Finding the Perfect Customers For Your Remodeling Business
Most contractors I meet are attracted to the trades and running their own businesses because they love the work. But, when contractors allow the wrong customers to buy from them those customers can quickly take all the pleasure and reward out of being in business and working with the tools.
At the Remodeling Show last year I asked a group of seminar attendees if they had their choice of customer types who they would prefer to work for. One contractor said he only wanted to work with “nice people”.
His answer drew some laughs, but we all agreed it would be nice if all customers were nice. I also asked him what he meant by nice. His response included characteristics like pay on time, make and stick to decisions, and being kind to him and his employees; treating them with the respect and dignity they deserve. Wouldn’t that be nice!
There are many characteristics about customers that can be used to differentiate between them.
Each characteristic can make a difference regarding who they are and what it will be like to work with them. If you think back on past projects you can probably identify a variety of characteristics that make up the ideal customer type for you and your business. Who they are as people, and their personality traits, are definitely important. Also though, just as important as the personality of customers, can be other differentiating characteristics called demographics. Used in combination with personality traits, demographics can help contractors target market prospects who are also most likely to buy what they are selling.
Demographics are the quantifiable statistics of a given population of people. Smart and strategic business owners seeking to work with a specific customer type will combine several demographic variables to define the demographic profile of those customers. Then, using that profile as a guide, they do marketing in ways and places where their target customers can be found.
Here is a partial list of customer demographics contractors can use to target their ideal customers
Marital Status- Gender
- Age Ranges
- Number of People in Household
- Income Information
- Actual Home Market Value (predefined ranges)
- Home Equity Loan and Amount
- Year Home Built
- Owner vs. renter
- Family Composition
- Length of Residence
- Fuel type
- Dwelling Type: Single vs. Multi-Family
- Occupation
So, give me an example of how to use customer demographics:
Here is an example of a fictitious remodeling company’s target customer description using demographics. For this example we will assume the remodeling contractor is looking to offer smaller repair type projects at high margins.
The goal of this marketing campaign is to build a customer list of people who will continually need more work due to the age of the home they live in, and or will refer the company to other people just like them who are willing to pay more to get the comfort and quality offered by a professional and legal business. We want and will use this customer list so we can market additional services to the same homeowners in the future.
To accomplish this goal the company is looking to work with married couples who either have very young children (no time to do the work themselves) and or empty nesters (been there, done all that, want to keep my free time for outdoor activities). Combined household income should be at least $150K so we know they can afford the work. Target home must be built after 1977 so the RRP rule will not apply. Target customers must either have no mortgage or a home equity loan with at least a $100K available balance so it is likely they have money to do larger projects in the future.
Oh, and we don’t enjoy working for engineers who want to tell us how to do our jobs so will eliminate them from our mailing lists.
I'll be back at the Remodeling Show again this year.
If you come to my sessions be sure to say hello!
"Choosing and Targeting The Right Customers and Project Types for Your Business"
"Success Starts With a Business Plan"
What is their background and/or length of time at their trade?
What town do they live in? Grow up in?
It’s important to have everyone around be relaxed; if it doesn’t flow easily after a couple of tries, take a break and return to the filming later. For the interviews, have each person sitting while looking at someone they’re friendly with, located just off to one side of the camera. Interviewees should remain looking at the other person continuously and avoid quick looks at the camera (or look only at the camera). If a person's eyes shift back and forth, they literally look shifty!
Surprisingly, the mantra in the film and video world is “Sound is half the picture.” Poor sound is a hallmark of schlocky work, dragging down many otherwise promising videos. If someone insists they don’t need an external microphone to record speech, don’t even consider working with them! Also, watch out for and eliminate distracting sounds in the background. Radios OFF! And don't seat someone close to an inside corner, because there will be very slight but irritating echoes.
Typically in larger firms most employees are specialist. Each employee on the team will do just one part of the process, such as just the design or just the estimating. Because of this, clients working with larger businesses may never really get to know one employee very well. A smaller company has the possible advantage of having the same person sell, design, estimate, and help manage the project. Certain clients will be attracted to this type of relationship. To get in front of prospects who want this kind of service you need to market the advantages that come with it, otherwise prospects will assume you’re the same as the other companies they can work with. Writing about how you do business and sharing stories about how and why your past customer benefited can help point interested prospects your way. Doing so within your blog is a great way to get the message out. 
The trend of including video on websites is advancing rapidly, but remodeling company websites have been slow to catch on. This is an opportunity to get ahead of the competition. Dr. Tom Leighton, from MIT and Akamai Technologies, has predicted HD video will be 75% of all Internet traffic by 2014.
