Sure Fire Way To Become The Contracting Expert

This is one of the coolest ideas I have seen for Contractors in a long, long time.

You want to be the expert write a book. The coolest part about this book is the process to make the book. I explain the entire process in the audio below.

We recorded audio on how to make this book in our podcast that will help break everything down for you.

Enjoy and Leave a Comment...I like the +1's, but feedback helps..

http://contractorssecretweapon.com/the-one-about-becoming-the-expert-in-your-market-place-28/

Justin

A Dirty Epiphany..Four Small Words Can Change A Buyer.

I love to do Mud Runs with my wife and friends.

This past week we did the Rugged Maniac (Picture Above).

The event was first class when it comes to mud runs. Thousands of people, 26 obstacles, tons of mud and fun.

At this event there were sponsors all over the place. The tents were full except for the Air Force tent. I thought it was a little funny to see the Air Force and I wanted to chat. I watched from afar as people just walked right past the guy trying to hand out bags. The blue cheap bags that you get everywhere and nobody wants them.

I hear him asking, "HEY, would you like a bag?" 

I watched for 3 minutes and he started to get board and spin the bag and pace around.

I heard over the bull horn my race was starting.

I finished the race and headed back to sponsors covered in mud. I see a line to the Air Force tent. I am trying to see around the crowd, did someone fall down, I hear the same guy, "Hey, Would you like a bag for your dirty clothes?" 

Wow..The bags were going off the shelf. Three large boxes later he was empty. A big smile on his face.

My thought, how can I do this in my business?

Example: "Hey, I build homes" Who cares right.."Hey, I am your builder" Awful, some what desperate.
"Hey, Do you need more room for your family" Engagement

How can you apply this to your business? Give me your thoughts
Justin

Controversial Advertising For Contractors

I debated writing this for 3.5 minutes. I almost took out 2 cars while trying to pullover and take a picture of this. I am not usually attracted to men spread out over 30 feet of canvass but, I read Roofers..That caught my eye.

I have a roofing license and in all my years of doing this I have never seen an advertisement like this. When I think roofing, I think of Sweat, Hardwork, Professional, A little crazy..I dont think of this advertisement. I think this does a disservice to our industry.

My next thought, how about the customers perspective..WIFM..Whats in it for me.

If I have a roof leak and I see this billboard. Will this guy come and fix my leak? Doubtfull. He looks more like and escort.

I know women make majority of the buying decision and I want to turn it over to the ladies on this one? Give me your thoughts on this?

Keep sexy out of construction or I am calling this company now?

Have a great Memorial Day, Thank a vet.
Justin

Sharing Awesome LinkedIn Tips For Contractors

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Charlyn Shelton on LinkedIn.

She specifically shared tips for Contractors like us that I found incredibly useful and adjusted my profile just now. Here is a couple of tips that were shared and I recommend listening to the entire interview below.

Tip #1: I am paraphrasing here, on the LinkedIn homepage your heading below your name needs to have your location in it. For myself it was Tampa Bay Renovation Contractor. I personally never thought about having the location in this area until we did a search and my name didnt come up. Now I rank much higher and will be moving up quickly.

Tip #2: My phone number right near the top of my summary section. I thought my contact info was enough for my number and then Charlyn explained only certain connections could see that info. Everyone else could not.

Charlyn took the time and shared much more details in the audio. We thank her for the time and sharing her expertise. Click below and enjoy the listen, leave some comments please..

Click Here-LinkedIn For Contractors Audio Interview

Can You Get A Crew Together?

I love getting the calls every week from prospects looking for me to get a crew together. Typical conversations dont start with "Can you get a crew together?". This past week I decided to have some fun with the person on the other line. Here is the conversations:

ME: "Hello, this is Justin how can I help you"

Bill: " Hey Justin, my name is Bill and I got several properties were looking to rehab and I wanted to know if you have a crew or can put a crew together?"

ME: "WOW, Bill where did you get my information?" "I would love to help you, tell me more"

Bill: Goes on and on about investors, and addresses, and working with tight budgets, etcccc...(Minimum 7.5 minute explanation)

ME: "So, who referred me to you?"

Bill: "I got your info online and I like the name of your company, are you interested in these project?"

If you have been in business for decent amount of time you have come across this type call. They have no clue what you do and really have no interest in knowing about you or the value you bring to the deal. I am not interested in going through the hiring process for someone I dont know. Testing strangers out on customers I have never worked with before. Supervising multiple jobs and being pulled away from existing customers. What do people really think about what I do? Do they devalue my trade so much that they think I wave a magic get er done wond and the project comes together..

