We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Josh Ambrose a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Josh, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard
GROUND GAME: We reach the rule of 7 touchpoints faster than the rest in our industry. The Rule of 7 is a marketing theory wherein it takes an average of 7 touchpoints with a customer before they commit to a sale. Everyone now of days does some sort of online marketing, such as Google Pay-Per-Click (PPC), Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, Direct Mailers, Email Targeting, etc. That is great and is a “must-do”, but those tactics by theirselves are no match for a business owner that exponentially boosts those actions with Ground Game tactics, some call Gorilla Marketing. Think of it like this, a customer wakes up in the morning and goes to the toilet. While sitting on the toilet they scroll through Facebook and see our Ad. They then check other things on their phone while they’re making their coffee and they see a link to our Google Ad, or using varsity-level marketing tactics, one of our Ads is on another screen they are viewing. They notice it briefly. Then they’re driving to work and they see this road sign, or 2, or 20, along the roads on their way to work and think, “That’s the same company I just saw an ad for.” Then, on their way home,they are at a busy intersection and there is our logoed van with our mascot waving at people. It’s a catchy mascot and they can clearly see our large logo on our driving billboard/van. After dinner they are in their backyard and they are getting eaten up by mosquitoes so they Google mosquito control and because our Ground Game includes getting as many Google Reviews as possible, we pop up at the top of the organic listings. Boom! Just like that we are branded in their head and they give us a call or check out our website and fill out a request for a quote. For other companies this process to get to 7 touchpoints can take a week, if not weeks. Our Ground Game, which includes doorhangers, road signs, Parking and Waving, Google Reviews, Community Events, and more, exponentially boost the online marketing and closes the gap to 1-2 days, where it takes others weeks.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
I retired from the Marine Corps in 2021 after 24 years of service. A good friend of mine was talking to a Franchise Consultant and started telling me about what he was learning. I’m never a person to close a door on an opportunity myself, so I listened and I found it intriguing, even though I never saw myself as a business owner. Looking back I now realize I was MEANT to be a business owner. Fate landed me with Mosquito Hunters, to which I am grateful. At Mosquito Hunters, we treat for mosquitoes, tick, and fleas, and we now offer Perimeter Pest Control for ants, spiders, millipedes, etc, to stop them from entering your property. There are multiple companies out there in our industry that provide the same services but what separates us from our competitors is our customer interaction and satisfaction. Not only do we back up our treatments with our Happiness Promise, but we go out of our way to do the little things. I coach and mentor my employees and use the example of bringing the trash can up from the street to the house if they know the trash was already taken, or picking up a plant that fell over. Things like that go a long way for customers, especially with how many customers have cameras like Ring these days.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
I got an SBA loan and I’m a huge advocate of that and here is why. Most companies close their doors because they run out of money. Usually that’s because they either did not plan for future operating cash flow and expenses or because they are not growing as fast as they thought they would. When you close your doors you usually wash all of your investment down the drain. Everything you worked hard for and used to fund your business is gone. So I recommend an SBA loan even if you have your own funds to start the business, because as the old saying goes, “It’s better to have and not need, than to need and not have!” So if you try to self-fund and your funds start drying up because you’re not growing as fast, the likelihood of getting a SBA loan then becomes slim and here is why. When you go to get a SBA loan BEFORE you start a business you use “forecasted” numbers that will of course, look favorably for you. But when you go to get a SBA loan after 1-2 years of operating, because you need funds to stay open and to grow, that’s when they want to see your ACTUAL Profit & Loss statements. Those P&L statements are not going to look favorably because you’re running out of funds and not making enough profit, so the likelihood they approve your SBA loan is slim.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
I’ll give two examples. After every first-time treatment for a new customer, we follow-up with a thank you card. In that card we handwrite a note that thanks them for “joining the Mosquito Hunters Family” and we also ask for a Google Review and a referral.Those hand-written notes go a long way.
Secondly, somewhere around Christmas time, we have our Technicians leave a gift for each customer when they complete that treatment in December. Last year it was a 2-sided card, with our Family Christmas photo on one side and a picture of a coffee cup and coffee beans and a message that said “Thanks a latte!” We provided a 3oz bag of coffee with our sticker logo on the bag. It’s those small things that does more than you could imagine because it’s a personal touch.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mosquitohunters.com/staugustine-fl/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mosquitohunters_jaxnstaug/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mosquito-Hunters-of-Jacksonville-South-St-Augustine-101740325254472/reviews/?ref=page_internal
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mosquito-hunters-jacksonville-south-st-augustine/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGvd52-24aBL9gbtNWBO8hw
- Other: Email: [email protected]