I think you’ll agree with me when I say that, as a slab lifting contractor, you can never have too many leads. While there may be dozens of methods available, there are three very effective resources our customers strategically use to land new slab lifting projects on a regular basis. Let’s get started.

HomeAdvisor

HomeAdvisor can be a lead machine for residential slab lifting contractors. HomeAdvisor's online and TV marketing efforts draw in homeowners looking for local contractors of all kinds. You pay a membership fee, set a lead budget, and they feed you concrete leveling opportunities. But it doesn’t stop there. Here are some tips that can help you capitalize on those leads:

1. Call the homeowner immediately: These leads go to multiple contractors so you need to be among the first to book an appointment.
2. Pick specific zip codes: You can call HomeAdvisor and limit your advertising to higher-income zip codes, zip codes closest to your business, etc. Take some time to think through the reasons for targeting specific areas. For example, higher-income homeowners tend to care more about quality than price, jobs near your business reduce travel costs, and so on.
3. Dispute bad leads: Some leads will come in that aren’t relevant. For example, the homeowner didn't realize they were choosing the wrong job type category, or they just wanted to ask some questions but did not actually have a project available. You can dispute these types of leads via HomeAdvisor's website or by calling their customer service line.

Google Ads

Google is the most popular search engine in the world. Our top customers have learned to leverage Google's massive user base through implementing strategic Google Ads campaigns. They use Google Ads to target local people who are searching for specific keywords such as "concrete leveling contractor near me" or "sinking driveway repair", etc. This means you can continually refine your parameters so that the most relevant leads end up on your landing page. 

It's important to design a custom landing page for your Google Ads campaign, encouraging the visitor to download a brochure for more information. Your brochure download process should require the lead to enter their contact info. Some people recommend excluding website navigation menus on these pages, effectively requiring the visitor to download the brochure. In this way, you capture contact info from all types of visitors - even those who are not ready to buy yet but are in the information gathering stage. These types of visitors would otherwise scour a conventional website, take notes, and then continue searching without ever sharing their contact info.  If you need someone to create your Google Ads campaign and/or landing page, we can put you in contact with experienced freelancers.

This next section is excerpted from our brochure, Marketing Your Contracting Business. (The brochure download link is at the bottom of this article.)

Blogging for Leads

Cast a Wide Net with a Lot of Posts

The more pages you have on your website, the more chances there are for someone to find it when searching a specific phrase or term. Search engines are scanning your page names, heading text, and page text when someone types in a term or phrase to see if there are any matches. So, it’s in your best interest to have as many pages full of relevant content as you can. A blog is a perfect way to accomplish that goal.

Say, for example, that you are a slab lifting contractor in San Pedro, California. You can write up case studies of jobs you’ve performed in your area. Make sure your blog titles include terms people will likely search for. For example, a post about a warehouse floor job could be titled, “Warehouse Floor Slab Lift in San Pedro”. You get the idea.

Share Your Knowledge and Build Trust

You can also use a blog as a way to share your knowledge and experience with potential customers who are looking for answers. Take some time to consider all that you’ve learned over the years and jot down ideas for blog posts that potential customers may find helpful. In addition to case studies, you can write posts instructing people how to spot problems on their property, comparing your repair costs to the costs of replacing a structure, educating people about the materials you use, etc.

You can get quite a few ideas by browsing the posts on our blog. While our articles are aimed more at contractors than property owners, you’ll still find many useful subjects to get your brainstorming started. The more useful knowledge you share, the more trust you can build with potential customers. People are much more likely to buy a service from a known expert than from a complete stranger.

Offer More Value in Exchange for Contact Info

Driving up web traffic is a good thing. Establishing yourself as an authority by creating useful content is also very helpful. If you just do those two things, you should get more people calling you and filling out the contact form on your website. But if you REALLY want to jumpstart the leads, you need to offer something of value in exchange for your reader’s contact info. At the end of every article, include a link to a relevant brochure – or something else of value – and ask for their contact info in exchange. For an example, see the form download button at the bottom of this article.

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

The great thing about a blog post with a lead capture form at the end is that, once you set it up – it’s there forever. We still get leads from blog posts we put up years ago. If you consistently write articles, you can create a compounding effect with more and more leads coming in each month.

