10 Tips To Get Customers For Your Asphalt Paving Company

Your job as the owner of an asphalt paving company is not only to pave driveways and build parking lots. Your job is to find people who want driveways paved and parking lots built. That means you need a plan to get customers for your asphalt paving company.

Are you trying to figure out how to acquire the right customers for your paving company? You’re not alone. Every business owner in your position has grappled with the same problem — how do I get more customers for my asphalt paving business?

The Solution: How to Get Customers For Your Asphalt Paving Company

You’ve come to the right place because that is our specialty. We think the ten tips below will help pave your way to a significant boost in profits!

1. Word Of Mouth & Referrals

Work hard to develop positive word of mouth.

Word of mouth is the best way to get new customers because it’s often more convincing than any type of marketing you’ll use. One customer speaking well about your company can bring many other customers to you since people generally trust what others say.

Put extra effort into every project and interaction with a customer to ensure that word of mouth is working in your favor. Doing a quality job makes a good impression and encourages people to tell their friends what you did for them.

Ask for referrals often.

When someone uses your services, ask them if they know anyone else who might need pavement work. Usually, the answer will be “no,” but sometimes, you’ll get a referral or two out of it. Plus, it reminds customers that you’re willing to help others out and that they should talk about their experiences with friends.

Leave behind a few business cards after you complete jobs so that when people ask your customer, “Hey, who did your driveway?” Your customer has your contact info handy to give out.

2. Offer Free Consultations

People want to feel like they are getting their money’s worth, and a free consultation is a great way to do that. Sometimes, it takes someone to see the value of a service or product to make them feel comfortable purchasing it. This is just one reason why offering free consultations is a great way to get more customers for your asphalt paving company.

When you offer a free consultation, you can show potential customers how good you are at your job. You can demonstrate your knowledge of the industry and have an opportunity to answer any questions they may have before they make a decision. And if you provide enough value with this consultation, they may be more likely to hire you over another asphalt paving company that does not offer such services.

3. Online Reviews

Online reviews are a great way for potential customers to see first-hand how great your asphalt paving company is at what it does. But when it comes to getting them, it can be difficult to know when, where, and how to start soliciting them.

Here are some tips on how to ask for online reviews.

REVIEW SITES

Find the top review sites specific to your industry and location (i.e., Yelp, Google Business Profile, and Angie’s List) and claim your business on them. If you’ve already done that, ensure that your business information is accurate and up-to-date.

EASY ACCESS

Put links to all of your review sites in an easy-to-find place on your website or email signature so that people can click through directly instead of having to search for you by name.

ASK NICELY

Send a follow-up message or letter that thanks the customer for their business and then gently asks if they would mind taking a few minutes to write a review about their experience with your company. Include direct links to each review site so they can skip any extra steps.

TIME IT RIGHT

The best time to ask customers to leave reviews is right after they’ve been satisfied with a job you completed for them. Get in the habit of sending an email, text, or asking in person for a review soon after completing a job for a customer.

4. Advertise

Asphalt paving is a competitive industry, so it’s essential to do everything to stand out from the crowd. One of the best ways to do this is through local advertisements. Advertisements in your local newspaper, tv station, and radio station can help get new customers for your asphalt paving company. It’s not as expensive as you think, and it will help build brand awareness.

Consumers respond more favorably to businesses that they feel they know, so it’s vital to ensure that your company gets noticed. That means advertising in newspapers and magazines, on television, and the radio.

That’s right—the traditional forms of advertising are alive and kicking! While these methods may not be as “sexy” as social media or internet marketing, they are still highly effective. People use their smartphones often, but it would be a mistake to only advertise in those places.

To reach as many people as possible, you’ll want to take advantage of all the tools at your disposal. Radio ads are inexpensive and can reach a broad audience, while TV commercials require a bigger budget but can be especially memorable when done right.

Newspaper advertisements have seen a decline due to falling circulation numbers and rising costs. Still, they remain popular among certain demographics or for specific types of businesses (such as real estate). If you’re looking for ways to increase your exposure while maintaining an affordable monthly spend on marketing activities, look no further than local print publications!

5. Mobile-First Website

Asphalt is one of the most eco-friendly, economical, and effective paving solutions available. Asphalt covers more than 94% of American roads. If you’re the owner of an asphalt paving company, your customers—and potential customers—are probably looking for you online. Your website must be mobile-friendly to help you get customers for your asphalt paving company.

Here’s why:

Roughly 60% of all internet traffic comes from mobile devices.
If your website doesn’t work well on mobile, it can negatively affect how Google ranks your site (which can affect whether people find you).
These days, mobile devices come in many different shapes and sizes, so it’s essential to make sure your site is built to be responsive and look great on any device.

If you don’t have a website for your business yet or if yours hasn’t been updated recently, use Mighty Sites to create a new website or update your current one so it looks great and works well on all mobile devices.

6. Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool to help you grow your asphalt paving business. With thousands of people using social media each day, you can use it to generate leads, build awareness of your brand and even turn customers into advocates for your business. However, those benefits won’t come to life if you don’t practice social media best practices. Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind when attracting customers to your asphalt paving company through social media.

Respond Promptly

When customers reach out on social media, whether with a question or a complaint, they expect fast reactions. The general rule is to respond within 24 hours, but if you have the resources and are interested in going above and beyond, try responding within minutes. With all the time people spend on social media, they will likely notice and appreciate your quick responses. If you can’t answer their questions the first time around, tell them when they can expect a more thorough response – this will set expectations so customers aren’t left hanging.

