What better way to be profitable than to have clients seek you out that are your Ideal clients, right. My question to you is, what are you doing to separate yourself from your competitors?

I have been talking with hundreds of remodelers in Dc, Maryland & Virginia that are tired of running bids, and being asked to compete on price. There isn’t anything more frustrating than running all over God’s green earth giving bids. There are numerous problems with this scenario too. If you are investing time in going from one appointment to another that never turns out  to become a client, how do you find time to handle the other parts of your business?

I have never encouraged anyone to use the word bid. I wouldn’t even bid farewell. You get my point hopefully. My first question would be, what is your process for qualifying someone? My second questions is what makes you unique, so that you can separate your company from another? If you can’t separate yourself from your competition, your customers will. Know how they will? By price. The third question is, What are you doing to educate your customers before they even contact you or before you meet them? Another thought, what is our sales process before, during and after the initial meeting and after the project too?

Duct Tape Marketing is about” getting someone who has a need, to Know you, Like you and Trust you!”- John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing.

When you can market your business effectively and properly you can  focus on your ideal client and attract your ideal client. Marketing isn’t about spending money, thats advertising. Marketing is getting people to Know, Like and Trust you.

As you can see the natural progression of the flow – know, like, trust… (flows to the right), the information to move the process forward is provided below each step. If you can identify your current process, current customers, many Remodeling and Home improvement companies will find big gaps in their processes of getting someone, who has a need, to know, like and trust you.

But, when you have an effective marketing system in place the process expands from – getting someone, who has a need, to know, like, trust you, to having someone try you, buy from you and refer you. This will benefit into a consistent and repeatable success- a System. There are many detailed steps we take in every aspect of this cycle that leads to greater success and profitability. Imagine, less time running leads that aren’t with your ideal customer and more quality time with your ideal client. When you build value from earning your ideal customers Know, Like and Trust, you will be making a more profitable return.

One purpose the cycle is to provide clarity to your customers & clients in your marketing process. This gives you the ability to walk a prospect through the process, understanding where they are at in the process. The secret to this is that you really forces you to layout your marketing process and is really the beginning of development of your marketing system that is effective in every area. It is a system that is about understanding and doing all the little things properly and better than everyone else. For more on the Process, please read this article too. It is very valuable.

I have had this topic come up quite a bit lately and wanted to just throw it out here for conversation. Some of you may do this, have tried and had some success or not and/or thinking about it. Generating awareness is a consistent effort and when used properly, can be effective.

Radius Marketing is just one element to a “neighborhood awareness,” program. Mailing, in itself isn’t extremely effective. For mailings to work, in the projects vicinity….” frequency and call to action” are two factors that come into play. Mailing before, during and after the project-hopefully- all within 4-6 weeks. Frequency is the key.

Now, add the mailing with the Job Sign posted that has a literature box to it, so people can pull free info on your company and in the literature, be sure it is all educational and not promotional. I have ideas if you need them that have been successful.

Now add another element, your referral program. Make sure your customer( client) that you are working on their home knows about your referral program. ( hopefully this was all explained upfront before they ever decided to hire you. Part of your company presentation) Have a booklet or flyer etc, explaining how the referral program works and how to refer you.

Now, in the immediate vicinity take 3-4 hours during the early part of construction and hand out flyers, notes that are well written and hand to neighbors saying that you will be working in the neighborhood and if hey have any questions-here is how to contact us- “Pardon Our Dust” type of discussion.

Take all of these elements and your radius marketing will be more effective. We have established a 55% closing ratio with three businesses actively doing this with all elements. My own remodeling business, when I was operating it, made this a very successful venture and our sales people loved it. The presentation of our referral program upfront before our customer hired us, also built our customers trust that we were going to do great work and use that to gain more business.

We can always learn something  about ourselves and be reminded of what really matters when we keep an open mind and look for meaningful information.

I was reminded of that today In church when we sang a hymn, of which I listed part of it below. Even though the message obviously is not about business, doesn’t this embed in our minds that in order for our customers to know, like and trust us- that we need to be genuine and all about them & not us in our messages & actions. A Good reminder for all of us.

Here is the song:

The gift of love

Though I speak with bravest fire
And have the gift to all inspire
And have not love; my words are vain
As sounding brass, and hopeless gain

Though I may give all I possess
And striving so my love profess
But not be givin by love within
The profit soon turns strangely thin

Many time when I talk to construction business owners, they are struggling to think of new topic to write about in their blog. A blog, when used properly, can be a great way to interact with your potential clients, strategic partners and existing clients. What a great way to promote your business.

I thought it may be a good idea to write some ideas of ways to use your blog and promote writing.