Want more information on lead generation?

A couple of recent judgments in slip and fall cases should concern any property owner with slip OR trip risks on the premises. 

On July 12, 2019, WTXL TV in Tallahassee posted an article on their website about a near 2 million dollar judgment for a slip and fall case at a local convenience store:

On Thursday, a Leon County jury ruled that Siraji Inc., the owner of the USA Grocers convenience store in the 2600 block of Roberts Avenue, was responsible for causing the 2016 slip and fall of 47-year-old Stephanie Jenkins. Jenkins was awarded $1.9 million for the permanent and severe injuries she sustained.

On January 8, 2021, Daily Report posted an article about a 1 million dollar judgment in an Atlanta slip and fall case:

Nearly a year after a judge awarded a woman injured in a slip-and-fall accident at an Atlanta restaurant more than $1.1 million in damages, the parties have settled for just over $1 million.

These are record judgments against property owners for these types of accidents. If you have a trip and fall litigation risk on your site, contact us for a qualified slab lifting contractor referral today!

Want more information on leveling concrete slabs?

Alchemy-Spetec is pleased to announce the opening of a Western region manufacturing facility and grout lab in Reno, Nevada. Leak Seal and Geotech products are both currently stocked at this new location. Customers in the Western states will benefit from faster shipments. Alchemy-Spetec’s industry-leading tech support team will offer training programs and grout labs at the Reno location in the near future.

Vice President of Sales & Marketing Brian Oeder explains, “This effort is part of an ongoing commitment to providing easily accessible infrastructure repair products and technical training to contractors from coast to coast. We’re acutely aware of the tight deadlines our customers often face and we’re laser-focused on making sure our products and support expertise are always available.” President & CEO Stephen C. Barton adds, “Our new Reno facility is the latest step in our growth strategy. Serving customers on the West Coast by reducing transit time is our primary driver. We now have a one or two-day shipping point to the entire West Coast.”

For more information, contact:
Brian Oeder
VP Sales & Marketing
513-473-0062
boeder@alchemy-spetec.com

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In this post, I provide an overview of a series of articles I wrote in 2018 on the basics of starting up a slab lifting business.

Subjects Covered in This Series

In this blog post series, we address some of the key points and considerations that slab-lifting startups frequently face. With so many years of market experience, we are uniquely positioned and qualified to offer this guidance. Because we are passionate about what we do, we are motivated to be part of your success story! Some of the topics we will cover include:

• Key Considerations
• Identifying your target market
• Selling to your potential customers
• Marketing your business
• Essential gear & accessories for starting your business

So You’re Thinking About Starting a Slab Lifting Company: Key Considerations

Slab lifting is an economical alternative to complete concrete replacement, be it a simple sidewalk repair or providing a cost-effective remedy for an entire building foundation.

If someone asked you to drive to Seattle, would you get in your car and take off, or would you look at a map first? A business and marketing plan is the roadmap for your slab lifting/concrete leveling business. It will help you define and stay true to your path, and it’s a tool you will need to attain startup financing.

Whether your goal is to launch a slab lifting venture that caters to home or business owners, you also will need a dependable, knowledgeable supplier who will not only sell you slab lifting pumps, guns and foams - but also serve as a trusted advisor.
Click here to read more...

Slab Lifting Market Hot Zones

Once you’re ready to make the move to start up a slab lifting business, one of your first areas of focus should be identifying and defining your service areas and your potential customer base within each sector or area. Broadly speaking, there are three viable market segments to explore for slab lifting services: Residential, Commercial, and Municipal.
Click here to read more...

Selling the Customer: Why Polyurethane Slab Lifting Is the Better Choice

The first question any engineer will ask is “Does the solution fit the needs of the application?” When it comes to structural foams used for slab lifting repair projects, you can confidently answer “yes.” But if you want to guide your customer to a concrete leveling repair solution, you should also be able to illustrate the pros, explain the cons, and enunciate the selling points.
Click here to read more...

Marketing Your Slab Lifting Business

Marketing your new slab lifting business takes time and the right approach. If your slab lifting business is a small to medium-sized operation, tools and strategies that increase your market presence and help you attract leads are extremely important.
Click here to read more...

