You’re a force to be reckoned with in the home improvement industry. You’ve got a thriving business and a robust client base. But what if you could push the envelope further? What if you could amplify your reach, streamline your operations, and significantly increase your revenue?

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This guide will unveil powerful strategies from industry titans, each boasting an annual revenue of over $20 million. They have been there, done that, and now we’re sharing their insider tips with you.

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We’re going to talk about generating a surge of leads, choosing a CRM that works like a charm, and picking a dialer that will revolutionize your business communication. We will also cover strategies to manage appointments effectively, and how to leverage AI to supercharge every aspect of your business operations.

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This isn’t about small tweaks or minor improvements; it’s about taking your business to the next level. Prepare yourself for a deep dive into a marketing system designed to generate over $20 million in revenue.

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The Key to a successful Home Improvement Marketing Plan: Nailing Your Systems

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In the home improvement space, transactions are key. While your business must be extremely personable and customer oriented, ultimately, you’re in a transactions business. Your goal is to move people through your customer journey quickly, then rinse and repeat. 

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This is only possible with a keen focus on your systems. Systems. Systems. Systems. You can get away without them, if you want to stay small. But to get to $20m / year+ in revenue, you’re going to need to be managing hundreds of thousands of people (transactions). So let’s start with the basics, here’s some of the systems you’ll need, and how to think about them:

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CRM:

1. ServiceMonster: This is a field service software with features like billing & invoicing, client management, scheduling, and work order management. It starts at $39.00 per month​​.
2. AccuLynx: This software is popular in the roofing industry and includes features like aerial measurement, dispatch management, and work order management.​​.
3. MarketSharp: This is a simple-to-use, industry-specific, web-based CRM designed specifically for remodelers, contractors, and home improvement pros. It starts at $99.00 per month​​.
4. JobNimbus: JobNimbus is an all-in-one CRM that can help home improvement companies streamline their sales and project pipelines. Its robust client tracking and project management tools make it easy to keep track of all interactions and ensure projects are moving forward efficiently. With the ability to create estimates and invoices, and collect payments directly in the platform, JobNimbus can significantly shorten the sales cycle and improve cash flow​.​.

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Texting Tools:

1. Hatch: Hatch is a platform that allows you to manage all lead and customer conversations in one place. It features workspaces for organizing conversations and collaborative inboxes for team handoffs. The pricing is not readily available on the site​​.

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Marketing Automation Platforms:

1. HubSpot Marketing Hub: HubSpot Marketing Hub is a robust platform that can aid home improvement companies in automating marketing tasks, capturing leads, and nurturing customer relationships. It allows for personalized, automated email campaigns and offers SEO tools to enhance online visibility. With CRM integration, it ensures seamless data transfer, linking marketing efforts directly to sales results.

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Marketing Automation Platforms:

1. RingCentral: RingCentral is another cloud-based software that allows you to contact customers through multiple channels from any phone or web-enabled device. This multi-channel approach can enhance customer engagement and increase business efficiency​1​.
2. Five9: This is a leading cloud-based software for call center management. It uses practical AI to better predict customer needs and make sure to connect the customer with the right agent, optimizing both outbound and inbound calling​1​.
3. Kixie: Kixie is a cloud-based voice call solution that automates sales processes and helps increase productivity. It connects agents with prospects and gives valuable insights into conversations. Kixie also enables sales teams to close deals at a faster rate. Its key advantages include the use of the same number even when not using the software, single-click calling, and automatic logging of all calls into the client’s CRM. These features can help home improvement businesses improve overall sales processes and enhance the productivity of sales teams​2​​3​.

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From Systems comes Opportunities (Appointments)

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You’ve dialed in your systems, great. In the home services industry, what that means, literally, is to create a strict process for turning new leads into qualified opportunities. After all, like mentioned before, you’re in a transactional business. Your goal is to process tens of thousands of leads and churn out thousands of qualified jobs, aka opportunities.

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Typically, in home improvement, opportunities come in the form of appointments. No home improvement lead generation plan can be complete without thinking through how you’ll turning your home improvement sales leads into qualified (on premise) appointments. 

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But this is no easy task.  

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Managing the logistics of hundreds, even thousands of appointments, cancellations and rescheduling between your appointment setters, outside sales reps, the home owner (their spouse) and more, creates a web of problems than can only be solved with solid systems. 

