Category
Marketing & Sales
Strategies for competing with Fly-By-Nighters
Fly-By-Nighters, Trunk Slammers, Cash Guys, The Underground… whatever you call them, they are everywhere these days – trying to outbid you by 30 to 40 per cent. Here are some ways that established, above-board, legitimate contractors are competing with this hidden marketplace.
Lethbridge, Alta.'s Bezooyen Contracting is latest builder to partner up with the (Mike) Holmes Approved Homes program
Holmes Approved Homes was launched in 2011 and has steadily signed up builders who want to partner up with Mike Holmes to ensure that their clients know they are getting a quality build
Yellow Pages, the book, is a dinosaur. Yellow Pages on-line gets us customers on a daily basis.
It seems the Yellow Pages might have to rebrand itself as the “Yellow Screen” – or something like that
Six myths about customer financing of home improvement projects
Financing a project stimulates opportunities for renovators, but traditional methods of doing so can slow down or kill that sale.
Salary Survey result: 51% of contractors under $250,000 billings now have websites
The more money contractors are billing, the more likely they are to have websites. Or is that the other way around?
Canada's top renovators and builders honoured at CHBA Conference in Whistler, B.C.
The award for “Whole House Renovation” (more than $500,000) went to Eurodale Developments, Toronto
Alberta contractors report most sales increases in country, Atlantic Canada places second
Ontario and B.C. have the least optimistic contractors – when asked about sales increases in their region – in Canada.
Grow your contractor business: Get an advisory board
Small businesses that added an advisory board grew an…
VIDEO: Interview with PROBUILT's Mike Upshall: How to structure your renovation firm
Mike Upshall, a veteran homebuilder and renovator, talks about how he runs his firm using a lead carpenter system that puts on-the-tools carpenters into front line roles with full budgetary responsibilities
American renovators talk about a boycott of Angie's List
Renovation contractors can find it much harder to close a sale once negative reviews of their work appear online. Angie’s List, based in Indianapolis, has angered so many contractors that a boycott is now a possibility.
Can you guess the top 5 renovation projects (in terms of returned value upon resale)?
A simple entry door replacement on an American home will return almost every penny it cost the homeowner, upon resale. Can you guess some of the other top 5 projects, as surveyed by Remodeling magazine?
Pin it to win it: Pinterest offers your reno firm a creative way to get new clients
Pinterest, the online scrapbooking site, has more than 70 million users. Lowe’s is using it extensively to promote its products. As a professional renovator, you should check it out.
Networking – not a dirty word but a great way to market your reno business
Networking is not about handshaking or cocktail parties, it’s anything you can do to meet new people and get word-of-mouth referrals.
Why renovators can pick up so much business from community newspapers
You’d be hard pressed to find another advertising medium that reaches 75 per cent of your potential clients.
Renovantage’s Mike Draper on turning leads into customers
“Never email a quotation,” Draper counsels. “Always visit with the client to go over the details so that you can make adjustments to include or exclude changes the customer wants to see.
Getting a website? Forget .COM. How about .BUILD, specifically created for the construction industry
If you don’t have a website yet – or…
What women want, and why you should care
You may be negotiating with the man of the…
The value-add: Help clients understand ways to finance home renovations
I’m sure you’ve all been there. A client asks…
How to sell, sell, sell your renovations expertise year round
Winter’s coming and you may be up to your…
Protecting cash flow
Learning to manage cash flow is one of the…
Is your crew undermining your reputation as a contractor?
“I watched as a crew showed up the day after Canada Day to spend four hours sitting on the front porch, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes.”
Promoting your contracting business via Facebook
Have you been avoiding Facebook because you think it’s just for kids? Think again. There are more users over the age of 40, including men, on Facebook than there are teenagers. It’s an excellent medium to promote your reno services.
VIDEO: Flip School's Ian Szabo talks about keeping a positive mindset when renovating
Keeping your cool under pressure in this crazy business of renovating houses is a matter of learning to “hit the reset button” in your own head, Ian Szabo advises.
Boost your reno sales without sounding like a car salesman
It’s important to understand that people only do renovations because they have pain. While your client is explaining to you what they want done, your job is to find the real “pain point.” Is your prospective client embarrassed by the poor condition of their residence? Have they promised an upgrade in living space to their spouse?
Coaches' Corner VIDEO: Solving problems with the homeowner, Part 1
In our latest Coaches Corner video (here), Mike Draper…
Managing your online reputation: VIDEO interview Part 2 with Brian Sharwood, HomeStars
You are online whether you want to be or not. You need to manage what is being said about you and your company.
How to manage your online reputation: Interview with Brian Sharwood, HomeStars
It’s a listing you never asked for and don’t want and there are bad reviews from angry customers attached. What can you do? HomeStars president Brian Sharwood tells us why the listing is there and how to protect your reputation.
E-newsletters for renovators: Five keys to success
Newsletter marketing is a great way for renovation contractors to add new customers.
Can ClubLocal become the "Amazon of home repair"?
Club Local is funded by wealthy publicly-traded owners, and the website promises homeowners needing repairs that they can track the whereabouts of their tradespeople “in real time.” And that the trades hired online will do their work for “below market” prices. Good luck with that.
Why most renovations start in the kitchen… and what homeowners might be missing
What web search data tells us about how Canadian homeowners go about finding a contractor online
