Holiday rush renos: risk and opportunity

With the holiday season only seven weeks away, it means that homeowners are getting restless and maybe even worried that their renovation will not be completed on time.  What does that mean for you?

It means that there is opportunity and there is risk. The opportunity is to be able to complete projects very quickly and, therefore, outsell your competition.  Their decision will not be about who has the best price.  It will be about which contractor the homeowner thinks can complete the job before the holidays.  Who will gain the confidence of the homeowner?  Look at it this way.  One of the most important considerations for anyone who wants to start a renovation now is that it is completed before the holidays.  They want you out of their house.

If you go in and sell based on price and a competitor goes in and sells on the promise of being completed before the holidays, your competitor stands a very good chance of coming out with the contract.  To show the homeowner that you will be able to complete the project in time, include a project schedule in your proposal.  Show them when you will need to start the project, what dates the homeowner will need to complete their selections and what your building schedule will be.  You could also consider a penalty for being late.  All of these things will help to build the confidence with the homeowner that you are committed to getting the job done on time.  This will help to differentiate you from the other guys who might have a better price. They may “say” they will get it done on time, but have no chance of really doing it.

With opportunity comes some risk.  This is an emotional time of the year. The Holidays are coming no matter what and your client’s entertainment plans will cause them some stress.  You can be sure that they will be watching everything.  So the risk comes with your commitment to getting the work done on time, especially if you used the Penalty Clause to get the job.   It is now that you have to pull out your best organization skills.  The key is to plan the entire job so that everyone involved knows the timelines for each step of the project. It is the careful planning of the job that will make you successful.

The beauty of all this is that if you follow it, not only with projects for the holidays, but for every job, you will sell more projects and make more money.