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!