Author Archives: vlm

By Megan Beattie

I have spent nearly 20 years in this business, coaching and training and teaching lead generation processes. There are number of factors that lead to either success or failure when it comes to generating leads. But most companies are a little baffled when I reveal the most important things involved in succeeding with lead generation at home and garden shows.

Why are they baffled? Because they normally are under the impression that the secret is in specific displays, or company schwag, or beautifully designed literature. And while all those things are important, it isn’t the secret sauce to seeing a real return on your investment at home shows or even just events programs in general. You can have all those things, but still walk away with a volume of leads that leaves something to be desired: MORE!

So, what is the secret sauce? What is the secret that those succeeding with home shows seem to do effortlessly? There are two words: People and Process.

I was recently coaching a basement and exteriors company out of the Chicago area, and we had a new leader who was going to be executing a home show for the first time. She attended one of our 90-minute group training events we conduct virtually. During that training, I made everyone aware that “Very few other companies will be executing this strategy you are learning. Do not be surprised if what you are doing looks different than what 90% of all home show booths are doing.”

This leader met with me the following week after the home show and she said “Wow, you weren’t kidding. Everyone else was sitting in chairs, behind a table, and most were just looking at their phones the whole time.” A tale as old as time. I know this is the reality of the shows we work, in fact I have an entire folder filled with pictures my clients send me, of this exact same scenario where event workers are avoiding eye contact with customers at all costs. And believe me when I say, it doesn’t matter how many pretty displays you have, if your team works the show in this same manner. Now, this leader I trained walked away with 24 leads on paper, by herself, at her very first show in January. She also made me aware of all the other companies that approached her and tried to offer her a job. When they saw her executing and delivering results, everyone wanted her to come and work for their company.

Where my passion comes from, is that behind all of those booths where the event marketers were doing next to nothing, is an owner who paid for those booth spaces and heard a story for lackluster performance that sounded like this: “The show was really slow this year. Foot traffic was down. Must have been the weather. Maybe shows and events just don’t work for us.” I hate to be the bearer of bad news, (well, actually I’m a consultant so being the bearer of bad news is kind of what I do, but the good news is, I usually have a solution for the bad news) but it wasn’t the SHOW that didn’t work. It was your TEAM that didn’t work!

The same way we have a process for selling a tub or shower in the home, we must have a process for lead generation. The same way we teach our installers, that there is a right way and a wrong way for installation, we must teach our events team the same thing. The best companies with the highest ROI at shows and events have an entire team of Lead Generators and their entire jobs are to generate as many qualified leads as possible. They don’t have sales reps or installers working the

booth. They have professional conversationalists whose entire job is to sell appointments. Yes, the appointments are free, but they do cost a customer something: their time. And time is a commodity in 2025, that most consumers don’t want to part with. They certainly aren’t going to walk up to us at the event, ask if they can be our customer, and proceed to write the appointment themselves.

So how do we develop the team? We hire outgoing individuals, who enjoy talking to people, but have enough backbone to approach strangers without it destroying them if someone says no. We are looking for people who want to develop the skill of being able to approach people and learn to be persuasive without being pushy. I have found a ton of success when I have hired people who are honest, hungry, humble, and hone able. Competitive nature is great, and they must have a will and drive to be better than they were yesterday. Athletes or former athletes do well. They understand training, and most want to win! We also need individuals who are willing to work a schedule of odd hours because many trade shows are taking place on weekends. Because of this, we have seen the most common demographic that fits all the characteristics being college students. Especially those majoring in marketing, sales, business, or communications. The skillset they will learn from us will be valuable to them whether they are with us for a reason or a season. Most importantly, we have to get everyone excited and bought in our company mission. We help people age in place, we help people upgrade their largest investment, and most importantly we save potential customers from choosing an unskilled laborer who may not take care of their home the way we would.

In terms of our process, we must have a way that we do things that is effective in generating leads from homeowners that have a future bath project on the to-do list. We break this down into 7 steps.

The first step that is the most crucial, is the engagement step. Where we approach and start conversations with people walking by our booth. As we have a variety of methods including word tracks, fun games, as well as prize giveaways where we can shepherd the potential customer into the booth, without it feeling like pressure. Once that takes place, we can begin the process of isolating to a project we offer that they may look into. That conversation should naturally flow into what is ailing the potential client, or the pain points if you will, around their current bathroom in their home. Once they have shared with us that they do have some serious concerns about the look, safety, or condition of their current bathroom, we simply state that it sounds like this is something they are going to be looking into sooner rather than later. The way we execute this process becomes such a natural conversation, the customer doesn’t at all feel pushed, as we are simply sharing that since they told us they have a problem, and we happen to have a solution, we would kind of be a jerk NOT to tell them about it. Now it’s time to share what we can do for them when we come over the give an estimate. This can include sharing details on what we find during a bathroom inspection, providing color and style options, and of course leaving them with a price. We then schedule an appointment within the next 48 hours. The customer should be going home with a couple of tangible items that remind them of the appointment, and some literature they can share with their spouse. This gets them prepared for the appointment.

This exact process was the key to my success while I ran a 300 events per year, event program at a large remodeler in West Michigan. I was able to grow the lead generation from 1.7 million to 8 million utilizing this process. Those numbers happened between events and a Call Center following up on the event leads later. If you want to execute strategies that will produce revenue, people and process are a MUST! Feel free to reach out to me at: megan@tonyhoty.com if you have questions! For free weekly tips, we are happy to get you on our email list as well.

