Whether you have one salesperson or several in your remodeling company, it is important for the company to work on developing a consistent sales message and process. Why? The salespeople in a company are the promise makers, the expectation-setters.

Imagine how confusing it is for both the client and the company’s production department if the promises made and the process followed in the sales interactions are different every time.

So how to get a consistent message and process formulated?

  • Start by having anyone in the company who sells keep notes about the specific steps they take and the message(s) that are being used to convert the potential client to an actual client of the company. Note what is being said and its effectiveness or lack thereof.
  • Have a process-oriented person, typically the office manager, collate the information. This is important even if there is only one person in the company selling; usually the salesperson is not the right personality type to be able to sort through the information and see the patterns.
  • Review the initial results as a team. What, if anything, is surprising? What seems to work particularly well? What should not be done from this point further?

When consulting with a company that had a different salesperson for each type of business—full-service remodeling, smaller projects, and custom homes—I noted that only one salesperson was routinely having his potential clients come to the company’s office early in the relationship. After talking about how that made sense and how it worked that tactic was adopted by the other two salespersons. That is exactly why it makes sense to invest in systemizing your company’s sales work. When are you done? Never.You will always be improving the process, making it more effective and more consistent.

Will this make your company’s sales efforts more successful? I believe so but there is only one way for you to find out. Just do it! —Paul Winans, a veteran remodeler, now works as a facilitator for Remodelers Advantage, and as a consultant to remodeling business owners. [email protected]