Recession-Proof Construction Marketing
The Home Asset Management Plan Gives You a Construction Marketing System That Your Remodeling Company Can Use To Book Work Years In Advance
Homeowners always have work that needs to be done on their homes, even in a down economy. The Home Asset Management Plan shows professionals how to build and leverage relationships with past clients by offering an annual home inventory. It's an optimal construction marketing system. Increase sales by learning how to identify potential problem areas and provide homeowners with a "homeowner notebook" with findings, recommendations, and estimates to assist homeowners with managing their largest asset. Work is identified and "booked" as much as 12 to 24 months in advance.
The benefits of this business model are numerous:
Is recession-proof – even in a bad economy, homeowners still need help
Is proactive, not reactive – don't wait for customers to call – call them and generate work orders!
Provides ongoing cash flow – generating work orders even in a down economy
Allows you to build life-long relationships with your customers by becoming their "contractor and adviser for life."
Builds long-term company equity
Downloads for this “Home Asset Management Plan” Presentation
Sample Marketing Letter – PDF or Word DOC
Section 1 Understanding the Model – PDF or Word DOC
Webinar Presentation Slide Show Handout – PDF
Video Transcription
Hello, and welcome to how to implement a recession-proof construction marketing system. My name is David Lupberger, and I’m your host today. I’ve actually been in the remodeling industry for over 20 years as a design/build remodeling contractor and as a provider of educational products and services to the construction industry. I’ve spoken at numerous trade shows, including the Remodeling Show and many of the JLC Live Conferences. And I continue to work with remodeling contractors and remodeling associations around the country, working with contractors to adapt to this new economy.
I’m the author of a book called “Managing the Emotional Homeowner,” a professional development series called “The Remodeler’s Turnkey Program,” and a program we’re going to talk about today called “The Home Asset Management Plan.”
Thanks for giving me some time today to review what’s happened over the last 3 to 4 years and how you can adapt to it. We’re going to briefly review the construction industry's condition and where the opportunity is in today’s market.
I want to introduce a recession-proof business concept to book work now and book work 12, 24, or even 36 months in advance. I want to review the steps to get started and some shortcuts on how to do this quickly. And because for so many people, funds are limited, I want to show you how to test and self-fund this so that this concept is self-supporting.
Let’s get started. In the present economy, there is a national unemployment rate of just under 9 percent. This has been a very, very severe downturn. When it comes to construction, the rate is 22.5 percent, almost two-and-a-half times the national average. Why, because homeowners are scared. We’ve seen a huge reduction in real estate values around the country, and due to these reductions in value, homeowners are postponing the projects they’ve been thinking about.
There’s a great deal of uncertainty, not only about the economy. In addition, homeowners are very worried about their own jobs and places of employment. Due to all this uncertainty, people are afraid. They’re fearful of putting money into a larger project in their house because they don’t look at their home as an ironclad investment anymore, which has had a very direct effect on the construction industry.
Let me run some questions by you, and I think you’ll agree:
Have You Experienced?
Less work than 3 years ago?
Smaller project size?
Homeowners speaking with 5, 6, or 7 contractors?
Demanding additional concessions and price reductions?
A lower closing ratio?
Have you laid someone off?
Are you working harder due to layoffs and a smaller staff?
Are you working harder now and making less money?
Many contractors are going through a severe cash flow crunch. They’re concerned about meeting payroll, and for many of the contractors that I know, their employees are like family. I know contractors who will get their employees paid first before paying themselves. Due to this, some contractors have been delayed or are delinquent on their own mortgage payments.
I got a call about a month ago – and you know this is serious – the contractor told me that he was not paying his IRS withholding payments because he didn’t have the money. All of this uncertainty affects you, your health, your marriage, and your family. It’s a direct effect, and it takes the fun out of what you’re doing. It takes the life and vitality out of your workday life.
Well, let me give you a little more background on who I am. I mentioned I’m a former design/build remodeling contractor. I actually worked in Arlington, Virginia, right across the Potomac River from Washington, DC. During that time, a number of us were founded – a group of four of us started a company called The Remodelers’ Guild. The Remodeler’s Guild's purpose was to show contractors how to make their company a salable asset. Things did not unfold as we would have liked, and the whole concept fell apart. It didn’t work for a variety of reasons.
