Success Story
CLIENT: J.R. ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS
OWNER: JASON NIEVES
ANNUAL SALES (2017): $3+ MILLION
LOCATION: Marietta, GA
FOUNDED: 2007
Located in Marietta, GA, J.R. Electrical is a premier contractor for residential and commercial electrical services in the Atlanta Metro area. Ownership desired to move away from general contractor work with its competitive bid structure and lower margins.
J.R. Electrical approached Ascent Consulting and outlined their goals. Work that would result in:
- Higher profit margins
- Quicker payment
- Less complexity with a lower cost to execute
- Working directly for owners and end users
SITUATION
After analyzing and researching the situation, Ascent Consulting recommended that J.R. Electrical enter an entirely new market sector for the company – the LED Retrofit market. Ascent designed a Strategic Marketing Campaign to drive the initiative.
Benefits included:
- Working directly with owners, not general contractors
- Offering something new and of great value to customers
- Reduced materials cost (replacement fixtures only)
- Reduced cost of installation labor (less complex work)
- Offering ROI to customers:
Ascent identified local LED fixture suppliers, introduced J.R. to several vendors, and set them up with a company that had developed a widely-used LED Retrofit estimating software.
A FORMIDABLE TASK
A massive and complex task now awaited J.R. Electrical and Ascent Consulting: building a completely new business sector for the company.
"Ascent Consulting has created an entirely new market sector for us, which has led to new opportunities and sales. This new division is creating revenue that did not previously exist for J.R. Electrical. Ascent is an exceptionally creative and accommodating partner, and it is a pleasure to work with them."
Jason Nieves, Owner
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS & RESULTS
STEP 1: Revise Website
Ascent revised the company website, adding a new LED Retrofit section with its own calls to action, value propositions, contact points and dramatic before-and-after photos.
STEP 2: Set up a toll-free virtual number to JR’s office
This number was only used on LED campaign marketing materials to gauge response to these materials.
STEP 3: Identify Customer Channels
Ascent identified three types of businesses in the Metro Atlanta area where LED Retrofit lighting would be attractive to owners/customers.
Multi-Family Properties – apartments and condos with parking structures and parking lots
Commercial Properties – office buildings, medical offices and office parks
Automobile Dealerships – parking lots, showrooms and offices
STEP 4: Listening to His Team
Reach out to Customer Channels via email, direct mail and association memberships.
Multi-Family Properties
- Ascent identified the top 500 properties in Metro Atlanta, used data mining resources to acquire contact information for every property and developed digital email and direct mail campaigns
- Designed a digital email campaign emphasizing the value propositions and benefits of LED lighting
- Designed three rounds of direct mail focused on LED value, Georgia Power Co. rebates and projected energy savings
- Digital email and direct mail programs were designed to be cost-effective, identify interested parties, produce leads and lead to new opportunities
Commercial Properties
- Ascent signed up JR Electrical with three associations – Building Owners and Operators Association (BOMA), Property Managers Association (PMA) and the Atlanta Apartments Association (AAA). This produced a list of 1,000+ local contacts.
- Digital email and direct mail campaigns focused on parking garages and commercial office properties, which emphasized LED value propositions and provided cost saving analyses.
Automobile Dealerships:
- Ascent assembled a list of all auto dealerships in Metro Atlanta and used data mining resources to acquire the names and contact information for the General Managers.
- Designed digital email and direct mail campaigns emphasizing LED value propositions for dealerships.
STEP 5: Analytics
Ascent compiled analytics from all campaigns to report who was opening, reading and interacting with the emails and online content. These registered as “warm leads,” which were passed on to J.R. for sales calls and follow-up. By adding website analytics tracking to the LED section of the website, Ascent and JR Electrical could see who was visiting the website, where they were coming from (referral source) and how long they were on the site. These also registered as “warm leads,” for JR Electrical.
RESULTS
Ascent Consulting developed a complete marketing strategy and multi-faceted campaign to move a client with an existing brand into a new market sector. We identified a new opportunity, developed the strategy, researched target markets, assembled potential client lists, created online, digital and print marketing materials, and executed and actively managed the campaigns.