Branding: Brand Collateral 101

What is Brand Collateral?

Brand Collateral includes the physical assets you have for your company that you put your branding on. It is all of the materials (pens, t-shirts, folders, etc.) that you get branded that you may use to give to prospects, new customers and to your employees. They are also things you may use at a local tradeshow or give out at an event you are sponsoring.

How is Your Brand Collateral Used in Home Services Marketing?

Brand Collateral is used in home services to create a better and more professional customer experience. When you are first starting out, you may not be able to invest in a lot of different branded things, but as you continue to grow, we’d recommend you invest in collateral to for a few reasons – it can create a better sense of professionalism which gives prospects more confidence in your company and can help with your brand sentiment or how people feel when they think about your brand.

What Brand Collateral Do I Actually Need?

When you are just starting out, we’d recommend that you begin your investment with company branded t-shirts, business cards and sales collateral/folders to put your quotes in.

T-Shirts

It’s a good idea for your crew to have your t-shirts so that when they show up for the job, the customer knows that they are a part of your company. It can also help if you are going to be door knocking so that someone knows who it is at their door.

Business Cards

Business cards are great to give to new customer prospects when you just meet them, to give to existing customers to hand out to people for referrals and to hand out during the sales process to make it easy for someone to get in touch with you. You can also give business cards to realtors, other home pros (who don’t do what you do) and other people who could refer you business. You can leave them at other local businesses that you do business with if they allow that type of marketing.

Folders/Sales Collateral

Your sales collateral should always be branded with your company information. If you leave behind written quotes, you should have your logo and contact information at the top of your quote. You can also put your quote in a branded folder and include a brochure or one-sheeter with customer testimonials and pictures of other before or after jobs. Remember that even if you are only talking with one person during the sales process, there are usually at least two people involved in the decision making, so the more you can leave behind that sells your company versus relying on the person you’re talking with to sell on your behalf, the better off you’ll be.

Yard Signs

Yard signs are a great way to get referral business in the neighborhoods where you are currently doing work, especially if they are in a high traffic area where there are a lot of people driving by. Make sure you have a unique tracking number on your yard signs so that you can keep track of how much business they are driving.

Door Hangers

Door hangers are a great leave behind piece to put on people’s front doors if neighborhood canvassing is part of your marketing strategy. Often times, people won’t answer their doors but if you leave a piece, they’ll see it and if they are in market for your services, this is the easiest way for them to be able to get in contact with you. We recommend highlighting your unique selling proposition, having customer testimonials and before and after pictures on your door hangers so that you’re covering a lot of your bases before ever coming into contact with a prospective customer. Make sure you have a unique tracking number on your door hangers so that you know how many customers it was able to drive.

Truck Wraps

Truck and trailer wraps are a great way to sell your company while you’re on the go and while you’re doing a job. We don’t recommend this as a very beginning strategy – because it’s not the strategy that will drive you leads the way others can, but it’s a great way to gain brand recognition in the areas you serve. We recommend highlighting your USP and having a unique tracking number so that you know how many people called in from seeing your equipment on the road or on the job. One thing to remember when you have a wrapped vehicle is that you are driving more eyeballs to your brand, so make sure to follow the rules of the road and be extra courteous. You don’t want people calling you for the wrong reasons or to complain about your aggressive driving!