What is the P-C-D Framework and Why Is It Important for My Contractor Website?
Sick of marketing acronyms? We get it. But this acronym is the reason we’ve generated over $200 million in leads for contractors, tradesmen and home improvement businesses, so it’s worth taking on board.
P-C-D stands for ‘Psychology’, ‘Content’ and ‘Design’ and it’s the three pillars every trade, contractor and home improvement business needs to generate leads on tap, and guide those leads to a sale. Here’s how it works…
Imagine a bloke walking into a hardware store and asking for a drill.
The hardware store salesman points him to the drill aisle and says “we’ve got plenty of drills in that aisle”, so the bloke walks off to check them out. Sounds like a solid sale, right?
WRONG.
The goal of that hardware store salesman, just like the goal of your business, is to help people solve their problems, not point them blindly at possible solutions.
Because the bloke walking into the hardware store asked for a drill, but what he was really looking for was a hole.
If the hardware store salesman had asked what type of hole he needed, what kind of material the hole would be drilled in, and whether the hole was for shelving or storage, then he could have provided the exact solution the bloke was looking for.
Suddenly, he’s not just directing people to the drill aisle, he’s an advisor that people trust and his sales go through the roof because of it.
“Why should I care about drills and holes when I don’t sell either of those things?”
Because you do sell SOMETHING.
Whatever contractor, trade or home improvement service you offer, you’re trying to solve a customer’s problem. If you blindly point them to a solution (which is what you do when you have service pages on your website full of brief contact info and a few sentences about what you do) you’re not helping them solve their problem, and they’re not going to pay for your services.
The P-C-D Framework is how we figure out what problem people have, NOT what service they’re looking for. By creating content that solves problems, our client’s websites become conversion machines.
Here’s an example of what your customer is asking for, and what problem they really want you to solve.
| CUSTOMER ASKS FOR… | CUSTOMER’S REAL PROBLEM… |
|---|---|
| “Do you lay synthetic turf?” | I want to garden less, have more free time, but still enjoy a beautiful lawn |
| “Do you install solar panels?” | I want to slash my power bill, have more money to play around with, and live sustainably |
| “Do you build backyard patios?” | I want to spend quality time outdoors, I want to enjoy a better quality of life |
If your home improvement business can start solving people’s REAL problems, not just pointing to services that answer their questions, you’ll never have a shortage of customers again.
And it’s all possible with the P-C-D Framework.
What is really the P-C-D approach and why should you care?
“Why do I need ANOTHER acronym in my life?”
We get it, you’ve learned so many acronyms trying to grow your business online that it’s becoming hard to keep up.
SEO, PPC, ROI.
These are the big movers and shakers that can help you grow your trade business and earn back the money you spend along the way. But they’re not the most important acronyms you should know about – PCD is.
PCD stands for:
- Psychology
- Content
- Design
They’re the three pillars that ALL trade business owners need to build their business around when they move online. If you’re running an SEO campaign, you still need these three pillars to make it successful. The same goes for PPC. And as for ROI? Well if you want a return on investment, these three pillars are going to be the most important acronym you ever learn about.
$200 million worth of leads (and counting)
That’s what we’ve generated so far across 200 different trade industries.
We didn’t do it because we’re the best contractor marketing agency in the world (we might be, we might not be, but it’s not a metric that matters).
What matters is being able to grow our client’s businesses. And not “grow” in the buzzword sense of the word. We don’t care if your website wins fancy design awards, or if people start talking about you on the other side of the country.
When we say “grow” we mean your leads grow, your client base grows, and your bank account grows.
And how do we grow those areas of your business? With the P-C-D Framework, which we’ll break down for you right now.
Step #1 – Psychology
Let’s say you’re a roofer and I’ve got a hole in my roof.
Why should I care about YOUR roofing business to fix my problem?
There are plenty of roofers in the Yellow Pages and on Google. You’re not the cheapest, you don’t have the most reviews, and your website isn’t the flashiest. So why should I care?
No matter what trade you work in, your customers are asking that same question. And realistically, you won’t always be the cheapest, or the most well-reviewed, or have the best website. But NONE of that matters.
The only thing that matters to a customer is that they have a problem – and they need a solution.
Too many tradies think the solution is having discount prices, but in this example, the customer’s problem isn’t that they need to save money, it’s that they need to stop water coming into their home.
That’s why the FIRST and most CRUCIAL step for your trade, contractor or home improvement business is to understand the psychology of your customers.
What problems are they facing? What questions do they have about the possible solutions? What options do they have to choose from?
At Tradie Digital we unravel these questions through research, one-on-one interviews, customer analysis, market research, and by scouring the internet for clues. Because the answers to these questions are priceless.
If you can intimately understand someone’s problem, answer every lingering question they have about the possible solution, and show them you’re the only suitable option – then you’ll have leads and customers on tap from now until the day you retire.
Step #2 – Content
With a full understanding of your target customer, the next step is to create your USP.
“Another marketing acronym arghhhhhhh”
Sorry, it’s the last one in the guide we promise.
Your USP stands for your Unique Selling Proposition – which is fancy marketing speak for the exact message that will resonate with buyers. And why will it resonate with buyers?
Because it’s created explicitly around the psychology we painstakingly researched in step #1
At this stage we’re not operating under the assumption every client wants the cheapest home improvement help possible (they don’t). Price will always be a factor, but it’s rarely the most important.
If someone wants a new kitchen, they don’t want the cheapest upgrade, they want an upgrade that’s going to add value to their home, or make more room for cooking, or create a link between the inside and their alfresco entertaining area.
Our psychology research helps us figure out EXACTLY what your customers want, and we create a USP (or more than one USP) to hit them with a value that speaks to their problem – and offers you as the solution.
And where does this USP go? In every piece of content we create, which is churned out in high-quality doses to guide people towards a sale. Whether they’re at the start of their decision-making process, shopping around for businesses, narrowing their choices, or looking to request a quote, we give people support at each stage of this ‘Buyer’s Journey’.
The end result? A clear path from start to finish, that guides people through quality content, and makes them feel understood because your USP is there to support them at each step of the way.
Not keen on creating content? Discover how we can become experts in any trade with ZERO experience
Step #3 – Design
After the psychology research and content creation, we weave our findings through your website architecture.
Sometimes this means building new pages to solve people’s problems, other times we’ll update your existing website pages to make them more effective.
The design step also includes the seemingly small design additions that have a MASSIVE impact on your conversion rate.
Here’s a quick reminder on what your conversion rate is and why it matters.
These design additions include:
- Call-to-action buttons
- Free downloadable reports
- Verified badges and awards
- Customer reviews and testimonials
These features help build trust – and trust is the currency of the internet. The more your customers trust you, the closer they are to a sale.
To sum up the process, we turn your home improvement website from a brochure that has a ton of info without saying much, into a conversion machine. That’s all possible by understanding the psychology of your customers, speaking to their problems, creating content that solves those problems, and designing websites that make you stand out as a trustworthy expert in your local area.
And when all that happens? $200 million worth of local leads is the result.
Is your contractor business solving people’s problems?
If your website is more like a digital business card, don’t stress.
Most trade and home improvement businesses and contractors aren’t using the P-C-D framework which is great news. It means you haven’t lost ground in your market, and it means you can become the #1 business by applying these strategies yourself.
If you’re looking to use the P-C-D Framework, book a time with us to find out how.
