Your Price is Too High
By Michael Stone“Your price is too high” means you haven’t done your job as a salesperson.
Selling Design Agreements
By Michael StoneWith a renovation or remodeling project, your goal from the very beginning should be to sell your services by way of a design agreement. Sell an agreement to design the project since that’s the first necessary step before the job can start.
Let’s Not Talk About the Backlog
By Michael StoneA major mistake contractors make is to tell a client they can’t start the job for 3-4-5 months. “We are backlogged, can’t possibly start your job before then.”
They Want a Bid Today
By Michael StoneEvery once in a while, your phone will ring and the potential client on the other end will tell you they want a bid today. What should you do?
The Downside of Commission Sales
By Michael StoneI’ve long been an advocate for paying salespeople on straight commission. Not everyone agrees, not even all the experts, but in my experience straight commission is the best way to go.
Referral Fees and Sales Commissions
By Michael StoneA referral fee is what you pay to the person who provides you a lead. A sales commission is what you pay a salesperson to close a sale.
The Salesperson’s Real Job
By Michael StoneWhen I think about major influences on my sales training, I think of Tom Hopkins. He was an outstanding salesman who become a gifted sales trainer, and I still receive and read his newsletters.
The One-Legged Sales Call: Find Out If They’re Serious
By Michael StoneOne-legged sales calls. Frankly, this is much to do over a problem with a fairly simple solution.
On Politely & Confidently Qualifying Leads
By Todd MiltonA guest article: How do you avoid going out on sales calls to look at jobs for folks who obviously do not qualify to purchase from your company?
Getting Paid for Quotes – Part 1
By Michael StoneDesign agreements, letters of intent – get paid for written quotes.
Pass those savings along?
By Michael StoneI read an article where the author talked about passing savings on to clients. This sounds well and good, but place it low on your priorities when putting a job together.
Words from an Expert on Hiring Contractors
By Michael StoneA contractor sent us an online article written by a real estate investor with the purpose of educating you on “how to develop a fair relationship with your contractor.”
Four Diamonds of Communication
By Michael StoneSales is about communicating and interacting positively with others. Those skills make life easier in any delicate conversation.
The Sales Call: Budget and Design
By Michael StoneBudget doesn’t need to be a major worry during the design and build of a project if you handle it properly during the sales call.
You Have Better Things to Do than Estimate
By Michael StoneGetting a commitment from potential clients is critical if you want to save yourself a ton of time and work putting together an estimate that won’t go anywhere. You have better things to do with your time.
Remodeling Sales: Setting the Budget
By Michael StoneA business owner in the UK asked a question that illustrates that remodeling sales challenges are the same regardless of your location.
Lowball Pricing in Construction
By Michael StoneIt’s not unusual to find a contractor who sells by deliberately underpricing or underbidding jobs and making up the difference with change work orders.
Construction Sales: Make Time Count
By Michael StoneConstruction sales take time and your time is valuable. Avoid these common time-wasters when selling construction services.
After the Sale; Pre-Job Layout
By Michael StoneThe pre-job conference or pre-job layout is when all the details get ironed out that can easily be forgotten. It’s when the job is handed from sales to production. After this meeting the production manager is in charge.
Upselling: Give Them Options
By Michael StoneIf you are in business, you are in sales. No rationalizing, you are in sales. If you don’t sell something at a profit, you are going to go away.
Sales: Setting Ground Rules
By Michael StoneMichael shares a few situations you’ll run into when selling construction-related services that provide the opportunity to set ground rules for the relationship.
Educating on Quality
By Michael StoneHome and building owners need to know that hiring the least expensive contractor often means compromising on quality.
A Guaranteed Price
By Michael StoneWhen selling construction services, quoting a guaranteed price protects homeowners from the price increases that happen with a too low price.
Cost-Plus, Cost+, Time and Materials, T & M
By Michael StoneA coaching client was working with a potential customer who wanted a remodeling job on a cost-plus basis instead of a fixed fee contract.
Contract Cancellations
By Michael StoneCancellations happen, even with the best of salespeople. Clients have all kinds of reasons to cancel an agreement, and you need to be prepared.
