I have heard this term used a few too many times and am not sure what it really means. I think a better term to use is, Getting back to understanding what marketing really is by learning marketing in any economy, or Marketing effectively for consistent results makes more sense to me.

I like the phrase that describes marketing as, “Getting someone who has a need to know, like and trust you.” A future client needs to know, like and trust you, before they will ever buy from you, and ultimately refer you, and do repeat business with you.

Marketing in the remodeling and construction industry isn’t for the light hearted, as it takes a consistent, effective, a well planned system to get results. Most remodelers I talk with and work with are very busy in their business building, training employees and with production, so the marketing gets the last bit of energy…if any. This approach isn’t bringing results and the ones that have ignored marketing are feeling the effects. Negative effects. Just like anything that gets neglected, it definitely doesn’t do well…let alone thrive and bring positive results. This is what has changed…the need to pay attention to marketing. The growing companies, profitable ones and stable companies are making marketing as important as sales and production.

Also, I don’t think its todays economy has changed the look of marketing as much as just the way people are communicating and people’s expectations have changed. I don’t look at marketing as a newsletter and bam, my business is doing great now. Far from it.

I look at long time Remodel Buddy member, Paul Klassen of Pinnacle Renovations. He is changing his culture, becoming effective with every move and enhancing his customers experience in a very systematic and consistent way. He is focused on his ideal client. An ideal client is one that is profitable for one. A profitable project that you tell yourself,”if I had 5-10 more of these, life would be good.” The first element of an ideal client is they are profitable projects and the second is that they referred you.  Identify these people and find more of them. Develop your core marketing message to reach out and connect with them.

Building an effective marketing plan is about doing many, many little things properly on top of a solid foundation. There isn’t one silver bullet that makes everything click, but there is one element that makes it all possible….an effective strategy with consistent effort. Neglecting marketing is a death spiral in the long run.

The difference between cost and value has narrowed in customers minds, so the need to establish yourself as the “go to company,” “the expert in the industry,” and a remarkable process for delivering the entire project from A-Z ……will be the difference. Educate everyone with your marketing. Marketing that is unique & powerful, plus the ability to differentiate yourself from everyone else is the foundation that is needed to market in any economy. The only thing this economy has taught businesses is the realization that marketing cannot be the part of the business that is neglected anymore.

]]> http://www.remodelbuddy.com/getting-back-to-understanding-what-marketing-really-is/feed 0 http://www.remodelbuddy.com/successful-remodelers-understand http://www.remodelbuddy.com/successful-remodelers-understand#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:35:26 +0000 Tim Nagle http://www.remodelbuddy.com/?p=1640 I was just working with a renovation firm in Calgary, Alberta named The Pinnacle Group. Paul Klassen is a smart individual and has developed one of Calgary’s premier Renovations businesses. His focus is on Building relationships with his clients and his team is dedicated to that vision. Our marketing efforts have been geared towards enhancing his clients experience, being unique at every turn and creating an advantage. We are tapping into the emotional aspect of his clients and how they make their buying decisions. Why this focus on the emotional aspect?

Many remodeling and home improvement business  owners, or sales people,  are  pre programmed or wired to prove they can be trusted to the customer. Company’s consultants or representatives may expend too much work and time trying too hard to impress others, and in trying to earn the trust factor with their potential clients, that they miss the whole essence of building the relationship with the potential client. We have to remember that remodeling is still an emotional decision and in order in develop a solid relationship with your client, like Pinnacle Renovations, there needs to be a focus on your client.

How many remodeling businesses are showing the cost vs. value report?

Is this really the direction you want to go right now? Is it really? Should we be talking about the investment value or the real reason people are remodeling today…..because they want to make there house a little more like home! An emotional investment. Emotion usually wins every time!

I read  recent article by Nina Patel, Senior Editor for  Remodeling Magazine. Nina pointed out some interesting research about  how people view their home these days, and  how the  long term investment value of home ownership has diminished. Here is the article and some highlighted   quotes from here article.

A researched the 1929 stock market crash. Assistant professor Anna Scherbina found that a decade before the crash, there was a booming real estate market in New York city that she says resembles the housing bubble of the 1990’s and 2000’s. She extrapolates from the research that “owning a house is not necessarily a lucrative long-term investment based on its long-term exchange value.”