There was one part of The Remodelers’ Guild that contractors liked. It was called the HomeLife Plan. The Home Life Plan involved going to the past customer and, for those that were open to it, providing an annual home inventory, which included doing an exterior and interior inventory of the home and putting together a scheduled follow-up plan which involved adding any and all projects that might take place over a three-to-five-year period. Contractors liked this. It provided recurring revenue, and a predictable cash flow, creating financial stability within the companies that implemented this idea.
With the downturn we’re going through in this economy, this concept has more value than ever before. So what I’m going to review today is a proactive customer management strategy. Number one, it’s recession-proof. Why? Because everyone owns a home, and virtually every one of those homes needs some kind of work. Number two, this concept is proactive, not reactive. Most people in construction have what I call a reactive business model. That is, the homeowner calls, and we come. And we do our best to market our services so that they think about us when they decide to move forward.
The concept I’m going to introduce is proactive. And what I mean by that is we call, we set up the homeowner inventory, define the projects that are being done, and put together the schedule. It’s a proactive business strategy. It provides ongoing cash flow and uniquely shifts the relationship with each of our customers to become their contractors for life. Not only that, but it builds long-term company equity. Let’s take another look at what’s going on again in the housing industry.
If we look at it from a glass-half-empty perspective, we’re going through a harsh economic downturn; homes are going down in value. In fact, if you’ve been following the news, it’s estimated that 20 to 25 percent of the homes in the country have mortgages than the value in the home, meaning there is no equity. Now, homeowners, you’re not going to put anything into a home that has no equity. And so due to this, and because of the perception that homes have lost value, homeowners are encountering a very rough real estate market. They can’t sell their homes.
Things are very sluggish in all parts of the country. And due to all this, homeowners are concerned about investing in their homes. And all this has had a dramatic effect on the construction industry. Let’s shift our perspective here just a little bit. All these same people who can’t sell their homes still own their homes. And every single one of these homes has ongoing service and repair items. If homeowners are looking to stay in that home for the next five to ten years, are there improvements that make financial sense? And as you, like remodeling and construction professionals, can you assist them with that home assessment?
Let me give you an example. I had the opportunity to attend a sales call with a very successful remodeler in Long Beach, California. The homeowner was evaluating whether to do over $200,000.00 worth of work to his home. During the course of the sales call, he let us know that the home had actually lost $300,000.00 in equity. He had estimated that since 2008 that his home had gone down in value by $300,000.00. And here he was, speaking to us about investing another $200,000.00 or more into his home.
So during the course of the conversation, one of us had to ask, “Help us understand. You’re already looking at a $300,000.00 loss in equity. And at the same time, you’re looking at investing $200,000.00 or more into your home. Help us understand your thinking here.” Well, what was neat – and this is where I really got some good insight – this person was a financial manager. He actually worked with high-income individuals in non‑profit associations, managing their money.
And because he does quite a bit of work in the stock market, he brought up – “If I have a stock that’s gone down in value and I think it’s going come back,” he said, “I don’t sell it because if I sell it I take a loss on the stock, and I’ve got to make money back somewhere else.” And he said, “Honestly, I’m looking at my home the same way.” He said, “If I was to sell my home, not only would I take that $300,000.00 loss in equity due to the market right now, but I’d probably have to discount the house even more, to get it sold.”
“Then I’ve got to pay for the cost of moving. And once I buy a new house, I’m probably investing additional money in the new house to get it the way I want it.” So he said, “My total estimate for the cost of selling and moving I anticipate to be between $450,000.00 to $500,000.00. Remember that real estate is unique. When you’ve got certain neighborhoods, they’re not making more of them”. Real estate is unique in this way.
This gentleman lived in a gated community, and he said, “Although I’ve lost $300,000.00 in equity, I think that values are going to come back. It could be five years, it could be seven, it could be ten, but I think the values are going to come back eventually.” So he said, “I’m willing to invest in my home because, number one, I get to stay in the area that I like. But number two, I can take those $200,000.00 worth of improvements, and I can really make this home just the way I want and can enjoy those improvements for the next five to ten years.” And he said, “I do think I will recoup my investment. I can’t tell you when, but due to the nature of the real estate and due to the uniqueness of real estate, I believe I’ll make my money back”.
I share that story with you to ask if you can adopt a similarly proactive approach working with the homeowners you know to develop a three-to-five-year plan for their home jointly. Can you create and introduce a continuum of services, moving the clients you work with into a proactive plan to help them identify work in advance as far out as five years?
