March 17, 2022

Too many remodelers assume that prospects know they are busy and that they understand supply-chain and labor challenges, which the world will have for the foreseeable future. And worse, too many remodelers get overwhelmed during the solicitation process without realizing how to capitalize on these challenges.

Here, we teach you how to take advantage of all these challenges.

1. If You’re Overbooked, Read This Now. Anyone who is good at something is relatively busy. For years we have been in unprecedented times, but I think now is the best time to proactively stack your workload out for a long time. The most important aspect of doing this is to realize everyone is in the same boat. You need to recognize the challenges and assume your competition is not handling it correctly. Therefore, take a proactive approach to setting prospect expectations.
2. Expectations Are Usually Unrealistic. People have a natural tendency to expect immediate results. Before they even connect with you, they are subliminally judging how fast you will provide an estimate or how fast you will finish the job. That is a dangerous position in which you need to meet expectations that are not set or controlled by you – especially given our industry’s current challenges.
3. Set the Tone for How You Are Operating. You must ensure there is a consistent message about how you are operating in the current business environment from the moment someone makes contact – regardless of how they make contact. People overlook ways to ensure that real potential customers continue to pursue you, and the annoying prospects simply go away. And when you push away the annoying prospects, you will also have done so in such a way that most would not give you a bad review.
4. Start with Your Voicemail. I assume many successful remodelers avoid answering the phone when they do not recognize a name on Caller ID. So why not set the tone beginning with your message? Let them know your timeline for booking projects and ask them to provide as many details as possible. Then plan to get back to them at your earliest opportunity.
5. Don’t be Afraid to Share Availability. Keep in mind that you are already busy, and don’t fool yourself into thinking you don’t want to share your availability for fear of losing an opportunity. There is no opportunity to lose if you truly cannot service the client when they need help. It is better to tell the truth and let the dialog begin with some upfront honesty.
6. Start Slowly on Your Website. Some people are a little resistant to letting others know they are busy. If you wish to try something without being too overbearing, include a place on your website where you state in bold: Now scheduling for XYZ. Then below the heading, include something like: We are committed to finishing several large projects, and in some situations may have periodic availability. We are still available to discuss your needs, provided that you understand it may take a few months to address your project. This method allows you to simply reference your availability.
7. Reenforcing Availability. There are other remodelers who want to reduce all conversations that are a distraction – when there is simply no way the project can be done. In that case, a remodeler wants to ensure the availability message is seen anywhere someone can contact them via their website. A great tactic is to take some or all the text from the original notification noted above and place it in the message field where a prospect may type. The fact is you are busy, these are unique times, and you are setting expectations to find your ideal future customers.
8. You Are Positively Booked out. There is another tactic that works when you are so booked out for an extended period of time that you are not looking to just reduce conversations, you are looking to eliminate all interruptions. The first thing you do is deploy both the examples above. Then you create a pop-up with the same exact message and have the potential client click “OK” before being able to enter your website.
9. Responding to Negative Reviews. You still may get an unhappy prospect who feels compelled to tell the world they were not happy with you being busy or not stopping what you were doing just to satisfy their unrealistic expectations. Whatever you do, do not get aggressive or abusive in your reply; keep it simple and to the point. Future real customers will appreciate how you deal with adversity.

Good companies will remain in high demand through 2022, but many still feel they may be able to magically work around these challenges. Confront the situation with honesty, and do not be fearful of losing opportunities by mentioning your availability. Being diplomatic with real opportunities will allow you to have your pipeline protected for a long time, regardless of the operational challenges.

By Brian Javeline, president of MyOnlineToolbox, an industry leader for online marketing education and strategy planning

Photo credit:fizkes/Adobe Stock