“I feel like I’ve spent the last six months quoting on jobs. And only one has gone ahead.”
“My problem is not getting leads; it’s how to get rid of the ones that go nowhere.”
Ironic, given how many others in Pete’s industry – construction – would give their eye teeth for a flurry of enquiries.
For Pete the problem lay in the word “right”.
He didn’t know who the right customers for his business were.
At least, not deeply enough.
How had they found him?
Because referrals from architects that ignore the realities of local council trip wires, and higher construction costs, are always going to end up bad.
Where are they in the buying cycle?
Pete was wasting a lot of time with window shoppers. In love with the dream of a new palace and an undertone of neighbourhood FOMO.
They had bought a few glossy mags, and had no sense of the cost or disruption.
What did they already know?
Had they done any research? Talked with other builders? Spoken to friends who had renovated about their experiences? Gone online to find out more?
He was spending a lot of time educating potential customers. Then hours explaining different quotes. Why his apparently more expensive proposal was not.
What were they really buying?
The big one, often overlooked by business owners. Emotions drive behaviour, no matter what the price tag.
When he started to connect with the pay-off and pleasure of a new palace -
• the pride of a status symbol
• the impressed ‘oohs’ of friends and family
• the deep personal satisfaction of a beautiful home to savour behind closed doors…
then resistance melted.
There were other questions, but these were the big ones to get clear upfront.
To help decide if they were right for his business, or just pause and wait for them to re-engage when they were ready.
The time-saving was huge and beyond that, much less frustrating.