You can do this by introducing the annual home inventory. And after doing this interior and exterior inventory, you can put together a documented plan for them. Other industries have done this very successfully. If you’ve ever purchased a new vehicle, there’s a warranty schedule that comes with the car. You bring the car to be serviced every 15 to 30 thousand miles. And the car manufacturer lets you know if you do this well that, the car will run better and last longer.
We visit our dentist once or twice a year for dental cleanings, and what they’re doing is evaluating our teeth and addressing any issues before they become problems. We have an annual physical when we go in and visit our physician. They’re doing the same thing. We do an annual physical to make sure that everything is good, that your body’s functioning correctly, and that you’re in good health. Well, who’s providing the annual physical for someone’s home?
This is what we’re introducing, the proactive home inventory. We’re going to where the homeowners are. We’re not talking about remodeling projects. We’re saying, “Let’s look at your home. This is probably the biggest asset you have – so let’s put together a plan to not only take care of it but let’s improve it as part of our documented plan.” The home inventory will assist you with identifying service, maintenance, and repair items.
But let’s augment the plan. Let’s expand the vision. If you do energy audits, you know where I’m going with this. If you don’t, then meet an energy auditor and start working with one. Look, 90% of the homes in this country are under-insulated. And through a simple energy audit and then following with additional insulation and air sealing – which is not an expensive upgrade – you can probably reduce the home’s energy consumption by 30 to 40 percent. That means reducing their heating and cooling bills by 30 to 40 percent. Not only that, but you are making the home more comfortable.
You’ll see the home video for insurance purposes. I live in Boulder, Colorado, and last summer, there was a fire just above Boulder. They called it the Four-Mile Fire. A hundred and sixty-nine homes were burned in that fire. A previous attendee of this program said, “Boy, would a video as part of the inventory make sense for insurance purposes?” If you’re at the house doing this inventory, imagine coming back with a video camera and going room to room with the homeowner, having them talk about what’s in each room, and providing them with a video inventory of their home.
When you’re in the house, look at the other working systems. What’s the age of the roof? What’s the condition of the siding and the exterior paint? What’s the age of the furnace and, the hot water heater, the appliances? Look, if you’ve got a 20-year roof and the people have been in the home for 15, 16 years, I think it’s good from an advisory point of view to let them know, “You’ve got an expense coming up. In the next two to three years, you’ll be replacing your roof, so please begin to budget for that.”
If you’ve got some exterior paint that’s peeling, and I’ve worked with a professional painter where we’ve gone through the exterior of a home and identified areas where the paint was peeling. We went back and spot-primed and painted and extended that paint job's exterior life by another two to three years.
If they’ve been in the home for 12 to 15 years and it’s the original hot water heater, let them know, “This is something you’re going to need to replace, so let’s get this done before it leaks and causes a bigger problem.” Now, by initiating this and seeing these people first with the inventory and then coming back to implement the plan – you’re going to be seeing them at least two times a year, perhaps even more.
This will be the very best marketing you can ever do because you’re engaging your past clients, and helping them manage their biggest asset. And I will guarantee you that additional remodeling projects will be introduced during the course of these visits. You’re out there one day, and the homeowner will come up and say something along the lines of, “You know, we’re not going to be moving in the next three to five years. We’re a little unhappy with the kitchen. Can you set another time when you can come out about what we might do to upgrade the kitchen?”
This is how these conversations will arise, and they’ll arise by you being there working with them. So the goal of this is to become your homeowner’s home project resource. Look, they’ve got a family doctor; they’ve got a family dentist. You’re going to become the family contractor. Regardless of the economy, homeowners always have projects that need to be done. And this is not the handyman model, and let me emphasize this. The handyman model is a reactive business model. The homeowner calls and says, “I’ve got a broken passage set. Can you fix it?”
With small projects, everyone knows it’s difficult to make that profitable without charging a high hourly fee. And a lot of homeowners push back against that. With the Home Asset Management Plan, we’re doing two things. We’re doing the inventory – we’re not identifying one project; we’re identifying 10 or 12 different projects. And because very few of these things are an emergency, we’re going to bundle these projects, and then we’re going schedule a time to come out and do those projects when it works on our schedule. So even if it’s six or eight weeks out before you do it, if your homeowner client knows that this is being done, they’ll be fine because they know – they’ve seen the list, and they’ve signed off on the list.
