“When there is no wind….row!”

Most markets have seen lead flow slow down to a crawl and the question of the moment is, ‘what should I do to make the phone ring?’

In this new series called “Guerilla Marketing”, we’ll explore how builders can help keep their sales pipeline full, even when the market is slow. This 5-part series explores some guerilla marketing ideas that are free, or nearly free, to help builders ATTRACT, CAPTURE, CONVERT & SELL more high-quality jobs in a challenging market.

In part 1 of the series, “How Builders Can Keep Their Sales Pipeline Full in a Tough Market- Part I”, we’ll explore which FREE 3rd party platforms provide the best exposure for builders.

So what are you waiting for, watch/listen/read this episode to discover easy yet effective strategies for increasing leads, revenue, and customer satisfaction–all with minimal effort!

Builder Lead Converter ATTRACTS, CAPTURES & CONVERTS high-quality leads for builders so they can pick & choose their clients & jobs. Find out how at https://www.builderleadconverter.com

 

Transcript:

Rick: Today on Conversations That Convert, we will be discussing how a builder can keep their sales pipeline full in a tough market. Should be a fun one. Let’s get started. 

Welcome to Conversations That Convert. Every week, we’ll spend about 10 to 15 minutes tackling relevant lead generations. Marketing and sales topics for remodelers home improvement companies and home builders Conversations that Convert is brought to you by Builder Lead Converter, your perfect sales assistant. And now here’s Rick and Daiana.  

Rick: Welcome to Conversations that Converts, everyone, Daiana. You look as lovely as ever today 

Daina: Thank you. Thank you so much. Welcome, everybody. Good to see you again, Rick. How are you as well? 

Rick: I’m doing great. I’m excited to for our topic today. What are we going to be discussing today?

Daina: I’m excited too because we start a new series and how builders can keep their sales pipeline full in a tough market. That is right happening. 

Rick: Exactly. That is a topic of a lot of my discussions lately with builders is like saying, Hey, the leads have dropped off. The phone’s not ringing. What can I do to get some leads back in the door? So this is going to be a series called Gorilla Marketing for Builders.  you know, the default knee-jerk reaction, Diana, is when I need leads, I start running ads. So we discussed that last time saying, Hey, if you’re going to run ads, here’s what you should do. And we put together a five-step program.

So look for that series, from our last Conversations that Converts episodes. Now we’re going to start talking about some guerrilla marketing. So we’re talking about some things to do is like, Hey, if the budget is tight.  Just some basic things and the really cool thing about today. We’ll be discussing some things that don’t cost much money at all.

So that’s the thing. I’m really excited about the disease and its some quick impacts. You can make doesn’t cost you any money. and you can see really, immediate results from it. So this is all based of course, on the number one marketing challenge, according to the Association of Professional Builders State of the Residential Construction Industry survey, the number one marketing challenge for home builders and remodelers is generating high.

Quality leads now that interest rates are up market has contracted a little bit A lot of people are sitting on the sidelines and builders saying hey I need to get some deals going to fill my pipeline because I’m running out of work So this is something you can do right away. It’s gonna make a big impact So again part one utilizing free resources today.

Everything we will discuss today is free to you  And you can do it yourself. You don’t have to hire anybody to do it either. It’s very very simple. So that’s what’s really most exciting. So what do you say Daiana? Should we get started?  

Daina: I’m excited. Let’s get started

Rick: All right. We’re gonna start with something you probably all heard about before, Houzz and creating a free house profile. So, this would be a Houzz Pro account for you home builders and remodelers, but of course, If you’re an interior designer and outdoor landscaping, you can also do this. It’s going to be impactful for your business. So what I’m going to do right away is just pull up a Houzz, their main webpage and just look at some of the services that you can target.

So, you see here, they have this find professionals tab, and then all the things items on here, they have it laid out on this page. So, they’ve got popular services here such as home remodeling, additions, ADUs, space remodeling, universal design, and then home design and remodeling. So, if you’re an architect or interior designer, general contractor, home builder, kitchen and bath designer, kitchen and bath remodeler, or design-build firm, all of these are available to you.

And there’s some more stuff here below including home improvement if you’re doing for more handyman-type work, and then even some home services down here for more specialty, remodelers.  We’re going to focus of course on these top two. And the cool thing about Houzz, it’s really a social media platform. And Daiana, you were saying where you are in Europe, Houzz is also very popular, you checked it out a little bit yourself, you said?  

Daina: Yeah. Yes. It started I think two or three years ago. They have also TV advertising, so, they’re growing and, they’re very popular and, they’re among the first, five websites. 

Rick: Oh, really? Okay. So they’re making their inroads in Europe, but they’ve been in the U. S. a long time, but they have evolved from more of a peer, like, a social media platform for people interested in housing to now where they have a whole e-commerce site, a back end, you can buy products from them, and then they’ve got professional services that they offer to the professional, the pros that use Houzz.

