“The Phones Stopped Ringing” After 23 years of relying on referrals, about two years ago “the phones stopped ringing,” says Ron Trull, of Trull Building Co., in Philadelphia’s western suburbs. “That’s a panic situation.”
Trull Building logged about $800,000 each year with little growth. Six employees were completing 20 jobs a year (additions, kitchens, baths) with no job signs or truck lettering. Trull wasn’t “a big ego guy,” and job signs and lettering were ego, in his opinion.
Trull weathered downturns, including Sept. 11, but then his business “fell off a cliff.” Bridging the gap from one job to the next became increasingly difficult, and he was consciously shaving margin off bids. He turned to a Blue Bell, Pa., business consultant, GGN Group.
Studying his market, they discovered a neighborhood where he was building additions for growing families — a ripe territory for a marketing campaign. He learned typical customers earned household incomes of $125,000 and owned $450,000-plus homes. He learned clients who contracted for his $80,000 basement remodels were in the top 3% of his market. He discovered points of differentiation: He and his crew were personable; they did what they promised, on time and on budget; and Trull was available, personally, anytime.
Following one of GGN’s first recommendations to hire a marketing firm, Trull contracted Miller Designworks in Phoenixville, Pa. Using professional photography, he rolled out a postcard campaign at a cost of $7,000, with immediate results. To date, the campaign has won more than $300,000 in business. “It saved my company,” Trull says, adding that, had he not done the campaign, he would have had to let employees go.
The year 2004 was the first time Trull broke $1 million, a success he attributes to his $30,000 marketing investment.
“I’m evolving, realizing how important marketing is,” Trull says. “It’s not really ego. It’s being known in your community.”