Number one, when you bundle the projects, you now have made this profitable for your company because you’re not going out for half a day; you’re now going out for three, four, or five days. So you’ve not only made it profitable, but you’ve actually made it more cost-effective for your homeowner client. It works for both of you. This works because you control the scheduling. For example, let’s say you’re going back out to a client’s home four, five, or six weeks down the road. One week before you go out to do those jobs, call the homeowner, remind them you’re coming, and ask them if there’s anything else they need to be done.
I guarantee you that they’re going to add some additional projects when they know you're coming. That’s the honey-do list they’re going to hand to you because they know you’re coming. So I really want to communicate that while small jobs are included in this concept, it’s just part of the total service. So let’s look at a distinction here. A general distinction between a customer and a client is that a customer purchases products and a client purchases services. The Home Asset Management Plan is really about building up a stable of good clients that will provide work 12, 24, and 48 months into the future.
Let me give you some examples of people who are doing this very successfully. Dennis Allen of Allen Associates in Santa Barbara was an original member of the Remodeler’s Guild. He actually helped create the HomeLife Plan. He introduced the HomeLife Plan and this home inventory concept into his company several years ago. It was so successful; he actually had to open up a service division. He calls it the Building Care and Repair Division. The Building Care and Repair Division in his company now does a sales volume of around $1.2 million annually.
His bid-to-sale ratio is 55 to 65 percent, so he’s closing on 55 to 65 percent of his estimates at a 35 percent gross profit. And he’s got a wonderful handoff because when he does a remodeling project, and toward the end of the project, he says to the homeowner, “I want to introduce you to the manager of our Building Care and Repair Division because about three months from now, the Building Care and Repair manager is going to come back to your house, and do a walk-through to review the work that we’ve done to make sure everything’s fine. As long as he’s here, he’s going to go ahead and walk around the other parts of your house, and he’ll let you know if there’s anything else that needs attention.”
There’s a wonderful hand-off from his construction division to the Building Care and Repair division. This whole concept has been so successful that Dennis is now hosting homeowner workshops in Santa Barbara for both past clients and prospective clients. In the workshops, he reviews how to main your home and investment. And naturally, this acts as an introduction to his Building Care and Repair division.
Louis LaFratta is on the East Coast and is one of Franklin LaFratta Construction's co-owners in Richmond, Virginia. They were also an original member of the Remodeler’s Guild. They also introduced the HomeLife Plan several years ago in their construction company.
Again, because it was so successful, they opened a service division called FLF Services. He said to me, “I want you to understand, David, that before this, we had just a handful of what he called just-come-and-do-it clients. For example, working with a homeowner getting one home ready for sale, and at the same time, visiting the home they planned to purchase and putting together the project list on the home they’re going to move into. What FLF Services have allowed us to do is build up a much greater number of just-come-and-do-it clients”. You all have a few clients like this. I think most people listening probably have two, three, four, or five past clients like this.
The goal of The Home Asset Management Plan is to allow you to quadruple that number or more. I’m going to review just how to introduce this model to your business. Louis has said this service element has helped him build and extend their relationships with each one of his clients. Because of this, he said, “In both our construction and service divisions, when a project is done, employees know the relationship is just beginning.” And he continued, “In both the construction and service side, each employee asks the question before they leave, ‘What do I need to do so that homeowners feel comfortable calling us back?’ “And, fundamentally, Louis said, “This service element has created a stronger company culture and has made us more successful as a company.”
Ron Klassen with Wallner Builders in Butler, Wisconsin, recently introduced the Home Asset Management Plan into his company. And he sent me this note, and I am quoting here specifically what he sent me because he asked me to share his experience, “We have explained this concept to some prospective Home Asset Management Plan clients, and they were enthused – even the retiree without a lot of income – because they don’t know who to call to address things. They don’t know who to trust when it comes to recommendations and knowing if the work is needed or not.”
This is what we’re introducing here. We’re introducing a trusting, consultative relationship assisting homeowners with managing their biggest asset. Look, they’ve got the family doctor and a family dentist. Many people probably have a family car mechanic, a person they go to that they trust. You’re going to provide the same service for their homes. So, to implement this in your own business, understand the full-service model. Next, pick a select group to test this concept.
I’m going to ask you to test this with four or five of your own customers so that they can tell you what they think in their own words. First, create a simple marketing piece. Send that marketing piece to those test clients; in response to the marketing piece, follow up with a phone call to set an appointment to present the concept and make the sale. Now you see there’s an asterisk next to understand the full-service model in creating a simple marketing piece.
