Marketing

Ep.95: Being Honest Online with Taylor Rennick

January 15, 2020 Marketing, Public Relations, Sales 00:21:38

Honesty is truly the best policy when it comes to your website and social media presence. In a sharing economy, your prospects want to know everything about your company before they even pick up the phone. 

We’re breaking down why transparency online is important, and how it can lead to more jobs.

In this episode, Taylor Rennick discusses the importance of being honest and transparent online with Victoria and Mark, and tells you how it can create more leads, and eventually more revenue. 

Taylor is an inbound marketing strategist at Builder Funnel — one of our partners here at Remodelers Advantage.

As part of her job, Taylor spends hours every day looking at remodeling company websites. Some are good, some not so much. And some seem a little shady, using project photos that aren’t theirs or lying about project pricing. Remodeling is intensely personal, and has to be sold as a service, not a product, Taylor says. Being transparent is the key. Taylor talks about the information prospects want to know, and how they want to find it, and why you’ll get more prospects, including:

  • Developing content to educate your audience
  • Explaining your process
  • Talk about cost on your website
  • What you should offer on your blog
  • What audience data can tell you
  • Positioning your company as a thought leader
  • Updating information to stay accurate
  • Reaching people where they are in their buying process
  • And more …

Taylor says you can find free resources to help you in all your online marketing on Builder Funnel’s site.

Ep.94: Improving Your Bottom Line with Green Upgrades with Doug Selby

January 8, 2020 Business Management, Marketing, Production 00:29:49

Many of your customers will pay more for items that improve the health, comfort, and efficiency of their homes. As one of the few things that pay for themselves over time, green upgrades can also boost your average project revenue and make you stand out in your market.

In this episode, Doug Selby talks to Victoria and Mark about how green upgrades can improve your remodeling company’s bottom line.

Doug is a co-founder of Meadowlark Design+Build in Ann Arbor, MI, and recently graduated from the CEO role to to focus on long-term strategy and act as the company’s sustainability director. Doug is a building science expert and helped Meadowlark build a reputation in its community for quality of construction and leadership in ecological housing issues. 

Meadowlark was started with an ecological focus from its very beginning. Doug and his business partner, Kirk Brandon, studied primitive living and how to survive off the grid. While they may cost a little bit more upfront, green upgrades pay for themselves over time, he says, and focusing on ecologically conscious remodeling and construction can be a great business decision. He talks about what it means to Meadowlark’s business and clients, including:

  • How it helped the company grow during the recession
  • Getting media attention naturally
  • Losing less, using less, and then producing
  • Insulation and systems
  • Why solar’s literally the last thing he looks at
  • Air-quality issues
  • Talking to homeowners about green tactics and methods
  • Presenting it the right way
  • And more …

Including the benefits of going where other businesses aren’t, and how ecologically conscious building and remodeling can set you apart in your own market.

EP.91: [Unscripted Back-up] Expert Panel at Extreme Business Makeover Shares Insight

December 4, 2019 Business Management, Financial Management, Human Resources, Marketing, Production, Sales 00:48:05

As we wrap up 2019, we’re looking back at some of our more popular episodes and this one was a huge hit.

For our 50th episode in January, we gathered a panel of industry experts and took questions from the audience at the Extreme Business Makeover event. It capped off an intense two days of learning, sharing, and networking among the remodelers attending and our Remodelers Advantage team.

In this episode, Victoria and Mark directed the lively discussions with our panel. Panelists included:

  • Michael Sauri of TriVistaUSA Design + Build and the 2018 winner of the Fred Case Remodeling Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
  • Doug Howard, RA’s CFO and Director of Consulting Services, a.k.a. “The Fixer”
  • Judith Miller, Financial and QuickBooks “Guru”
  • Tim Faller, RA’s Senior Consultant and “Master of Production”

We covered profits and payroll, cash flow, the owner’s role in a growing business, margins, staying top-of-mind in your marketing, smart lead qualifying, planning and making decisions on your job sites, and the power of asking “why?”