Essential Gear for Starting Your Next Generation Slab Lifting Business

Slab lifting with polymers is rapidly replacing old technologies because it’s fast, strong, doesn’t shrink, and has a low impact on the environment. So it’s no surprise that we get a lot of inquiries from contractors interested in adding this service, in addition to individuals wanting to create a startup slab lifting business. So what exactly are we talking about in terms of the essential gear?

A slab lifting rig is a rolling business unto itself. It is a self-contained, turnkey, mobile unit that has all of the equipment necessary to perform the work. There are a variety of configurations but all of these setups will contain the following: Trailer or Box Truck, Power Source, Compressed Air System, Fluid Transfer System, Proportioner Pump, Heated Hoses, and Impingement Gun. Let’s look at these in more detail.
Click here to read more...

Want more information on Alchemy-Spetec geotech products and equipment?

This article is an excerpt from Episode 12 of Alchemy-Spetec's podcast The Injection Connection, featuring Outside Sales Representative at All-Tex Supply, Inc. Josh Van Hook. Josh has over 18 years of experience as a distributor in Austin, TX and one of his passions has been chemical grouts. (If you'd rather view or listen, an audio/visual version of this excerpt is posted at the bottom of the article.)

Charlie Lerman: As manufacturers, we love to do all these demos and training sessions and all that kind of stuff. As a dealer, what do you see that seems to be most effective, that helps out your contractors the most, and that leads to more sales generation for you guys?

Josh Van Hook: In my eyes, as a distributor, we get paid to keep material on the shelf and keep stuff in stock. To me, that's probably the most important thing: being able to provide the product to the customer when it's needed. Unfortunately, chemical grouts are not something that most people have plenty of time to plan ahead for, and put together orders and wait for them to be shipped in. As a distributor, that’s what I’ve always focused on. One point I emphasize to the guys that have worked under me (and the guys that I’ve worked for have emphasized to me) is that you've got to have material to be able to sell it. That's the number one thing in my mind regarding a benefit that we can provide to the contractors. That and a little bit of knowledge.

Charlie: Exactly as I led off with at the beginning of our conversation, the three most important things - first off is it there? So, I remember when I was a contractor, we had a chemical grout company talk to us and it sounded great. We were all set, we're going to switch over to their products. And like, when do we get it? Like, you let us know and we'll ship it out to you, it’ll be there in three days. Like, okay, we're done here.

Josh: Yeah, that doesn't work. From our side of it, if we have it, we're going to sell it. That's the main thing.

View the video version of this excerpt...

Want some information on Alchemy-Spetec products?

This article is an excerpt from Episode 12 of Alchemy-Spetec's podcast The Injection Connection, featuring Outside Sales Representative at All-Tex Supply, Inc. Josh Van Hook. Josh has over 18 years of experience as a distributor in Austin, TX and one of his passions has been chemical grouts. (If you'd rather view or listen, an audio/visual version of this excerpt is posted at the bottom of the article.)

Charlie Lerman: Going back through 18 years, what are a couple of unique, interesting jobs that pop up in your mind, specific grout jobs?

Josh Van Hook: There are quite a few. One of the first ones that I was on, this was probably 15 years ago, where I actually went to the site with one of my old bosses at that point in time - it was an elevator pit and the shaft was leaking. This was the first time I'd ever been on to a job site down in that capacity.  I sat there in the corner and just watched as they lowered the smallest guy on the crew down into a manhole or up to the elevator shaft, with a tube of grout and he started injecting. Obviously, that one sticks out just because it was one of the first ones I was on.

Charlie: Was that right next to a quarry?

Josh: That was, yep. I believe you were out there.

Charlie: We were on that together! Holy cow! I totally forgot about that job.

Josh: Like I said, for some reason after all these years, that's the one that sticks out the most. And then, there are some pretty neat ones down in San Antonio. There was a botanical garden job that we were on and we got to go out there on a regular basis. And it's just neat seeing some of that stuff and then also watching the contractors work. Some of those guys are like artists in how they do that kind of stuff.