Nina commented;

I’ll grant her that. During our most recent boom, many people bought and sold houses with the sole purpose of making money. However, most of the public and the government realize that ownership goes beyond making a quick  buck. Homeowners are invested in their neighborhoods and have a strong connection to the community. Buying a house also hits us on an emotional level. Some of it is scary–like the panic I felt right after my closing where I wondered “What did I just do?.” But along with the fear comes elation and pride. So researchers can review history and statistics all they want–the true value of buying a house is the enhanced quality of life. Successful remodelers understand that emotional value and use it to help clients create a place they love to call home.

Here is an excerpt from the grad school’s site about Scherbina’s research:

“In a recent radio interview, Scherbina discussed an index of home prices in Manhattan between 1920 and 1939 that she and Associate Professor Tom Nicholas of the Harvard Business School collected by hand from the Manhattan Public Library archives. This data set is informative because the housing market in Manhattan represented 5% to 10% of all the U.S. real estate wealth at that time.

According to Scherbina and Nicholas’ working paper, “Real Estate Prices during the Great Depression,” the prices for a typical Manhattan house increased 62% in a run up of the 1929 stock market crash and then lost 51% of that value by the end of 1933. By 1932 and 1937 the stock market showed signs of rebounding, but real estate did not, according to Scherbina.

A house purchased in 1920 would have lost 51% of its value (in inflation-adjusted terms) by the end of 1939. Scherbina and Nicholas report that it wasn’t until 1960 that housing prices recovered.The upshot for today, according to Scherbina, is that owning a house is not necessarily a lucrative long-term investment based on its long-term exchange value. She explains that given maintenance costs and fluctuations in the real estate market, it is difficult to profit financially.

Scherbina contends investors would do better investing in stocks and bonds because they can spread wealth across diverse investments and have the flexibility to sell some assets when necessary. Home owners, on the other hand, can’t sell some of their house when the economy shrinks, yet families do not value or think of their homes simply as a long-term investment.”

Should we focus on the emotion or cost vs. Value?

Nina Patel-

“So researchers can review history and statistics all they want–the true value of buying a house is the enhanced quality of life. Successful remodelers understand that emotional value and use it to help clients create a place they love to call home.”

My thoughts…

“Should we be talking about the investment value or the real reason people are remodeling today…..because they want to make there house a little more like home!”

You decide……….

There is an “Unfair” Truth about Business and it holds true for Remodelers & that Unfair Truth is This:

There is no direct relationship between being great at what you do, working honest, smart and working hard, then getting your potential customer to know & understand that so you can make money.

The industry is full of smart, talented, hard-working Remodelers who are not earning the type of income they deserve. However, there IS a direct relationship between being GREAT at what you do, and promoting that fact through EXCELLENT MARKETING, Sales Processes & making great profits.

We would

like to present you with a Marketing Awareness Survey that we have had very good success with getting a snapshot of your businesses marketing personality.

This will only take a few minutes of your time to complete. Please answer the questions in each field and be as honest as you can.

The questions are related to your company’s marketing awareness. If you decide to take the time to answer and submit the results, we will send you a score with areas of recommended improvement, if they are needed. Just make sure to leave your e-mail in the comments section to receive your recommendations.

Click on the button

to check your Pulse!

Make Your Process Remarkable!

It isn’t a secret that homeowners generally have a lack trust with the construction industry. It has been my experience through years of experience communicating with homeowners that this lack of trust weighs on homeowners minds when dealing with contractors. Consultants are even hired by some homeowners to work as an advisor and a communicator with the contractor. This just shows another level of the lack of trust.

How do you overcome that stigma, of a lack of trust?

Obviously, There Needs to be a level of trust, education & confidence for the homeowner to move forward and say,” you’re hired.”Do you have a remarkable Process?

A homeowners decision not to progress with you can be made very early on and they may not even contact or call you back for a proposal. The homeowners decision not to progress forward with you can definitely be made on the first meeting. I reiterate-if you don’t present yourself correctly, their decision against hiring you can be made fairly early on, even though you may not know it or realize it. Positive thoughts and decisions to hire you should be what you want formulating early. Build the know, like and trust with your potential client and educate them early in the relationship. First thing!

Having a remarkable process will be a huge step in the right direction. They may like you when they meet you, but they are never going to trust you until you can describe, from A -Z, exactly what you are going to do for them.  The best time to get that out is right up front! I take it a step further and educate a potential client before I meet them as well as when the first meeting takes place. Thats when I drive it home.