In conjunction with this webinar, you’ll see there are a couple of downloads for forms you can access as part of this program. You’re welcome to review this with someone in your office. I’m also giving you the downloads, including a review of this full-service model and a sample marketing piece.
Both of these are in Microsoft Word format to be customized and modified for your own company. So I wanted to give you those two building blocks to help you get started.
As you might imagine, there’s much more detail. But I’m getting this entire webinar done in under an hour, so I am very time-conscious. But I’m going to continue to give you as much as I can. Remember, I’ve been focusing on the homeowner part of this in introducing this new concept. There’s another part of this. When you speak with homeowners and do their home inventories, there’ll be various service requests. You’re also going to introduce this plan to your key trade contractors.
Most of the general contractors I work with have a dedicated group of subs: their electrician, plumber, HVAC contractor, painter, and roofer. Depending on what you do, you may have one or two others. In addition to introducing this concept to your targeted clients, I also want you to have this same conversation with your key trade contractors, letting them know you’ve put together this business concept to generate work with these good past customers proactively.
What’s going to happen is you will be generating additional service requests that will benefit them. You will be creating some electrical, plumbing, and HVAC work, and you want them to understand this service-driven concept. And once they understand the concept, make sure they’ve bought in. As you said, “I’ve got these key clients. I want to make sure they’re taken care of.” And guess what. They will benefit because these additional service requests will go directly to them as the service professionals providing those services.
At the conclusion of that overview, then ask them, “Do you have some key clients, your just-come-and-do-it clients, who would benefit from this program?” Now, I’ve got to tell you that when I worked with my electrician, plumber, and HVAC contractor, they also had a number of these just-come-and-do-it clients. So I would make a point of collaboratively reaching out and saying, “I’m introducing this to my good past clients. Would you like to introduce this to three or four of your best past clients, people you work with in a unique way?” What you’re going do is expand your initial call list from 4 or 5 people to perhaps as many as 15 or 20 of these good past clients by partnering with your trade contractor partners.
And if it’s a referral, your electrician, plumber, HVAC contractor, painter and roofer will be making the introduction explaining the program and opening the door for you to go in and make this sale. So work with your key trade contractors to build a cooperative partnership group. This is a proverbial win-win. The homeowner benefits; the trade contractor benefits, and you’re benefiting because of the work that’s created and the relationships you’re building. So this is something you will want to look at.
Don’t stop with your key trade partners. I am getting calls now and notes from contractors around the country. And what they’ve done is take the Home Asset Management Plan and share it with other home service professionals. Realtors, home energy auditors, architects, and realtors give them away to engage with their past customers. I got a very successful contractor in Washington, DC, who’s in a BNI lead-generation group, and they meet, I believe, twice a month. They support each other by generating work for each other.
As this contractor reviewed The Home Asset Management Plan and the home inspector member in the group came up and said, “I really like this.” He said, “The problem with my business as a home inspector is that people find my website, ask for my services, I deliver the home inspection, and I never hear from them again.” He said, “This would be a great way for me to go back to these past clients, engage these past clients, and in that engagement remind them that I’m here, remind them that I can help them with friends and family.” Now, this home inspector did not want to be a general contractor, so they created a unique relationship.
There is now a new link on the home inspector’s website that says, “Beyond Home Inspection.” If people click on that link, it takes them to an overview of The Home Asset Management Plan. Could you do the same thing with interior designers and landscaping professionals? Yes, you absolutely can. There’s a very successful contractor in Virginia who approached his mortgage broker and his insurance broker.
Another contractor in Wisconsin works in an area where several people are over 60 years of age. So in his home inventory, he’s implemented an aging-in-place checklist, showing people what they can do to their home so that they can stay in the home as they get older. Not only that but he’s taken it one step further. He’s starting to visit some elder lawyers, people who do elder law. My mother is 87, and I know one of my biggest concerns was making sure that her home was taken care of. He’s introducing The Home Asset Management Plan to elder lawyers and people working with elderly homeowners, letting them know he can help them and let the children of these people know that he can assist them with taking care of their parent’s homes. I thought it was a wonderful idea.
I had an accountant attend one of my programs, and she brought up that there are a lot of working women who really need this help. And I want to highlight this. In the April 2011 issue of Qualified Remodeling, these were the first 3 bullet points of the article:
Nearly 30 million single women own their homes today, and they’re buying them at twice the rate of single men.