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Here’s how we can get from new lead, to qualified appointments using some of the systems outlined above, and roles and processes needed to scale:

1. Generate Leads

The first step in this process involves generating leads. This can be achieved through various strategies like placing ads on different platforms like Google, Facebook, and Bing. When customers click on these ads, they land on your website where they communicate their needs, such as how many windows they need fully replaced. This information is used to help them find and book their window replacement appointments online with suitable contractors​.

To generate leads efficiently, using a customer contact platform like Hatch can be beneficial. It offers various features, such as a text messaging contact center software to improve response times and customer satisfaction, workspaces for teams to collaborate, and omnichannel campaigns to keep your company in touch with your customers. The platform also allows you to build custom audience segments, automate your campaigns, and provides insights and reporting for performance measurement​​.

2. Pre-qualify Leads with an Appointment Setter

Once the leads are generated, the next step is pre-qualification. At this stage, the customer is asked a series of qualifying questions. These questions can be about the type of windows they need, whether they need financing options, and the reason for needing the windows replaced. This is done either online or by the representative who answers their call. The goal here is to identify if they need 3 or more windows fully replaced​​.

Appointment setters can use tools like Jobber, which offer features to automate tasks, prioritize work, improve productivity, and ease team collaboration. It helps save time and increase efficiency, ensuring that the appointment setting process is as smooth as possible.

3. Confirm the Appointment

Once the customer has been pre-qualified and an appointment has been set, the next step is to confirm this appointment. This confirmation process is done through an automated double confirmation process. The customer receives a confirmation email and text message to confirm the appointment details, that they will be home, and that their project description is correct​.

4. Route the Appointment

After the appointment is confirmed, it is then routed to the most suitable team member based on their expertise or availability. This reduces manual efforts and accelerates response times. Calendly is an example of a tool that can be used to automate this process. It allows you to schedule directly from forms based on company size, industry, or other criteria, and match known accounts in real time​​.

5. Qualify the Lead

The final step in this process is lead qualification. This involves categorizing leads based on their actions and engagement with your product or service. Different actions like viewing a specific page or opening an email can have different numerical values assigned to them, and based on these values, you can determine if a lead is qualified and the right time to reach out to them​​.

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Opportunities for AI to Optimize your Path to $20M+ in Revenue

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You might already have all the systems and processed outlined above in place. Your company is a machine at generating, processing and turning leads into closed won jobs. 

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But, are you scaling with just new headcount? Every time you generate new leads, or have a high traffic event, do you find yourself scrambling to hire? Is your revenue per staff member lower than it should be?

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Or maybe, you’ve got the systems in place, but you just aren’t able to exceed a certain number of leads. You’ve hit a ceiling. You are saying things like “we just cant actually take on any more new business” .  That should never be the case. If so, you’ve got a systems problem, not a people problem, and one way to solve that is potentially with artificial intelligence (AI). Here’s some ways how:

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Use Structurely AI to qualify leads and set appointments over text message:

• Structurely’s AI for home services can nurture and qualify leads via text, email, or live chat.
• For instance, let’s say you’re a window replacement company. A potential customer may find you through an ad and land on your website. After filling out a form, they can then interact with Structurely’s AI over text or email to discuss their project needs, like how many windows they need replaced and more.
• Structurely’s AI asks qualifying questions like the type of windows they need, if they require financing, and why they want to replace their windows.
• Once the customer’s needs are clear, Structurely AI can set up an appointment with a contractor right in that conversation. This all happens whether you’re there or not, freeing up your time to focus on the jobs at hand. It’s like having an extra team member who’s always on the clock.
• Your leads get an immediate response, and you get a stream of qualified appointments booked into your calendar​​.

Use Jasper AI or Copy AI to write recurring monthly newsletters to your old clients to re-engage Rehash leads:

• Jasper AI and Copy AI are AI-powered tools that generate human-like text. They can be used to create engaging content for newsletters.
• For instance, if you’ve recently completed a roofing job, you can use these tools to write a newsletter highlighting the project, sharing customer testimonials, and offering special deals on gutter cleaning or roof maintenance.
• This keeps your business top of mind with previous clients, who might recommend you to a friend or remember you when they need another home improvement job done.

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Nail your systems, optimize with AI and grow your revenue

Creating a home improvement marketing system that generates $20M+ per year in revenue is not easy, but it is possible. You need to nail your systems, create a pipeline of qualified leads, and enhance your marketing efforts with AI. By following the steps outlined in this blog post, you can create a home improvement marketing system that will help you to achieve your revenue goals and grow your business.

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