Your process is a tool, the lifeblood of your company, how you operate, and communicate. Your process is how you structure yourself, your business, present yourself to the homeowner and confidence builder.

This is your bible for the homeowner. Explain to them,” Let me discuss our process of how we proceed forward today & how our project with you would go when you decide to choose our business. We have a unique process designed for our customer that covers everything from the communication, to the details to the work progress, to the completion, and the meeting with you afterwards.

What you are accomplishing with you process is eliminating any doubt and uncertainty  that would make your potential client  hesitate from saying, “yes, you are hired.” Help them visualize the exact steps that will be taken from now, today, to the time they are enjoying what you have done for them. A true understanding and belief that you are taking them through a proven system will build confidence and trust.

Make your process remarkable!

Take your process and organize the steps from A-Z. Take these steps and identify and simplify them. Don’t make it confusing! keep it simple and easy for your potential client to understand. The process should have a name too. Mr. & Mrs Homeowner, I would like to introduce you to our “Customer Center,” or  present this as “Their Name and add  Project Center”  to the front of it. Any unique name you have to identify your businesses system will be memorable. Describe the steps involved and then continue to describe what is included in these steps.

The next step is the “Projects expectations or as many say, the NEEDS Analysis.” By the time you are completed with your process, your company’s system step by step and phase by phase, your customer will have a better understanding, visualize the steps, and the completion of their desires. Your customer will have a clearer understanding of how you intend to make their project remarkable and how you plan on being the right company for this project. Your remarkable process will lead to them knowing you, liking you and trusting you. All this ultimately leads to them buying from you and earning their business. What are you doing to be remarkable?

Your Process can also be a closing tool. Before reviewing your final proposal, review the process in person before presenting it. Here are some thoughts on creating a presentable process for your client. A sample process.

Thoughts on presenting your proposal

Always meet to review the final proposal. Do not mail or e-mail. You will never see their reaction, answer questions and may never see or hear from them for whatever reason. Plus, it shows they are a bid and not important. It doesn’t speak special at ALL! Don’t Bid! Present Proposals!

Never say , lets go over the numbers! Numbers?….. because then you are making it all about the (money). Do you want them to JUST think about the money? Then don’t say lets meet to review the numbers!

Get both decisions makers there. Always! Don’t you value your time? Don’t you want them to value your time?

“I can present you with your investment. When can we, you and yours meet. I request that I meet with you both as this way I can address any questions and thoroughly discuss this with you. Would you expect any less?”

After all, didn’t you just invest quite a bit of time on this? Don’t you owe it to yourself to give it the best opportunity to get the project?

Read the process over before presenting the proposal. This sets the stage for confidence, professionalism and the idea that you are going to expect an answer, its subtle and necessary, yet expected! And why shouldn’t it be?!

How to Create a Powerful Personal Marketing Message

DUCT TAPE MARKETING AND, AUTHOR, JOHN JANTSCH GIVES THIS GREAT MESSAGE

Try this exercise to help you develop a personal marketing message that grabs your prospect’s attention.

Quite often small business owners will ask me to reveal the most powerful marketing strategy I have seen. I can say without hesitation that the most powerful marketing strategy has little to do with advertising, direct mail, websites, referrals or blogs.

No, before any of those things will really have an impact on your business, you’ve got to uncover and communicate how your business is different from every other business that says they do what you do. You’ve got to get out of the commodity business. You’ve got to stake your claim on a simple idea or position in the mind of your prospective clients.

You’ve got to create and bring to life a powerful personal marketing message.

The following is an exercise that I have developed that allows you to find your message by focusing on creating a marketing based answer to one very important question.

And the question is: What do you do for a living? The answer to that question is something that I call “Your Talking Logo.”

Like a traditional printed logo, a talking logo is a tool that allows your firm to communicate verbally the single greatest benefit of doing business with your firm. A talking logo is a short statement that quickly communicates your firm’s position and forces the listener to want to know more.

The talking logo is generally played in response to the comment, “So, tell me about your remodeling business or tell me what you do.” Everyone has attended a networking event where you are given a minute to describe your business…another great place to use your talking logo. When it comes to referral marketing, the talking logo is how you communicate the value of your business to referral sources.

How do you create your talking logo?