More than 57 percent of single women are homeowners with no male to rely on for fixing things around the home.
Women spend 50 percent more on home improvements than men do
Do you think women would be a good target market?
Absolutely, they are.
In Part 2 of the program, I’m going to show you how to introduce this to this test group and, secondly, show you how to self-fund the program. We can’t do questions because this program isn’t live. But I do want to do a little infomercial here. Because this program has proved so successful with homeowners, I’ve put together a formatted business system to assist you with this. It’s called – as you might imagine – The Home Asset Management Plan.
Here is what you get with the program:
Complete Setup Guide
Adding the Model To Your Business
Determining Your HAMP Clients
Business Strategy Guide
Business Development Templates
Market Approach Planning Guide
Market Strategy Plan
Sample Marketing Materials
Service Scope Plan
Vendor Partnership Guide
Sales Strategy Plan
1st Appointment Sample Questions
2nd Appointment Sample Questions
3rd Appointment Sample Questions
Closing Strategies Guide
Operation & Production
Small Projects Division Guidelines
Systems Management Guidelines
Scaling BusinessFor Growth Plan
Scope of Work Review Forms
Sample tool inventory forms
Internal Work Processes
Human Resources Plan
Sample Job Descriptions
Sample Ads and Interview Forms
Recommended Hiring Procedures
Home Inventory Notebook
The Sample Homeowner Notebook is the binder of information that goes to your clients. This package is used to show prospective clients how the information is compiled:
Introduction – To the System
Client Information – Information on the home and the clients
Observations and Recommendations – After reviewing the property, the contractor compiles a list of observations, and recommendations, with estimated costs and contracts for the care and improvement of the property.
Photos – This section will include photographs of recommended maintenance and repair items
Project Plan – This is the project schedule for the agreed-upon work
Contracts and Agreements– This section includes all executed contracts for the work to be performed.
Inventory – This inventory provides the information needed to complete the work scheduled for the first year.
Communications – All homeowner communication is filed in this section.
The Homeowner Notebook has eight sections. Section 1 is client information. Section 2, you’ve done the inventory. You have observations and recommendations. Accompanying that are photos. If you’re identifying some peeling paint, identifying something that’s broken or needs to be replaced, attach a photo so the homeowner can see exactly what you’re talking about. Introduce an actual project schedule on what needs to be done and, on your recommendation, when. You’re going to attach estimates and an actual sample of the inventory itself. This is your reference book.
The last section is homeowner communication because you want to keep track of that paper trail. Do this for your homeowners, do it over time, and you will increase the home’s value. You can imagine, five, seven, ten years from now, a buyer coming up to look at this home, and when that homeowner can show them, on an annual basis, what work was done and who did it. The prospective buyer will know that the home was taken care of.
And there’s one other visual I want you to see. We talked about just-come-and-do-it clients. Everybody has a handful of them. Well, I want you to have 50 or 60 of them, and I want you to imagine walking into your office and looking up at a shelf at the beginning of the year. And on that shelf are 50 or more Homeowner Notebooks where $750,000 to 1,000,000 dollars worth of work has already been identified before the year has even started, before any of the remodeling calls have come in. Now you have a sustainable business.
All right, let me quickly review the inventory and simply describe how it works. We’ve done the inventory to identify the rooms throughout the house and other key working systems. Well, let’s take one section and let’s look at the inspection codes:
Number one – the item’s operating does not show excess wear at the time of inspection.
Number two – the items operating but may need a repair or replacement
Number three – the item needs present repair or replacement.
So I took one section of the inventory – the exterior section – and you can see sidewalks. Number three, the item needs present repair or replacement. I’ll make a recommendation. I will attach a picture so the homeowner knows exactly what I’m referring to. The driveway and drainage are in operating condition. Nothing’s needed. Walls, fences, and gates need present repair or replacement. There’ll be a recommendation and a picture the homeowner can see and understand. Retaining walls and patios, nothing needed.
But let’s look at the carport. The items are operating but may need repair or replacement in the future. They’ll be a recommendation and with that a picture talking about what’s needed and when – it doesn’t need to be done right away. So now, what I’m doing is assisting the homeowner with budgeting for this future improvement. This is a quick review. If you purchase the program, you’ll receive the entire program electronically so that you can access it immediately.