Charging for Estimates
By Michael StoneIf you’ve been in construction sales very long, you’ve met potential customers who ask for an estimate, but after a lot of work you learn they were just shopping.
Fixed Price Quotations or Itemization?
By Michael StoneI read an article telling general and specialty contractors to give itemized estimates. Oh joy. It talks about goodwill, trust, comparing estimates, and other tripe.
Hire Your Own Subs
By Michael StoneFrom time to time, you will go out to see a potential client about doing work for them and they’ll ask if they can choose their own subs for their job.
Free Estimates: when you don’t give your work away
By Michael StoneThe contractor presented a design agreement with a $3,000 fee to design the job, 1/2 of the fee would be credited back when a contract was signed for the final job.
Selling On Price Alone
By Michael StoneI was reminded again recently of the need for in-house training on what it takes to pay the bills in a construction related company.
Paying a Salesperson: Commission on Sales, not Profit
By Michael StoneIf you employ a salesperson to help you sell something, you need to pay them for their services. I am a firm believer in paying sales people by commission
Should Salespeople Have to Generate Leads?
By Michael StoneSomeone asked me recently if I thought a salesperson for a construction-related company should help provide leads, and how many. Yes, they should help provide leads.
Pay Salespeople Fairly: Commission Sales
By Michael StoneThere are lots of opinions on how to pay a salesperson. Your salespeople have to be able to make a good living and provide for their family.
How Much Should a Contractor Charge?
By Michael StoneMany of our website visitors aren’t contractors, they’re clients looking for help with a Cost Plus project gone wrong, or wondering if their contractor is overcharging.
It Isn’t Your Price. It’s You
By Michael StoneAddress their fears so they feel safe purchasing from you.
Making Selections for Their Project
By Michael StoneIf you're a remodeling or new home contractor, how can you get clients to make their selections before you write the contract? Make it easy for your client.
Race to the Bottom, or “How Low Can I Price This Job?”
By Michael StoneCutting your price to get a job is a money losing approach. Over time, you won’t be making a profit and you’re only working yourself into debt.
We Want To See Your Receipts
By Michael StoneWhat if you agreed on a price, now customer wants all receipts for material? Without a clearly written fixed price contract, it's a problem waiting to happen.
Subcontractors or Employees?
By Michael StoneSometimes they request you use employees instead of subs, or work on a T&M basis. Clients don’t understand how the construction world works. It’s your job to educate them.
Client Outrage
By Michael StoneReal or fake outrage can be a client’s attempt to elicit an emotional response from you to get what they want. It often puts you in the position of questioning yourself and your company, not dealing with the subject at hand.
Penciling a Salesperson
By Michael StoneIf salespeople know the business owner will back them up and pay them fairly, they’re motivated to produce profitable sales. If they aren’t motivated to make sales, the business is in trouble.
Wasting Time: Red Flags on a Sales Call
By Michael StoneA potential client wanted to get a bid on some work at her home. Our coaching client was pretty sure the lead was dead, and wanted to know if she should have done anything differently to have made the sale.
Your Sales Presentation
By Michael StoneGiven how valuable leads are, once you get one, you need a sales procedure to help make the sale.
When Your Client Sets the Price
By Michael StoneWhen your client wants a lower price, something has to change. It shouldn’t be just your price.
Are Your Clients Thinking “So What?”
By Michael StoneOn a sales call, if you’re speaking and your potential client is thinking “so what?”, you’ve lost them.
Bidding or Selling?
By Michael StoneAre you bidding on jobs, or are you selling them? There’s a difference.
Subs or Employees – Are Subs More Expensive?
By Michael StoneDoes subcontracting raise the price of the project?
Generational Differences
By Michael StoneI’ve been reading advice in a few construction magazines on how to sell to millennials, and I don’t understand the fuss.
Let Them Know What to Expect
By Michael StoneIf you’re doing service work, make sure your client knows what to expect before you start.
Setting the Budget First
By Michael StoneIn our book, Profitable Sales, A Contractor’s Guide, we discuss the need to set the client’s budget for a project. One of our clients sent a note recently that explains why setting the budget up front is important.
An Opinion on Itemized Estimates
By Michael StoneA building owner challenges our statement that contractors shouldn’t itemize their estimates.
