Truth be told, the rates painting contractors are able to charge (Or not charge) has more to do with self image and self-esteem than any outside factor including, competition and economy...
You see, unless you believe in yourself and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you offer superior services, more value and a better overall customer experience than any of your competitors... you will be forced to compete on price.
So, I guess what I'm saying is that the sale starts in your mind...
Here are three simple steps that will help you gain more confidence when selling your painting services and allow you to sell at higher prices:
- Do Your Competition Research - Spend some time looking at what other painting contractors in your area are doing. What do their ads look like? How does their image come across? When you call them, what are they like on the phone? (Do they even answer the phone?)
So many painting contractors find it difficult to differentiate themselves from the competition because they never do their due diligence to figure out what the competition is doing.
- Put Your Plan In Writing - Much like competition research, most painting contractors never set goals or put together a plan of action to achieve their goals.
If you are out there every day taking action without a rhyme or reason, very little actually gets done. After a while it will feel like you are just chasing your tail, you will get burned out and that's when stress and frustration begins to set in.
Be sure to take the time to create your ideal painting business on paper first and then simply work every day to live it out.
- Systematize the core components of your business - When you have specific systems and procedures in place for each core component of your painting business it makes running and growing your business a lot more fun and enjoyable.
- Someone calls you for an estimate... Create a phone script and list of questions that allow you to gather the important information. That way you take every incoming call through the same process.
- Send out (email) a thank you letter or welcome package with a "pre-sell" letter that outlines the benefits of using your painting services...
- Make a follow up phone call 24 hours before the scheduled estimate to confirm the homeowner will be there....
- Show up for the estimate 10 minutes early...
- Have a specific list of questions to ask as you walk the job with the homeowner... Try to ask buying questions like: Have you chosen the color yet? When would you like the work completed? etc.
- Have a 24 hour policy for getting the estimate written up and sent out...
- Make follow up phone call... never let an estimate sit out there for more than a week without making a follow up call. Following up shows the homeowner that you are interested in gaining their business.
Begin to take ownership of your business and start putting some of these tips in place if you haven't already. We know from experience that they can make a huge difference!
Having these kinds of things in place automatically helps you sell your services at higher prices. Doing so will also put you head and shoulders above most of the painters in your market.
Hope some of these tips help! Please leave us a comment.
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