Salesmanship – Standing Out in a Sea of Deck Builders
When you are arriving at a home to give your “Free Estimate” to build a deck or fence for someone… and you arrive early to see your competition being ushered out the door—and when you get rushed out the door after giving your best bid only to find 2 more competitors parked a few doors down the street you know that you are playing by someone else’s rules.
“Average Joe Builder” from “Dun Already Decks”, will tell you that this is the way to do it.
Do free estimates—That is your penance for gaining access to prospective clients.
Keep your prices low so that you get the most jobs.
Build what people want… or what you think they want based on what you see being built.
Build what you make the most money doing.
Use all the new products—whether tested or not. If other people have spent money marketing it—It must be good right?
Call all your competitors to find out what they are charging… and set your prices slightly cheaper to corner the market.
Average Joe Builder will always be Mediocre because he follows the crowd. He will be edged out of the trough because he is simply not built to discover or develop anything.
Free Estimates benefit the client… the 10 contractors that jump the shopper’s hoops or get them to come in and design their project right in their home are working for free—worse than slaves. The homeowner gets benefit of professional advice without paying a dime. There are ways to filter out price shoppers… and it takes 10 seconds on the phone.
The lowest prices will get you out of business fast. Low prices—less profit—less marketing—less success. Sell service—not a commodity.
Lots of contractors get their ideas out of magazines—that’s why they never get their work in magazines. (We’ve been featured in 30-40 magazines and newspapers so far). Nowadays folks want something designed specifically for them… not what the other guy up the street has. Listen to the client.
Value your client—and your client’s resources. Don’t supply something that will not make the client happy in the future. Be sure of what you are selling.
Basing your prices on what your competitors are doing works well for commodities… but when you are selling your creativity and talent—you need to base your pricing on needs for future prosperity. When you can’t get enough for your services to thrive it’s time to move to somewhere that you can.
L
