The Case for Marketing Your Remodeling Company Now
In the pre-pandemic days, I used to get on my soapbox during networking events and encourage remodelers to pay attention to marketing even in a strong market. I would remind people that when the slowdown in 2008 happened, the market was very different than it was now. I cautioned that when the next slowdown occurred, relying on one's reputation wasn't going to be enough to survive. Marketing had developed and changed, and consumer expectations were higher, even for small businesses.
I believed that those companies that had taken the time to develop a strong online presence would have the upper hand.
I was trying to get people to take marketing seriously and prepare for slower times. Well, here we are. Who could have known that we’d be facing disruption unlike anything ever experienced?
Through 2019, the major concern was availability of labor. In some urban markets with high cost of living, labor couldn't afford to live close by. In many locales, labor fled to the outskirts, and with a strong market for the last 7 to 8 years, found work closer to home. That and fewer young people entering the building trades both contributed to a widespread labor shortage. While this is still a real concern, there’s so much more to deal with now.
Boom – Covid-19 happened - What initially was thought to be a temporary situation turned into a “new normal,” with constraints and variables that no one in their right mind would have thought we'd be facing.
Maintaining safety with PPE (personal protection equipment) costs. This new normal includes the hard costs, increased time required to manage projects, and in some cases extended timelines due to social distancing requirements.
Supply chain issues stemming from materials and components, whether domestic or international, are real. From lighting to cabinets, work slowdowns in markets for custom or off the shelf items has added another layer of variability.
Nurturing relationships is now a real thing to pay closer attention to. To meet timelines, having everyone on the same team is critical to solving the issues that can wreak havoc. It involves building trust and understanding homeowners’ very real concerns about having someone in their home during a pandemic. With subs and partners as well as homeowners, it requires more transparency and strong communications.
Thankfully, with strong demand for residential remodeling, there’s work to be had. Those with systems in place to deal with this new normal will thrive. Others will not. We don’t know when the market will slow down, but when it does, you want to be prepared.
So what does all this mean? And what should you do? –
Right now, running a remodeling company demands more time, money, and share of your attention. You're probably very busy and stressed. A few remodelers I’ve spoken to have said that they’ve actually hired additional project managers to keep things on track, clearly leading to additional overhead.
I've heard that disruptions to the timelines mean that workers have days of sitting around with nothing to do. So many remodelers are pivoting to include smaller projects, even handyman level to keep their workers billable. Again, Increased overhead costs.
Communication and managing homeowner expectations are critical to keep things running smoothly. Again, increased overhead costs.
Sense a theme?
Everyone I talk to is crazy busy with all I've just mentioned; it's taxing and taking a toll. They’re finding it's hard to find time to think about other areas of the business.
Does this sound familiar?
Remodelers across the country I’ve spoken to are bullish about their ability to have a strong run right now through into 2021. That sense is consistent with what market experts like NAHB are seeing and reporting. Yet many of the folks I’ve talked to don't have as many projects booked as they’d like. Why?
Only part of it can be explained by homeowners having wet feet and being somewhat unpredictable in their behavior. Perhaps more likely is that it's because they’ve been complacent. Complacent about the need to market in the years leading up to the pandemic because they relied on referrals and a smattering of marketing tactics, which was enough for a time.
Most remodeling contractors have never taken the time to assess and consider the whole of their marketing and sales and the real effect it can have to bring in qualified leads. Instead, they’re relying on a patchwork of tactics that grew overtime as digital marketing developed and matured. (Think paying for Houzz, SEO, online ads, etc., along with monthly fees and subscriptions.)
Times have changed. Needs have changed. What worked before may not continue to. You need to own your marketing. Just as all the new variables and uncertainties I mentioned above require you to look at how you run your business, it's time to do that for marketing and sales.
How are you going to get the jobs and set yourself up for 2021 and beyond? What does it look like?
Consider these:
Develop a plan before you build. You would never remodel a bathroom without detailed plans, so why wouldn’t you take the time to plan your marketing? (I know, it’s because it’s easy to limp along without a plan. That’s the deception of marketing being somewhat intangible compared to physical things like shower heads and tile.) You need to create a marketing strategy that supports your company goals. This includes auditing what you’re currently doing, considering what each tactic or program can deliver, assessing what’s needed to accomplish the goals and developing a plan to get it done.
Get professional-level photographs of your best projects as they wrap up. Now’s the time to consider which projects are worthy of the effort and budget that goes into capturing top quality project photos. It’s a lot easier to do this when you’ve got multiple projects and some discretionary funds to cover the costs. It’s nearly impossible to go back to a client whose project you wrapped up two years ago and capture those “just built” images.
Build your online presence. Like I mentioned above, it’s no longer just about getting referrals. How your company shows up online affects whether you get leads or not. Check out our Total Online Presence Audit to learn more about how to shore up your online presence.
As I wrap up this post, think about this. You wouldn’t consider your planning of a bathroom to be complete solely based on tackling the choice of tile and purchasing the freestanding tub, would you? Then why are you telling yourself that marketing is covered just because you pay for ads and get some decent leads? Or that you’re “good” based on what the SEO guy reports website traffic and form fills to be.
Instead, take the time to consider the whole of your marketing just like you do with your clients at the outset of a project – your vision, how much you can budget, the timeline, how it’s going to get done and how you’ll know you’ve done it well. Your clients are invested in their remodeling projects; you should be invested in your company’s marketing.
As Duct Tape Marketing founder John Jantsch says, “Why rent your marketing… when you should own it. Develop a marketing action plan and an in-house marketing team.” Looking at marketing the way I’ve outlined and how John suggests lets you build marketing through systems and develop them into assets. There are things that third parties just can’t do for you as well as you can do them. Take the time and make the effort. If you do that, marketing becomes an asset that you can leverage and build upon, not just an expense.
Whatever you do, this is not the time to put marketing on the back burner. This is the time to give it the attention your business deserves.