5 essential moves for exterior contractors

By Jenni McMorran, Renoworks.

Finish the season strong and set your business up for a thriving year ahead.

Fall isn’t just about cozy sweaters and pumpkin-spiced everything — it’s the final push for exterior contractors before winter takes hold. With snow already blanketing some regions and colder days closing in, this is your last chance to seize lingering opportunities and prepare your business for winterproof success. Whether it’s capitalizing on the remaining good weather or fine-tuning your marketing strategy, now’s the time to gear up and finish strong before winter sets in. Let this guide from us at Renoworks help you make the most of the season.

1 – Use winter as another reason to help close those open opportunities

• Call all the estimates that didn’t close in spring and summer and remind them winter is coming and that you can still squeeze them in so they don’t have to deal with another winter wearing out their home.  

• Find out what was holding them back and address it head on (don’t jump to offering a discount immediately!) If they were uncertain about how it will look, offer to help with a tool like Renoworks Pro.  

2 – Get after photos of completed projects while the weather is nice.

• (And ensure you have permission to share these images in your marketing).  

• You’ll have lots of time over the slow months to work on great-looking marketing material for when the season starts up again and you’ll want images to work with.  

• If you were using a design tool like Renoworks Pro, you’ll want to show the before, the design and the completed project in your marketing material and website

3 – Make sure you have no loose ends with any projects you’ve done this summer.  

• Last thing you want is for the weather to turn and you’re trying to wrap up a big job that you have to put on hold until the Spring

4 – Revisit your SOPs.

• Talk to your team about what worked well this season and what didn’t.  

• While it’s fresh, now is a good time to rethink anything that wasn’t very efficient or that set you or your team back.  

5 – Get more online reviews and referrals. This will help your business significantly going into the new year to get more business.  

• Ask the customers you worked on this summer if they’re happy with the work and could give you an online review

• Do small, quick and easy jobs for a lower price or even for free in exchange for a stellar five-star review  

• Offer incentives for referrals (gift cards etc.)

• Now that things are slowing down a little, learn how to use a tool like Renoworks Pro that homeowners LOVE and that will be the little extra that will make them eager to give you a good review

Original article and photo source: Renoworks