Post Consistently

One of the best things to attract customers to your asphalt paving company on social media is to post consistently. To do that, you need to create a plan and stick with it.

The first step in creating your social media posting plan is to determine what kind of content you’ll share. You have lots of options here!

You can share photos and videos of your work, tips for homeowners on maintaining their driveways and parking lots, fun facts about asphalt, testimonials from happy customers, or even inspirational or funny quotes about asphalt.

Next, you need to decide how often you want to post. Most experts recommend that businesses post daily on Facebook, at least once a week on Twitter, and several times a day on Instagram. Of course, if posting more often than that fits your business plan, then, by all means, go ahead and do it! Be sure that whatever frequency you choose, you stick with it so your audience knows when to expect new content.

Finally, set aside time every week or month (depending on which social media platforms you use) to create your posts for the upcoming period. Set up a schedule using programs like Hootsuite or Buffer to share the posts automatically when you set them.

7. Print Flyers, Postcards, And Door Hangers

Flyers

Flyers are relatively inexpensive and easy to create for your paving business. You can print them yourself or have a printing company print them for you if you don’t have any employees who know how to use graphic design software.

You can contact the local newspaper to have them insert your flyers into the next edition. There is usually a small fee to do this.

Sending out flyers is an excellent way to distribute information about your business because it allows people to take the information with them and look at it later when deciding what type of service they need or which company they want to contact.

Postcards

Postcards may be a bit more expensive than flyers because they tend to be printed by companies rather than individuals. However, they are still relatively inexpensive compared to other marketing materials like billboards or television commercials. You can mail out a postcard or find places where they allow you to tack one on a bulletin board or leave a stack at the front desk.

Door Hangers

Door hangers are an excellent tool for promoting any type of small business, but particularly for an asphalt paving company. When it comes to marketing their services, contractors have to be creative to get the word out about their business and attract new clients. Door hangers are a great way to do just that.

One of the best features of door hangers is that they’re highly visible and easy to distribute. Most people will notice them immediately upon arriving home, making it less likely that they’ll be forgotten or tossed aside like other types of advertising materials (such as mailers). They’re also perfect for the busy homeowner who doesn’t have time to read through long advertisements.

8. T-Shirts And Other Promotional Products

Asphalt paving business owners are always looking for creative ways to attract new customers. One easy way to do this is by giving out t-shirts, hats, and other forms of promotional products. These products will get your name in the hands of more people, and they’ll also help you gain more visibility and recognition in your area.

For example, when someone wears one of your promotional t-shirts, others will see it and be reminded of your company when they need asphalt paving services. The more people who know about your company, the better business will be!

You can give away these promotional products at tradeshows or other industry events. Or, you could hand them out to people when they first contact you or come into your office to inquire about services – the possibilities are endless! You could even purchase some branded pens or pencils and leave them at local businesses so that passersby will see them while they’re waiting in line or browsing through shelves during their shopping trip. Your company’s name will be on everyone’s mind whenever they use one of these items!

When choosing which items to give away as promotional products for your asphalt paving business, keep in mind that not all items are created equal; some might work better than others, depending on your goals.

Find a reputable promotional products company to help you craft your next promotional products campaign.

9. Strategic Partners

Build relationships with landscapers, architects, and other home improvement and construction professionals, so they refer business to you. These professionals are more likely to know someone who needs paving work than the average person and will be able to recognize quality work. Consider offering a referral program where you pay $100 or $200 for any lead that results in a job.

Make a list of all the contractors you know, like landscapers, architects, and others who may refer business to you. Next, contact them and set up lunch meetings to learn more about their businesses and let them know how you can work together.

Take every opportunity to tell people that you’re available for referrals. Don’t assume people will think of you on their own—you have to go out there and make it happen!

10. Showcase Your Work Online – GBP, Facebook, Website

You want to bring in customers for your paving business. You know you have to work hard and do an excellent job for your existing customers, which only brings in a certain amount of business.

Where else can you go to find new customers?

The Internet is an effective tool for finding them, but it’s not enough to just have a website. You need more. If you use your Google Business Profile, Facebook page, and website correctly, they can be helpful tools in bringing in more customers.

The three sites mentioned above are different in some ways, but they all have one thing in common—they allow you to post pictures of your work online. And that’s precisely what you should be doing if you want to show the world how good you are at paving.

If you want to succeed in this business, you need to put pictures of all the paving projects you’ve done online on your Google Business Profile, Business Facebook page, and website. This will give potential customers an idea of what kind of work you can do and the quality of your work. They are more likely to call you for a quote on their paving project if they like what they see online.

Conclusion

With the help of a quality marketing strategy, you can succeed in building your new asphalt paving company’s brand and attracting customers. A well-thought-out plan executed day by day will be like well-placed tiles that support a long and successful career ahead in asphalt paving.

The first step should be to ensure that your current customers are getting the services they need—make sure that they’re 100% happy with your service before you try to retain them. That alone can mean the difference between satisfied and dissatisfied customers.

The best way to get customers for your asphalt paving company is through reputation and representing the strength of that reputation in as many places as you can (online and in print).

It’s tough to get customers for your asphalt paving business. But, there are a lot of different ways to do it. Experiment and learn from these ten tips, and you will find the perfect strategies for your business and unique market. Then use those strategies consistently to help get customers for your asphalt paving company.