I usually let them off with I am too busy or I am just not interested. I decided to see how far Bill wanted to go with this. I meet him today and will follow up with everyone next week.

How do you handle this, tell me your story?

Comments welcome.

Does 10 Estimates Keep You Honest..Follow Up Video.

Wow this blog post has gone viral through the Contractor Community.

I had the opportunity to interview the 10 estimates customer. He got to breakdown his thoughts and hiring process. Check the video out and leave some comments below..

Here is the original Post:
http://sellingandmarketingforcontractors.blogspot.com/2014/03/does-10-estimates-really-keep-everyone.html

The Contractor Secret Weapon Weekly Podcast is growing. Here is the latest episode to help with Unique Selling Proposition. Hope you enjoy.

http://contractorssecretweapon.com/8-usp-in-your-marketing-what-makes-you-unique/

How You Avoid Being a Commodity Contractor.

This is a follow up to last weeks, commodity contractor blog post.

I had the pleasure of having coffee with a very wealthy client that turned into a very expensive lunch and great conversation. Luckily, he paid.

Somehow our conversation between two men took a drastic turn when the topic of Nordstroms started. We have a local Nordstrom in Tampa that his wife was shopping at while we had coffee.

The only thing I knew about Nordstrom is they sold higher end clothing/shoes and to keep my wife away.

I asked, "Why does your wife like Nordstroms"
His answer was priceless, "My wife can spend hours in that store, they have a personal stylists that assists her every step of the way. She likes the layout of the store, very open and welcoming. She earns points on her Nordstrom Card toward future purchases. She goes to the other stores Neiman Marcus, and Saks but, really goes back to Nordstrom for the personal touch. Lastly, the stylist will call or email when they have new arrivals that fits her style."

I would typically space out while another man talked about a department store. I found myself asking more questions. I was curios to see buying habits of higher end customers. Customers that could choose to shop wherever they wanted but, found themselves spending thousands of dollars in one store.

My findings and how they pertain to Contractors:

Nordstroms has 5 competitors in the market place. They have carved a great niche with high end and personal services. The wide open store layout invites customers to freely walk through the store and take in everything Nordstroms has to offer. Lastly, the return policy is 100% Guarantee.

Enough about Nordstroms.

Ways not be a commodity and more like Nordstroms:

1. Position yourself as the expert. If you are the best at what you do, you dont need to talk about being the best. Show your expertise with articles, and answering questions on community dashboards. Highlight your projects through social media and be open to answer questions and let prospects freely look around.
2. When customers arent asking for your bid or price, but when they can get on your schedule. Welcome to the Nordstroms experience. You are the contractor they want and will wait until your avialable.
3. Your 100% satisfaction Guarantee. Offer that longer warranty, your business uses better materials and trades. Extend the guarantee and warranty.
4. BONUS. Stay in touch with your customer. Thank you card or pictures taken during their project with personal note from you. Bottle of wine with your label. Anything that keeps you top of mind.

Creating a higher end niche keeps you out of price wars. Spending more time on higher end will garnish higher profits and better referrals. How do you want to spend your time price wars or profits?

Want to know more about selling to higher end? Call me or send an email.

Justin 727-644-0160 or Justin@ContractorsNetworking.com

Are You A Commodity Contractor?

Are you a commodity contractor?

I was recently asked my niche in the local market. I explained what I do better than anybody else. Then I proceeded to explain why I do it better than anybody else.

The prospect I was talking with called 8-9 companies and told me they all sound the same. The ones that did call back, I cannot differentiate between any of them.

I simply told the prospect, I cannot help them. You will waste your time and everybody else searching through these commodity contractors.

I had an AHA moment just then.

DO you have that awkward moment where the prospect asks "What company are you with again"?

Sometimes I want to hang up the phone and other times I say my name and company.

If you cant create a distinct difference between you and other contractors, you are a commodity contractor.
How do I know if I am? Here are some examples:

1. If you constantly lose jobs to price. COMMODITY
2. If your marketing is exactly the same as competitors. COMMODITY
3. If you strive to be the lowest, and brag about all your jobs. COMMODITY
4. If your telling your team to wait and cash their checks...DRUM ROLL....COMMODITY

If your stuck and cant figure out how to get out of the rat race, I can help call me.

