One of the challenges for a design-build company is how to get the construction contract signed as soon as possible. All too often the design and selection process seems endless. The company makes money doing remodeling projects, not doing the design and specifying.
So, how can you get to “Yes” sooner? Use this process:
Initial Call
Lead intake is done by the director of first impressions. This person qualifies the callers—i.e., the leads—to see if they are a fit for what the company does and the company’s process.
Callback
The salesperson calls the potential client if the lead fits your company’s idea of a good client and is prepared to spend what the salesperson (off the cuff) thinks it might take to design and build what the lead wants.
A Visit
The salesperson visits the potential client. The salesperson reviews the potential client’s pains, such as problems with the home and the emotional drivers for getting the problems fixed, and checks what the client wants to invest, comparing it to what the company thinks the project might cost. All that is to determine whether the potential client is a fit for what the company does. At this meeting, only if all is looking good, the salesperson brings up the Design Agreement and gets it signed or arranges to return for the signing.
Design Process Starts
The designer is introduced to the potential client by the salesperson. At that meeting, the designer asks the potential client many questions, using the salesperson’s notes as conversation starters. The designer reiterates the expectation that the company initially does enough design to make sure the remodel will be a success for both the potential client and the remodeling company.
The designer also reminds the potential client that the goal is to design to the client’s investment amount. The designer asks if the client wants to see any ideas that would exceed the investment amount. If yes, then the designer does a plan that would do so, in addition to a plan that fits with investment amount. If no, then only a plan that fits the investment amount is done.
After this meeting and every successive meeting, the designer writes meeting minutes. These minutes note what was agreed to, who is supposed to do what going forward, and if any items being considered will require increasing the investment amount. These minutes go to the potential client and the salesperson.
Design and Estimating Happen
The design is done and reviewed with the potential client. Maybe there are up to two revisions. Once the potential client thinks the design solves their problems, the estimating starts while the designer continues with specifying. As the specifying gets done, it gets priced, too.
To a great degree, the designer is selecting items using photos, etc., that the potential client has said show what they like. The final review of the specs takes place AFTER the contract is signed (more on that in a bit).
These “dummy” specs are used to get firm pricing for providing and installing actual products. This gets rid of allowances and all the frustration and confusion they can create. With these real costs for real finishes and fittings, the client has a solid idea of what the project, as designed and specified by the company, will cost.
The designer and the salesperson work together to help the client be realistic about what will fit their investment. A base scope is agreed upon with alternates being identified proactively. For example, suppose the client loves a solid-surface countertop material that is very expensive. The possibility that going with this product will take the project cost past the investment amount is addressed before that product is spec’d in the base scope. A less expensive but acceptable product is specified in the base scope. At the same time, the desired product is set up in the same document as a standalone alternate.
By doing this proactively, three things happen:
- The potential client will not be blown out of the water when the proposal is presented.
- The dreaded process of “value engineering” is avoided. This where the desired fittings and finishes are replaced by less expensive ones, all occurring reactively, not proactively.
- The potential client can pick and choose among the alternates at the time the proposal is presented.
The Proposal is Presented and Signed
The salesperson presents and gets signed the Preliminary Proposal. This is an extremely thorough document based on the preliminary design, preliminary specifications determined by the designer after interacting with the client, and firm proposals from all trade contractors and vendors to build what is in the plans and specs. Now the job is secured.
The salesperson tells the potential client that the company is prepared to build what is described in the preliminary plans and the preliminary proposal for the fixed price listed at the end of the proposal. They also mention that additional work needs to be done, such as completing the plans and reviewing the specifications, noting that the cost to do these tasks is included in the fixed price–once again, listed at the end of the preliminary proposal.
Review All Selections
Now that the contract is signed the designer makes sure the client owns the choices the designer made (or then helps the client make the needed selections in a timely way), permit drawings can be prepared and submitted, working drawings can be prepared, and job books can be prepared. All of that work is paid for by the client because they signed a preliminary proposal that included the cost to do all this work.
Revise the Proposal
Change Order 1 is submitted and signed, covering any changes made to the plans, scope, cost and consequently, the length of the project, after the preliminary proposal was signed.
The Remodel Begins
With the permit in hand, the construction starts. There are only two documents signed before the project “is” the company’s: The Design Agreement and the Preliminary Proposal.
Developing a System Takes Time
How confident are you in your process? How effective is it at taking a potential client out of the marketplace and making your potential client think that you and your company are the solution? Do you unintentionally throw up barriers to securing the job? These are important questions to ask yourself if you are working for clients who don’t appreciate how you unique you and your company are, and who are always renegotiating the deal.
How did we come up with the process laid out above? I made a LOT of mistakes, and we eventually started learning from other remodeling companies about how to do things more effectively.
What are you doing to improve your sales process? Making the changes that will get the company to “Yes!” sooner than later will bring you the success you deserve.