Remodeling - February 2009 - (Page 20)

YourBusiness Ways+Means Taking Aim Pinpoint your target client to improve organization W HIT THE TARGET When Lupberger, who is now a consultant and the author of The Remodelers Turnkey Program, was a remodeling company owner, he discovered his target during a long-term project he was working on near a school. “I had about six people over the course of two years sign me on for jobs,” he says. He looked for commonalities in those clients and found that all were two-income families with elementary school–age children; all had similar incomes; their homes were built around the same time; and they had lived in the neighborhood for more than four years. Through a marketing company, he was able to find out how many people within that ZIP code were in that demographic. “I found 270 people in that demographic, targeted them [with a direct-mail message], and did 12 more projects over the next three years.” If you’ve really identified your targets, you can figure out your overhead, your personnel requirements, and your budgets. “Project out one year,” Lupberger says. “Ask yourself, ‘If I could do a bit of re-engineering and provide those products and services I do best, what will my company look like one year from now?’” —S.F. Color M Perfect Me Colorful solution for revising proposals so T 20 Remodeling February 2009 he joke around the Schroeder Design/Build office, i Fairfax, Va., is “Don’t send it to the in pe pink person; she’ll put a lot of notes on it,” Schro says Trish Schroeder, director of marketing and public relations — and the “pink person.” Schroede At Schroeder Design/Build, the office staff have ed a system for editing and revising sales proposals and contracts. Each person reads the document, writes comments, and passes it on to someone else. But read- ers would inevitably forget to put their initials on their edits, making it difficult for others to figure out who to ask for clarification. Five years ago, general manager Andrew Schroeder hit on the simple, yet effective, idea of giving each office employee a particular color pen that he or she uses for everything. Andrew is blue, the sales manager red, the selections coordinator green, the director of production black, and the office manager purple. “It really works well,” says Trish, who approves all the company’s bills. “Everyone can see quickly that if it doesn’t have a pink signature, it can’t go out the door.” —S.F. remodelingmag.com Illustration: top, James Yang; photo: left, iStockphoto.com/Jenny Horne hat does uniqueness have to do with organization? Just about everything, according to Dave Lupberger. Identifying your “unique selling proposition” and understanding what it is that people want to purchase from you and why will help you create an action plan for working on, not in, your business — developing systems, creating standard operating procedures, hiring the right people and the right number of people. In a word, “organizing.” To find your unique selling proposition, Lupberger suggests investing time in a few past clients. “Call three or four and take them to lunch. Find out why they chose to do business with you,” he says. “You’ll begin to see that there is a common theme. Maybe it’s a particular type of project. Or it might be your approach or your skill sets within the company.” http://www.iStockphoto.com/Jenny http://www.remodelingmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Remodeling - February 2009

Remodeling - February 2009 Contents First Word Market Watch Linda Case Mark Richardson Shawn McCadden Ways + Means Bottom Line Sales + Marketing Field Notes By Design Tech@ Work Good Form Close Up Second Look Going Green Clinic Specbook Upscale Remodeling Start Right People, Process, Profits Interview: Sara Ryan Duffy, President of SRD International New + Notable Products Final Touch Green Speak Green Spec In Focus First Look Benchmark

Remodeling - February 2009

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