It’s an insightful and all-encompassing discussion of how to run your business to get bigger margins, more profits, and creating a real life/work balance. If you missed it back in January, you need to listen to this episode.

And Don’t Miss THIS Year’s Extreme Business Makeover Event;
New Content, Fresh Ideas

On January 28-29, 2020 we will gather once again at the BWI Westin and present 2 days of interactive presentations, breakouts and expert panels (like the one featured in today’s podcast). We have Super Early Bird pricing in place until 12/15/19 so Click here for more information and Register Today!

Ep.86: Connecting with a Few Good Realtors with Kathi Fleck

October 30, 2019 Business Management, Marketing, Sales 00:27:20

Working with just a few Realtors can bring additional jobs to your remodeling company. It’s not about appealing to the masses, but about developing relationships with several realtors who appreciate how you work, your quality, attention to detail, and exceptional client experience. 

In this episode, Kathi Fleck discusses working with Realtors with Victoria and Mark, and how to establish and maintain relationships that can get more jobs for your company, help them sell more homes, and take care of your shared clients.  

Kathi is co-owner of LoneStar Design Build in the Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX, area, where she leads a team and their clients through the design-build experience. Kathi has a long-term relationship with Coldwell Banker Real Estate, and other Realtors who send business her way.

Realtors go out of their way to support the seller/ buyer experience, says Kathi. Helping their clients with remodeling and providing referrals is part of their daily routine. As remodelers working with realtors, understand how Realtors work and make them look good as they support their client. It can be challenging, but Kathi says a few simple tricks can pay off with easy referrals, including:

  • Finding partners who fit your company and market
  • How to make their lives easier
  • Getting the right referrals
  • Dealing with bad leads
  • Avoiding the bid process
  • How referrals can go in the other direction
  • How much to invest in marketing to Realtors
  • The power of free food
  • And more …

The best way to start is by contacting real estate offices and setting up a presentation, calling an agent who works in the same neighborhoods you do, and taking advantage of networking groups.

Building a Better Design Process

Kathi will be presenting on another topic as she helps lead our next MasterClass, Building an Effective Design Process, on Dec. 11-12, here in Baltimore. She’ll be joined by other experienced, award-winning remodelers who will teach you or your designers how to improve your design process and create an extraordinary experience for your clients. Get the details and register here.

Ep.84: Crafting a Strategic Marketing Plan with Mark Harari

October 16, 2019 Business Management, Financial Management, Marketing 00:12:49

It’s that time of year — it’s time to put together your company’s marketing plan for next year. If you don’t know where to start or what your plan should include, Mark’s here to help.

In this episode, Mark is on a one-man mission to get your strategic marketing plan into shape.

First thing to know — your marketing budget isn’t your marketing plan. It’s the most common error we see, and that’s just a list of ways to spend money, not a plan. You have to set goals, and create tactics to get there. It can run up to 40 pages for a small business, and should encompass branding, positioning, a SWOT analysis and more. But if you don’t have a plan yet, Mark tells you how to take small steps toward creating a larger plan by starting with a strategy, including:

  • Objectives
  • Strategies
  • Tactics
  • Setting time frames
  • Getting specific
  • And more …

This is the first step to creating a larger marketing plan — and something you should have complete before you start creating your marketing budget. If you need more help getting your marketing in gear, send an email to mark@remodelersadvantage.com. We’ve also got a MasterClass for marketing in December called I “AM” the Marketing Department that will kick-start your marketing strategy and planning.

Ep.83: Using Trade Area Analytics to Grow Your Business with Nick Ogle

October 9, 2019 Business Management, Marketing, Sales 00:33:49

There’s not much that’s more frustrating than missing out on business opportunities close to home. Understanding the numbers that surround your business’s trade area is critical to determining what may be flying under your radar. Through analytics, you can interpret those numbers and take advantage of what they tell you.