Many home remodelers and home improvement companies rely heavily on lead generation from home shows. These expos are usually strategically scheduled in the first quarter of the year when homeowners often have cabin fever from dreary winter weather and contracting companies are eager for new revenue after a long holiday season that likely hindered sales. By late winter and early spring the majority of remodeling contractors have greatly depleted their backlog of work, as well of their bank balances.

For these reasons, sales driven remodelers are often eager to exhibit in home shows to help jumpstart their year. After the leads from these shows have been converted into sales, those new customers become the foundation for more sales resulting from all the new yard signs, referrals and repeat business opportunities that were initially created from their participation in the home show. As a result, these shows often act as a catalyst for building momentum in a remodeling business that can help fuel productive activity for months to come.

As great as this all sounds, relying too heavily on home shows can make a remodeling company quite vulnerable. For starters, an untimely winter storm or other weather related event can decimate attendance and greatly impact results. Furthermore, having all your eggs in one basket is rarely a good idea.

So, what should remodeling companies do to diversify and maintain the momentum often created by home shows?

More shows!

When the home shows start to fall of the calendar faster than a one day shower installation, it is time to consider alternative events. Boat shows, car shows, gun shows or craft shows can be equally or even more lucrative than conventional home shows. Fairs, festivals and other live events can be very prosperous as well. The reasons for this are simple. First, there are far fewer competitors present at these alternative events. This alone can help increase conversions. Secondly, the foot traffic is often just as good, if not better than many home shows. The key is to find events that tend to attract your target demographic. Additionally, many fairs, festivals, expos cost significantly less than home shows, therefore the return on investment can be even greater. Lastly, there are an infinite number of events available for participation. This allows for unlimited lead generation to fuel your business 365 per year.

By networking with hundreds of home service companies all over the United States, we have been able to document countless success stories involving remodeling contractors who have generated seven figures in revenues from a single event. Remodeling contractors showcasing kitchen, bath and other highly visually appealing displays tend to have boast the best results. For them, these fairs, festivals and other specialty shows have proven to be an extremely viable source of consistent and sustainable lead flow. So, if you are contemplating various marketing initiatives that can help your company grow, be cautious about following the herd in digital age. Human connection still reigns supreme,36 as evident by the results achieved at live in-person events.

On this episode of the Gutter Grind, I interview Shannon Alberts of Security Leubke. His story is an incredible journey growing up through the ranks of his business from installer to salesperson, to partner, to sole owner of the business. The growth is incredible and the lessons he shares will prove to be so impactful.

Brad Codman, the marketing manager for the Ultimate Gutter Guard a division of Southern Industries, reveals the lead generation secrets that have served him over the last two decades. Brad has helped grow the company to over 90 million dollars in annual sales with the wisdom he has developed in the industry.

Workplace Culture

Our own Tony Hoty sat down with Joe Altieri, CEO of FlexScreen on Joe’s podcast to discuss workplace culture.

Watch the Interview

Joe is a serial entrepreneur – born with both an adventurous and entrepreneurial spirit; He’s spent his life believing there’s always a better (and more fun) way to do just about everything.

Eventually, that innate curiosity and drive for a better mousetrap led Joe to invent the world’s first and only flexible window screen – which landed me on Shark Tank – which resulted in a deal with Lori Greiner (the Queen of QVC) – which catapulted his business in some pretty unbelievable ways. (You can read the full history of FlexScreen here.)

Recruiting

This is the 2nd time Chris Williamson is doing the show to discuss RECRUITING. Recruiting is such a huge topic right now as most companies are struggling to find qualified help. Tune in to this episode to hear some basic tips that may boost your ability to grow your teams. We discuss both recruiting mangers as well as entry level staff. Chris has a long tenure in home improvements with a huge emphasis on building out teams of entry level staff like canvassers, events staff and call center. Chris is currently the main recruiter at Tony Hoty Training and consulting where his focus is recruiting top mangers for our clients.

Becoming a Lead Gen Leader

This episode is very special to me as I recruited Hannah Feuerstein into this industry 6 years ago. In this episode we discuss many topics around marketing, leadership, recruiting, culture and working remotely. Tune into this episode to hear how Hannah rose from marketing assistant to becoming a true Lead Gen Leader as the Marketing Director for Renewal By Andersen of Greater Wisconsin.

Creating TV Gold

Abby Binder is the definition of a Lead Gen Leader. She started on her own and has steadily grown to be a phenomenal brand in her market place. Her ability to make marketing sources like TV come in with fantastic ROI’s is what has catapulted her company to where it is at now. She has been extremely disciplined when it comes to marketing. She is always looking to grow and learn and when she learns she implements. Tune into this episode to hear her marketing philosophies and hear some awesome tips when it come to TV.

Lead Generation Truths

This episode is one you don’t want to miss. Meagan is on the show for a second time and is bringing the gold. She is truly a lead gen leader as she has shown time and time again from big to small companies, she can generate leads. She is going to be discussing the marketing truths that run true if your big or small and what the pros and cons are to be each size when it comes to marketing. The episode is the first one many coming up featuring the brightest women marketers in our industry.