9 Ways Remodelers Can Address Client Uncertainty

It’s imperative for remodelers to share facts, figures, and important insights with clients to help them feel more comfortable moving ahead with a project these days, says industry advisor Mark Richardson in his newest Remodeling Mastery podcast.

“As I’ve said many, many times…uncertainty is not good or bad. Uncertainty is not knowing what it’s going to be like six or nine months from now,” says Richardson. “I would say over the past five, six, seven years, we've seen more uncertainty out there…and I think a level of uncertainty that we're certainly living is from last year's political election and many things going on in terms of the economy.”

Richardson offers nine techniques and approaches that remodelers can use to become masterful at addressing uncertainty and be the voice of reason your clients need.

1. Discuss tariffs with clients: 9:00
2. Sell your experience: 12:25
3. Tell clients why money is better spent on remodeling than on moving: 14:43
4. Help clients see happiness in a remodeled home as a return on investment: 16:55
5. Address complaints about costs by sharing data on happy repeat clients: 19:39
6. When clients want to push pause, counter with data why it makes sense to proceed: 21:19
7. Use third-party phrases: 23:50
8. Confirm clients have space in their life to accommodate a remodel: 24:31
9. Employ a “selling-down” mindset: 26:46

Partial Transcript

Hi. I'm Mark Richardson, and welcome to remodeling mastery. Remodeling mastery is a podcast series that's really designed to help you think and reflect on your business, not just do your business. I try to deal with different topics, topics that I think are especially relevant today, but also in many ways, are timeless, regardless of which kind of period of remodeling that you're in today.

I want to talk about a topic that I think is pretty relevant to the times that we're in, and it's really focused on your role today is to be the voice of reason. Your role today is to re weave in facts and figures and insights into the discussion with the client, so as to help them feel a little bit more comfortable. As I turn back the clock, last year, my overall theme for the year was a year of uncertainty. And as I said, many, many times, not only on this podcast, but also to many that I work with, uncertainty is not good or bad. Uncertainty is uncertainty. Uncertainty is you don't know whether it's going to rain tomorrow, therefore you bring an umbrella. Uncertainty is you don't know what it's going to be like six, nine months from now. So let's at least plan this 123, weeks ahead. Uncertainty is just the nature of sometimes the periods of time we end. And I would say over the last probably 567, years, we've seen more uncertainty out there, whether it's related to COVID and therefore supply chain and unknowns about the importance of working at home versus working in an office. All these things have created, I think, a level of uncertainty that we're certainly living in last year's political election, and certainly many things going on in terms of the economy creates a level of uncertainty this year. My focus is that this is a year of mastery, and I bring that up in the concept or in the context of uncertainty, because I think in many ways, you can become more masterful at addressing uncertainty, addressing kind of that voice of reason for your clients. And that level of mastery takes skills, it takes techniques. It takes different approaches and strategies if you're going to be successful. So for the last 2030, years, I've talked about this whole theme that's so critical, and that is, your client is your greatest competitor. Now that's not just a spin on words that actually comes from data and insights many, many years ago, not only with myself and our business, but also other businesses where we drilled into what percentage of the market share Do you really have in your business, and the best of the best, the biggest of the biggest have less than 1% of the market share. And when you realize you have 1% of the market share or less, you say, Oh, my goodness, you know my real competitors, not other remodelers and other builders. My real competitor out there is something different. And as I've drilled into it, it's really the client. It's really the client's fears. It's the client's ignorance and the client's overwhelm. So let me just unpack this, because it really gets down to the subject of being the voice of reason. You know, what are they fearful of? Well, quite frankly, according the Better Business Bureau, they're really fearful of being disappointed, of being ripped off, of being taken advantage of more than 50% of the complaints at the Better Business Bureau are not about car sales. Are not about restaurant experiences. They are about home improvement and home remodeling. It's also the fears the unknown. Unlike other major purchases, like a home or car, where you walk in, you smell it, you see it, you look out the windows in a romantic project, is there? They're fearful of they're making mistakes. They're fearful of the unknowns. They have the hope that they're going to love and like this project, or like this new kitchen, or whatever it happens to be, but they really don't know. And it's also their fear of is this the right level of investing? You know, I'm spending a tremendous amount of money. We've seen huge cost escalation over the year. Is this really the smart way for me to invest? Or should I set that money aside, you know, for a rainy day? They're also very fearful of the or also have a level of ignorance that's very great. You know, they think all remodelers are created equal, and you know, that's not the case. But at the end of the day, they're calling you about a project, not about an experience. They're calling you about, you know, creating, I think, a little bit improvement to their home, not necessarily about creating just joy in the overall remodeling experience. And we all know no different than going to a restaurant or doing anything in our lives. You know, it's a lot about the experience, not necessarily just about getting from A to B and then third. And certainly not least, right now, more than ever, is this whole notion of overwhelm. You know, I really think about this. And before COVID, you know, for the most part, everybody's glass was pretty full. Then all of a sudden, COVID happens, and that flat that glass drifted down. We weren't able to go to restaurants, we weren't able to go in to the office, we weren't able to interact in the same sort of way. So all of a sudden, there was more space in their life that was created. Now, the great news about home remodeling in the home is that that created, I think, a level of focus on filling that void of their time with focusing on their home. However, as COVID certainly moved on, that glass got full again, started to go to concerts, started to go to restaurants or to go back into the office, and the whole lives that the client has is now filled back up. And in many cases, that glass is overwhelming. So you're really competing more than anything with the overwhelm in their life. Is there time? Is there space that they have really available for you? So with all those good things being said, this whole notion of your client is your greatest competitor really ties into kind of the importance of being more masterful at being the voice of reason and how you can use kind of the right level of data and insights into the conversation to help make you a priority. You know, it's been said people buy emotionally, but rationalize their decisions logically. Logic is the data. Emotion is the feel. Logic is the brain, and emotion is the heart. So you've got to have the heart and the brain kind of in balance. And don't just make it about creating a lot of buzz and enthusiasm. And just because they called you to do a remodeling project does not mean that they're really 100% committed, because again, you're you're competing against their fears, their ignorance and certainly their overwhelm. So what I feel more than ever, and I just love this little term, voice of reason. You know, voice is certainly what your job is, to be that tour guide for them to be that voice. But reason is about the data, and we're going to be talking about this, and I'm going to give you a few tips and insights and examples of I think, data points that you can weave into your conversations with clients that help increase the likelihood that they're going to proceed. And if you can just get one more out of 10 proceed, in fact, because of facts and figures and data and insights, then you're probably going to increase your sales by 30 to 50%

