some numbers about how much money and time you're going to save them), NOW you can think about direct mail, online sales funnel strategies, "cold" calling (although I strongly recommend that you don't do this on it's own ... use direct mail and online strategies to warm your leads up and THEN call them ... ).

But ONLY once you've got all that other stuff in place. Marketing doesn't work in a vacuum ... there is a strategic process you need to go through to make all the tactical bits and pieces work properly ...

THIS is the problem with all the "free" information out there ... it's been taken out of context and thrown into the public arena, where it's been regurgitated again and again until it all gets confused and becomes unrecognisable ...

Context is everything! Followed closely by strategy ...

[Burgo]

Taking a nother tact here, business associations especially those that are in building and construction, which brings in cleaning contractors are always looking for qualified people to inform their members on OH&S.

Unfortunately individual soloists and small business are really not interested in OH&S, because they feel its all common sence anyway. The unions rarely bother with soloists, and the government has even less time for them.

But thats my two bobs worth anyway

[LeelaCosgrove]

I agree Burgo ... that would absolutely be the next step ... not just speaking, but also doing a report on "the top 5 things you didn't know about OHS that could save you $100,000 in the next 12 months" - that they could send out to ALL of their members with YOUR branding (no SELL - that's VERY important) ...

Look, there's a BILLION cool and funky things you can do - but you need to get the foundations, the building blocks in place ... THAT's the big secret to marketing ... without those foundations, none of those other things work or they work with limited success!

[Easy Workplace Safety]

Thanks.

Great ideas for me to start with. Your feedback is much appreciated.

You are right when you say that OHS is common sense. Under legislation it is a requirement that all businesses, no matter what size, must undertake an assessment of their risks and fully document these processes. This is where many businesses get caught out - they probably assess their risks as a part of their daily routine but unless it is documented they are non compliant.

I have recently formed an alliance with a couple of Businesses who fill a gap in my business like HR, IR and Fire Safety so this may also lead to some more clients.

[Hugh Thyer]

What you're really selling here is fear. Its the fear of getting caught up in court for years, costing you tens of thousands of dollars, all because one employee did something stupid and you had one procedure in your manual that wasnt up to date.

I've seen this type of thing done successfully in the past by preying on people's fear of situations like this. Of course, you're the white knight riding in to solve the problem!

[Thrive Promotional]

Hi

All the advice given so far seems very sound .. especially about finding your target market (and the drilling down to the exact area within a business .. for example is it HR*) and the main benefit your service i.e. prevention of a series incident.

* There are several HR related magazines and websites worth checking out for directory listings/advertising potential.

While every business has a responsibility to review OHS issues ... is there any accreditation you could pursue say from Work Cover to give you further contacts and 'cred' (e.g. many health professionals actually need to be given the big tick of approval from Work Cover to treat a workers comp patient)?

Perhaps you can also make contact and develop affiliation / referral via Work Cover, Insurance Companies and even the large Accounting firms that audit workers comp.

Hope these further thoughts help.

[Hugh Thyer]

Another area to consider is putting your clients on a continuity program where you send them monthly newsletters, give them access to your email address, update them on legislative changes, hold teleconferences (you could even branch out into other non OHS areas such as finance, marketing, logistics etc) and do a 6 or 12 monthly review of their systems to make sure they're remaining compliant.

This would give you a nice ongoing income and an opportunity to launch a referral program from.