So we’re going to be looking at how remodelers can target leads on Houzz and you’re going to choose one of these popular services. Now,  correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that when you set this up if you’re going to get a free account, you can choose one of these. So you’re going to have to choose.

If you’re a home builder, you can choose that, but you can’t choose a design-build firm. If you go to a, when you start going to a paid account, I believe they let you advertise on more of these platforms. So it’s just more exposure from you. Now we’re not talking, we’re talking about a free house account today, but.

Some of you might be saying, Hey, is it worth advertising on Houzz? The question is, it depends. You have to test it. How it seems to be really regionally focused where some regions if you advertise, you know,  money to get show up more in searches, it’s worth it. You’re, you will get good quality leads.

I’ve heard of other builders say they tried it. They didn’t get any decent leads out of it. So, I would definitely suggest trying it for 90 days and tracking the results. You make the determination if you wanna continue to do it but for the free account. Absolutely. Is it worth it? Yes. Because people will find you and we’ll show you some of the great, I should say,  synergy you can have with some other platforms.

Alright? So you’re gonna choose a service. Looks like this. So what I’m gonna go into. Next is I’m going to show you a profile of one of our clients on Houzz. They’ve done, I think, a really nice job, and this is a good example of what you should do. So I’m just going to walk through this and give you a list of some checklist items that you want to strive for once you create your profile.

So, obviously, a very nice photo here to start with. This is one of the bathrooms. Again, you just want to get a good, high-quality image. They’re going to have certain parameters that you need to meet,  here as your main photo. Your logo, now you notice here, 25 reviews.  You, once you get your profile set up, now it’s time to get reviews. 

So the magic number is 10, but I’m going to show you how the reviews here are going to tie into another free platform and it’s going to help boost getting more eyes on you, even from somebody that doesn’t look at your Houzz profile. So, here we have a, they’re obviously listed in a design-build firm, main call city homes.

There’s an about a section projects, business credentials, and reviews. Now, here’s a cool thing about this is that somebody can find them on Houzz. They can save them and they can start looking through some of their projects, which I guess they call idea books. Maybe they need the projects now. So, you can see this client has 121 projects on here. That’s great. I’d say there’s almost too many. I don’t think you need more than probably about 10 or 15 projects. So  I’m guessing some of these projects are quite old. Daiana, what do you think?  

Daina: Well, I like the numbers. So I took a note. So try it for 90 days if you want to advertise and then for free, definitely join in. And, it’s interesting that you, you mentioned 10 to 15. And,  I think that that’s enough to prove quality and to prove that you’re worth attention. Right? 

Rick: Yeah, double digits are good, but also there’s a magic number with Google. Once you get to 10 reviews, it’s going to make an impact with the other free platform we’re going to discuss today. So you, yes, you want to get project books in here and you can see there are 24 images in this one, 16, and so on and so forth. However, some of these projects are probably a little bit older. So if I was consulting with my client right now, I would say, Hey, you know what? Why don’t you go on go and get rid of all the old projects and just keep the newer stuff in there?

I think sometimes you can have a little bit of paralysis by analyzing too much information is not always a good thing. There’s the About Us section on here. Obviously, it breaks down service areas any awards that they’ve had, and then what category they’re in. So, it looks like we have a free account in design-build, but this is awesome because you can clearly specify here the communities you serve and this is the services you provide.

So that would be in the business section and we talked about,  projects. Now, once we get into the business details, you could put in typical job costs, And then they these guys also say most of their projects would be within 50 to 350. Get your license number on there, this shows you how many followers so people can follow you too.

And when you do updates, obviously just like social media, they get notifications and a backlink to your website, which is really important for SEO. Your physical address and your phone number. This is something that Houzz does for credentials. Obviously, this is just a badge, along with your affiliations. It helps give you more credibility.

You know, so, these are things you’re going to earn, obviously, over time.  But, you see there are quite a few on here. And then last but not, certainly not least, really, really important, reviews. And they’ve obviously got really good reviews. 4. 9.  So, this is all this I showed you is free. Get this set up immediately. It’s going to take you time to build the reviews. You may not have projects that you can have 121 photo books in there, but if you at least get You know, shoot to get 10 15 of those. And again, remember, the magic number is 10 for review. So, Daiana, any final thoughts on Houzz here before we jump into the next one? 

Daina: Yeah, I think it’s, it’s interesting. And I like the picture. So I think the image and the visuals are very important to any type of site. But I think they make a difference with the picture or is only my impression. With that.

Rick: Well, and I yes, it’s it’s a lot like it’s a social media site. Really what it is because you as you see up here. I have a login for my account So, if you want to go ahead and save these things and you know do anything with them. You have to create an account which is cool and then they’re gonna they’re gonna encourage you to get an app.

So, once I have the app on my phone. Now, when you do an update, Hey, I get a push notification for an update. So it’s a great way to stay top of mind with people following you. As you can see, these guys had about 700 people following you. So that can be part of a marketing push as well is to get your friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, and past clients to, follow you on Houzz, and all that helps create confidence for that next lead coming in. 

