Despite challenges like inflation, the housing market slowdown, and supply chain disruptions, a home renovation business can overcome obstacles and sustain growth in the remodeling industry. In fact, in 2020 and 2021, the industry saw market growth of 23.8%, exceeding expectations of 12.5%, according to Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS).
This article outlines strategies you can use to grow your remodeling business and position yourself for success.
Align Operations Across Your Locations
Establishing consistent practices and workflows across all branches is essential for ensuring the growth of a multi-location remodeling business. Here are strategies to accomplish it.
Standardize Processes Across Your Company
One way to standardize processes across your company is by implementing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). To create effective SOPs that streamline operations, generate consistency, and maximize productivity, follow this systematic approach:
- Identify core processes
- Document step-by-step procedures
- Define roles and responsibilities
- Provide comprehensive training
- Regularly review and update SOPs
- Monitor your business plan for compliance and performance
Implement Ongoing Training and Development
By investing in continuous learning, your remodeling business can affirm that your general contractors and other staff remain skilled and adaptable. To achieve this, assess employees’ training needs, develop a comprehensive plan, and offer a mix of training methods like workshops, online courses, and mentorship programs.
Encourage professional certifications and provide ongoing support and resources. Monitor progress and evaluate the impact of training initiatives. By doing this, you can foster a culture of continuous learning, equipping employees with the necessary skills for the remodeling business.
Add Remodeling Software That Scales to Your Operational Level
Here are some of the benefits of incorporating scalable software for remodeling businesses:
- It’s customizable for remodeling businesses of varied sizes.
- Greater team and customer communication through shared calendars, messaging platforms, and document sharing.
- Efficient scheduling management with project assignment, resource allocation, and progress tracking across multiple locations.
- Centralized data management and analysis for streamlined operations and decision-making.
- Integration with other systems, such as accounting software and project management tools, for improved efficiency and organization.
Use Marketing to Expand Your Reach
Connect with new customers and increase your remodeling business brand’s visibility by combining digital and traditional marketing strategies.
Optimize Your Website for Search Engines
Conducting keyword research and strategically incorporating relevant keywords throughout your website is an excellent way to maximize online visibility and attract new customers.
Optimizing website structure, load speed, and mobile responsiveness improves user experience and search engine rankings. Effective SEO practices increase the chances of your remodeling business being discovered by a wider audience and driving targeted traffic to your website.
Utilize Social Media Platforms
Harness the power of social media for your remodeling business by applying these approaches:
- Establish a strong presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to connect with customers today.
- Share captivating visual content displaying your work to engage followers.
- Provide valuable insights as a remodeling industry authority.
- Engage with your audience by responding to comments and joining conversations.
- Create shareable content with viral potential.
- Utilize targeted advertising to reach specific demographics and interests.
- Collaborate with influencers to expand your brand’s reach and credibility.
- Gather customer feedback and testimonials to build trust.
Create Digital Ad Campaigns
To reach potential clients online, digital advertising offers diverse options like pay-per-click, display, social media, and video ads. Define your target audience, set objectives, and create compelling ad content.
Monitor and optimize campaigns based on performance metrics for high return on investment (ROI). Effective digital ads can boost your brand visibility, generate leads, and foster growth.
Develop and Distribute Promotional Materials
Promotional materials play a crucial role in expanding your remodeling business’s reach. Create visually appealing printed materials like brochures, flyers, and business cards to highlight your home renovation services and past projects.
Develop digital materials such as email newsletters and online ads to reach a wider audience. Distribute these materials through targeted channels like local events, trade shows, direct mail, and digital platforms to capture your target market’s attention, generate leads, and leave an impression about your remodeling business.
Offer Referral Incentives to Current Customers (and Encourage Reviews)
Referrals and reviews are vital for building trust and credibility in the home renovation industry. Generate a referral program and incentivize existing customers to refer new clients, and encourage customers to leave reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, and social media to enhance your online reputation.
Proactively Find and Manage Remodeling Leads
A healthy lead funnel is crucial for remodeling business growth, guiding potential customers from awareness to loyalty. By prioritizing a strong lead funnel, you can boost profitability, expand your customer base, and achieve long-term growth for your new business.
Partner with a Lead Generation Provider
Reputable lead generation providers like EverConnect, Angi, and Porch specialize in connecting remodeling businesses and contractors with potential customers actively seeking home renovation services.
Their offerings include lead sourcing, qualification, and distribution. This partnership amplifies high-quality lead generation efforts, expands your customer base, and contributes to a sustainable business model.
Manage Your Leads Using Remodeling CRM Software
Streamline lead conversion with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. CRMs are designed to simplify managing your business. Standard CRM features include lead management and follow-up tools, appointment scheduling, automated marketing campaigns, and in-depth data reporting on your business’s performance.
Some CRM software, like Improveit 360, even integrates with popular lead-generation companies. This automatically syncs fresh leads into your software so that you can reach out to them as quickly as possible.