Objections Book
By Michael StoneAn objections book is a history of your sales calls. It includes everything you said and did, right or wrong. I have only met two or three others in my thirty-plus years of direct selling who took the time to compile a book, but each one became outstanding in their profession.
Last Minute Requests Before Closing the Sale
By Michael StoneWhat do you do when a potential client waits until the proposal is together to request itemization on the project?
Pricing Fears
By Michael StoneA recent Houzz survey confirmed what you need to know if you’re in sales; it’s not all about price.
Resolve Their Challenges, Make The Sale
By Michael StoneA survey outlines the challenges homeowners say they’re facing when they remodel or renovate their home. It’s valuable info, because it tells you what they need help with. It’s your job to show them you can provide that help.
Transparency – Or Maybe Not
By Michael StoneIs transparency the way to go when selling? Be careful who you listen to.
Looking for a Deal
By Michael StoneIt’s amazing the things a potential client can think of to get you to lower your price.
Clients Working on Their Job
By Michael StoneShould you let a client work on the job they’ve hired you and your company to build?
Family Fights
By Michael StoneThe topic is uncomfortable but if you’re involved in residential sales, you’ll see family disagreements. It helps to know what to do.
Unrealistic Price Expectations
By Michael StoneIf they called you, doesn’t that mean they need or want the work done?
Avoiding Jobs That Don’t Fit
By Michael StoneIt’s smart to specialize on the work that makes you the most money. It’s even better if you know contractors who can pick up the leads outside your specialty.
Avoiding a Potential Pain in the Assets
By Michael StoneA good guy we know was recently working with a potential client when he ran into some concerns.
Training an Architect
By Michael StoneA contractor we’ve known and worked with for many years sent us a note about his experience working with a new architect. Ideally, the architect would have been working with the contractor from the beginning so he could have educated the client as well.
Give Them What They Need to Make a Decision
By Michael StoneClients are changing, and if you want to stay in the game and make something more than a living, you’ll need to change with them.
Design Agreement Fees
By Michael StoneThe last thing I want to do is cause a family problem, but apparently I did with one family.
Transparency and Partnerships
By Michael StoneWhat do you do when your partner is listening to someone who knows nothing about construction, but still thinks they knows what’s best?
Spare Topics
By Michael StoneIt’s time to catch up on some spare topics I have lying around. These aren’t earth shaking but they can and will impact your bottom line.
Focusing On Price
By Michael Stone“The #1 reason I lose jobs is ‘your price is too high.’ What am I doing wrong?”
About Your Exorbitant Markup . . .
By Michael StoneFrom a contractor: “I am definitely going to do a better job in pre-selecting my clients after this one.”
Clear Sales Communication; It’s Your Responsibility
By Michael StoneI want to share a recent phone conversation with a contractor concerning a problem they were having with a client.
Design Agreements and the Budget
By Michael StoneThe purpose of a design agreement is to get a commitment from your client to design the project so you don’t have to do the design for free. How do you keep the design within the budget?
Price Proposal Deadlines
By Michael StoneAll price proposals need a deadline because you never know when material and labor costs will increase rapidly.
Should I Change My Markup If I’m Not Making Sales?
By Michael StoneShould you change your markup method if you aren’t making sales? Don’t spend hours fiddling with numbers; invest the time in your sales skills.
Doing Things Right
By Michael StoneMichael shares a valuable tool that will improve both your sales and your relationships.
Sales: Are You There to Help?
By Michael StoneWhen selling, are youhere to find out how much money you can make, or to provide a service and help?
In Construction, Communicate the Details
By Michael StoneAre you giving your clients the information they need to be confident you’re building the job they want?
Design Agreement Surprises
By Michael StoneIf you want to avoid problems when selling your services, take steps to prevent problems at your first meeting.
The Cost of Being Lowest Bid
By Michael StoneWhy would a serious construction-related business owner want to be the lowest bid on a project?
What’s the Average Price?
By Michael StoneHave you ever been asked for the average cost per square foot? We know there is no average price, there isn’t even an average job.
Walking Into Nasty Homes
By Michael StoneIf you’ve been in selling remodeling or taking service calls in a home for any length of time, you’ve walked into nasty homes. Do you want to take on jobs like that?