If your ready to increase leads and profits, email me.

If this sounds like your business. Call me or email: Justin 727-644-0160 or heavenly.foundations@gmail.com

Is Price Per SQFT Coming Back?

I drove by this sign last week while riding from Pinellas to Hillsborough. The big debate was going through my head.."Do I call this company and tell them to up their prices..or...Do I call them and remind them price per sqft ended in the 80's"

I figured I would just write to everyone and get some opinions.

For those of you who don't know price per square foot, I will give you a little back story.

During the good old Reagan years when interest rates were 18+% builders had several different home models, these models came with limited choices and could be figured out by the sqft price instead of calculating in all the different trades and selections. This was great for buyers that would pick A,B, or C.

In today's world with all the different choices, price per sqft doesn't work. Prospects will still try to ask about the sqft price and good contractors quickly explain.."It doesn't quite work that way..."

My local market, Tampa Bay Area you cant build for $90/sqft and make a living. Not possible, if I had to figure out per sqft on my last couple of deals, the median would be around $144.

Please tell me what I should do in this situation? I dont want these guy bringing this back to my market..

Are You Selling What People Want?

In my everyday business I run across a lot of people who think they know what they want. In truth, they have no idea.

I recently polled all my current jobs and the past thirty jobs completed. I had two customers that knew what they wanted. Two out of Forty, Approximately 5% knew what they wanted.

My question to you, how do you know your selling what people want, if only 5% know what they want?

Do you sell your products? Do you sell what you think they need?

My formula to make sure your selling what people want:

1. Sell based on results. (This is my secret sauce.) 
• Listen to what people want. 
• Reiterate to them what they want. 
• Add your professional opinion and thoughts. 
• The customer will get what there asking for and you add value by giving a professional opinion to re affirm the customers choice.

Rockstar Contractor Mindset

I love the term Rock-star for multiple reasons.

1. I grew up in the 80's watching Aerosmith, Def Leopard, and some other Rock bands of that time. I believe this was some of the best music ever produced. I didn't agree with their lifestyles but, when they took the stage it was magical. The term Rock-star means performer.

In our businesses today we perform. Some of us Rock-stars and some wannabe's waiting to crack the code to being Rock-stars.

The first real piece of advice for being a Rock-star Contractor is knowing your audience. We call this target market. I want to make sure my performance is specific to who wants to hear me. 

Who listens to me now and pays me? This is the best starting point. Your existing customers know you and will be glad to spend more money with you or better yet tell you why they buy from you. Armed with this information you can now start to target your audience.

Let me ask you this, if Kenny G were to come and perform during an Aerosmith concert do you think the fans would listen or boo him off the stage?

Don't be Kenny G.

No need for comments, just pass this on to your fellow Contractor.

ReNegotiating After The Sale..

Have you ever had to renegotiate after a signed contract?

My usual experience with Re-Negotiating is Lose/Win. In business we go for the Win-Win, everybody gets what they want and everybody is happy.

Recent Experience: An existing customers of mine wanted a better deal after we signed a contract for several thousand and finished the same day. There justification was "Wait, I am paying you like $300/HR. That isn't right."

I know if you have been in business for any amount of time you have come across this.

This is my 4th or 5th experience with renegotiating and every time the customer wants to revise the contract nobody wins.

My latest experience ended in Win/Lose. I did not negotiate after the job was complete and the customer was upset. My justification, "I have been doing this same scope of work for 7 years and I know exactly how to complete all tasks efficiently. If I didn't know what I was doing and spent longer figuring out what to do on your house would that make you feel better served and justify the contract?"

Tell me your experience and solution outcomes?

Selling With Heart Still Requires Profit

I recently sat down at a coffee shop to have a serious conversation with a residential contractor. This contractor was struggling financially. He had plenty of work going and his sales funnel was packed. After a little bit of conversation I realized that his sales formula was incorrect. He enjoyed the art of selling but never took into account markup is different than profit. 

He would take his cost to handle the job and add 10%. The 10% he figured was for him. After taking some time over coffee and explaining to him you  must include your money in the job, along with your profit, then mark everything up.

The light bulb that went off that day was priceless.

Further, he was not job costing. Didn't have a handle on receivables. A hot mess he was.

I asked him if he ever read the book by Michael stone, Mark Up and  Profit? Michael did a great job in the book explaining profit and markup.  I gave him some quick pointers on how to get out of the situation and start estimating accurately:

1. Don't accept another job without at profit at a minimum. Customers will give you work all day long and     not care one bit if you're making money.