Using remodeling business CRM software empowers your business with a centralized platform for managing customer relationships, elevating lead conversion, streamlining project management, and gaining valuable insights into your new business.
Build Strong Relationships With Vendors and Suppliers
Developing connections with vendors can lead to valuable word-of-mouth referrals and sales opportunities. Vendors can recommend your home renovation business to customers by establishing mutual trust and rapport.
Maintaining vendor relationships also provides access to industry trends, exclusive discounts, and collaborative marketing opportunities, giving you a competitive edge.
Build Visibility and Credibility Through Positive Reviews
Reviews are so important we wanted to highlight them twice. Positive online reviews are vital for attracting new leads and establishing trust with potential customers. By actively seeking assessments from satisfied customers and emphasizing the importance of their feedback, you can generate social proof that displays the quality of your work over other contractors.
Online reputation management services like Listen360 offer a platform for collecting instant and actionable customer feedback. Importantly, this gives you a way to address concerns quickly. Even better, you can leverage positive reviews to differentiate yourself from competitors in the remodeling business and attract more jobs.
Use a Remodeling CRM to Connect Your Team
Integrating CRM software into your remodeling business can bring about a transformative impact on your operations. This powerful tool offers a complete solution for managing customer relationships, streamlining processes, and enhancing productivity.
Track Every Job With Project Management Tools
Home improvement project management tools are essential for effective oversight and completion of smaller to larger projects. These tools offer a centralized platform to manage tasks, schedules, budgets and track progress. Most importantly, they keep your team in sync from start to finish on every project.
Boost Customer Satisfaction Through Communication
Clear and consistent interaction is vital for building trust, managing expectations, and addressing concerns. Proactively updating customers about project progress, timelines, and changes ensures transparency and customer satisfaction.
It’s also critical to actively listen to feedback. Being responsive to customers’ needs will foster favorable relationships and contribute to your remodeling business’s positive reputation.
Improve Outcomes Through Data Analytics and Reporting
Businesses leverage data to gain valuable insights into sales, customer behavior, marketing effectiveness, and financial performance. Analyzing trends and key metrics allows for optimization, resource allocation, and informed decision-making.
With statistical insights, big and small businesses can continuously improve processes, identify opportunities, and stay ahead in a competitive market.
Implementing the right remodeling CRM is key to growing your business.
Manage Your Remodeling Business Cash Flow
Effectively managing cash flow is crucial for the success and stability of your remodeling business. Here are steps to proactively manage your revenue.
Use Accounting Software to Track Expenses
Accounting software is essential for accurately tracking and managing your remodeling business expenses. With the proper software, you can easily record and categorize costs, manage incoming payments, generate financial reports, and gain valuable insights into your spending patterns. This helps you make informed financial decisions, properly budget, and ensure overall economic stability for your remodeling company.
Keep Accurate Records of All Transactions
Accurate recordkeeping helps track financial performance, analyze trends, and make informed business decisions. By diligently organizing financial data, including sales, expenses, and invoices, you give yourself a complete view of your financial health.
Plus, a thorough record of your finances will be crucial if you’re ever audited or need to ensure you meet federal requirements.
Monitor Cash Flow and Adjust as Necessary
Identify potential cash shortages or surpluses by regularly reviewing your income and expenses, tracking payment cycles, and analyzing financial patterns. To do this, leverage your business software’s data reporting. Financial reports can spotlight seasonal fluctuations, payment delays, or changes in customer behavior.
Reduce Costs Where Possible
Remodeling businesses aiming to improve profitability should actively identify areas where expenses can be minimized. This can be achieved by negotiating better deals with material suppliers, improving resource allocation, and applying cost-effective practices.
Price Your Services Competitively With Profit Margin in Mind
To start, you must evaluate pricing strategies, including considering your competitors’ rates and profit margins. While analyzing competitor prices can provide insights into market trends, solely relying on this information may lead to underpricing your services. A comprehensive approach involves understanding your profit margin, determining costs, and setting prices that produce a sustainable business plan.
Negotiate With Suppliers to Reduce Material Costs
If you build strong relationships with suppliers, you can negotiate better deals, secure discounts, or explore alternative options that offer cost savings. Effective negotiation skills can help you achieve favorable pricing terms, minimize expenses, and increase how much profit your home renovation company generates. Regularly reviewing supplier agreements and seeking cost reductions can contribute significantly to the financial health of your remodeling business.
Streamline Internal Processes to Save Time and Money
By recognizing bottlenecks, eliminating unnecessary steps, and optimizing workflows, you can improve efficiency within your remodeling business (particularly if you’re looking to grow into a franchise).
CRM software has a significant impact on streamlining your processes. Here’s how:
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- Simplifying schedule with a drag-and-drop calendar tool
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- Automating customer communication touchpoints
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- Reducing manual data entry through software integration
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- Syncing your entire team and every project in one software
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- Data reporting to pinpoint weak points in your business
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- Enabling payment processing both online and on the job site
Implementing the right remodeling software is vital to growing your business. Improveit360 can help.
