Companies that made it through the dark days of 2009 and 2010 survived because they had a strong sales culture. If selling wasn’t given the proper respect and attention it deserved back then, the company likely went out of business.
But times have changed. While client acquisition is still important, there are other market conditions that are changing everything about the remodeling business environment, including how a project should move through your company’s pipeline and which types of clients are important to pursue.
It’s no secret that the challenge during the next few years will be finding, keeping, and managing a stable workforce of skilled employees. Construction companies are going so far as to create universities and trade schools to train enough workers to keep up with demand. If a worker doesn’t like their company today for any reason, he or she can go down the street and quickly get a new job.
With that in mind, sales and design departments must now service production, not feed it. Gone are the days when it was acceptable to rush a project through preconstruction or design and hand off a partially complete design to production to “work it out” as they go. It’s now crucial that all project plans are complete and fully organized. Designers and estimators must address every detail before handing a project package off to production. In the future, production will be more challenging than ever and sales, design, and estimating can no longer be the source of those challenges.
Another change created by both the growth in remodeling activity and the labor shortage is a new responsibility on the part of the sales team to get the “right” customers. Professional remodelers must know the specific traits of their ideal customer and ideal project that correlate to ideal profit.
Obviously, salespeople need to learn to identify these ideal customers. But more importantly, they must learn to disqualify non-ideal opportunities. Business owners understand this, but I get a lot of pushback from salespeople when I challenge them to disqualify an opportunity. If a salesperson got through the tough times in 2009, they feel very conflicted about disqualifying a homeowner in 2017.
Given today’s labor and capacity constraints, selling to the less desirable customer not only saps your resources with a challenging, low-profit project, it also prevents your firm from signing an ideal and profitable one.
Add new comment
Related Stories
How to Weatherize Roof-Wall Intersections
Mitigating moisture between changes of materials and panes requires special attention
3 Steps for Installing House Wrap and a Rainscreen
ProTradeCraft's Building Resilience walks you through how to install a self-adhered house wrap, liquid flash obstructions, and top it off with a rainscreen
How to Insulate a Heated, Structural Slab with XPS
ProTradeCraft's Building Resilience season three starts with making a basement more comfortable
How to Retrofit Foundation Footings
To make a low-height basement a more comfortable living space, this remodeler digs deeper but needs to add support to do so
Crawl Spaces to Basements: Proceed with Caution
Converting a crawl space to other uses can upgrade a home and add significant value, but when done incorrectly, it can also be disastrous
Webinar: Project and Trade Management Musts—The New American Remodel 2023
Access the webinar here to learn project and trade management lessons from The New American Remodel 2023
How to Attach a Patio Roof to an Existing House
Discover expert tips on how to attach a patio roof to an existing house. Elevate your homeowner clients' outdoor living spaces with our comprehensive guide.
How To Improve Energy Performance in Existing Attics
There’s more to insulating the attic than attic insulation; there’s venting, air sealing, and misery
Model ReModel 2022: A Case Study in Sustainable, Thoughtful Construction
The eighth annual Model ReModel project features an accessory dwelling unit, designed for aging in place, attached to a 19th-century Victorian