Do a quick debrief of the appointment and add notes below the following two headlines:

What Worked

What Didn’t Work

Take a couple minutes to think about this and write down notes and you’ll have quick clarity on ways to improve your sales process.

If you know improving your sales process is the #1 key to closing more of the leads you already have, let’s talk about how I can help you get there quicker.

P.S. Feel free to email me with your ‘What Worked | What Didn’t Work’ responses. Would love to see them!

We were talking about a big project that they are waiting to hear back on ($110,000 basement.)

They were telling me about where the lead came from, about the family (the prospect has a couple kids), etc.

And that they were expecting to hear back from them late next week.

I said, “Based on what you are telling me – it sounds like you want to touch base with them?” (Playing the waiting game was killing them.)

A thank you card or check-in email might be good… Phone call a little out of place at that time… So we decided to mail them a ball instead

I turned my computer monitor around and we proceeded to spend $26 (including the Priority Shipping!) on a yellow kickball that says “Had A Ball!” (here’s the one we ordered.)

We included a message about how they “Had a ball meeting them” and that they look forward to hearing from them soon.

Now…

Are they going to sign a $110,000 basement project because we mailed the prospect a yellow kickball? I don’t know.

But I do know, that when they receive it in the mail, it will make them chuckle, give them good feelings about the remodeler, and the kids will be having fun playing with it in the yard… Every time they see that kickball, they will think of who sent it to them.

A little humor and fun in your marketing and sales follow-up can go a long way.

There are more ideas where that came from - Grab a time to chat here.

The reason is because she needed, in her words, a “pump me up” talk.

Translation: “I have a new home construction prospect I’m meeting this morning and I need a confidence boost, because I’m not fully used to the changes we are implementing!”

I sent her a link to this 25 second movie clip and told her she’s going to do great (which she did.)

A big reason you don’t make changes to your sales process (and marketing system) is because of fear. Worried that the question isn’t going to come out right. That you’ll stumble over the words. That the retainer won’t work. The fear of, “I’ve never done that before – it’s uncomfortable.”

You have to break through that fear! If you hear a good idea or think of a new approach, try it out! Trial and error is what it takes to continue to improve.

Don’t let lousy and weak fear stop you.

If you need a ‘pump me up’ talk you can grab one here.

I like to joke that they are paying me for earth-shattering ideas like that.

“Gee Kyle, what a brilliant idea…” :)

I like to see them go out when we return from the first in-person meeting with a remodeling prospect.

A new client of mine sent out her first Thank You card the other day and got this response back:

“Kyle - Here is my main thought – rather than put marketing money into getting new clients that don’t know anything about us, I would rather spend a few ‘marketing dollars’ on each project to push the client over the top and then they go get new clients for us that have already heard really good things about us.’

We all know it takes extra time and money to go above and beyond, but if we remember that this is the best marketing money we could possibly spend, then it makes so much more sense.

Little things like the obvious but easy to rush through:

- Take time to educate the homeowners, answer their questions fully and in detail so that they feel really informed and confident on their dream kitchen remodel – yea we do them everyday, but they only do one or two in a lifetime and it means a lot to them!

- That horribly overloaded trashcan – I remind my guys that trash pick up is on Friday and that they should take it to the curb Thursday before they go home.

- Find a value added something that is obviously not in the contract, but will make the overall job look better or function better and include it for free.  

- Joe”

If you’d like the opportunity to talk 1-on-1 about how to enhance the remodeling experience your clients have with your company, here’s your link.

P.S. What are some of the ‘Little Things’ you do on your projects to push your client to be ‘over the top’ happy? Comment below and let me know.

Reply of Webinar:

Links to some of Michael’s products and software:

Main Website

Markup & Profit Book

Profitable Sales Book

Fast Track Estimating Software

• The single most profitable decision I ever made in business
• The key metrics you should be tracking in your marketing
• How to use marketing to differentiate your business and win more contracts
• Simple ways to automate your marketing
• How to get your clients to frame your marketing pieces and put it on the wall!