Let’s switch over. I’m going to pull this one out and let’s go ahead and switch over to our next free service, which is Google Business Profile. Google My Business used to be called, it’s been a lot of different names, but the new name is Google Business Profile. So we want to create and optimize a Google Business Profile. So, what I’m going to start with here is I am going to show you the same client and their Google Business Profile.  

And we’re going to take a look at how Houzz ties into this Google My Business Profile.  so here we go. If we look at it, you have photos. Now this, there are not enough photos on here. This is the first critique I would make this client is add more images. And you can see this most recent image was three years ago. So like anything else, As we’ll discuss here at the end, you want to keep these updated. 

Exactly. you see there are nine Google reviews here. Again, the trick is to get to 10 because now that will affect your search engine rankings. In other words, if somebody is looking for a design-build firm or modeling firm in the same areas that this client serves, they have 10 reviews and the next guy has five reviews, they’re going to show up first. 

So they’re going to rank them by hierarchy. So not only the quality of their view but the number of reviews. So really, really important to continue to build reviews here. So, you can see here, that they’ve got the hours and their phone number. Here’s something that you may not know about is this is something that was probably added a year or two ago with Google My Business. 

They have a chat function right now, but you have to go inside your profile to enable it. So if you don’t do that, it will not work. Also, when you get a chat. You can put a Google My Business app on your phone, so if somebody uses this chat function, you’ll get a push notification and you can communicate back and forth with them. 

Otherwise, you’ll get a chat notification through your, whatever email address you use to set up your Google My Business profile. Questions and answers. Yeah, you can go in there, you can put in FAQs or frequently asked questions. And so that is important. Do you know what areas do you serve? What type of projects do you do? 

Obviously, there’s an about section on here as well, which you see here. For profiles, you can now add all of your social media profiles, so they have LinkedIn on here, but you should have Facebook, Instagram, Houzz, you know, all those, profiles add those here as well. And then obviously you can look at all their Google reviews. The ones that actually get are the quote-unquote most helpful and are going to show up at the top here. And then as far as writing a review, this is the link that you will use up here to send out to any clients that you want to get more reviews on. 

Now, the last function I’m going to show you on Google My Business is something that this client is not taking advantage of. This is another business that I have. And as you can see, here’s my Google My Business profile. Look at that. Haven’t we done a good job of getting reviews, Daiana, 73 five-star reviews? 

Daina: Nice. 

Rick: So that helps us. so we have our chat function turned on. We have our About Us section here, but this is what’s new view previous updates on Google. So now for Google My Business, you can post.  just like you would to social media. So if you post something to Facebook or Instagram, you can also post it to Google My Business. 

The cool thing is with our BLC, with our BLC app, our clients can actually post everything in synchronization. So they can integrate their Facebook, Instagram, and Google My Business, create a post, and then send it to all three. So yeah, any quick updates you have, you know, on what’s going on with your business. You put them on here and, you can put offers on there, which is really cool as well.  Time-sensitive things. And so you just can’t do videos and you can’t do more than one picture. That’s the only limitation to it. So, Daiana,  any thoughts on Google My Business here? 

Daina: So what I think here, the secret is to keep it updated and go there from time to time and update the picture, see what’s new, the features, and really be present so that you show up to the client that you’re there and you’re interested and, then they will contact you. And I think that will also raise your credibility. Hey, he’s active. He wants the job. He wants to be there. So, that’s important for the client, I think. 

Rick: Yep, absolutely. And you know the cool thing about this with photos, too, is that when you send a link for a client to review, they can add photos of their project. So they can take a picture of their own home or remodeling project, add it here, and say, hey, ABC Builders was the best, and you really want to use them.  So,  that’s the really neat thing about it.

Now, last but certainly not least, just a couple of final tips.  What should you do after you get your profile set up, start building reviews, and then finally add updates regularly, photo services, locations, et cetera. Maybe it shouldn’t be weekly, but I would definitely try to update monthly if I could, especially using the update section in Google My Business. So thank you so much, Daiana, for your insights. Any final thoughts from you?  

Daina: So I think that’s I think exactly what I said. It’s important to be there. Be present. Choose your social networks and stay there. Don’t just build a  profile and leave it there. 

Rick: Absolutely. And one of the things I forgot to mention is right here. This is a College City. Again, the design-builder looked at their house profile. Look at this. So their house reviews will show up on their Google My Business accounts. The two do work in harmony with one another. And this will help boost their search engine rankings because not only do they have nine reviews here, they’ve also got another 25 builds a lot of confidence to with any prospective client that’s looking at their profile, seeing that they can go to their house profile as well. So very, very important that you focus on both of those.  

And if you would like to see if we can help you attract capture and convert high-quality leads so you can pick and choose your clients and jobs as well. Go ahead and click on that schedule call button right below here We’ll be happy to meet with you talk to you about your company and see if we might be able to help you So from our brothers and sisters in Christ May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all always We’ll see you next time on Conversations that Convert. Bye. Bye, everybody.