Finding new customers as a dock builder can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack, except the haystack is a lake. You probably already know which lakes are in your service area. The hard part is knowing who owns the shoreline, and reaching them before they call someone else.
LakeMapper is a national database of private lakes and ponds across the U.S., with property owner data layered on top.
For a dock builder, LakeMapper answers the most basic prospecting question: who owns waterfront property near me?
Start with your service area
Most dock builders work within a set radius of the shop, or on a handful of lakes they know well. Pull up that area in LakeMapper and you'll see the lakes and ponds inside it, including small private ones that never show up on a road map. Alongside each one are the waterfront parcels and who owns them.
From there you can narrow to a single county or a single body of water, or focus on larger waterfront properties.
Every name on the list owns shoreline
A zipcode mailing reaches everyone, and most of those households don't own a foot of shoreline. Someone three miles from the water has no use for a dock. Someone on a 50-acre private lake might be thinking about replacing theirs this spring.
When you build the list from the lake outward, every postcard goes to someone with a reason to care. You stop paying postage to reach people who will never need you.
Send the postcards right from LakeMapper
This part is almost too easy. Once your list is built, you select the owners you want and send them a postcard, without ever leaving LakeMapper. There's no spreadsheet to export, no mailing house to call, and no file to hand off to a print shop. If you can find your lake on a map, you can run a direct mail campaign in minutes to all the shoreline owners.
Reverse append can match owner records with additional contact details, so a postcard doesn't have to be your only touchpoint.
What to put on the card
Lead with the lake. "Lake Ozark homeowners: we're building docks on your lake this spring" will get read. "Quality docks since 1998" probably won't.
Pick one offer per card. A few that fit dock builders well:
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A free dock consultation
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Booking for spring install or fall removal
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An inspection for older docks
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Boat lift add-ons for owners who already have a dock
Put a QR code on the card that goes to a page built for that one offer, rather than your homepage. If the card promises a free consultation, the page should show a few dock options and a short form to book one.
One lake, one campaign
Say you build docks out of Missouri and want more work on Lake of the Ozarks. You pull up Osage county in LakeMapper and select the waterfront parcels, which gives you [number] owners. In October, you mail each of them a postcard offering a free dock inspection before boating season, with a QR code that goes to your booking page.
That's one afternoon of setup, and every card lands with someone who owns a dock or could use one.
And in a few days your inbox is full of prospects needing a new dock.
Find the lake owners in your area
LakeMapper is based in St. Louis and maps private lakes and ponds nationwide. If you build docks, your next customers are already sitting on the shoreline. LakeMapper shows you who they are.
Unlock Lake Owner Data at LakeMapper.com.