You can listen to my interview with Steve here or download the recording. I hope you find the content helpful!

You’d be wise to review it below and incorporate something similar into your business…

By the way… I love receiving emails like the one below – please comment below and share some of your marketing successes (or questions) with me. I’m on my own with 3 kids all weekend (my wife is visiting friends in Chicago) – so I’m going to need the kind words and replies! Fire them my way…

Email from Jen to Kyle:

Hi Kyle,

I had joined in on one of your free webinars a few months back and although we were not ready to take full advantage of your services I do enjoy getting your e-mails and consider them to be as good as a swift kick in the pants. They’ve helped me to implement some ideas about how to improve on our marketing and sales processes. And since you are generous with your advice and tidbits I thought I would share how we have responded to some of your generous “kicks”.

Although we always send out a formal intro letter in the mail to new prospects, I also formatted a quick, less formal e-mail template (which I customize a bit each time) to send out to a prospect right after their initial call, that hopefully answers some questions they may have and gets them to dig a bit deeper in to who we are as a company and hopefully helps them realize why we stand out in the industry.

I attached one such letter I sent out last week (below)… and just wanted to say thanks for the swift kick in the pants!

Jennifer Kravitz
Office Manager, Thorson Restoration & Construction

Email sent to Remodeling Prospect:

From: Jen Kravitz
Subject: Basement Remodel Project

Hello Andrew,

It was a pleasure speaking with you today about the project you are considering. I just wanted you to have an understanding of how our process works and give you some further insight into our company.

Typically, either Eric or I will be reaching back out to you once we have had a chance to take a look at Eric’s schedule to see what dates are available for your initial meeting. I will discuss with Eric when a project like yours would fit into our schedule as you wanted to start as soon as possible.  I will also be sending along some information in the mail, but in the meantime I thought you might find some of the following links helpful in getting to know a bit more about us and to help you prepare for your basement remodel.

As a first Step you can visit our website where you can read customer testimonials, look at project photos, or learn a bit about our staff.

Specifically I thought you may be interested in viewing a basement project we completed not too long ago a portion of that project is posted here.

We recommend that you start daydreaming on Houzz.com, a great resource when you are planning any remodel.  See why we LOVE Houzz and how you can use it by Clicking here.

We know cost is a major driving factor of most remodeling projects. To help you have a more realistic picture of where your budget should be, we recommend you look at Remodeling Magazine’s Cost Vs. Value Report which takes 35 of the most popular remodeling projects,  gives you their average cost in a specific region or nationally and also lists what you can expect for a return on your investment.

If you want more, feel free to like us on Facebook or Twitter to get useful tips, keep up with current home trends, products, and the daily goings on of our company & staff.

Thanks again for contacting Thorson Restoration & Construction, we look forward to the possibility of working together!

Sincerely,

Jennifer Kravitz
Office Manager

125 Fireworks Circle, Suite #1
Bridgewater, MA 02324
Ph: 508-279-0656

“Strike at the root while everyone else hacks at the leaves.”

Back in mid-March I spoke at the Michigan Association of Home Builders ‘Remodelers Workshop’ – the title of my talk was:

“Should Social Media be your top marketing priority?”

I started by talking about the benefits of Social Media – some success stories that my remodeling clients have had – then I took an abrupt turn and started talking about:

• 30 Little Ways to Differentiate
• What BLB’s are and why you need to be doing four of them every month
• Great ways to stay in touch with your previous clients to generate more repeat/referral work
• Why Advertising is the price you pay for not being remarkable
• An area of your sales pipeline that gets neglected and how to fix it
• How to put your follow-up program on autopilot
• And more proven, practical, simple, and effective tips on how to generate a consistent flow of ideal leads and convert those leads to paying projects

Lastly, I had everyone in attendance get really clear with their answer to this:

Please tell me your top two goals for this month related to improving your Marketing & Sales efforts.

