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Leveraging Your Remodeling Company’s Hidden Assets, Part 2

More Hidden Gems That Are Just Waiting To Make You More Money…

More Hidden Gems That Are Just Waiting To Make You More Money…

Even More Money-Making Opportunities Sitting Right Under Your Nose,
Just Waiting To Be Discovered & Exploited.

By Rich Harshaw

Note: I started writing this post and realized it was a lot longer than I anticipated when I started! What an excellent topic it turned out to be. So I’m breaking this into two parts. This is part 2. Read part 1 here.

Okay, it’s time to ramp up the 2nd half of our discussion about hidden assets… here we go!

Hidden Asset #7 – Relationships: Think about all the people you’ve done business with over the years, and then ask yourself this question: Which of them, if any, run or manage businesses that sell stuff to your same target market? By your target market, I mean local people who are the same age and income level as your typical customer.

The answer to this question might surprise you: Do you have any former customers who are chiropractors or accountants? What about home builders or hot tub sellers?

These people can endorse your company and services to THEIR customer list as a way for you to generate home improvement leads. I won’t go into a tremendous amount of detail now—I’ll save this for a more complete blog posting later—but suffice it to say, they send out a letter to their customers (or email, or Facebook posting) and you get leads.

Why would they do this? MONEY! You will PAY THEM for every customer that actually buys. Look at the letter below from a pool/spa company endorsing a sunroom company. If the average sunroom costs $40,000, and your average marketing cost is 10%, and you know it will cost some money to mail out the letters, would you be willing to offer the pool company 8%? That’s $3,200 for a sale—but you only pay it when you actually collect the money. It’s a win-win. By the way, it’s a pretty good letter!

I’ve seen this work with a DRY CLEANER who endorsed a closet organization company. I’ve seen painters work with mortgage companies. Accountants work with home builders. It just takes a little creative thought. After all, it’s a HIDDEN ASSET!

hidden2Hidden Asset #8 – Expertise: If you’ve been around a while, then you’re probably pretty darn good at what you do, right? So why not leverage your expertise into making yourself an AUTHORITY on the topic of remodeling, home improvement, and building? If you become a recognized authority on the subject, people will come to you for advice, they’ll look to you for solutions—and they’ll buy from you because they trust that you know what you’re talking about.

So how do you leverage expertise into becoming an authority? For starters, write a blog. Not a BS blog full of stupid articles that no real person would actually read. But create a series of ongoing articles that tackle real issues in your industry, offer real advice, and share your real, hard-earned experiences. You’re reading this blog… from a self-proclaimed remodeling marketing expert. But if you go back and read over 100 posts that are readily available right in front of your face, you’ll start to realize that maybe I actually DO know a thing or two. To create authority as a blogger, you have to be consistent.

Next, get your stuff published by somebody else. It could be a publication or website that focuses on the local community—HOA newsletters, local city-based newspaper websites, local magazines, whatever. Guess what? They are all ravenously STARVING for great content. If you have great content, they’ll eagerly publish it.

If you want to move up to the big leagues, get on local radio and TV news. Maybe just as a subject matter expert, and maybe as a host of a show. Start small and use your brain.

Other ideas include teaching classes, offering a free hotline for questions on your topic, writing a book, and becoming a guest speaker.

Hidden Asset #9 – Easy 50% Discounts: Smaller companies often deal in trade, but then forget about this excellent homemade currency after they grow a little bigger. Most remodeling companies have margins right around 50%. That means a $10,000 project will only cost you $5,000. So why not actively search for opportunities to “buy” things at a 50% discount by purchasing them in trade? Your imagination is the only limited to what you can get for half price, but here’s a little list to get you started: Advertising, printing, vehicles, office supplies, restaurants, computers, furniture, vacations, and ????. Think about it!!

Hidden Asset #10 – Suppliers: Take a careful look at the companies you buy your supplies from. Are they currently doing anything to help you build your business or cut your costs? If not, why are you using them? There are dozens of potential suppliers out there, and I recommend using the ones that put their skin into your game.

How?

Glad you asked. Co-op advertising dollars for starters. Find a supplier that will give you 25% to 50% of every advertising dollar you spend with their logo on it (or featuring their products) back in cash. That’s a lot of money! See if they will pay for you to attend trainings, make incentive trips/vacations available, or give you discounts. Remember, you have the leverage since you’re the customer! Every single January, Gutter Topper takes its top dealers on a cruise for a week. If you sell gutter covers and you buy from somebody else, guess what? You miss the cruise! Why would you do that? Liners Direct has a full studio where you can film TV commercials for free! And they generate and sell home improvement leads to their dealers for something like $80. Why on earth would you buy your bathroom materials from somebody who doesn’t offer that!?! Last, make sure you take advantage of all supplier discounts. If they’ll give you a 2% discount for paying in less than 10 days, that could mean thousands of dollars a year directly back into your pocket. Find suppliers that will SUPPORT YOU!

Hidden Asset #11 – Identity: You’re probably pretty good at what you do, right? But can prospects easily tell—at a glance—what makes you different and better than all your competitors? After evaluating marketing from THOUSANDS of contractors, I can tell you the answer: NO.

There’s a huge disconnect for most remodelers between HOW GOOD THEY REALLY ARE and the message they use in construction marketing to communicate those advantages. They key is to make the message match the reality of your company… which is what we call developing an IDENTITY.

I won’t talk about Identity at length here simply because I have done so many times elsewhere in this blog. If you need a refresher course, watch this video of one of my webinars:

The benefits of having a powerful, precise, and passionately articulated Identity are many. Here are the most important:

  • Generate More Leads: When people can see the obvious advantages in your ads, they’re a lot more likely to call.
  • Website Conversion: Dittos for your website. It’s the single-most important part of a contractor’s marketing program—does it have a strong identity throughout it?
  • Lower Price Resistance: Selling is much easier when people already love your company when you show up for a sales meeting. They understand the value you bring—because you’ve communicated it through your Identity!—and they’re ready to buy.
  • More Referrals: When people remember the awesome experience they had with you (instead of remembering you as “just another contractor”) referrals start coming out of the woodwork. It’s incredible.

Hidden Asset #12 – Speed: I’m talking about the speed of handling home improvement leads. If you are good at it, it can be a major competitive advantage for you. You know all those “internet leads” that you can buy from various companies that everybody seems to hate? Well, not everybody hates them. The companies that are geared to respond in nano-seconds (instead of hours or days) are the ones converting them into sales. All the laggards call and call and call and never get anyone on the phone. That’s because they already bought from Speedy Gonzales. Think about it.


Marketing Audit: Want to know if your marketing will work? We’ll perform a marketing plan analysis and give you a number grade from 0 to 100 so you’ll know for sure. Just fill out this form and we’ll contact you to schedule a time to discuss. Important! Please DO NOT fill this form out if you do not intend to actually meet with us to discuss. We have to invest a substantial amount of time and work into preparing these reports. Thanks!

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© 2015 – 2016, Rich Harshaw. All rights reserved.

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