A Remodeler with $7 Mil in Sales and a $50K Marketing Budget?

Use Criteria to Select Clients

We have three rules for selecting the right clients.

1. They have to be polite and respectful. There is no checklist for those qualities, but we can usually tell by talking with someone on the phone.
2. They have to want the work done properly.
3. They have to be willing to pay for it.

Recently, I met with a customer who had water coming into his basement. He asked for a fix that I knew wouldn’t work over the long term. I nicely explained that he would need to find someone else because we would just be taking his money and not doing the job correctly.

Customers Remember One Highlight and the Last 5%

Customers will typically remember one highlight during the job as well as the last 5%. That insight really stuck with me when I first heard it, and we’ve been building it into our process.

For the highlight, we bring gift cards, drop off food, or just stop by with something thoughtful. It doesn’t have to be a big gesture, it just needs to feel genuine and personal. We’ve also started bringing a bouquet of flowers on the first day of larger projects. People don’t associate flowers with construction, and that surprise sets the right tone from the beginning.

Then there’s the last 5% of the job. By that point, customers have project fatigue and so do we. But that’s the part they’ll remember most, so we can’t slack off. That means we don’t get lazy or cut corners at the end.

Align Expectations from the Start

When people know what to expect, they’re much more comfortable, even when things don’t go perfectly. If no one shows up to work on their project, that’s frustrating, but if we told the customer in advance that the crew would be out sick or materials are delayed, they’re usually fine with it. It’s when they don’t know what’s going on that the stress kicks in.

That’s why we put so much emphasis on communication. If a client calls me wondering where the crew is, that means we’ve failed. We didn’t align expectations clearly enough. That also applies to timelines, budgets, and design details. If they’re expecting a four-week project and we’re envisioning six, that’s on us.

Develop Brand Ambassadors

We don’t just want customers, we want to develop them into advocates. My goal is for our clients to be so happy that they tell everyone. And a lot of them do spread the word for us.

We don’t have a formal process to ask for reviews or referrals. Instead we believe that doing a great job is the best possible marketing. If we can create an experience worth talking about, we’ve done our job.

Keep A Gratitude Mindset

Gratitude is one of our core values. I will stop by projects just to thank the homeowner for trusting us. I also convey that mindset to our crews because it’s easy to think of this as a job, but from the homeowner's perspective we are in their house every day. It’s very personal, almost like you’re married to them for a period of time. I want them to understand that we don’t take that for granted.