How To Find Work

In this economy of bankruptcy and unemployment it’s been very difficult finding new remodeling clients.  Now more than ever is a time for remodeler’s to take a step back and look and take steps toward learning how to find work.

Past clients know you and your work, you know them, and if you’ve done a good job you have instant credibility.One successful method is to look at your clients.  Past clients will often call and ask, “when can you do this…” without wanting or needing to go through a three bid process, hours of researching and typing a proposal, subsequent meetings, etc.

How To Find Work:

A benefit for working for past clients is that you know their house and are familiar with their family’s lifestyle and school / work patterns.

A key to working again with past clients is to get and maintain face time with them. Getting face time with these customers can be accomplished in several ways:

Emailing clients:

When I think about how to find work I often send out emails.   Get in the habit of emailing your past clients twice a year. One mailing may discuss or remind them about fall or spring maintenance and the other may highlight a recent project you did with a list of services you provide.

Thank you / Gift cards:

Lots of companies give out gift cards to thank past customers for referrals. Or Instead of giving out a $50 or $100 gift card for an expensive dinner somewhere spend that money on cards for the local coffee shop. That way, your client will get multiple uses out of the card and think of you every time they use it.

Mailing cards:

Keeping in touch with past clients through things such as Christmas cards, thank you notes for referrals and periodic letters.

Handyman and maintenance work:

Every homeowner has little projects that need doing and this also increases “face time” with your clients.

Setting up a reward program with your clients for any referral and rewarding them with two hours’ worth of handyman labor.

The program not only drives referrals, but often also leads to additional business from the referring clients who may need more work done.

I’m the first to say that my existing clients are a great source of referrals. The difficult challenge, as contractors, is that our existing clients don’t think of us every day! As a result they are not our best chance for a referral to new clients.

An excellent referral source are other contractor businesses that sell to the same target customer.

They are your non-competing businesses like your sub-contractors; electrician, plumber, painter, decorators, architects, lumberyard sales people, landscape contractor, etc., are your best chance for continual referrals.

I get more jobs from referrals from my painter, than almost any other source, I in turn refer him as well.

Just as we try to attract past clients to call us back for our services we should be educating, motivating and soliciting referrals from our fellow trade’s people.

~ concord carpenter

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