Sales

Practicing What We Preach

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Selling Design Agreements

With a renovation or remodeling project, your goal from the very beginning should be to sell your services by way of a design agreement. Sell an agreement to design the project since that’s the first necessary step before the job can start.

Wasting Time: Red Flags on a Sales Call

A potential client wanted to get a bid on some work at her home. Our coaching client was pretty sure the lead was dead, and wanted to know if she should have done anything differently to have made the sale.

Objections Book

An objections book is a history of your sales calls. It includes everything you said and did, right or wrong. I have only met two or three others in my thirty-plus years of direct selling who took the time to compile a book, but each one became outstanding in their profession.

You Can’t Ask Too Many Questions

When something seems amiss, don’t stop asking questions. A contractor shares his experience on a recent sales call.

Remodeling Sales: Setting the Budget

A business owner in the UK asked a question that illustrates that remodeling sales challenges are the same regardless of your location.

Design Agreement Surprises

If you want to avoid problems when selling your services, take steps to prevent problems at your first meeting.

Customer Looking for Quotes

As a relatively new contractor, how do I win over prospects that are “looking for quotes” – homeowners who are “getting three bids” for their construction project

Contract Cancellations

Cancellations happen, even with the best of salespeople. Clients have all kinds of reasons to cancel an agreement, and you need to be prepared.

Referral Fees and Sales Commissions

A referral fee is what you pay to the person who provides you a lead. A sales commission is what you pay a salesperson to close a sale.

Last Minute Requests Before Closing the Sale

What do you do when a potential client waits until the proposal is together to request itemization on the project?

Homeowner Advice: Some Misguided, Some Correct

Flaky contractors make us all look bad. But not all advice given to homeowners to protect themselves from fraud is good advice.

Lowball Pricing in Construction

It’s not unusual to find a contractor who sells by deliberately underpricing or underbidding jobs and making up the difference with change work orders.

Estimated Time for a Construction Project

If your employees consistently take longer than you estimated, you need to change your method of estimating. The human body can only work so fast.

Hire Your Own Subs

From time to time, you will go out to see a potential client about doing work for them and they’ll ask if they can choose their own subs for their job.

The Salesperson’s Real Job

When I think about major influences on my sales training, I think of Tom Hopkins. He was an outstanding salesman who become a gifted sales trainer, and I still receive and read his newsletters.

Pricing Fears

A recent Houzz survey confirmed what you need to know if you’re in sales; it’s not all about price.

Design Agreement Fees

The last thing I want to do is cause a family problem, but apparently I did with one family.

Design Agreements and the Budget

The purpose of a design agreement is to get a commitment from your client to design the project so you don’t have to do the design for free. How do you keep the design within the budget?

Cost-Plus, Cost+, Time and Materials, T & M

A coaching client was working with a potential customer who wanted a remodeling job on a cost-plus basis instead of a fixed fee contract.

How Much Should a Contractor Charge?

Many of our website visitors aren’t contractors, they’re clients looking for help with a Cost Plus project gone wrong, or wondering if their contractor is overcharging.

Your Sales Presentation

Given how valuable leads are, once you get one, you need a sales procedure to help make the sale.

Resolve Their Challenges, Make The Sale

A survey outlines the challenges homeowners say they’re facing when they remodel or renovate their home. It’s valuable info, because it tells you what they need help with. It’s your job to show them you can provide that help.

First Time Homeowner, Uncommunicative Builder

We’re aware that homeowners also visit our website. This letter is from a first-time homeowner who’s ready to buy, but his builder isn’t cooperating.

Construction Sales: Make Time Count

Construction sales take time and your time is valuable. Avoid these common time-wasters when selling construction services.

Charging for Estimates

If you’ve been in construction sales very long, you’ve met potential customers who ask for an estimate, but after a lot of work you learn they were just shopping.

It Isn’t Your Price. It’s You

Address their fears so they feel safe purchasing from you.

When Your Client Sets the Price

When your client wants a lower price, something has to change. It shouldn’t be just your price.

Transparency – Or Maybe Not

Is transparency the way to go when selling? Be careful who you listen to.

Transparency and Partnerships

What do you do when your partner is listening to someone who knows nothing about construction, but still thinks they knows what’s best?

Price Proposal Deadlines

All price proposals need a deadline because you never know when material and labor costs will increase rapidly.

Fixed Price Quotations or Itemization?

I read an article telling general and specialty contractors to give itemized estimates. Oh joy. It talks about goodwill, trust, comparing estimates, and other tripe.

What’s the Average Price of . . . ?

What’s the average cost per square foot for a remodel? Average contractor markup? Average contractor fee? There is no average anything in construction, and here’s why.

