When the good times are rolling merrily along, your job as salesperson and chief promoter is relatively easy. That’s certainly been the case during the past five years. Many custom builders could simply sit back and let the work roll in.
Many were able to cherry-pick jobs for the first time, taking on only the clients and houses that promised to be the most profitable and least hassle. That approach makes sense in a good economy—and it makes even more sense when the economy falters. That’s when every job you contract must pay off.
To put—or keep—yourself in the enviable position of being able to pick and choose, you need to take charge of your company’s sales and marketing efforts. Even if you’ve got business booked a year or more out, as do many of the custom builders I’ve recently talked with, you need a proactive marketing plan and sharpened selling skills now. It’s the only way you can generate enough leads to be choosy and close the jobs you want.
I think you’ll find CUSTOM HOME’s new columnist, Paul Montelongo, a great source of ideas for marketing and selling custom home building services. I met Paul last October at the NAHB Custom Builder Symposium in Phoenix. He gave two high-energy presentations that were informative, inspiring, and fun.
Paul is a born salesman and a great communicator, and he also knows his subject. He’s been a successful builder in San Antonio for 24 years. Now, he’s sharing his experience by turning his hand to consulting and writing. Paul’s recently written 101 Power Strategies: Tools to Promote Yourself as the Contractor of Choice, a book filled with his sales and marketing ideas for contractors. You can learn more about Paul Montelongo at his Web site, www.contractorofchoice.com. And you can get an idea of his down-to-earth sales and marketing philosophy in his new column, “The Top Line,” on page 32.
In addition to the new column, we’ve packed a lot in this issue. Meghan Drueding offers a look at the next generation of custom home buyers in “Beyond the Baby Boom”. They won’t want their father’s custom home, so be sure to check out all Meghan learned about what could turn out to be an even more demanding market of buyers.
I couldn’t sign off without recommending Bruce Snider’s profile of Thought-forms, the 2003 Custom Builder of the Year. This is a firm that truly has put itself in the position of picking its jobs. They’ve done it with hard work, intelligence, and adherence to the Golden Rule. There’s a lot to choose from in here. I recommend, in this case, that you don’t pick and choose, but simply read it all.
