Choosing a contractor to do a home remodel is a big decision. Lots of homeowners have been burnt in the past, and they are more wary and educated now than ever.
To be confident moving forward with you, homeowners need to feel confident that you both understand and can deliver what they’re looking for.
Here is a three step construction sales process to help you do just that!
1. Initial Evaluation
It’s tempting to think that the sale happens when you actually pitch the customer. When you sit down, talk numbers, and ask for the sale.
As a result, many construction sales pros are in a rush to get to the end, neglecting certain steps that will actually help them win the deal.
For years, we’ve been taught how to “handle objections” in a sales call. The truth is, when the initial call with the customer is done right, those objections should never even come up in the final presentation.
The sale starts to happen from the very first time you meet with your remodeling prospects.
Here’s how to set yourself up for the sale by running a good initial evaluation:
Dig Deep
It’s important to dive in and really get to know the needs of the decision makers.
Most times you’re not just pitching one person, you’re pitching to a couple. It’s important to understand the needs of each party involved.
Also, what are the decision makers’ main goals? Are they completing the remodel to help them sell the home? Or, is this their forever home, and they need a kitchen they’ll love for the next 20 years?
What functionality do they need their kitchen, basement, or bathroom remodel to include? And why?
Knowing their goals will help you create a solution that’s just right for them. Make sure to log your notes in your home improvement CRM!
Price Condition
It’s common for homeowners to have sticker shock when they see the final quote for their project. Normally this is due to unmanaged expectations.
Without construction experience and really knowing what goes into each project with materials, labor, and project management, the final number can be hard for homeowners to justify.
Rather than let your customer be shocked at the final quote, do some price conditioning! Educate and give examples of how much different types of materials cost, and reinforce it all along the way.
This will help them be more prepared for the final quote, and give you a better chance to close the deal!
2. Design the Customer’s Dream
Budget vs. Dream
Most customers will have some kind of budget in mind when they ask for a quote on their remodel project.
This budget could be a culmination of what they’ll be able to afford, something they read online, or quotes they’ve gotten from other contractors in the past.
Oftentimes the initial budget isn’t very realistic.
On the flip side, there will be some needs and wants for their remodel project that are very important to them. If those desires are important enough, you may be surprised at how much more money homeowners are willing to spend than the original budget they had in mind.
A good way to approach the design and quote is to focus on designing the customer’s dream:
- What will perfectly meet the needs and desires of both decision makers?
- How can you make the design so stunning that it will blow their minds?
Then present this design, even if it goes over the initial budget they had in mind. Best case scenario, they’ll move forward with the design you’ve crafted just for them. But if they don’t, you can always work backwards and take away the least important features until it meets their budget.
Create a 3D Design
Being a remodeling contractor, you may have seen hundreds of remodels from start to finish and can easily visualize how the project will fold. Most homeowners, on the other hand, can’t.
Having a 3D design of what the final product will look like can help homeowners feel much more at ease moving forward.
Plus - it gives you the wow factor. “You mean my kitchen can look like that?” It’s hard to say no to your kitchen or bathroom remodel when you’ve already fallen in love with it!
(Side note, if you’re looking for an excellent 3D design option, check out Chief Architect.)
3. Closing the Deal
Give a Slide Presentation
Slide presentations are a great way to present all the information to the customer in an easily-digestible format. This is a good time to cover warranties, timeline, costs of the customer’s product selections, and anything else you feel is relevant.
The more construction knowledge you have, the more detail you’ll be able to cover with the customer. It may raise some questions, but if you have the experience, you’ll be able to answer anything the customer throws at you and build their confidence in you.
You can use whatever software you want, but two great options for slide presentations are Google Slides and Canva.
Get to a Yes!
Once you’ve answered their questions and helped them understand the process, you can present the final quote and ask them for their business.
You should have an agreement with you, or digitally, that you can immediately give to the customer to sign.
Now, if objections come up at this stage, it’s likely that something went wrong earlier in the process.
Recently I had a great conversation with Johnny Doehler, head of sales and design for H4U Construction in Scottsdale Arizona. He told me: “if you're not digging in on the front end, you're not going to close the deal on the back end.”
For example:
- Did you dig deep enough to understand their real needs and wants?
- Did you properly price condition, so that they weren’t surprised?
- Are you meeting the needs of both decision makers?
- Did they love the design you presented? Or was there something more they wanted?
For high end projects, you’ll likely have hours of face to face with the homeowners. It’s crucial to use that time to dive deep and understand what they really want at the end of the day.
Final Thoughts
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