The Simple Guide to Email Marketing for Field Service, Part 2: Automation

Also see: Part 1 of this guide.

Running a business is incredibly demanding. If you’re not balancing your budget, you’re hiring for more positions, acquiring or repairing vehicles and tools, updating your work order software, or replacing the broken coffee machine.

You know that having a more cohesive sales process would get you more jobs… but between all the hats you’re trying to wear, and your family commitments, you feel like you’re out of time.

This is where automation comes in. Automating emails for sales and customer-service follow-up requires some up-front investment of your time — but the beauty of such a strategy is that automation turns repetitive details into revenue machines.

A little attention goes a long way: automation helps you outsource those man-hours to an email program.

No Coding Required

You don’t need to be a coding whiz to make great emails. There are plenty of software companies that make it their business to build email-templates that are simple for non-technical business owners to use. Products like those built by MailChimp, Constant Contact, Outreach.io or even marketing automation platforms like Hubspot or Infusionsoft are simple to use and scale alongside your business. You can choose from pre-made templates to keep your email efforts simple but stylish. Or–if you’re feeling really confident–you can build your own template to best suit your business.

Link Your Services to Your Email Efforts

If your site allows visitors to book appointments online, you’ve got a great opportunity to follow-up with customers who have shown interest in your services, or have recently booked an appointment.

If your online booking services are connected to your automation platform, you also have the opportunity to learn about what kind of purchase-habits your customers exhibit, and then write your email campaigns to match. Connecting your online services to your email efforts will make it easier to connect and organize with your customer base.

Share Good News and Updates

Being top of mind is a powerful buying tool. When you share relevant, useful information with your customer base, they are reminded:

1. Your company is full of approachable industry experts
2. They have a need or a repair that your service can address

As long as you are sharing useful information with your clients, they’ll welcome an infrequent, short email. Incentivizing a customer to take advantage of a service by pairing it with a sale or special promotion means more money for you, and a proactive customer relationship.

Send Emails According to Customer Behavior

Automation is just sending emails automatically. Think of times that it would benefit your business to be in touch with your customers: a confirmation note once they’ve booked an appointment.

A thank-you note and survey once a service has been completed is a nice gesture, too. Identifying these opportunities to connect with your customers means your business becomes familiar and–dare we say it–a welcome presence in the inbox.

Check In On Your Customers

Email Automation platforms show you who is and isn’t opening your emails. There are lots of reasons that a person might not be reading your updates. Maybe the emails are caught in a spam trap, maybe your subject lines aren’t compelling, or maybe your content just isn’t really useful to your audience at this time.

Whatever the reason, being able to reach out to people with a simple “how can we be of better service to you?” not only shows the recipient that you’re paying attention to their needs, but also gives you a chance to understand what they need out of a service for it to be successful.

Set It, Don’t Forget It

Automation helps you set up emails that will send based on certain customer activities. If they open a specific email, a follow-up email will send. If they click a certain button on your site, another email will send.

This sounds complex, but it’s a great way to communicate basic information to your clients without having to log all those hours in front of your computer screen. It also a great way to save yourself from writing out those FAQ emails regarding cost, timing, and services.

Get into the World of Email Testing

Once you’re comfortable with the ins and outs of sending automatic emails, take a look at how those emails are performing. Is every single email being opened? Is your click-through-rate 100%?

If so, that’s incredible: change nothing. If not, you have an opportunity to “optimize” your emails through a series of experiments. You’d be amazed how much a small change to a subject line can improve an email’s chances of being opened. And the more your clients are reading about your great service and excellent deals, the more likely they are to book you.

Email automation is a great tool for the busy business person. Does it require some time investment up front? Yes. But the time you will save and sales opportunities you will generate will create a solid return on that investment. Set yourself up for success: try your hand at email automation today.

Want more info about email marketing? Read the first half of this post: “A Simple Guide to Email Marketing for Field Service Companies, Part 1.”

Want to experiment or find out more about email automation services? Check out MailChimp, Constant Contact, Outreach.io, Hubspot or Infusionsoft.