A Summary + Additional Tips & Ideas.
This is the fourth and final in a series of blog posts on best practices for using a visualizer to sell home remodeling projects. Many of the insights in this series are from a free webinar hosted by Renoworks Pro with guest Paul Trautmann. (For a free replay of the webinar, click here)
Adding a visualizer is a proven winner for home remodeling companies, with some contractors seeing double digit percentage increases in sales and other key metrics. And companies can accelerate their success with a visualizer by adding a few key best practices.
In the first 3 blog posts in this series, the important ‘best practices’ were covered in detail. This post will provide some final “tips & tricks” for getting more out of a visualizer, but first let’s quickly sum up the essential best practices:
Best Practice #1 – Make Using A Visualizer Part Of Your Company’s Core Identity.
Many home remodeling companies think of a visualizer as “just” a tool. Of course, it is a tool, but companies that see it in a larger context have more success.
Instead of “just a sales tool,” successful home remodeling companies see a visualizer as a better way to listen and engage homeowners.
A home visualizer allows you to upload a photo of your customer’s home and then shows how your products look will on their home. But that’s only a basic-level of description.
What really counts is how you next position this design service with homeowners.
Is it simply something you show the prospect, treating it as a box to check on a “how to sell a home renovation” checklist? Or are you using it as a launching point for fully engaging your prospective homeowner?
Homeowners love companies that listen to them. This is exactly how your design services with a visualizer should be positioned. You want their feedback, because you’re the company that listens.
To get more in-depth on this topic, please go here to see the first blog post in this series.
Best Practice #2 – Get Proficient At Using The Visualizer
Home remodeling companies that don’t get great results from a visualizer typically have at least one thing in common: they never master the basics of using one.
This is a bit of a ‘head-scratcher’ because the time necessary to master the basics of a visualizer is very minimal. Also, frequent use increases your proficiency quickly. You get more confident using the tool, creating better designs and positioning yourself as an authority to your prospects.
To understand the steps for getting proficient with a visualizer, please go here to see the second blog post in this series.
Best Practice #3 – Integrate It Seamlessly With The Rest Of Your Sales Process
While successful home remodeling companies might find different paths to sales and profits, what they have in common is a repeatable, proven way to convert leads into sales.
When you add a visualizer, there are some common strategies that you can use to integrate a visualizer into your sales method. For some concrete suggestions on how to do this, please go here to see the third blog post in this series.
Implement the 3 best practices above and you will be on a proven path that has allowed other home remodeling companies to see double digit percentage increases in sales, upsells, and referrals.
Once you master those steps, add the ‘tips & tricks’ below to get even more from a visualizer.
More ‘Best Practices’ For Using A Visualizer
Make Sure Everyone On The Team Is On Board With Using The Visualizer. Everyone at your company should be aware of the visualizer, and any sales or design person on your team should be get comfortable using it.
A kick-off meeting to introduce the visualizer and give basic training is enough to get started. Follow-up is also crucial, because change tends to create resistance.
As the team moves forward, analyze the numbers to see who has used a visualizer to improve conversions. Then find ways to recognize top producers and have those team members share their visualizer success secrets.
Don’t Let Worries About Someone Using Your Design To ‘Price Shop’ Stop You From Using It. Occasionally the following concern is brought forward about a visualizer: Won’t some homeowners love your design work, but then ‘price shop’ the project, essentially using your own design against you?
This can happen, but consider these points:
- The real question is not ‘price shopping.’ The real question is if you are closing more sales and upsells with a visualizer than without one. Increased profit can make the occasional annoyance at price shopping a non-issue.
- Are these prospects the same kind that were wasting your time ‘pre-visualizer’ anyway? Let’s face it, there has never been a system that can perfectly screen out less than optimal prospects. You can often get a sense early on of who only cares about price, and you can decide to invest less time with them.
The bottom line is the benefits of converting more prospects and upselling more projects outweigh the occasional price shopper.
Add Remote Selling As An Option For Homeowners. This is a wide topic that will be covered in future blog posts, but the essentials of ‘remote selling’ boil down to this: there are many homeowners now who don’t want to sit through a sales presentation in their home.
Just like more and more people are using the internet department of car dealerships to buy cars, more homeowners now want to buy home projects from a remote presentation.
If you are skeptical that home improvement projects can be sold remotely, or if you laugh at the idea you could close prospect fully online, you should watch this Renoworks Pro webinar with Mike Damora of OneClickContractor.com It’s an eye-opener!
Don’t Let ‘Perfectionism’ Get In The Way. One final tip: designs don’t have to be absolutely flawless to be effective. A good visualizer will allow you to present a beautiful, professional design to your prospects. Make it good, but too much perfectionism can stop forward progress.
If you’re intrigued by the possibility of using a visualizer to increase sales for your home remodeling company, consider scheduling a free demo.
Want even more in-depth information on how a contractor has successfully implemented a visualizer? See the entire webinar with Paul Trautmann by clicking here.
If you are interested discovering more about how you can use a visualizer to increase sales, go here to request a free demo.