Are Your Clients Thinking “So What?”

On a sales call, if you’re speaking and your potential client is thinking “so what?”, you’ve lost them.

Sales: Ask Questions and Get Answers

The one question too many salespeople stumble over is the budget for the job. They are worried that it looks bad to ask.

Sales: Have Options Ready

Give clients options when you quote the work they want done.

Beliefs That Limit Your Profit

Owning and operating a construction business requires a strong will and self-direction, but those qualities can also lead you to hold on to beliefs that limit your profit.

Free Estimates: when you don’t give your work away

The contractor presented a design agreement with a $3,000 fee to design the job, 1/2 of the fee would be credited back when a contract was signed for the final job.

Making Selections for Their Project

If you're a remodeling or new home contractor, how can you get clients to make their selections before you write the contract?  Make it easy for your client.

Free Estimates

What you do has value. Respect your time and your knowledge.

Looking for a Deal

It’s amazing the things a potential client can think of to get you to lower your price.

Spare Topics

It’s time to catch up on some spare topics I have lying around. These aren’t earth shaking but they can and will impact your bottom line.

It’s All About Sales: Gaining a Commitment

Can delayed job starts impact material prices and profitability? Not if you gain a commitment first. It’s all about the sales process.

Selling On Price Alone

I was reminded again recently of the need for in-house training on what it takes to pay the bills in a construction related company.

Race to the Bottom, or “How Low Can I Price This Job?”

Cutting your price to get a job is a money losing approach. Over time, you won’t be making a profit and you’re only working yourself into debt.

Bidding or Selling?

Are you bidding on jobs, or are you selling them? There’s a difference.

Breaking Down Price Detail

Since the end goal for both the architect and the contractor is a satisfied client, how about working together from the beginning?

Focusing On Price

“The #1 reason I lose jobs is ‘your price is too high.’ What am I doing wrong?”

Should I Change My Markup If I’m Not Making Sales?

Should you change your markup method if you aren’t making sales? Don’t spend hours fiddling with numbers; invest the time in your sales skills.

Who Asks the Questions?

Most contractors I talk to believe their neck of the woods is different. They believe their clients are more difficult to sell to than anywhere else in the country.

We Want To See Your Receipts

What if you agreed on a price, now customer wants all receipts for material? Without a clearly written fixed price contract, it's a problem waiting to happen.

The One-Legged Sales Call: Find Out If They’re Serious

One-legged sales calls. Frankly, this is much to do over a problem with a fairly simple solution.

Clients Working on Their Job

Should you let a client work on the job they’ve hired you and your company to build?

Missing the Sale

Is there anything you can do about the sales you miss?

Doing Things Right

Michael shares a valuable tool that will improve both your sales and your relationships.

Paying a Salesperson: Commission on Sales, not Profit

If you employ a salesperson to help you sell something, you need to pay them for their services. I am a firm believer in paying sales people by commission

Let’s Not Talk About the Backlog

A major mistake contractors make is to tell a client they can’t start the job for 3-4-5 months. “We are backlogged, can’t possibly start your job before then.”

Subs or Employees – Are Subs More Expensive?

Does subcontracting raise the price of the project?

Make Every Possession Count

Many contractors who write us are having a problem with their business, and in many cases, it’s because the contractor has lost focus on what’s important.

On Politely & Confidently Qualifying Leads

A guest article: How do you avoid going out on sales calls to look at jobs for folks who obviously do not qualify to purchase from your company?

Sales: Are You There to Help?

When selling, are youhere to find out how much money you can make, or to provide a service and help?

Should Salespeople Have to Generate Leads?

Someone asked me recently if I thought a salesperson for a construction-related company should help provide leads, and how many. Yes, they should help provide leads.

Subcontractors or Employees?

Sometimes they request you use employees instead of subs, or work on a T&M basis. Clients don’t understand how the construction world works. It’s your job to educate them.

Sales Issues: We’ll Be Getting Three Bids

Too many homeowners believe they need three bids for their project. The intent, of course, is to compare proposals so they can make the best decision.

Family Fights

The topic is uncomfortable but if you’re involved in residential sales, you’ll see family disagreements. It helps to know what to do.

Words from an Expert on Hiring Contractors

A contractor sent us an online article written by a real estate investor with the purpose of educating you on “how to develop a fair relationship with your contractor.”

In Construction, Communicate the Details

Are you giving your clients the information they need to be confident you’re building the job they want?

Your Price is Too High

“Your price is too high” means you haven’t done your job as a salesperson.

Cleaning Up After a Low Bid Contractor

This potential client had a house built using the “lowest bid” contractor. The builder cut corners, leaving out little details like collar ties on the roof rafters.

