Category Archives: Sales & Strategy

Sales is the front line of your business and a skill you should always be improving. If you want to stay in business, you need to learn how to close sales, especially the tough ones.

Your customers should be your top priority. If they aren’t, it’ll catch up with you and the consequences will be reflected in your financials. Closing a tough sale isn’t easy, but it’s possible if you focus on building trust and alleviating your customers’ five biggest fears.

A project portfolio should be viewed as a marketing tool that exists to help you win more business. It’s a chance for you to showcase your best work and provide real-world examples to potential customers.

Similar to a job interview, you want to prove that you’re capable of solving construction challenges and problems in a timely manner. There’s no reason to slop something together overnight. Take your time and do it right. See tips for creating the perfect contractor’s project portfolio and get motivated to start working on yours today.

The fact is that consumers are putting more faith in fellow consumers and less faith in actual companies. What this means is customer reviews and referrals are more powerful than ever before, including their ability to serve as a marketing tool for small businesses.

The ability of customer reviews to persuade another isn’t fabricated, there are hard facts behind the influence they have on purchasing habits. In this article, I’ll discuss why you need customer reviews, how they affect the bottom line and best practices for managing them.

Your sales strategy is just as important as the actual hands-on work you do. Why? Because the way you communicate what you can do for the customer is the way you’ll land the job. Sales are incredibly important for any business owner. Knowing your best approach will help you win new jobs and gain referrals.

However, not everyone is great at selling. But, with a few easy tips and techniques, you can gain new business in no time at all.

1. Take the Time to Listen

As a business owner, it’s easy to get caught up in what the other guys are doing. While it’s smart to know what the competition is up to, it’s also important you don’t spend all of your time trying to keep up and as a consequence, lose yourself in the shuffle.

There’s something special about a business that’s able to harness the power of being different. Many customers’ value companies who aren’t afraid to stand apart from the crowd. They appreciate firms who deliver products and services that are made just for them. Businesses thrive when they stay true to themselves and clearly communicate a unique story and vision. As Dr. Seuss once said, “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

There comes a time when you have to say no to potential clients. While it seems counterintuitive to tell a potential customer “no, I don’t want your business,” scheduling conflicts, project conflicts, employee conflicts and payroll conflicts can all prevent professionals from taking on new business.

The art of saying no can’t go underappreciated. Below, I will explain why we tend to say yes, as well as five simple ways to say no without offending a potential (future) client.

Many professionals often dread networking events. However, making connections and having a successful business can sometimes be one in the same. Here’s the thing, to truly perfect the art of networking and making connections, you have to practice everyday. Whether that’s talking to coworkers for a few minutes or working on your elevator pitch, be sure to find the best way to market your qualities. The key to a great business connection is sharing what you do and the goals of your company and listening to what your connection does. From there, you can figure out how both your similarities can benefit each party. Try to attend as many networking events to get a ton of practice.

While there is no way to guarantee payment on the projects you work on, it’s essential to pay attention to details that can help make this process easier and/or faster. Keeping accurate records and documentation in regards to what is expected of your company is vital. Get your clients to sign off on every step, especially that of changed orders. Make it clear that additional work not specified on the signed contract might cost more money.

Unfortunately, getting a customer to pay you is no easy feat. However, completing these six steps when you don’t receive payment can help in reducing the stress factor of it all.

As a painting contractor, writing proposals and performing contract administration are just two of the many job functions you will find yourself involved in. How well you manage these tasks will be critical to your company’s success. This includes creating a professional proposal, drawing up and submitting the contract and negotiating with the owner or general contractor.

Types of Contracts

There are commonly two types of contracts: prime contracts and subcontracts. The first is when you are providing the only work involved on a project and are dealing directly with the owner or their representative. In this case, you will be the prime contractor. The second is when you are bidding to provide work on a portion of a project that involves several trades and is being managed by a general contractor. In this situation, you are the subcontractor.

Winning new business, customer retention and staying ahead of the competition are important benchmarks for any business. It’s not magic. Reaching these goals takes dedication, hard work and a deep understanding of current business and industry trends.

Information is power and becoming an expert in your trade will increase your credibility and help you gain more referrals. Below, you’ll find five books that we think every contractor should read.