Qualified Remodeler helps independent remodeling firms to survive, become more professional and more profitable by providing must-have business information, namely best business practices, new product information and timely design ideas.
Issue link: https://qualifiedremodeler.epubxp.com/i/108899
MARKET MAKERS key to success for these events is not charging for attendance. We see that locally with competitors who charge a fee, but it doesn���t work. We give attendees a firstclass impression,��� Nardo says. The seminars are marketed to past, current and prospective clients via phone calls, mailers, emails and online promotions. ���Seminars are educational about remodeling. We���re not selling Reborn,��� he says. The program begins at 10 a.m. on a Saturday, ends at 2 p.m., and includes cooking demonstrations, vendor products and plenty of displays. ���We do three different topics during the day, with breaks in between. Topics can include cabinet construction and refacing, countertops and how to shop for them, asking the correct questions, how to hire a contractor, how to shop for bath products, and a tour of the facility. We provide lunch, too.��� Attendance at Reborn seminars averages more than 100. ���It���s a full production, with parking attendants, goodie bags, food and people to seat guests. ���Mos t remodeler s have a showroom of some sort, and all of them can do an education pro- gram like this. The key is to provide education, not a sales pitch. I���ve had people comment that our seminars are very worthwhile and educational, and they could have spent weeks gathering the information we provide.��� The Conversion Seminars are great at generating attention, community relations and leads, but that���s not always enough. Post-seminar, Reborn sells to more than 35 percent of attendees. Nardo then runs a separate marketing campaign to the remaining 65 percent involving a written letter to attendees quoted but not sold. They are invited to a one-day sale and asked to bring their quote, and discuss their projects. ���It���s clear the one-day sale is the best deal they���ll get. We sell 90 percent of the people that come in. So, we get well over 30 percent closing on the seminar, and 90 percent close on that letter. In 2012, post-seminar follow-up accounted for more than 30 percent of our revenue,��� Nardo says. Marketing efforts contribute to the success of the seminars and post-seminar sales, which is why Reborn knows that when times are bad, marketing cannot stop. ���We don���t care if we have to scrape the bottom of the budget barrel; we don���t cut back on marketing,��� Nardo says. ���In our newspaper each Saturday we run a full-page color ad, all year. It never stops. Clients have told us that during tough times, we���re the only ones staying consistent with marketing.��� Being a Market Maker ���Being a market maker means having to think outside the box in everything we do. We want to come up with ideas no one else has come up with,��� he says. To handle all its leads, Reborn has a full outside sales staff of 30 that visits clients in their homes on a daily basis. There are another 15 showroom employees. Fifteen more are at an event at all times, such as a strawberry fest, home show, mall showroom or Sam���s Clubs. ���Whatever event we���re into, our marketing team is out there to secure appointments. Those appointments go to our call center, where 17 part-time people work,��� he notes. The call center is critical to project success, because every bit of communication filters through it. For example, Reborn���s field partners aren���t allowed to communicate The Reborn Cabinets team includes (l to r): Vince Nardo, president; Vinny Nardo, founder; Brenda Nardo, CEO; and Anthony Nardo, CFO. 16 February 2013 QR ForResidentialPros.com job details to a client. ���We call the electrician, find out what time he���s going to be there, then call the client. We don���t want our trades to communicate other than ���hi��� and ���goodbye��� and ���Here���s what I���m doing today.��� They shouldn���t be asking clients where the can lights should go. We call this is the ultimate remodeling experience.��� REVIVAL CONSTRUCTION Wright Marshall President Atlanta revivalconstruction.com Affiliations: NARI, Guild Quality, Remodelers Advantage It might seem strange that someone who as a child was forced outside to do yard work and other household projects would become president of a successful remodeling firm, but stranger things have happened. While on the jobsites of his father���s renovation projects, Wright Marshall, president of Atlanta-based Revival Construction, was more interested in architecture and reading books about it than helping his father. Marshall decided to follow his interest in design and apply his business degree as a restorer of old homes rather than as an investment banker. He had a vision of what his remodeling firm would be, what kind of projects it would tackle, and who the clients would be. ���I was 27 when I started the company, and I had a clear vision that it would be more of a practice than a growth business. It���s important to identify what kind of company you want to be, what clients you