Remodelers can improve their operation in numerous ways with insight from the pandemic.
To maintain a successful remodeling business, you need a steady stream of clients. In part two of our series of helpful ways to run a successful operation, we explore building relationships with suppliers, minding your cash flow, and speaking the language of style and design.
In part one of our two-part series to help remodelers maintain success, we discussed mapping productivity processes, upselling by downselling, tracking local leading economic indicators, and more. In this post, we explore building relationships with suppliers, minding your cash flow, and speaking the language of style and design. Here are five more tips to help remodelers support business.
- Partner with a supplier
Hardware stores, construction supply companies, and other suppliers are excellent sources of potential remodeling leads. Get Dwell, a repair service in the Chicago area, has helped encourage hardware stores in its market to recommend their company. In exchange, Get Dwell promises to buy supplies from that store rather than going to some big-box store or shopping online. It has proved to be a mutually beneficial—and lucrative—arrangement for both sides.
- Cash flow is the once and future king
When economic times are uncertain, it’s wise to go on a spending diet, even before you can get a complete financial picture.
“Look at your expenses, and manage them tightly,” says Mac Jacobs, director of demand planning at JELD-WEN. As for marketing dollars, “Be careful to maintain a marketing presence. You don’t want to stay dark but be cautious about not overextending yourself.” Conversely, when times are good, put some marketing dollars aside so you can maintain a consistent advertising budget regardless of the economic outlook.
Give homeowners peace of mind with remodeling solutions like JELD-WEN® Smooth-Pro™ fiberglass doors that are easy to operate
- Universal design approach to aging in place
Millennials, baby boomers, and the nonwhite and Latino demographics are trending the most right now. Of those, baby boomers matter most to remodelers. They remain a huge force because they increasingly want to remain in their homes, and they’re ready to receive help living there. Their potential for developing a better quality of life as they age has largely propelled the aging-in-place part of the universal design movement. Learn more about Millennials: The Next Wave of Home Buyers, here.
JELD-WEN offers many windows and doors that require less maintenance over time can and be extremely helpful to the aging-in-place population. For example, Premium™ Vinyl windows are crafted with high-quality vinyl that resists cracking, chipping, and scratches. Smooth-Pro™ and Design-Pro™ fiberglass exterior doors are durable and low maintenance with the look of classically painted or stained wood.
- Be a style guide
When it comes to windows and doors, people often like what they see but don’t know how to express what they want. That’s understandable, given the vast variety of styles available combined with all the subtleties that go into manufacturing products that both look good and stand up to Mother Nature.
Online tools by JELD-WEN are designed to help. The JELD-WEN Style Quiz will help you and your customers articulate the style that fits them best. Suppose your client gravitates to a Farmhouse style. JELD-WEN style collections can help identify key elements that typify the Farmhouse style, and point you to products that reflect the Farmhouse aesthetic, making it easier to achieve an architecturally cohesive look throughout the house.
- Give your website the “we-we” test
Companies that only post content about themselves aren’t relating to their clients. Rather, change the point-of-view and put the copy in “you” terms. “We’re the greatest installers of all time” vs. The more benefit oriented “You’ll get doors and windows installed on your schedule.” Spend some quality time on polishing your web presence, and you’ll be making an investment that pays off as the economy and your business prosper.