Because questions come up, I’ve included an hour of one-on-one consulting, and I encourage anyone who purchases the program to call me with questions. I’ve also included a book of construction-related forms. I do this because every construction project runs more efficiently when there are effective production and administrative forms, so I’ve included that. Again, these are in Word format so that you can modify them and customize them easily for your own company for your own use.
Here’s a sample of the 30-Day Implementation Plan, so you’ll see this is just a one, two, and three. I describe action steps, and you’ll see there’s some reading to do. But I tell you what to read in the Instruction Manual. Then I tell you – under “Who,” who should be reading it. So C stands for a contractor, and S stands for sales. And there is an orientation board above this where you see who’s involved. And then you’ll see “When” is when you do this particular activity. And again, my promise is to do this for 30 days on a day-by-day basis. And within 30 days, you’ll be making money from The Home Asset Management Plan.
My guarantee allows you to take three months to road-test the program. Get it in your office, review it, and make sure it’s something you can use. If not, you have three months to evaluate it. If you’re not happy, just send it back, and no questions are asked. You’ll get a full refund—the cost of the program, is $797.00.
When I’ve introduced this program to people, I’ve had contractors say, “Yeah, I get it, but….” So here are the things I’ve heard:
People are not willing to do this because they’re waiting for the market to come back.
Look, it could be five, seven, or ten years before the market comes back. You can’t rely on an old business model in this marketplace. The economy has changed, and when the economy changes, you must amend your business model to respond to the economy's changes.
This is what The Home Asset Management Plan is about. I’ve also had people say:
I don’t want to open a service division.”
In response to this, let me ask you something. When you have a past customer call, and they’ve got that broken passage set or a broken window, aren’t you doing this service work already?
In most cases, it’s not profitable because it is such a small project. Let’s go ahead and take some of these small projects and turn them into a profitable enterprises. What The Home Asset Management Plan is doing is helping you proactively to manage these calls from homeowners and turn small jobs into a profit center for your company. You’re just reorganizing things so that it not only works for you but it works for the homeowner. Again, you’re helping them manage their biggest asset.
This concept is very straightforward. The purpose of the Home Asset Management Plan is to give you the tools to implement it more quickly. So, getting started, let’s test the concept. Pick five good past customers. You want to target these folks for proof of concept. I’ve given you a sample marketing piece, so you’re going to take that, put your letterhead on it, perhaps customize it in some way, and you’re going to send it to these 5 good past customers. Then, within 24 to 48 hours, give them a follow-up call. “Did you receive my mailing?”
When they say “Yes,” tell them you have been introduced to a business concept that you think makes a great deal of sense. Tell them you like to sit with them – and the note you sent you briefly describes what it is. Tell them you would like to sit with them to see if they think it makes as much sense as you do. Then, you’re going to set a time to go out and visit with them. You’re going to show them the sample Homeowner Notebook. “I’m going to be doing a home inventory, then I’m going to compile that information, put it into this manual which will document what I’ve recommended and what can be done, and then working with you, we’ll collaboratively develop a plan to get these things done.”
Show them the sample inventory and sample homeowner notebook. And when they say, “Yes,” you’re setting a second time then to come out and do the inventory. And once the inventory is complete, sit with them one more time to review what you’ve put together, review the outcomes, and begin the work. Now, I’ve got to share a story about this. Jeff Hurst of Hurst Total Homes in Centerville, Ohio, wanted to do this another way. When I mentioned doing this and visiting five past customers, he said, “David, I’m not going do that, because if I go on five different sales calls, that’s at least 12 to 15 hours that I’ve spent visiting those five people.”
So I said, “Well, what have you got in mind?” He said, “I’m going to do a focus group. I’m going to invite a small group to my office and, as a group, introduce this concept.” I said, “That’s kind of a neat idea. Will you let me know how it goes?” He said he would. So several weeks passed, and I got a call from Jeff. And he said, “I just did my focus group.” I said, “Terrific. How’d it go?” He started laughing, and he said, “I had 31 people attend.” I said, “Jeff, why’d you invite so many?” And he said, “I didn’t think that many would attend.” Now, remember, these were good past customers. These were people he had good relationships with.
He had sent out invitations to 35 people, but because of his relationships with these folks, 31 out of those 35 attended. He gave them dinner at the meeting, along with a $25.00 gas cover to pay for their time. He said, “There was a wonderful synergy that took place.” He said, “In reviewing the idea and going through the concept,” he said, “28 out of the 31 people wanted to be part of his Home Asset Management Plan. He said it was funny because people were coming up toward the end of the meeting, saying, “Who do I write a check to?”