1. Interview customers and have them do a guest blog about their project
2. Talk with your strategic partners about product trends, designs and useful ideas for homeowners
3. Testimonial and pictures before, during, and after the projects. Try to create a storyboard that details the event.
4. Talk about your companies process and how it benefits the clients. Why not help your potential client understand the unique way your experience is beneficial to them.
5. Share your employees and tradesmen’s unique skills, service and dedication to your clients by blogging about it with your community.

Having testimonials on your Blog and then writing articles/stories about each customer is useful and good reading for potential customers.

Want to upload some testimonials yourself? Here’s how.

Using  Audio Acrobat is a good site for recording audio and producing a html code for uploading it to your website. If you have an account with Audio Acrobat a testimonial line can be set up and a unique URL to your testimonial line will be established. This URL can then be used to send out in a newsletter informing your clients with instructions on how to record a testimonial for your business.

Also, SKYPE has a call record option and that too can be saved to your desktop and converted to a html code to upload using various free tools http://www.ehow.com/how_4464333_embed-audio-html.html

Would you like to ensure that when you’re blogging, you are utilizing the best practices for Search Engine Optimization?

Here is a good link for SEO tips when blogging.
http://labs.wordtracker.com/seo-blogger/

Want more hits to your website? Use your blog as educational material to attract your ideal customer and be creative. Here is a link to content optimization ideas for your website. Good reading- http://www.remodelbuddy.com/content-optimization

Also, try using testimonials for your marketing kit- have one to give to potential clients. Do you ever mail a DVD or CD with info on your business before your appt, hand it to them during or leave/send one after? Why not, it works…….I have proof:)


Here is some info on marketing kits. http://www.remodeling.hw.net/blogs/postdetails.aspx?BlogId=timnagle&PostId=90623

Do you have any ideas that you have used for your blog you would like to mention? Let us know, leave a comment.

I was reminded from browsing Michael Stone’s Blog and wanted to post this, with my thoughts too.

In the November issue of remodeling magazine is a great sales tool. The Cost vs. Value report for 2009-2010. If you are a remodeler or home improvement company you can subscribe to a free issue here.

A question you need to ask every potential client is “What is your budget for your job?” Using the Cost vs. Value report can help you address this topic. Many remodelers and home improvement businesses and their sales staff use this. I know I did very frequently. When I was meeting potential clients, and my sales people were instructed to &  did present this also, ….we made color copies of the page in the magazine that was needed to refer to, and kept copies with us for our presentation and even ordered extra inserts of the Cost vs. Value report. When the topic about their budget came up and at the right time, I would show them the magazine and refer to the project we were discussing.

Another great use of this magazine is to put a copy on your website. There is an widget that you can download and post to your blog, sidebar, newsletter or even have a link from your contact page when people submit appointments online. There are many uses for this and I recommend them all. Here is the link to the widget below. Just click on the image.

This was third party literature that showed the approximate budget that would be needed and it wasn’t me defining a number from my calculator. What a subtle way to show your potential customer what they can expect and if this fits in their budget and lifestyle. Very subtle and useful!

Many remodeling companies are trying to qualify their prospects by charging their customers for bids? It is a trend I see increasing, but one that may be done for the wrong reasons.

I never liked the word “bid,” to start with. What is a bid? I offer detailed proposals for your home investment and if you are looking for a “bid,” my professional remodeling company may not be the right fit for you. A Bid? Is this when a homeowner wants you to join a long list of competitors and just line up and deliver your best price and they chose the one they want based on price?

If you cannot separate yourself from your competition, your customers will do it for you. And how will they do that? By price, thats how. A good friend of mine, John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing, always said, “If you compete on price, someone else is always willing to go out of business before you are.” Thats what bidding does, gets in a price competition and not where you want to be. How is Charging for estimating a Remodeling Project going to resolve this?

On one hand, I can see that charging for estimates may eliminate a non-serious customer for engaging in a meeting with you and save you time. If you are estimating lower priced projects and contend with many inquiries, maybe it would help. In can see certain times it would. BUT, I see a larger underlying dilemma here.

• Are you attracting the right client?
• Do you look like every other contractor in your market?
• Are you unique?

I hear this said time and time again, “ One contractor looks just like another, right?” If you look like everyone else, you are competing on price. If you compete on price, you cannot be very profitable.

Fix the problem instead with an Effective marketing, effective systems and an effective sales process. This is how you build consistency and repeat success. The right system and the right process for marketing and Sales is more important. Ask yourself this question; If I charge for an estimate and am still weak sales person, will, all the sudden, everything be better!

The idea is to fix the problem, not disguise it with a charge. You still have to know how to qualify a lead, attract the right leads and be able to sell them. THAT is what makes winners. What if you charge for an estimate and don’t have your act together. Then you are in double trouble. Qualify leads are a bi-product of marketing properly, operating your business properly inorder to attract better customers. Ideal clients are the result of having a great marketing system and a solid business foundation.

