What is it that makes your company so special? What sets you apart from the competition? The easy answers are hard work, dedication, and quality. But these are not the most unique characteristics of a successful company. In fact they are the backbone of every successful company, and in a slow market many successful, quality companies are competing for the same jobs, wooing the same clients.

That means that contractor-seeking homeowners are likely bombarded with lines like, “We do quality work” or “I have years of experience” or “I am honest, I work for you!” Nowadays it takes more than a smile and a handshake to get work. It takes some creative selling. So the question becomes: What is your unique selling proposition? Your USP?

The USP is not new to marketing. Today a number of businesses and corporations search for and use their USP to the fullest extent. And in a highly competitive market it is vital that you realize and utilize your company’s unique selling point. A recent post from Qualified Remodeler offered some good advice for contractors seeking out their own USP.

That advice includes something that many of you are likely already doing — contacting past clients. But instead of contacting them simply to maintain a relationship and check on past work (an increasingly important approach in its own right), you can use them as a marketing research tool. Surely there is some reason that those past clients chose you in the first place; something about your company that somehow appealed to them more than your competition.

So the deal is to call some of your favorite, most successful clients past, of course check up on the finished project and offer any assistance needed, but also schedule a rendezvous (i.e., dinner, lunch, etc.) where you can probe them as to why they hired you. As Qualified Remodeler suggests, do this with about five of your favorite clients and look for a theme to arise, the odds are good that you will find one. This may very well by your company USP. (more…)

Generating leads is an artform in remodeling. There are plenty of ways to do it, from retaining past clients to advertising, and these days how you do it can make all the difference. In 2003, Remodeling Magazine conducted a reader panel asking all about leads. At that time, and likely even more so now, the majority of contractors relied on past clients and word of mouth for lead generation.

The concept is simple. Past clients are a familiar resource whom you’ve worked for in the past. Their repeat business or recommendation to a new client has a certain, predisposed measure of validity that is just not possible with strangers. Now, in 2003 when the original survey was taken, times were very different. The housing boom was coming into its own and contractors had more freedom to pick and choose projects.

Those times may have come and gone but the fundamentals of remodeling and lead generation remain, even though it may be contractors calling past clients to check in rather than the other way around. Yet despite the fact that homeowners are in the driver’s seat, you are still more likely to generate quality leads from past clients because both homeowners and contractors tend to trust the word of a friend or known client than a phone book or random ring of the phone.

Another interesting trend that came out of the 2003 survey and remains relevant today is the need for personal interaction. Most contractors surveyed stated that they put “gut reaction” and face-to-face conversation on a higher pedestal than any number on a lead sheet. The lead sheet may itself lead to the interview, but it would always be the interview that took precedent.

Again, now that the tables are turned and it is often the contractor doing the hunting, the same rules apply. Better leads come from past clients and should be prioritized. Homeowners running through the phone book or search engine are essentially window shopping. That is not to say that every lead isn’t important — there is a contractor for every job regardless of lead origin — but the odds are much better when familiarity is involved, not to mention contact onsite. (more…)