Charlie: There are some people that are just really incredible and almost to the prima donna point where they've got to have everything set up perfectly. But yeah, they can massage the grout and do some special things out there. That one at the elevator pit, they were lowering a guy down into the shaft. There were only like 36 inches and it was filling up with water. He had like five minutes of work and then we had to pull him up. We'd get the pipe down there, drain it. It just kept going back and forth.

Josh: Yeah, and I was still green at that point. I’m sitting in the back corner just wondering to myself, what did I get myself into? And here we are, still doing it.

View the video version of this excerpt...

Want some information on Alchemy-Spetec products?

This article is an excerpt from Episode 12 of Alchemy-Spetec's podcast The Injection Connection, featuring Outside Sales Representative at All-Tex Supply, Inc. Josh Van Hook. Josh has over 18 years of experience as a distributor in Austin, TX and one of his passions has been chemical grouts. (If you'd rather view or listen, an audio/visual version of this excerpt is posted at the bottom of the article.)

Charlie Lerman: One of the things I’d like to say - and I hope you can add on to this because it's right there in the Austin area - is there's a standard kind of tick you'll find from distribution that people just come in, pick up a couple of pails a month or something like that. But then, we have these what I like to call “grout nirvana” jobs that just all sudden pop up. They're typically no bid. I think within the last couple of years, we had (without really going to the contractor's name or the job specifically) a close to $50, 000 just on the grout material side job that came up within a few days there, right?

Josh Van Hook: Yeah, obviously the grouting world is very up and down due to the weather pattern, too. And so, we'll go for a stretch without selling anything really big. Then all of a sudden, you'll have something break loose and you'll have a bunch of rain or you'll have the weather change. And all of a sudden, it’s nothing to sell 25, 50, $75 000 worth of grout on any given job just because they've got to have it.

Charlie: Those things get kind of hard to forecast both on the manufacturer side and on the distributor side because you look at, you’re like, well, how much we're going to do with Alchemy-Spetec this year? And you're like, well, last year, we did this but it's up and down because you hit those job specifics.

Josh: Correct. And with the grouts, you just don't know what you're going to get. We go into corporate meetings and talk about forecasting and whatnot. Over the years, I’ve learned that you really can't forecast your chemical grout sales for the year just because no one knows how far a bucket of grout's going to go. One bucket could do a whole job or one bucket could turn into 100 buckets. You have no idea until you get in there.

View the video version of this excerpt...

Want some information on Alchemy-Spetec products?

This article is an excerpt from Episode 12 of Alchemy-Spetec's podcast The Injection Connection, featuring Outside Sales Representative at All-Tex Supply, Inc. Josh Van Hook. Josh has over 18 years of experience as a distributor in Austin, TX and one of his passions has been chemical grouts. (If you'd rather view or listen, an audio/visual version of this excerpt is posted at the bottom of the article.)

Charlie Lerman: What are some of the common mistakes you see the contractors make with chemical grouting?

Josh Van Hook: A lot of times they just don't know, and they're afraid to ask the questions, or they think they know. Because everybody can read a piece of paper on the website and figure out, okay, this is what I need to use, this is how you do it, this is the right product. And then, without thinking about it, they'll just go out and start doing it - whereas they should have probably gotten the rep involved, a specialist, to come out there. Every job's a little bit different and that's probably the major problem that I see out there.

Charlie: Yeah, and that ties back into the fact that the product has to be available. So, you guys stock the product, which is wonderful. But it doesn't matter if you're loyal to a certain brand of chemical grout, if you need it that day, if it's not there, then that doesn't help you. But then, the second part is, like you said, getting that tech help and having somebody. Because it's not rocket science, I mean, we're not geniuses here but we have experience and this isn't intuitive. So, we can help people get through that and understand.

Josh: Yeah, because most people nowadays, especially on my side of things, there are not a whole lot of people who know the chemical grout world and the people that do are starting to become fewer and fewer. So, from the supplier standpoint, having somebody who knows enough to get somebody started or get them headed in the right direction, that's a big plus.

View the video version of this excerpt...

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A Polyurethane Grout Manufacturer That Cares About Your Contracting Business

As stated in our recent blog post, A Competitive Edge for Contractors...

At Alchemy-Spetec, the success of your business is our top priority. You gain a significant competitive edge over your competition with access to the widest selection of premium materials and equipment, plus rock-solid reliable technical and marketing support. Our entire company culture is built around ensuring your success in this industry.