Getting Ideal clients is not an issue for business that focus on their foundation in building their business. I see the difference everyday working with many remodelers nationwide.

Do you think successful businesses are successful because they charge for leads? If that was the case, everyone who ever charged for leads would ALWAYS be in business, right?

I, personally, never charged for a estimate. 15 years in business and 10 years above 10 million in revenue and never asked anyone to pay for an estimate! Never! The whole idea is too attract the right customers. Build an image, market yourself right, brand yourself right, develop your systems and business processes correctly.

I work with many contractors every year and the successful ones attract the right customers because of who they ARE, not what they charge for a bid. They automatically GET THE RIGHT CUSTOMERS, because of who they ARE! THAT IS SUCCESS!

I built an image and a professional business. I struggled for years before I made a good profit. I banged my head against the wall day and night 365 days a year. I remember 4 years into my business I went to the grocery store with my wife for the first time. She said,” OMG, you out doing something family related.” That was my first and only needed wake up call. My life changed from that point forward.

Do you think if I just charged for an estimate that my life would have changed?

NO! I still had to attract the right customer and it all clicked when I became a “professional ” business with the right marketing process, the right sales process, the right production process, the right customer service process. I became a student of the game. I educated myself on how to be a great business person. I surrounded myself with good people. The day you become a good business man, thats the day you build a good business

Thank John Jantsch for the article- Author of Duct Tape Marketing!

So, how to write a press release? That’s a million dollar question. If done right, it can indeed bring you revenue. Let’s get started by answering what a press release is. A press release is simply a statement prepared for distribution to the news media announcing something claimed as having news value with the intent of gaining media coverage.

A press release consists of following elements:

• Headline - The headline is the first single line of text in the press release and tells what the press release is about. It can be a very effective tool to grab the attention of the journalist, so writing it from a journalists perspective is very important. All that the journalists care about is readers. Think what headlines catch your eyes in the newspaper. Identify a unique feature about your product or service and then write how it is going to revolutionize the world.

• Dateline - The dateline contains the release date of the press release and usually also the originating city of the press release.

• Summary – The summary let’s your build up your chance to sell your press release to the journalist. It is generally a requirement of online press release services and it can be of the size of a small paragraph.

• Introduction – The introduction is where the press release body starts. It is the first paragraph in a press release, that generally gives basic answers to the questions of who, what, when, where and why.

• Body - The body comes after the introduction. It gives further explanation, statistics, background, or other details relevant to the news and also serves to back up whatever claims were made in the introductory paragraph.

• About – The about section is also called the “boilerplate” as it used over and over again. It is generally a short section providing background information on the press release issuing company, organization or individual.

• Media Contact Information – This section contains the name, phone number, email address, mailing address, or other contact information for the media relations contact person.

General Tips – It is very useful to look at other people’s press releases. Feel free to take a look at the most viewed press releases on this site, as it usually gives a lot of insight into how to write a press release.

Web Addresses for reference:

Here is a free tool for writing a Press release.

www.ducttapemarketing.com/IPR.htm

http://www.prlog.org/ ,

http://www.prweb.com/ ,

http://www.prweb.com/pr/_assets/down…s-releases.pdf

Lead generation is a numbers game and a momentum game. Duct Tape Marketing-

Generally speaking there is no one magic way to generate a tons of leads. Granted, for some businesses there are more effective ways, but on the whole long-term effective lead generation comes down to a combination of advertising, public relations and a systematic approach to referrals – the lead generation trio as I like to call them. It’s my belief that you need to employ all three approaches in order to generate the right kind of know, like and trust building that will attract your ideal customers.

In order to better understand why this blended approach makes such sense let me introduce the 3 Cs of lead generation: Cost, Credibility, and Control. Each of the lead gen trio offers you some advantage in one or more of the 3 Cs.

By using them all, you get the perfect mix.

So here’s the matrix of sorts:

Advertising – potential high cost, often lower credibility, high, in fact ultimate, control – turn the ad on and off when you choose – control is the best part about advertising, you can launch a promotion on the day you want or need more leads and then turn it back down when you don’t. There is a definite need for strategy and not just tactics here.

Public Relations – cost can be low, credibility is high – often a tiny mention in a publication can bring more leads than a full page ad in the same publication – readers love the third party endorsement, control can be low – you can’t really dictate when and if you will get any pub

Referrals – again, cost can be very low, credibility a little dependent on the source of referral but often high, control also out of your hands and based on your ability to educate sources properly.

Each of the members of the lead generation trio has pros and cons, but employed as a unit they have the power to help you create the kind of marketing momentum that builds long term success.