now, data and reason does not have to be all facts and figures. It can be, yes, numbers, facts, figures, and I'm going to give you a couple of insights of what they are, but it also is your experiences. It's also your stories. You know, anecdotal kind of experiences are also part of that reason that they would go with you, and I'm going to share a couple of examples of that. So with all that being said, it's not necessary to put on your business card. I'm the voice of reason, but it is important that you experience and you become better and more masterful at this.

Okay, number one, let me start with something that is a really, really hot topic out there today, that I think is especially important, that you need to think about. One is tariffs. Now you're hearing a lot of buzz on tariffs, and quite frankly, with your clients, whether they're bringing up tariffs or not bringing up tariffs, I can almost guarantee they're thinking about tariffs and they're thinking about the impact. Now, whether they bring it up or not, I think it's important that you bring it up in the course of a conversation. Now, I've actually done some studies with a couple different remodeling organizations, and had some of this data valid at a recent Harvard meeting on remodeling futures as well. And that is the whole insights of what is really the impact of the tariffs. So for example, if you're talking to a client, and that client says, Wow, Mark, you know these tariffs are out there. Is that really going to kick us in the backside when it comes to our project? Number one, the voice of reason, you simply say, I appreciate you know that question. It's actually interesting that you bring that up. We've actually done some studies within our business as well as we've heard some business leaders talk about this and the tariff impact based on looking at the blend of different kind of costs that go into your project, including a lot of labor that's not impacted by table tariffs, including your overhead and your insurance costs not influenced by tariffs, that the actual impact on an average remodeling project that we do is somewhere between three and 5% now pause for a minute. Three to 5% okay, is not that impactful for nine out of 10 clients, the reaction to that is, wow, that's a lot less than I thought. And if it's not less than they think, the chances are they're feeling a little less stressed, and anxiety about is much greater. However, continuing the dialog and the narrative, you go on to say to Jim, you know, Jim, the real concern, I think, quite frankly, is not tariffs on the impact of your project, the real concern is just overall, annualized price escalation in the last five years we've seen in our industry and others as well, 10 to 20% cost escalation per year, per year, and as a result of that, if you put this project off, or drag your feet on this project, chances are it's going to cost 10 to 20% a year from now. So as you reflect on it, yes, tariffs are real. We'll buy this out the best way we can, and the quicker we can get on it, the better. However, the real impact is going to be on price escalation. So getting off script for a minute, what have I done? I'm the voice of reason. I am using data. I'm using analysis in your business, which I encourage everybody to do, but I'm also, you know, in giving them insights about what's going on in terms of price escalation in the industry on an annualized basis. By giving that level of data, what I've done is I've created a sense of urgency. I've vaporized some of their fears with tariffs, but I've also given that sense of urgency to get started now.

Okay, number two, little bit different kind of data. Voice of Reason, a lot of times, I think clients are having a tough time deciding why to work with you. Three questions. I encourage every remodeler, everyone involved in remodeling sales, to really have answers to. One is, why should the client do the project? Two is, why should they do it now? And three is, why should they do it with you? Well, why should they should do it with you? Is this next point I want to make. You know, years ago, I was asked a question about, you know, why should we, in fact, work with your organization on this type of project? So I took a pause. I had to think about it for a minute, and then I said to to the person, her name was Chris. I said, you know, Chris, it's hard to put a value. Hard to put a value on 1000 years of experience, which ultimately, cumulatively, within our in our organization, of every individual, was over 1000 years of experience based on our size and scale. Now you may be a business that's only been in business 10 years or 20 years, but if you've got a staff, you've got people involved in your organization, and even trade contractors, you can actually add up all the years of experience and use that fact, use that data for the client. So whether you're saying it's hard to put a value on over 100 years of experience, that's what people are buying. Think about this. For example, if you have a heart problem and you're going to a doctor, would you rather work with a doctor that's doing heart surgeries, that has two, three years of experience, or someone that has been doing this for the last 2030, years, or does 100 to 200 of this type of surgeries every single year. Experience matters. Don't keep your experience, your collective team experience, a secret, and I think you're going to be more successful. So again, be the voice of reason in terms of helping the client by not just selling them. And I think a big part of that is showing the value of your experience...