Author Archives: vlm

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.

Tony Hoty, Handling Leads Right

The age old question, do I need more leads or do I just need to handle the ones I have better? Tune into this episode to hear Tony Hoty and I discuss how to handle inbound leads properly. We even give out a very powerful point with an offer for you the listener to take advantage of.