Marketing Support for Polyurethane Repair Contractors

In this post, we'll take a look at an example of Alchemy-Spetec marketing support for a dedicated customer.  Prairie Poly Solutions offers slab lifting, void filling, and crack sealing services to the Alberta and Saskatchewan areas in midwestern Canada.  When looking for a fully stocked professional rig, they came to Alchemy-Spetec. According to owner Gary Papp, "We were looking for a full-service material provider.  An organization that not only offered the highest quality polyurethane concrete repair products but top-of-the-line equipment and tech support. We found that in Alchemy-Spetec, and then we were pleasantly surprised to discover their substantial marketing support as well."

When Gary requested assistance with the vehicle wrap design for the rig he purchased from us, we were more than happy to help. Gary worked closely with the Alchemy-Spetec marketing department to communicate what he was looking for in a design. Multiple drafts were created and gradually refined until Prairie Poly Solutions had the exact look they needed. A local vehicle wrap specialist in Canada used the files to create and apply the actual wrap to the rig.  Here are a few more photos...

• Addition of contractor logo and contact to pre-made brochure PDF files. (And a referral to an online printing service for easy ordering of print versions.)
• Addition of contractor logo and contact info to existing videos and animations.
• General advice on internet advertising, blogging for leads, web design, keywords, etc. (And referrals to expert providers.)

Want to learn more about marketing your contracting business?

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article was published under the title Develop Your Competitive Edge. 

In today's fast-paced infrastructure repair market, you need every advantage you can get. At Alchemy-Spetec, the success of your business is our top priority. You gain a significant competitive edge over your competition with access to the widest selection of premium materials and equipment, plus rock-solid reliable technical and marketing support. Our entire company culture is built around ensuring your success in this industry.

Polyurethane – Quality and Selection

Alchemy-Spetec offers one of the most technologically advanced grout product lines currently on the market, We offer a wide variety of leak seal materials, including injection resins for sealing water leaks in cracks, curtain grouting foams for sealing challenging/gushing leaks, acrylic injection resins that penetrate thin cracks and saturate soil, epoxy resins for structural repair and preventative waterstop products. We also offer a wide variety of geotech materials, including slab lifting foams, deep-soil lifting foams, soil stabilization foams,. The superior quality of these materials guarantees fewer callbacks from your customers. Many of these products are also certified for contact with potable water, making them safer for the environment.

Equipment and Accessories Selection

We’re a one-stop-shop for all things polyurethane concrete repair, with one of the most versatile equipment and accessory product lines in the industry. Once you’ve picked out the product that best fits your needs, we can provide it all: pumps, hoses, packers/ports, and specialty accessories.

Tech Support – Experience and Dedication

Do you need technical support? You’re in luck—we’re home to the industry’s premier technical support squad. Averaging decades of experience, we also pride ourselves on being incredibly responsive. For example, our team was once called on to assist with a large metro project in the Western United States. The customer informed us at 4 pm on Monday evening that assistance was needed at 9 am the very next day! Our Technical Services Director, Vice President, and Western Regional Sales Manager traveled to the site Monday evening to help diagnose the location of the leaks and develop an action plan. Our Technical Services Manager remained on site for two more days to ensure that the project was successful. Depending on the size and scope of the project, response time and participating team members may vary, but this story serves to illustrate the lengths we will go to assist customers.

Training and Education

We offer the industry's most thorough training and education for both leak seal and geotech polyurethane infrastructure repair. This includes job site training/consulting, online educational content, and training workshops at distributor locations - not to mention one of the most educational blogs in the industry.

Marketing Support

Our marketing department provides qualified customers with product application illustrations and photos for use on websites, customized brochure PDFs for printing, and truck signage graphics. We also offer the use of our educational videos and animations. Lastly, we’re available for guidance on everything from online lead capture strategies to internet advertising, and more.

We’re Committed to Your Success

The overriding theme here is our commitment to your success. Obviously, this is not totally altruistic in nature.  The more successful you are, the more materials and equipment you buy.  But it is 100% genuine.  Our entire team understands the relationship between YOUR success and OUR success.  This point of view is thoroughly ingrained in our company culture.

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