It was interesting that at the start of the session, the great majority of people in the room thought Social Media should be a top goal/priority, but after considering little ways to differentiate, working on their sales process, doing a better job of staying-in-touch with their previous clients, improving their follow-up with prospects, developing more strategic partners, etc. – Social Media fell down the list and other marketing priorities started floating up to the top of the list…My key point is that that there are a lot of ‘fundamental’ Marketing that gets neglected (ignored?) in favor of other things…

Sick and tired of your marketing ‘not working?’ Feel like you are ‘hacking at the leaves’ instead of ‘striking at the root?’

Here’s your first step to fixing the problem.

Alfred said something to his wife (Alma) at the very end of the movie and she said in reply, “I’ve been waiting 30 years to hear you say that…“

To which Alfred replied, “That’s why they call me the master of suspense!“

I told you in a recent note (I copied the email below ? in case you wanted to see it again) that I was going to give you the answer “next week” – time flies when you are having fun (as well as having a cold and great clients and …yadda, yadda.) What can I say, I’m the master of suspense! So here’s the answer you’ve been waiting (patiently) for…

I listed 4 areas that comprise the bulk of the work I focus on with remodelers across the country and asked you to reply back with your answer to this:

“Let me know which option you think is the quickest at delivering the most sales/profit for my remodeling clients and why you picked that option.”

Here’s my answer (although, truth be told, I could make an argument for all four of them! It’s a bit of a trick question…)

Quickest = Sales Process Improvements

Here’s a few reasons why:

• With a stronger sales process, you better differentiate yourself (and stop competing on price so much.)
• You start controlling the sales process instead of the homeowner. Ever feel like you have lost control of the meeting? That your prospect is dictating the ‘next step’, how you are going to quote their project, etc? When you are leading the process instead of following, good things happen.
• When you ask better questions and are following a stronger process – it’s amazing the change in confidence that you’ll experience. Confidence in the way you ask/answer questions, on what/how you charge, on the value that you deliver.
• When you have a stronger sales process, follow-up get easier, because you’ve done a better job of building know, like and trust throughout the sales process.
• Marketing System development can yield quick results, but a lot of our work in that area are longer-term plays. Things that will pay off many times over in the future weeks/months/years. With sales process improvements, you can learn something in the morning, and put it into practice that afternoon.

A lot of you have done this already, but if you haven’t grabbed the 3 Powerful Sales Tracking & Follow-up Templates & Resources from my website, please do so now (my treat!)

If you are ready to talk to me on the phone about how I can help you with your Sales Process and Marketing System, apply for a Free Strategy Session (I have some time early next week, so please apply today so that we can get things scheduled.) Happy to offer this to you.

—————————-

Here’s the note I was referring to above:

Below you’ll find a list of 4 areas – they comprise the bulk of the work I focus on with remodelers across the country.

Can you guess which area I’ve (consistently) seen the quickest results for my remodeling clients?

Put another way, the area where my clients see the fastest ‘bang for their buck’ or Return On Investment (ROI…)?

The area that puts money into their bank account the quickest?

• Option A: Marketing System Development – Clearly defining how you are different from competitors, improving your website, creating quick/educational videos, developing strong strategic partners (other professionals who can refer you), building a referral program, having a clear marketing budget/calendar, etc.
• Option B: Sales Process Improvements - The system/questions you ask prospects on the initial phone call, gaining knowledge of your prospect’s budget, improvements to how you run your initial in-person meeting, how to best present your proposal, etc.
• Option C: Personal Development - Helping you become more organized, a better manager/business owner, improving your time management and focus.
• Option D: Solid Follow-up/Stay-In-Touch System - Proven ways to better follow-up with people you have already ‘Done a proposal for, but haven’t signed.’ Solid plan for staying-in-touch with all of your previous clients and prospects.

Please comment below with two (2) things:

1. Let me know which option you think is the quickest at delivering the most sales/profit for my remodeling clients and why you picked that option.
2. Which area is the most urgent for you to improve for your business?