2. You will raise your prices. Don't sell yourself short.

3. You will have to start tracking your jobs to make sure your marking up appropriately. Simple formula        for contractors:

           Sales-(Overhead + Profit) = Job Cost

           Sales/Job Costs=Markup

Before he sold anything after that point I got a couple calls to make sure for estimating accuracy. 

Do you have similar situation where you hadn't a clue you were estimating incorrectly? The jobs were there but, no money once done?

Give me your comments below. 

5 Tips When Selling Outside Your Sweet Spot

We have all been there when the phone rings and your talking to a prospect and everything is going great, the scope is ideal, Start date is perfect, and location is outside the sweet spot. The thoughts run through your head....UH....I...DONT KNOW.

How do you handle this?

I have both good and not so good experience working out of the sweet spot.

I weigh the options really good before submitting proposal:

1. Who will I be working for? Existing customers referrals might get me there, new customer non referral questionable.
2. Will this interrupt any other jobs? How many additional resources will be needed to make project deadlines? In addition, will this effect other jobs in progress and on calendar?
3. Do you have connections outside your sweet spot? Supply houses, Tradesman, and Equipment are the biggest obstacles that I came across when working out of area.
4. Supervision. This is what I failed to account for. My usual route did not include the long distance ride. When on site questions needed to be answered I had to rush, leaving other local jobs to answer the questions.
5. Completion Schedule. How much more time do I need to allot for? I missed some deadlines and over extended my team and resources to complete in a timely manner. I barely salvaged the job and my referral partner was not excited about my performance.

In the end you will need to decide if this project is worth the price you might have to pay. The referral partner relationship that will be tested if you don't execute.

The above picture shows my sweet spot and two jobs that came up yesterday. Both profitable and got me thinking. 

The first thing I did was start making calls to see if I had connections in the area-Answer NO. 

Second was Google suppliers and equipment in the area-Answer YES

I had a talk with my senior team members and went over scopes. I personally did not accept either project once I weighed the top 5 questions. 

Give me your thoughts on how you handle these sales situations?

Can You Give Me A Rough Estimate?

I get several calls a day from potential prospects wanting me to give prices over the phone. On this particular job the prospect wanted the above bathroom fixed. They asked if I could price this over the phone. Instead of giving what kind of ball park typical response "Wrigley or Fenway Park".  

I go through my qualifying questions to build a little rapport:

Me: When did the bathroom tile fall of the wall?

Prospect: We started to notice the issue a little over a year ago.

Me: When would you like me to complete the repairs/replacement?

Prospect: Were gathering estimates at this point. Once we decide who we like, we want completed asap.

Me: Do you own the home?

Prospect: We dont own the home. We are getting estimates for the Landlord who lives out of town.

Me: When is owner available for an appointment if necessary?

Prospect: He asked us to handle.

Me: Can you send me a picture with info so I can get an idea of what needs to be done?

I got the above response. Pictures and contact info. What is your next step? Leave your response below?

Selling Results To Increase Profits

I recently had the pleasure of meeting with a customer to about remodeling their pool. I typically don't tackle pool remodeling but, decided because of the referral to look at the project.

I met with the customer who explained they wanted the above picture in their backyard.

My first response, "This isn't your typical pool remodel" Here is what I can help you with on this project:

1. Establish the plan of action that will be needed to get you the pool and spa of your dreams.
2. Coordinate the designer and pool remodeler.
3. Maintain contact with trades.
4. Coordinate with the building department.
5. Weekly meetings with you to discuss changes and projected dates of completion.

I sat in their kitchen and discussed how the process works from start to finish and I would be subcontracting everything out.

The owners response was priceless. "Justin, your transparency and being able to recognize what you can handle and cant is the reason your in business today. The reason we also want to move forward with having you handle our remodel for your FEE."

I have never had that response from a prospect. But, I realized after seeing the project and they had no clue how to get started. The value I offered was helping them get focused and started.

Think about this for a second.

• No testimonials for pool renovations
• No pictures of completed pools
• No pretty pamphlets on pool remodeling. 
• Nothing. 

Take Away: By focusing on the results the customer was looking for and not over extending my capabilities the customer recognized the value. 

I gave my professional opinion and outlined what they will need to do and how I can help. Concentrating on what you can do to get the customer results far out weighs what you cant do.

Give me your experience on this below in comments please?
Justin