Your Own Voice One way to establish yourself as a reputable company is to cooperate with the media, making yourself available for articles or television stories about any aspect of the industry. Kelly says that when the local news outlets do an exposé on the construction industry, they often call on him to tell their audience, for example, what to look for when hiring a contractor. “We love that kind of PR,” Kelly says.
If you think you don’t have time for an interview, think again. Reporters looking for quotes and information generally aren’t interested in sitting down with you for an hour. They are often up against a deadline, with a schedule even tighter than yours. Particularly if you’re dealing with a print reporter, five or 10 minutes may be all you need to invest. It’s well worth it.
There are other, simpler ways, of course. A good Web site with project photos and contact information is one; snazzy marketing materials are another. A well-organized, impressive office area can go a long way toward enhancing your image with the customer. Trucks, shirts, and job signs with the company logo all bring an air of professionalism.
Such promotional items are common at large, multimillion-dollar firms. But smaller remodelers often don’t have the money to spend on such luxuries. In fact, on the face of it, these companies appear to be the exact type of contractors that the media and consumer advocacy groups warn about. These contractors aren’t worried about how the media portray the industry as a whole. They’re concerned about distinguishing themselves in the public eye from the handful of peers who do substandard work and conduct business dishonestly.
“I actually like the bad press,” says Rick Stacy, owner of R.A. Stacy Construction, in Bergen, N.Y., near Rochester. Stacy, who employs one full-time helper and his son part-time, continues: “It gives me something to sell against; it gives me the basis to stand out.” Stacy says his marketing and sales are steered toward making that distinction. “A lot of my customers have had bad experiences,” he says. “That’s the customer I go after.”
Stacy stresses prompt response time, quality products, professional techniques, and the fact that he rarely uses subcontractors to ease the homeowner’s minds.
Matt Moody, a Cabot, Vt., remodeler who works by himself, solves the problem by focusing on customers who already know him or his work. “I don’t advertise and hit people who are strangers to me,” Moody says.
This is a good point. Most of the “truck and dog contractors” that homeowners should look out for are the kind of guys that show up at the door uninvited, saying things like “I have material left over from another job” or “I was in the area.” By not showing up randomly, Moody automatically seems more professional.
Stacy, too, doesn’t want to appear too anxious for the business. “It’s like the advice you’d give to a girl looking for a good husband,” he says with a laugh. “You’ve got to play hard to get.” In other words, if you appear too desperate to do a certain job, homeowners will view you suspiciously — probably with good reason.
Moody is also careful about building relationships with customers. One bad experience has the power to sully his reputation, so he chooses his clients carefully. “If there’s ever any discomfort [between me and a potential client], I usually don’t work for them,” he says.
Curt Trampe has six employees, and his Springfield, Ill., company, Home Works, did about $600,000 in volume last year. But when he started six years ago, it was just him, his truck, and his tools. He suggests taking advantage of technology and printing up some letterhead and business cards as a way to project professionalism.
But his real key to success is a lot simpler than that. “When I started my company, I had been in remodeling long enough to know that if I just returned phone calls, showed up when I said I would, and did what I was going to do, that I would have plenty of work,” he says. “Then, I’d be more the exception than the rule.”