Tom and Dawn Wotton see themselves as guides, helping clients navigate the bewildering array of choices that come with a remodeling project. “There are [so many] options out there in materials, methods, and new products coming online every day. They’re quickly inundated,” Tom says.
Much of the company’s business comes through volunteer activities in their small community. “Believe it or not, we run into our clients at those,” Dawn says. “I get a lot of leads that way. You become more real. You’re talking to people in everyday situations instead of [a situation where] I’m in their house trying to pitch a kitchen, or I’m in their house trying to pitch a bathroom.”
The company has started offering seminars, which helps get their name out and aids in finding promising leads. “We scrutinize the leads we get,” Tom says. “We don’t take them if we know they’re not going to be profitable. We make sure that the job is something we can do and meet the client’s expectations.”
Staff expertise gets high priority. “We
spend a lot of time and money training our employees, keeping them up to date
on things so that they can manage the subcontractors in the field and answer
homeowners’ questions,” Tom says.
Takeaways
- Home Sweet Home Improvements takes full advantage of training provided by manufacturers, calling vendors when a new product comes out to request instruction on it.
- Because high-speed Internet is unavailable to many of the company’s rural prospects, print advertising in local papers is still a big part of the company’s marketing mix, but it has started using social media as well.