He was not prepared to sell the program that evening and had to say, “I can’t sell you anything tonight. I’m just testing an idea here.” So he said, “It was painful,” but he had to look at them and say, “I can’t take your check, but I’ll follow up with each one of you.” His point to me was to share that focus groups can work, but he said, “Don’t invite 30 people. That’s too many.” He said, “I’m going to be buried doing 28 inventories and putting together all these Notebooks over the course of the next three months.”
But he said, “for people who watch this, invite eight people to 10 people to your meeting. “Make it a more intimate group. Number one, it’s a much better use of your time. And secondly,” he said, “there was just a terrific synergy that took place,” as he introduced the idea. And they began talking about how this could work, and people would add on points of value. So he said, “Very, very effective in that focus group format.” So getting started, remember we’re starting with four or five initial customers, so start small.
This is your beta test, and you’re going to let these first four or five people know that this is your beta test, that you’re just implementing this, and you’re going actively to ask them for their feedback each step of the way. Ask them, “Is there something we can do better? Is there some way I can add to this to make it more effective?” When you initiate this program with four or five good past clients, these are people who want to see you succeed. So they will actively participate in this process with you.
The good part is if you have a couple of bumps in the road, you can work out the bugs with these initial customers because, again, they know it’s the beta test. It’s not intended to be perfect, and they’re going to give you suggestions and ideas every step of the way. And the goal of all this is not only that you have five happy customers after your beta test but you also have five raving fans. These are the testimonials that you’ll be able to refer to as you introduce the plan to additional clients.
Introduce this to your company, and you have a sustainable business model. You’re introducing strategic recommendations that are adding additional projects to your marketing pipeline. Those additional projects are providing ongoing cash flow. And you fundamentally change your relationship with your clients. Again, we’re going from a project-driven business model to a relationship-driven business model. The project-driven business model worked fine when homes were going up in value, and when the economy was strong, and money for building projects was available. But when the economy shifted and homes stopped going up in value, these projects dropped off.
We’re moving from a project-driven business model to a relationship-driven business model. And I can’t say that any more clearly than if you manage the relationship and take care of each client that the projects will follow. You’ll schedule work up to three years in advance. You’ll become a solution provider to each of your customers. Your workplace will be more stable; you’ll build company equity. In this market, helping people manage their biggest assets is one of the best things you can do.
Closing Summary:
This concept is recession-proof. People always need work done in their homes. It’s proactive – we call; we come. This proactive business approach will identify projects in advance. Imagine starting the year with $750,000.00 worth of work on the books and building lifelong relationships with customers that will ensure that your company is strong no matter what the state of the economy. And I mentioned building long-term company equity. Very simply, let’s talk about this for just a minute or two. When companies are sold, they are sold for a multiple of net earnings. With the Home Asset Management Plan, you set up a recurring revenue model to raise that multiple of earnings. That is an attractive business model for a prospective buyer.
With that increased value, you can transfer it to family, you can sell it to employees, and you can even sell it to an opportunity buyer. Your company has value. So give homeowners what they need by creating a trust-based consultative relationship. Help them manage their largest asset and gain control at the same time as your financial future. Create recurring revenue, long-term equity, and value in your company.
If you decide to purchase The Home Asset Management Plan, you get the Instruction Manual, Homeowner Notebook, the Book of Forms, a digital copy of the program, the 30-Day Implementation Plan, and the one-hour consultation coupon: Costs $797.00.
So if you have any questions whatsoever, please – there’s my e‑mail address: David@davidlupberger.com. My direct number is (303) 442-3702. For more information on this or my other products, go to www.davidlupberger.com.
Things are very sluggish in all parts of the country. And due to all this, homeowners are concerned about investing in their homes. And all this has had a dramatic effect on the construction industry. Let's shift our perspective here just a little bit. All these same people who can't sell their homes still own their homes. And every single one of these homes has ongoing service and repair items. If homeowners are looking to stay in that home for the next five to ten years, are there improvements that make financial sense? And like you, remodeling and construction professionals can assist them with that home assessment. Before you do anything, take my Understanding the Model document and test the concept with four or five good past customers. Let them tell you what they think.
Look, there’s a business waiting for you. So thank you for attending. If you have any questions or comments, I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you again.