Last modified: 2020-01-25 | Approximate reading time 
4 mins
The home renovation sector has been experiencing a growth spurt in the past few years, and according to predictions, this process is not about to stop! Indeed, a study commissioned by Royal Lepage and conducted by the polling company Léger indicates that the majority of babyboomers will prefer to renovate their home in the next 5 years instead of selling it.
For renovation companies, this is good news! The coming years should be very busy. With that being said, even if projects abound, it is not always easy for a contractor to stand out and succeed in signing many contracts. Lack of organization, timidity, pricing and the approach on how to present the quote are just some of the factors that can affect your success, as well as that of your company.
In the following paragraphs, we will present different approaches to help your home improvement company attract more customers and have a better conversion rate.
5 Strategies to Grow Your Renovation Business in the Short and Long Term
The following tips apply to both small businesses that have just started and established businesses that have never taken the time to develop an accurate and comprehensive strategy.
1) Make a plan with specific goals
Many contractors have a very general idea of the goals they want to achieve. They want to earn a living, work hard at times and take a vacation when they feel like it. On the other hand, not everyone takes the time to make a detailed plan with quantified objectives, predictions and steps to get there.
Take the time to study your business, its strengths and weaknesses. Also look at the current state of the renovation market in your area. With this information in hand, you can create a plan. If you don’t think you can analyze the information and create a realistic plan, do not hesitate to call in the services of a business valuation expert. They can look at the possibilities, and help you adapt them to the extent of your ambitions and the reality of the market.
2) Create a presence on the Internet
Still lacking a business website and a Facebook page? Don’t wait any longer. If you don’t want to invest a lot of time or money, you can opt for a microsite (website with a single page) or focus your efforts to manage your social networks.
These pages will be used to introduce who you are, to share testimonials from past clients, to show examples of work that you have done and to communicate more easily and quickly with your customers.
3) Establish a structure for presenting quotes
Everyone has their own technique for presenting quotes. There are those who prefer to have very detailed worksheets, where they describe every aspect of the project, and others who write basic information on a sheet, without going into the specific details.
In general, customers prefer the first option, because this will tend to help earn their trust with the attention to detail demonstrated by the contractor starting in the first meeting. On the other hand, it's easy to understand how some don’t want to spend so much time filling out a document.
If you don’t want to change your habits regarding the quote document, at least take the time to structure your presentation so that you feel well organized. This will help you to get more contracts.
4) Use tools to simplify task management
Life today is getting busier, and schedule management can be complicated. Fortunately, we have access to a multitude of scheduling and task management tools, free or affordable.
Here are a few examples of apps you could use to manage your company:
Hoptimize: a comprehensive business management tool which allows you to present quotes, calculate your accounting, integrate your scheduling system and much more.
Toggl: a time management tool which lets you know how much time you spend on each task.
Evernote: an app that allows you to make to-do lists and take notes that you can easily organize according to your needs and preferences.
5) Use customer referral platforms to their full potential
In the past, contractors found customers by paying to show their names in the phone book, or through word of mouth. Nowadays, people's habits have changed and most of the time, when they have a request to make, they go to the Internet.
They use search engines to find contractors that they will then contact to get a quote. More and more people are also using referral platforms like RenoQuotes.com to find reliable and certified contractors.
As a contractor, this kind of platform can be very useful for finding potential customers because there is little effort to be made. Simply register, fill out your profile and indicate the services you offer and the territories you cover. Afterwards, the projects will come to you, usually through your email. Once you have accepted a project and received the contact information, it's up to you to communicate with the customers and present the quote.
In the case of RenoQuotes.com, we receive hundreds of projects each week. The projects are then validated and sent to the relevant contractors. They receive the basic information about the project (type of work, budget, location) and if they are interested, they just have to click "yes" and pay a small amount (between $ 5 and $ 50) to get the rest of the information about the client. It's simple, fast and effective as a way to reach new customers, and you will not have to invest a ton of money to advertise and develop a website.
If you are not from France, there's also this website that could help you: https://fecamp-services.com/
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