Building Your Septic Brand

By Anna Brumby WhitePublished On: April 1, 2024

Whether you’re looking to strengthen your business for the short term or prepare for sale down the road, in the septic and water services industry there are few things more important than building a recognizable brand. It may not be a part of the business that receives a lot of your focus, but a strong brand can instantly raise your profile with both potential customers and potential buyers.

Chances are you’re already doing many of the things that contribute to this kind of brand development. Bringing it all together and committing to ongoing brand enhancement can leave you in the best possible position when it comes time to sell your business – whether that sale might happen in a year, in five years or more.

Building Your Brand in the Septic and Water Services Industry

What sets your organization apart from your competitors? What makes you better? If you were looking to contract with a septic services company, what factors would be important to you – and how does your current business stand out on those factors?

Here are some things to consider if you’re looking for the cornerstone of a strong brand:

Legacy: How long has your company served your community? Do you have family roots in the area? Maybe your company has been passed down from one generation to the next. Was your company the one contracted to help in the construction of a major local landmark, shopping mall, office complex or supporting an annual community event?

If it’s something everyone in your area would know, and your company played a part in its development, this can be a great place to start building your brand identity.

Reputation: Every septic services company might say they deliver exceptional service, but how do you prove you go above and beyond for your customers? Can you point to high service level response times for your clients or 5-star reviews on Google ? Quote or even estimate a percentage of your business that comes from word-of-mouth referrals? Decide on what “service” means to you and your company, and build on that. Septic services customers value prompt attention, a professional staff, great communication, and transparency in pricing – to name just a few aspects. Your team might do all of these well, but where do you excel?

Expertise: Can you tout your team’s experience with the latest technology, your fleet of service vehicles being among the most current, or your portable septic systems the best in market? As septic systems grow more complex your organization’s technology has grown along with it. Customers, and potential buyers, want to know you’re not bring 2020 technology to a 2024 job. Showcase not only your state-of-the-art equipment, but also advanced software for activities like sewer line monitoring.

Promoting yourself as an expert in the field can also mean sharing news of your participation in regional and national expo’s, highlighting your partnerships with other companies (more on that in a moment), and creating shareable videos that demonstrate repairs and maintenance tasks related to the systems your clients use but probably don’t fully understand. You’re not creating “Do It Yourself” tutorials, but informative, educational content that will help build loyalty and trust in your audience.

Turn-key solutions: Customers don’t have the time, energy or inclination to shop around for the best septic system company, lawn or landscaping company, pavers and asphalt services, and all of the other players that might be needed on a septic system job. If you’re networking with these kinds of providers and can refer your customers right to them – or better yet, bring them to your customers – you’ve immediately set yourself apart from the many other companies saying, “No, we don’t do that – you’ll have to call someone else.”

A brand built on complete start-to-finish solutions is a brand whose word of mouth, and value, can only grow. It conveys peace of mind and reassurance to customers that you’re expertly prepared to solve problems and maintain systems whose complexities go well beyond anything they can manage themselves.

The Bigger Picture of Your Brand’s Value

Whether or not it’s on your mind right now, the time will come when one day you’ll want to sell your business. The steps you take today to establish your company’s brand and stand out among your competitors will pay dividends when that time arrives. Buyers want to know a company they acquire has a stellar reputation and a name that’s immediately recognizable.

By acting now to start building your brand, or to strengthen a brand you’ve already got in place, you’re ensuring you’ll be that much closer to one day selling your company on your own terms and walking away in the most favorable situation. The FOCUS team is ready to help you take the next steps, no matter where you are in the process – and we’d love to learn more about your business and your goals for its successful future. Reach out today!

Anna Brumby White, a FOCUS Principal, has over 25 years of experience as an influential business leader working with Fortune 500 companies and small businesses on multiple continents. Mrs. White has broad industry experience in mergers and acquisitions, business development, and transaction execution. Prior to joining FOCUS, Mrs. White served as a Principal at Walden Businesses, where she participated and closed on middle market sell-side and buy-side engagements in the businesses services, manufacturing, retail, e-commerce, and food and beverage industries. Mrs. White has consulted with hundreds of small businesses and secured over $30 million in funding while working for the University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Center. For 10 years, Mrs. White worked for TSYS, the largest credit processing company in the world, on global expansion strategies including business development, mergers and acquisitions, company integrations, and lead origination. During her tenure working for TSYS in Europe and the U.S., she led a high growth sales team to secure millions of dollars in new business in domestic and international markets to expand the company’s prepaid and loyalty footprint with large global banking institutions and businesses including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Santander, HSBC, Mercedes-Benz, and Harley-Davidson. While serving as president and CEO of The Brumby Chair Company, Mrs. White secured strategic business alliances, positioned an experienced management team, streamlined operations, and developed an e-commerce platform launching the family-owned company into a new era of prosperity. While maintaining ownership of The Brumby Chair Company, Mrs. White is recognized as a trusted business strategist. She has been a frequent public speaker at international conferences, universities, and professional business organizations. As an ongoing advocate for small business owners, Mrs. White is a frequent guest on Fox Business News, 11-Alive, and WSB Atlanta. She holds a dual Bachelor of Science degree in both Political Science and Accounting from Presbyterian College and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. In addition, she attended the Certified Mergers & Acquisitions Professional Program at the Coles College of Business’s Executive Education Program at Kennesaw State University.