Remember, a talking logo must be a short statement that leaves the listener wanting to know more. Think about your clients or potential clients … they want to know what’s in it for them. Don’t just tell them what your firm does- tell them in a way that matters to them.

“I’m in the remodeling business.” “I’m a contractor.” “I’m a painting contractor.” “I’m a building specialist.” The only thing this type of response will get you is, “Who cares?” or worse. A talking logo grabs your prospect’s attention.

Your talking logo is created in two distinct parts. Part 1 addresses your target market, and Part 2 zeroes in on a problem, frustration or want that market has.

You know you have a great talking logo when a person hears you deliver it and immediately says, “Really, how do you do that?”

“So, if you ask Bill the architect, “what do you do for a living?” Which do you think is more powerful? “Oh, I’m a registered architect” or [Talking Logo] “I show contractors how to get paid faster.”

Now if you’re a contractor you’ve got to know more, right? In the example above Bill has focused on addressing a key frustration that he knows contractors (his target market) have.

What about this one? “I show small service professionals how to triple what they charge?”

Do you see a pattern?

Here’s the pattern: Action verb, (I show, I teach, I help) target market, (business owners, homeowners, teachers, divorced women, Fortune 500 companies) how to xxxx = solve a problem or meet a need that you know your marketing has.

Now ask yourself, “Who wouldn’t want to know more when you heard a talking logo that spoke directly to you?” Communicating a powerful message like this will get you referral appointments too.

Now, once you get their attention with your talking logo answer to what you do for a living, it’s time to deliver the goods.

So, now they utter, “Really, how do you do that?”

You must be equally prepared to answer this supplemental question. Once your prospect says, “Tell me more,” you need Part 2, and that is when you tell them how you plan to solve their problem.

The key to this tool though, is waiting until you have their full attention with your talking logo.

Part 2: Again, the architect from above – “Well, we have developed relationships with every zoning board in the metro area and can make sure that your projects don’t get hung up by red tape, ensuring that you get to that first pay request faster.”

By understanding your positioning and your target market and then communicating it through your talking logo, you will be miles ahead of most of your competition and well on your way to generating referrals and leads from anyone you meet.

Today’s marketing requires lots of content, lots of education, and lots of trust-building via expertise sharing.

The tri-fold brochure just doesn’t cut it anymore. Today’s smart marketers think in terms of information products more than marketing collateral — education over selling rules the day. When I began working with Duct Tape Marketing and coaching remodeling owners, I realized the extreme benefit that John Jantsch had developed for small businesses through years of experience working with small business owners. I credit John for the development of the Marketing Kit components and have been applying these principles with the remodeling and home improvement businesses. Here is a example of the benefits of this subject.

The best way to tap this necessary marketing shift is to think in terms of kits or suites of information. The most practical approach for the typical small business is the creation of on-demand, flexible and personal marketing kits, press kits and new customer kits.

These multiple page-documents, often housed in a pocket of a custom file folder, allow you to tell the entire story in a range of formats that take in the learning styles and personalities of a broad range of prospects.

DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE MARKETING KIT

Our Difference

Use this page to illustrate how you are different and shower the prospect with benefits of doing business with you.

Don’t say what you do, focus on how you do it.

Explain your unique approach, your processes and the little things you do.

If you have studied your competition and know what your target market craves, make a point to summarize your solution.

I like to limit this to the top three or four areas your target market values.

Ideal Client

People generally feel more comfortable working with companies that specialize in their unique industry, niche or problem…

Describe your ideal client. Describe why this client typically hires you. What makes the client reach out to you?

Describe the factors that seem to exist for your most successful engagements.

By completing this description, you will narrow your market, but also make yourself substantially more attractive to someone who fits your ideal description.

Our Story

Many companies have interesting or even gut-wrenching histories. Tell your story in an open, honest and entertaining way, and you will win prospects hearts as well as their heads.

The ability to connect by way of personal stories is one of the greatest advantages that small businesses possess over big businesses.

The marketing story is an effective tool because it allows you to do several things that traditional marketing or advertising does not:

- Stories are an effective way to simplify a complicated issue.

- Stories can create emotion. People buy on emotion and rationalize their decision with facts.

- Stories are easier to remember because people can more readily relate to a story.

Most importantly…stories build trust.

