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- 3 Marketing Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs
Hello home service operators,
We all make mistakes in business. I’ve been at this for years, and I still trip up now and then. The good news? Every slip is a chance to learn.
In today’s newsletter, I’m sharing three marketing mistakes I wish I had avoided. I’ve made them myself, and my goal is to help you steer clear of the same pitfalls.
Today’s Resources
OpenPhone is a business phone system that streamlines and scales your customer communications
Watch me take a stab at blind ranking some unique careers
The businesses that are scaling beat the horse until it is dead
First to win: Lennox takes DOE’s cold climate heat pump challenge
Here’s a solution that allows your team to share one number and collaborate on customer calls and texts like a shared inbox
Hudson Technologies partners with the DC Sustainable Energy Utility to launch the nation’s first refrigerant recovery pilot in Washington, DC
Run Your Business. Don’t Let It Run You.
FieldPulse is an all-in-one platform that keeps you in the driver’s seat as you manage your business.
From the first ring of the phone to the moment money hits your account, everything runs smoother, faster, and smarter.
Here’s what your crew gets on day one:
Estimates and invoices that impress customers
Drag-and-drop scheduling that keeps jobs flowing
60+ prebuilt reports to spot growth opportunities
A customer portal booking jobs while you sleep
Custom workflows built around how you operate
No matter the type of field service operation, FieldPulse gives you the edge you need to run your business like a pro.
Mistakes Happen, But You Can Prevent Many
Marketing mistakes will happen. That’s part of the game.
The key is not to operate recklessly but to recognize where those pitfalls lie. By knowing what’s ahead, you give yourself the chance to steer clear of them.
Here are the three most common home service business marketing mistakes.
Mistake #1: Not Knowing Your Numbers
Most operators treat marketing like a black box. Money goes in, leads are supposed to come out. If revenue is down, the answer is always “we need more leads.”
The problem? You can’t fix what you don’t measure.
The numbers you must know:
Lead requirements: How many leads does your business need each day to hit revenue goals? (Most owners don’t know.)
Booking rates: LSAs vs. PPC vs. Angi. Each channel converts differently at the CSR level.
Sit/demo rates: How many booked jobs actually run? If 2 out of 10 cancel, you’re losing 20% of your funnel.
Close rates: The percentage of jobs your techs or sales team actually sell.
ROI per channel: Forget cost per lead in isolation. What matters is whether $1,000 in spend produces $5,000 or $10,000 in booked sales.
Without tracking across the full funnel, you end up guessing. You’ll cut channels that actually work (like the guy paying $150/month for Yellow Pages and pulling 30 leads) or chase “cheaper” leads that never close.
The fix: implement tracking numbers, use your CRM, and get granular. ROI is only clear when you can see every stage from call to close.
Mistake #2: Spreading Marketing Too Thin
This one kills momentum. Companies take a limited budget and spread it across every channel they’ve ever heard of:
A little for LSAs
A little for PPC
A little for Facebook
A little for Thumbtack, Angi, or Modernize
A billboard here, a newspaper sponsorship there
The result? Nothing gets enough budget to work.
Here’s the truth: every lead source is a game. And you don’t win by dipping in halfway. You win by finding the channel with strong ROI and running it until it’s maxed out.
At Wilson Companies, we poured $100K a month into LSAs. And not back in 2021 when demand was through the roof, but just recently. Why? Because it worked. We didn’t sprinkle $500 here and $200 there. We focused.
Spreading thin is tempting. Conferences and podcasts are full of operators bragging about scaling through Facebook, PPC, or the “next big channel.” But unless your budget is truly robust, diversification slows you down.
The fix: test channels smart (90 days or 100 leads is a good benchmark), then commit. Depth outperforms dabbling.
Mistake #3: Neglecting Your Google Business Profile
The most underutilized marketing asset in home services is the Google Business Profile (GBP).
And yet GBP impacts everything:
Local Service Ads (LSAs): Strong GBP drives better visibility.
PPC: Customers often double-check reviews before calling.
Organic traffic: The map pack dominates local search results.
AI-powered search: ChatGPT and similar tools scrape GBP data and reviews.
Neglect shows up in weak reviews, low review velocity, no photos, empty updates, and missing Q&A entries.
Why it matters:
Review count and velocity directly influence visibility and trust. Getting 10 new reviews a week signals more to Google than 200 reviews collected years ago.
Prospects compare. A business with 70 reviews at 4.7 stars loses against a competitor with 2,500 reviews at 4.9 stars.
Review quality matters. Long reviews with keywords, photos, and location mentions get indexed and show up in AI-driven search results.
The best operators treat review collection like part of the job, not an afterthought. They build systems and incentives, from tech bonuses to team competitions, to drive review velocity. They also optimize every GBP section: updates, products, Q&A, and keyword-rich responses to reviews.
The fix: don’t just “set it and forget it.” Treat GBP like a revenue channel. If you could double your monthly calls from GBP with a few tweaks, what would that be worth?
Want more on marketing mistakes? Watch this podcast episode.
Out of Stock? Never Again.
Every contractor has been there. You show up at the supply house and hear “we’re out.”
Next up: lost time, delayed projects, and frustrated customers.
The solution? A free PRO account at WeSupplyTrades, an online supply house built for home service companies. Here is what you get with a free PRO account:
20% off your first order with code: OWNED20
10 to 15% ongoing savings on future orders
Fast, reliable shipping on the parts you need
And remember, there’s no credit application or license required.
Your local supply house is not going anywhere. But when they cannot cover everything, WeSupplyTrades keeps your jobs moving and your costs down.
Your business will be in a much better place if you’re able to prevent these three common marketing mistakes. Trust me.
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👊 John
Disclosure: Some of the content and links in this newsletter are sponsored or affiliate links, which means we may receive payment or earn a commission if you click through or purchase. However, all opinions expressed are entirely my own.
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