Present the (hopefully) polished staff who will be working in clients’ homes and as well as those interacting from the office. Also consider including key trades people if you work with them regularly. By using videos you’ll be going beyond what a write up can do with these introductions. The talks will pro-actively address any uneasiness homeowners may have about what kind of people will be in their homes. Ideally I suggest keeping each one to under a minute. 
Testimonials: 
Last month Shawn posted a blog warning contractors of the price shopper titled 
Unfortunately, I agree with Shawn when he stated that many contractors are terrible salespeople, so they have to sell on price. If that’s you, then you really need to ask yourself if you’ve actually invited the “haggler” to contact you. If your brochure, ad, website or any other selling tool you use promises “Best Prices”, “Affordable Service” or “Small Cost for High Quality”, as Jeff Foxworthy would say…"there’s your sign”.
Most people do a bit of research before calling for bids. Make sure your website clearly explains your business philosophy, process, product choices and anything else that will help steer folks away from price shopping. Include lots of pictures. Before / After shots are great…and if they include the homeowners in the “after shot” better yet! Real people, real project, real happy! 
Have you earned awards or accolades from pertinent associations? Non-customers and peers giving you kudos speak volumes to a potential customer. Are you a Certified Installer for a particular product? My company offers perks and real benefits for becoming a certified installer of our products…and it has proven to make a big difference in our Certified WOLF Pro’s sales process. 
While surveys aren’t a new concept for companies, if executed correctly they can deliver significant gains for your customer relationships. Think about it, your client may not feel comfortable bringing up any constructive criticism or concerns unless they have a forum to do so. Chances are if your customers aren’t sharing their concerns with you, they are sharing them elsewhere. Avoid this scenario altogether and make the first move to open up the door to communication with your customers. If you’re thinking about introducing surveying into your company’s process, here are three ways it can add value.
Once you have your survey process in place, it’s time to analyze what your clients are saying about their experience. Many companies calculate their net promoter score (NPS) to measure satisfaction and brand loyalty. The core of NPS is the likely to recommend score. Within GuildQuality’s surveys, a similar likely to recommend question is asked and measured on a 0 to 4 scale.
The best remodelers and home improvement professionals understand the importance every customer’s experience has on the growth and reputation of their company. They survey customers in order to stay on point with their company’s delivery of service excellence. If you are interested in more tips for strengthening relationships with your customers download our free white paper, 
In my quest for a web site company to work with I was specifically referred to the one I chose by another business owner I know who had similar goals for his business. This web site design company owner did what I thought was a great job interviewing me to uncover my purposes before she designed, priced and built my site. Now, because of her assistance, I can help targeted prospects find me and prevent suspects from wasting my time and resources! And, if contractors seeking help with their businesses aren’t yet ready to buy, I can nurture them along with more information about me and my business until they are. 
All this leads to my ability to help my targeted customer types find me and find out what it will be like to work with me as their coach or mentor before they contact me about my services. The experience of getting my own web site up, learning about using it as a marketing tool and the success I have had using it as a tool has also given me the ability to help my contractor coaching clients get on the right path with their own web sites!
If your business doesn’t yet have a web site, or the one you have isn’t helping your target customers find you like mine helps me, don’t make the mistake of working with the wrong web site designer. Here are a few “red flags” to watch for as you either work with your current designer or as you interview one to work with.
If they offer to help you with SEO, but never ask you who your target customers, job types and market area are you may get visits to your site but you will probably never be able to covert those visits into paying customers.
What is sad to me (and really ridiculous if you think about it) is these business owners are doing the same thing many remodeling consumers do. They hire a service provider to take care of something for them without first being clear on what they expect, or, what they can expect will actually be included if they buy. Then, rather than take responsibility for their own lack of due diligence before buying that service, they rationalize why it’s the service provider’s fault they are not happy and want their money back. You can find lots of evidence to back up this reality by reading just a few of the articles on the
Instead of the old outbound marketing methods of buying ads, buying email lists, paying for lead generation services and praying for good leads, consider the new wave in marketing; “Inbound Marketing”. Inbound marketing focuses on creating quality content on your business’ web site that pulls people toward your company and product. By aligning the content you publish with your target customer’s interests, you naturally attract inbound traffic that you can then convert, close, and delight over time. If visitors to your contractors web site don’t like what they find out about your business and how you do business, they won’t call you or waste your time. In addition to creating high quality leads, done well, inbound marketing can also help you increase the number and quality of referral leads from those customers you have delighted. 
If they have already experienced what you offer, either from already working with you or from working with another contractor, they might already know the benefit(s). The thing to keep in mind when you are writing is that you won’t know what they know and what they don’t. We all know what happens when we assume. So, don’t just tell them about what you do, tell them stories about how others you have served have benefited already so they can image themselves benefiting in the same way. If they don’t see enough value to justify contacting you, again, they will move on. That is how you can qualify them, through what you write, but make them feel like they have qualified you.
Catch and release prospects?