In this episode, Nick Ogle talks to Victoria and Mark about how using trade area analytics can help businesses with growth and strategic planning.

Nick is the Bath & Kitchen Buying Group’s executive director, and brings more than two decades of kitchen industry experience to BKBG, having previously served as director of strategic partnerships and national accounts for Masco Cabinetry. Nick received his degree in selling and sales management from Purdue University, and currently lives in Michigan with his wife and son. BKBG is also RA’s newest strategic partner in helping our members grow their businesses.

There’s so much information and data available, but you’ve got to pick the right numbers to analyze — and look at them the right way. Trade area analytics break down the numbers in your surrounding market and let you compare it to your own business model and services. It can be eye-opening, Nick says. He talks about how a remodeler can find the right data and how to use it, including:

  • Starting at your local library
  • Resources you can use for little to no money
  • What data to look for
  • Demographic and housing stock to analyze
  • What to compare your local data to
  • Setting benchmarks
  • Why it can help you grow your area or do better where you already are
  • How to identify the hot remodeling areas
  • Understanding your area’s history to predict the future
  • How to look at the numbers the right way
  • When to ask for outside help
  • Who to ask
  • And more …

Analyzing your local numbers can help you make the most of your marketing budget, reach the right people in the right places, and make more money. To find out more about BKBG, you can go to the website, or you can call Nick at 440-313-4275.

Ep.69: How to Protect and Grow your Business with Performance Testing with Corbett Lunsford

June 26, 2019 Business Management 00:30:06

Physics and chemistry affect the interior of every home, every day. Performance testing can enable remodelers to predict and prevent health, safety, and comfort issues, earn more for your work, and predict and prevent callbacks, claims, and lawsuits.

As a remodeler, you have two choices. You can test for and design performance controls into your projects to predict and prevent side effects. Or you make assumptions and hope for the best.

You might make problems worse, and take the heat for it. 

In this episode, Corbett Lunsford talks about home systems, performance, and testing with Victoria and Mark. Home performance is the invisible “stuff” that happens inside a home — how it feels, smells, and sounds. 

Corbett loves investigating invisible dynamics using high-tech techniques and tools. He’s the co-host of the PBS series Home Diagnosis, the Building Performance Podcast, and the author of Home Performance Diagnostics: the Guide to Advanced Testing.

Every remodeling project will affect how a home works — for better or worse. Building inspections are about the static state — what’s there all the time. Performance dynamics have to do with all the actions of the house while it’s working. You need testing to be able to predict that. Remodelers deal with and interfere with these dynamics as part of their work — there will be changes. Corbett says the first tests to do are a blower-door test, using infrared cameras to pinpoint roof leaks and moisture detection, and other reasons why home testing can improve your projects, business and client satisfaction, including:

  • Tuning a home like an instrument
  • Taking the guesswork out of the home performance
  • How pressure issues can cause mold and mildew
  • Why home interiors affect health
  • Atmospheric draft, water heaters, and range hoods
  • Charging more for optimizing home system performance
  • Testing for the invisible dynamics
  • Load calculations and energy models for HVAC choices
  • Why testing also makes homes more energy efficient
  • The marketing opportunities for you
  • The power of statistics
  • And more …

Corbett warns that your clients may know about the importance of performance testing because they’re watching home-improvement shows like his — and you have to stay ahead of what the general public knows or lose credibility. As a first step, you can download his ebook, Proof Is Possible: How to Keep an Eye on Your New Home Construction or Home Improvement. 

You can also see his tiny house and more on his YouTube channel: https://YouTube.com/c/HomePerformance.

Ep.65: How to Turn Your Travel into an Epic Marketing Opportunity

May 22, 2019 Business Management, Marketing 00:14:55

There’s an overlooked opportunity for you to shine in your marketing. For some of you, this opportunity only comes once a year. For others (like many of our Roundtables members) it comes nine or 10 times a year. Regardless of how often the opportunity presents itself, odds are you’re squandering it.