The most effective marketing stories fall into one of about six categories:

1. Who I am stories – stories that allow the potential customer to connect with who you are or who the company is
2. What I do stories – stories that communicate not only what your firm does but why
3. The vision stories – stories that paint a picture of a dynamic future
4. Values in action stories – stories that illustrate slogans like “we try harder”
5. Lessons learned stories – shared lessons that expose the human side ñ both the good and the bad
6. I know you stories – stories that let the potential customer know you have walked in their shoes

Services/Products

This page should outline the various services, products and packages you offer.

Clearly describe and detail the benefits of each.

Process/How We Work

This page should show the prospect how you do what you do. Create detailed checklists that show your prospect how you keep your promise.

In many cases, you have these anyway, but by making them part of your marketing, you can demonstrate how professional your organization is.

Documented process descriptions will help justify why you charge a premium for your services. Many people underestimate how much really goes into delivering a quality product or service, so show them.

Case Studies

Pick representative clients or industries and outline how your product or service solved someone else’s challenge.

Case studies allow readers to see themselves getting relief.

An effective case study format:

- The situation

- The problem

- Your solution

- The result

Over time, you can collect more and more of these and draw upon the ones that fit an industry or problem relevant to your prospect.

Testimonials

Third-party endorsements are another way to prove that you do indeed deliver as promised.

Collect quotes from actual clients and sprinkle them throughout your website.

Try to obtain quotes that focus on the results you have helped clients realize. These quotes can be some of the strongest selling tools you have.

New technologies make it easy to create audio and video testimonials too.

Some suggestions for acquiring powerful testimonials:

- Craft proposed testimonial copy and present it to clients for approval

- Ask a prospect to obtain a recommendation from your clients (they will copy you)

- Photograph your clients using your product or associating with your brand (be sure to obtain written permission to use in marketing materials)

Frequently Answered Questions

Some of your prospects ask you very specific questions. If you can address them in a concise manner, you may not have to do much more.

Start by reviewing the types of questions you receive from clients and sales prospects in person, over the phone and via email.

Sometimes this can be a good place to start all your marketing materials. After you answer some of the most persistent questions, go back and make sure these answers run throughout your other pages as well.

Press/Articles

Have you written (or had written about you) articles for publications, newsletters or internal distribution? Include reprints and press clippings that are relevant.

Here is a link to writing a press release. http://www.remodelbuddy.com/how-to-write-a-press-release-part-of-the-lead-generation-trio

Your client and proud homeowner would be very pleased to receive a owners manual at the projects completion. Finalize each project in a positive manner with a invitation to a post project meeting. What better way to show your appreciation to your client. There could be a few items presented in the manual at the meeting that can be very beneficial to your business.

There could be a few sections covered in this manual.

Section One could be a survey on your company with a survey sheet to be filled out by the homeowners. Page one or section one should be Instructions for filling out a survey, with a pre-paid envelop to mail it back to you or an option to fill out a form online. There are many ways to receive testimonials; written, audio and video. Use this opportunity to arrange it. What better time to make sure you get one.

Section Two of the manual can be records. Collect any paperwork associated with the job and complete records of everything installed; Complete records would include what it is, where it is, what color it is, where the client can get spare parts, repair or service years later and warranty information. A record of paint used, color and the brand. Also, copies of contracts, along with before and after pictures so that your client can show their friends.

A useful item for the manual, beneficial to todays tax credits, would be a section for any energy tax credit information.

The Third Section, should be instructions on how to refer your company. Explain your referral process. Do they fill out a form, call you, e-mail the information? What happens when you get the referral? To present your referral process as very systematic process, shows your clients that anyone referred to you, will be handled in a professional manner, and increase the chances of receiving one from them. Here are some ways to address that in writing that can be referred to regularly.

How to Refer Others- explain how you would like to receive the information

How to Spot My Ideal Customer- Explain what type of customers you are looking for.

How to Best Communicate What I Do-explain your unique core message about your business.

How My Customer Referral Process Works- When you are given a referral, when will they be contacted, what is your initial conversations goals and how you will return the results/progress to the people that gave you the referral.

Our Referral rewards Program- do you offer any special rewards for someone that offers a referral and they become a new client. What is it and how do they get it.

Be unique and turn a post project meeting into more than just getting the final payment. Make a relationship that benefits everyone. Remember, being a successful business with consistent results is about doing all the little things properly.

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.

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.

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