Remodeling Sales Slowing? Try 5 New Ideas to Dramatically Improve Sales

This may be one of those critical times that we all reach in our remodeling business where the market changes, revenue slows, and competition increases. So what do we do about it?

The great business leaders of our times have all been faced with these tough situations and those that adopt and change will thrive and those that continue to look to the past and wonder where all the business went will continue to hurt. 

In times where things are great we typically don't pay attention to the waste that is occurring in our process because we are still able to land enough business from a heaping pile of prospects. We only really notice when things really tighten up.

So they question becomes what do we cut when times get tough?
One of the first things most businesses do is they go right for marketing or getting rid of the weakest person on the team, or they look for other areas they can cut to ease the hurt. In times like this, if you can work on making changes and ramping up, you actually will come out in a better position because you will squeeze out the other firms that are in the same place as you are. You aren't the only one feeling the pressure if the market changes. But those businesses that cut without innovating will end up in a much worse position then they were before. 

Let's look at 5 new ideas to help you dramatically improve your remodeling sales today

These ideas are based advice on building a "business" as an asset (where you can get out of the chaos and build a real business) vs. having a job/career inside of a business (still comes with a lot of headaches and it's hard to ever get out of the chaos with this model).

Ultimately, it really depends on what you want long term from your business. But even if you want the lifestyle type of business, you cannot get out of the middle of doing the actual services without becoming more strategic in your thinking.  Your time is immensely valuable and the more time you can devote to $1,000+/hour strategic tasks, the business revenue will multiple.

So here are some ideas you can implement into your business that will help you turn around your slow sales or stagnant business:

1. Nurture Every Prospect... Even If They Don't Do Anything Right Now
   Most businesses are doing ZERO for lead "nurturing" and have no referral marketing strategy to past or current clients. Here is what should happen sooner than later to not only position your business as the best of the best, but to make sure that your prospects are aware of all of your legal services. 

   Information Kit and a Welcome Kit
   Prospects - handing a free consultation or estimate prospect an "information kit" that is informative and professionally done would go a long way. It doesn't have to be a novel, but having something printed that talks about your process and what makes you different and unique is immensely important. These can be mailed or handed out in person in your office. Whether you call this an information kit or standards guide or whatever, get something in place today. 

   New Clients - handing a new client a "welcome kit" that explains your process now that they are a client and what is expected of them along with all the forms and everything else you will need to handle the project would be extremely valuable. Not only does it help educate the client, it will help you avoid a lot of questions and free up your time. 
    

2. Get a Book Published
   Having someone in your office an author of a published book would be a huge value add for your business. It immediately sky rockets you to the top of your field because most of your competition is too lazy to take this kind of effort, and frankly they never really even thought about doing it anyway.  

   A written physical book that you can give away or charge for is the best business card in the entire world. You could also use this as part of your information kit or discovery consultation process. If you don't have the time to write one, hire a ghost writer and self publish the book on CreateSpace.com. Arriving at your next consultation or estimate, and giving away a copy of your new book will immediately differentiate you as the more serious candidate to get the job. 

   There are all kinds of topics you can create a book about for your niche service or industry. Focus on delivering high quality "insider" information related to your remodeling niche. 30 pages are about all you need to start with 50-60 pages being the max target. You can also use this book as a free giveaway on your site and help boost your conversion rate. 
    

3. Tighten Up Your Process On The Backend 
   Hire a 24/7 Answering Service - how many calls are you getting after hours? Would it improve conversion rate and client sign up to offer 24/7 live operator and have your phones answered around the clock? I think it would and it has been proven to work yet so many remodeling businesses continue to answer your own phones. Insanity! This topic I have written about numerous times and yet few of you take action on this and fail to recognize the importance of getting this in place sooner than later.

   Answering your own phone is absolutely killing your positioning as "hard to get" premium, cream of the crop professional in your field. The prospect automatically assumes that if you are answering your phone you are either extremely attentive (which is not good if you are trying to get out of the middle of your production/projects) or you aren't busy enough or doing well enough to have someone else answer your phone.

   New Client Getting Process that is Focused around Sales and Marketing- This is really centered around marketing (which you may or may not be doing) and a solid sales process with basic sales training. I know you probably never thought about being in sales when you wanted to get into your business, but it is very much a part of the business.

   Someone in your business needs to be the strategic (sales/marketing/operations) and someone should be focused on the production and getting the projects done. You can't do both for very long and you probably never should have even tried. How is your arrangement setup now? It is easy as a business owner to get caught up in delivery of the services because that is ultimately what you really know, but if you can be more strategic and be the face of the franchise and let others do the actual production work, it is the only way to multiply your revenue 3x-5x's.  
    

4. Attract New Clients Offline
   The internet is great for those who are actively seeking your remodeling services and a great web presence should be the center of your marketing. But what about all those prospects out there who aren't really sure what they need at this point but have just started thinking about getting some help or hiring someone to do some work? How do we get in front of those people offline and give them a compelling reason to reach out to you? Free information works well combined with a captivating sales letter delivered via direct mail. Direct mail may not have worked in the past for you, but it definitely works if done correctly and you stay consistent with it. The key is consistency, having the right message, and mailing to the right target. 
    
5. Refine or Improve the Service or the Way it is Packaged
   Packaging and presentation is everything in business and if we can find a way to package or present your services in a better way there is more opportunity to get new clients. Is there a way to offer a "good, better, best" service package? People want easy to understand, easy to digest pricing, and I do believe there is a way every remodeling business can at least offer an initial service package of some kind that is priced aggressively and does not require a lot of your time. Or even if it does, make the service easy to understand and streamline the presentation and delivery of those services. 

   Is there a 90% automated service with maybe an initial consultation that you can offer and charge for? A thinly disguised service that is really more of a product designed for those who don't have a lot of money, maybe want to do it themselves, or want a little bit of assistance and guidance from an experienced business like yours?

These are just 5 ideas that you can implement each month and over time will lead to steady gains in your business. You offer a great service to your community and now it is just a matter of improving some of the areas where you are weakest.

There are millions of dollars in remodeling services to be generated in your area each year. That won't change but what does change is where the money shifts within the services. Right now a particular service maybe slow for some reason, so where is that money shifting to? Real estate markets are ramping up and baby boomers are retiring at a rapid rate. What can you offer in those markets to attract a heaping pile of prospects and new projects?

It has taken me a long time to figure a lot of this stuff out and a lot of money. I certainly don't know it all and that's why I continue to invest a lot in learning and innovating and making sure my library is stocked with the brightest and best minds in the business world at all times. I am offering to help you get to that next level if you want to and I will leave it up to you to take me up on my previous offers to schedule a regular call. I know you are busy and feeling some pressure, but I find that having someone you can bounce things off of and help you through some things is really helpful. Contact me today for a 30-Min Free Strategy Session and let me help you uncover 5 key areas of your business that you can fix to grow.