I started as a fire technician. Then I ran my own security business from about 2007, for 14 to 15 years. For the last 5 years I have been in solar. In all that time, one habit shaped how I sold: I was willing to tell someone I was not the right person for their job.
That sounds like bad business. The lesson I took is the opposite: saying who you are not for makes the right buyers trust you more.
How I sold
I spent a lot of time learning how to present what I do. More than anything, I learned to ask good questions.
I was never needy. I was always ready to walk away from a deal.
I never tried to sell on price. I was very firm about other things:
- Our quality.
- Our warranties.
- Our referrals.
- Our track record.
- The fact that we would not go missing the next day when something went wrong.
That last one was a big thing.
The shake hands moment
Sometimes the talk turned out to be about one thing only: the cheapest price. When that happened, I said so. I told them I was not the right guy for them. I was happy to shake hands and part as friends.
If they wanted something of quality that would last, with support behind it, then I was their guy.
I will be honest about what that cost me. I did lose some clients to cheaper quotes. But generally, when I did what I do and did it well, I won most of those too, even though I was more expensive. I think it came down to confidence. It also came down to being willing to have the difficult conversation, and not skating around the obvious ways a job could go wrong.
I also learned from the other side. Whenever I priced too low, especially at the start when I was less confident, it ended up a nightmare. I always had a customer who demanded more than the job was worth. It always came back to me, and I learned from it.
Referrals helped too. Being referred by a manufacturer gave people a lot of confidence in me.
Why this works on a website
Think about what a customer does before they call you. They look at your website. They are often comparing you with two or three other businesses in a hurry.
If your page tries to be everything for everyone, you look like everyone else. The price shopper calls and wastes your time. The person who wanted quality is not sure you are different.
If your page says plainly what you stand for, two things happen. The wrong person reads it and moves on without calling you. That saves you a phone call you did not want. The right person reads it and thinks, this business knows what it is doing.
That is not a promise about numbers. It is how trust tends to work. People trust someone who is clear about what they will not do.
What to say on your website
You do not need to be rude or sound proud. You just need to be clear. Here are some lines a business like Brightline Plumbing or Northside Heating & Air could use. They are ideas, not my own words.
- “We are not the cheapest. We stand behind our work, and we will be here if something goes wrong.”
- “If you only want the lowest price, we are probably not the right fit, and that is okay.”
- “We do homes and small businesses in our area. We do not do large building projects.”
- “We reply to every message the same day.”
Keep it short. Put it where people can see it, near the top or near the contact button. Do not hide it in small print.
What to say in your replies
The same idea works when someone messages you. Say it kindly and keep it short.
For a price shopper:
“Thanks for getting in touch. I want to be straight with you. We are not the cheapest option, so if price is your main thing, we may not be the right fit. If quality and support matter to you, I would be glad to talk it through.”
For a job you cannot do:
“Thanks for thinking of us. This one is outside what we do, so I would rather say so than do it badly. I wish you the best of luck with it.”
You will notice these do not push. They leave the door open. You may find that some people reply and say quality matters most. Others will not reply, and you lost nothing.
A checklist you can do this week
- Write down three kinds of customers you are not the right fit for. Be honest.
- Write down three things you will always stand behind. Warranty, track record, answering the phone after the job, whatever is true for you.
- Read your website’s first screen. Does it say any of these things?
- Add one short, kind line about who you are not for.
- Save two replies in your phone notes: one for price shoppers, one for jobs you cannot do.
- Check your quotes. Are you pricing so low that you resent the job? Fix that first.
- Make sure the messages get answered quickly, whoever they are from. A kind no is still a reply.
Where we come in
A clear website only helps if people can reach you and get an answer. That is the part of the work we do at AI SEO Local.
We build what we call a Smart Website. We can add AI to the site you already have, or build you a new one. We never force a rebuild. We can also add a Follow-Up System that texts back missed calls, answers texts and website chat, sends reminders, and keeps every message in one inbox.
We cannot promise it will bring you more jobs. What it does is make sure the right people who reach out get a reply.
If you want help working out what your website should say, we run a 30-minute Help me choose call. You can book it on the contact page. No pressure. If a few honest lines on your page are all you need today, that is a good place to start.