Jobs by Twin Cities Siding Professionals have a way of holding up because the company’s installers — all of them employees — pay attention to details, especially in the trim.
That’s important because the product that the company specializes in installing is warranted for 30 years — if correctly installed. Some companies take the time to do it right, some don’t. “We sit down and spend time with the prospect,” co-owner Terry Stamman says. “We let them know that there’s a risk out there.”
Today Twin Cities Siding Professionals is the largest installer of fiber-cement siding in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, and the Stammans are big proponents of contractor education and of offering the kind of benefits that help to retain skilled installers. Recently the company expanded its efforts in window replacement so that it can capture a bigger share of combined exterior sales.
BEST PRACTICES
- Employee benefits help the company retain skilled installers.
- The company engaged the services of a marketing consultant to help drive business.
- Internet marketing accounts for 37% of the company’s business.
- After watching more than 100 local home improvement businesses succumb to the recession and local homeowners get increasingly wary of hiring contractors, the Stammans last year hit on the idea of offering prospects a performance bond to ensure the completion of the job.
Notable quote: The Stammans decided to focus on a fiber-cement siding product before it was widely known or used. “I had people laughing at me,” Terry recalls. “They said: You can’t build a business on one product.”
- Jim Cory