Final Payments, Emailed Quotes

Never let your final payment exceed 2% of the sales price. And your contract should include a finance charge clause for payments not made on time.

Sales Issues: Leaving Your Paperwork

When a prospective client “wants to think about it,” should you leave your paperwork? What can you do to close the sale?

Unrealistic Price Expectations

If they called you, doesn’t that mean they need or want the work done?

About Your Exorbitant Markup . . .

From a contractor: “I am definitely going to do a better job in pre-selecting my clients after this one.”

After the Sale; Pre-Job Layout

The pre-job conference or pre-job layout is when all the details get ironed out that can easily be forgotten. It’s when the job is handed from sales to production. After this meeting the production manager is in charge.

I Have to Be Competitive!

You don’t have to be competitive. You have to be profitable. If you aren’t profitable, your business won’t last.

The Job Price Isn’t Negotiable

I wrote a Blog post for another company recently stating that I didn't think it very smart to negotiate the price of your work. A reader agreed with me and said:

They Want a Bid Today

Every once in a while, your phone will ring and the potential client on the other end will tell you they want a bid today. What should you do? 

Generational Differences

I’ve been reading advice in a few construction magazines on how to sell to millennials, and I don’t understand the fuss.

Avoiding Jobs That Don’t Fit

It’s smart to specialize on the work that makes you the most money. It’s even better if you know contractors who can pick up the leads outside your specialty.

Clear Sales Communication; It’s Your Responsibility

I want to share a recent phone conversation with a contractor concerning a problem they were having with a client.

Sales: Setting Ground Rules

Michael shares a few situations you’ll run into when selling construction-related services that provide the opportunity to set ground rules for the relationship.

Ten Cardinal Sales Rules

Ten Cardinal Rules for residential construction sales.

Learn to Paint Pictures

Construction (with the exception of new homes) is a service business. Your focus can't be on putting pieces together to build a job, it has to be on your clients.

The Downside of Commission Sales

I’ve long been an advocate for paying salespeople on straight commission. Not everyone agrees, not even all the experts, but in my experience straight commission is the best way to go.

Let Them Know What to Expect

If you’re doing service work, make sure your client knows what to expect before you start.

Avoiding a Potential Pain in the Assets

A good guy we know was recently working with a potential client when he ran into some concerns.

Four Diamonds of Communication

Sales is about communicating and interacting positively with others. Those skills make life easier in any delicate conversation.

Educating on Quality

Home and building owners need to know that hiring the least expensive contractor often means compromising on quality.

Getting Paid for Quotes – Part 1

Design agreements, letters of intent – get paid for written quotes.

Pass those savings along?

I read an article where the author talked about passing savings on to clients. This sounds well and good, but place it low on your priorities when putting a job together.

Client Outrage

Real or fake outrage can be a client’s attempt to elicit an emotional response from you to get what they want. It often puts you in the position of questioning yourself and your company, not dealing with the subject at hand.

Setting the Budget First

In our book, Profitable Sales, A Contractor’s Guide, we discuss the need to set the client’s budget for a project. One of our clients sent a note recently that explains why setting the budget up front is important.

Training an Architect

A contractor we’ve known and worked with for many years sent us a note about his experience working with a new architect. Ideally, the architect would have been working with the contractor from the beginning so he could have educated the client as well.

The Sales Call: Budget and Design

Budget doesn’t need to be a major worry during the design and build of a project if you handle it properly during the sales call.

Business Survival

I often start the year with a reminder to check your business practices, and this year I think it’s more important than ever to get on top of and make sure you have your business in order.

Upselling: Give Them Options

If you are in business, you are in sales. No rationalizing, you are in sales. If you don’t sell something at a profit, you are going to go away.

Pay Salespeople Fairly: Commission Sales

There are lots of opinions on how to pay a salesperson. Your salespeople have to be able to make a good living and provide for their family.

Penciling a Salesperson

If salespeople know the business owner will back them up and pay them fairly, they’re motivated to produce profitable sales. If they aren’t motivated to make sales, the business is in trouble.

An Opinion on Itemized Estimates

A building owner challenges our statement that contractors shouldn’t itemize their estimates.

Give Them What They Need to Make a Decision

Clients are changing, and if you want to stay in the game and make something more than a living, you’ll need to change with them.

You Have Better Things to Do than Estimate

Getting a commitment from potential clients is critical if you want to save yourself a ton of time and work putting together an estimate that won’t go anywhere. You have better things to do with your time.

A Guaranteed Price

When selling construction services, quoting a guaranteed price protects homeowners from the price increases that happen with a too low price.