It’s your “out of office” email message.

In this episode, Mark’s flying solo. Victoria’s taking a well-earned vacation and it prompted him to think about this often under-used touchpoint with clients, trade partners, and prospects.

Take some time to make your message memorable in your rush to get out the door. Be human. Be creative. Be thorough so that if it’s a time-critical email, the person who contacted you has a means of getting through to someone else. Think of all the boring and canned out-of-office messages you accumulate in your in-box — and don’t do that. Mark’s tips for an awesome outgoing message include:

  • How to write a great subject line
  • Why you should pad your return date
  • Setting up a custom email for urgent matters
  • Giving a gift in the reply
  • And more …

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to make a connection — a human one — while you’re kicking back and out of the daily grind.

Tanya Bamford

Ep.63: How To Fire Up Your Referral Engine with Tanya Bamford

May 8, 2019 Marketing 00:26:39

Research proves referred clients cost less to acquire, are easier to close, and are more valuable to your business over time.

So why don’t more companies ask for them?

In this episode, Tanya Bamford joins Victoria and Mark to share ways to help you fire up your referral engine, and get more business without spinning your wheels. And it’s backed by hard, verifiable research.

Tanya Bamford is the managing director of R/A Marketing, a sister company to Remodelers Advantage. Prior to joining R/A Marketing, Tanya owned an award-winning marketing firm serving small and mid-size businesses. A sought-after speaker, Tanya has presented more than 20 seminars on marketing-related topics ranging from strategic planning to social-media marketing.

You can’t take referrals for granted — you have to maintain regular communication with your past clients. You can take charge of it by nurturing your relationship with your clients over time. Tanya says you have to remind them, and give them the tools to spur those referrals, including:

  • The power of endorsements from clients on others
  • Starting with delivering a great customer experience
  • Identifying who your promoters are
  • Tracking you promotor segment
  • How and where to ask for referrals
  • Plotting out your communications strategy
  • Why direct mail lives
  • The channels that work
  • Why awards should be announced
  • Enabling your team to help you get those referrals
  • Why referral rewards programs may not really work for remodelers
  • And so much more …

To take a deeper dive into referral marketing, here are two resources Tanya referenced:

Ep.60: How to Manage Your Online Reputation Using Google Reviews with Russell Fuller

April 17, 2019 Business Management, Marketing 00:30:38

Your reputation is your most valuable business asset — but don’t think for a minute that doing high-quality work and providing top-notch service is enough to make and keep it spotless. The Internet has made it all too easy for people to publicly tarnish your good name — quickly.

Take the initiative, and manage your reputation proactively. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you do it.

In this episode, Victoria and Mark talk online reviews with Russell Fuller. Russell concentrates on the power of Google reviews, discusses how to get great ones, and what it all means to his business.

Russell owns Fuller Living Construction in Seattle, WA. He’s passionate about small business and marketing. Fuller Living Construction is Google’s highest-rated construction company in Seattle.

Russell starts laying the foundation for reviews during the Sales process, sends a mid-project survey to head off problems that may have cropped up, and systematically follows up after the job is finished to get consistent five-star Google reviews. He explains how he settled on Google, what it means to his business, and how he does it, including:

  • Getting your message out
  • How Yelp chooses to show reviews
  • Strategies to make it automatic and easy for clients to leave reviews
  • How to handle bad reviews online
  • The ripple effect of good and bad reviews
  • The power of a good lawyer
  • Speaking honestly with clients — and listening
  • Following up with past clients
  • Being specific in your review requests
  • The “review insurance account”
  • Soliciting reviews from Trade Partners and team members
  • Where reviews are going next
  • And more …

Building and managing your online reputation is more important than ever. Planting the seeds early for great reviews and making the most of them will lay the foundation for a successful business for years to come.

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MASTER NAVIGATION

This website is part of the Remodelers Advantage Network.

Visit our other properties: