Improving Sales Results

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As a CTi Dealer, one of the main responsibilities is educating prospective customers on the advantages of resurfacing their concrete vs. replacing it. Educating the customer effectively leads to higher sales and happier customers in the long run since they understand what they’ve purchased and how to best enjoy it.

Some tips for more effectively accomplishing this education are:

Ask Questions First: Too many times, people simply pitch the features of a product and hope they say something that resonates with the customer. Ask questions that allow the customer to tell you what is concerning them and what they would like to hear about the product in order to make an effective decision.

Make sure you focus on two sales with each customer: Every customer needs to answer two questions before they purchase the products you’re offering. The first is “Why do I want to buy this product?” which focuses on the advantages of what you offer and the benefits of resurfacing their concrete. The second question is just as important though, “Why do I want to purchase this product from you?” which focuses on how the customer feels about doing business with your company. Getting a customer comfortable with your company is easy enough to do but often doesn’t get done. How is your phone answered when the customer calls you? How do you show up at the appointment with the customer? Are you dressed appropriately? Does your truck look the part of a successful company? How does your crew show up for work at the customer’s property? These type questions need to be asked by the business owner regularly to insure they’re getting the customer comfortable with both questions that are on their mind.

Follow up: In our previous blog post, we explained the average Dealer closes one new customer for every six inquiries he receives. What happens with the other five inquiries? Following up with a “Drip Marketing” campaign that keeps your name in front of the customer in the weeks and months following your appointment leads to an additional 15% to 30% closing rate for the customers who told you no at first. Following up with a customer also leads to a better answer to that question “Why do I want to buy the product from you?” as it shows the customer you are truly interested in earning their business.

Plain and Simple

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Some customers want a clean, simple, modern look for their concrete. CTi Dealers can provide them with a one color textured surface using the Designer Series application. This textured surface has the color and the sealer all in one application.

Summertime is Here

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As Summer reaches full swing, our Dealers are busy bringing new life and beauty to pool decks all around the country. Beautiful, easy to clean and chemical resistant, our coatings are the perfect addition to any home.

Cracks Can Be Beautiful

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Our Carved Acrylistain application takes one of the most common problems with concrete and turns it into something beautiful. Cracks in concrete are turned into a look of inlaid stone and also minimizes the chances of the cracks returning in the future. This beautiful pool deck had a lot of cracks in the existing concrete but JP Concrete Design in Omaha, NE has turned it into something the homeowner loves.

Finding People

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Everyone I talk to seems to be very busy with their CTI business, plenty of work to do this summer and a backlog of jobs to complete. I keep hearing two things that seem to be keeping everyone from catching up. One, is the weather, which we can’t control, and the other is a tight labor market, which we also can’t control to some degree. The labor market is what I would like to comment on today.

The labor market is tight nationally, and I see no immediate improvement in that set of conditions. What do we
do to alleviate this? In talking to several Dealers and Distributors, I get some ideas that seem to generate some
longevity in hiring and retraining key employees. First of all, we have to find these people. Where do we do that?
Check with your friends and business associates and tell them you are looking for some good people to help grow
your business. Word of mouth is still the way to advertise your needs. Good people attract good people, just put the
word out. Check the local Vo-Tech school and let them know you are hiring. These teachers always need a business
for their students to go to after training. Check your local fire department, firemen usually work 24 hours on and 24 hours off and are looking for work on their days off. They are responsible people or they wouldn’t be firemen in the first place. Get about three or four firemen and you always have someone available when you need them.

Once you have found these key people, how do we retain them? A key to this is always money. You guys make good money on your CTI jobs. Thought about sharing those profit dollars with your installers? If the job is completed profitably and on a timely basis, a little bonus at the end of the week is not only appreciated, but is a seed to continue
with quality work on a timely basis. Thus, you have perpetuated the attitude and spirit of those who generate your livelihood. A win-win situation for everybody. Share the wealth is not something new, just ask Bill Gates.

Protecting Your Concrete

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CTi’s coatings not only provide a beautiful overlay for a home or business’ concrete, it also provides protection from elements that deteriorate concrete over time. Chemicals, salts, de-icing agents, mold, mildew, etc. all have no effect on the CTi coatings.

This means you keep your existing concrete and don’t have to go through the hassle of replacing your concrete.

CTi Sales Model

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Advertising, Marketing and Sales are the lifeblood to any successful business. CTi Dealers have a sales model that has one project being sold for every six inquiries they generate from their advertising. The normal sequence is out of the six inquiries, the Dealer will meet with four homeowners at their property and out of those four meetings, they will normally sell one new project.

As the Dealership grows, two things begin to happen to improve on this sales model:

1) The Dealer uses the advertising tracking tool we provide to better determine which advertising vehicles are working best. This improves how the money is spent and provides better results from their advertising.

2) Referrals start becoming an integral source of new leads. These homeowners know someone who has had the product installed, have seen the product, and are excited enough to contact the Dealer to have him take a look at their project. The model changes significantly with referral leads as Dealers will normally sell a job for every two referrals they sit down with on average.

Different Looks

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As a CTi Dealer, one of the advantages is representing a product line where four main components can create a number of different looks. Below are some different looks that are created by using the same four components used in our Hallmark application.

The advantage is simpler inventory requirements and lower inventory costs while still offering your customer a number of options to choose from.

Home Improvements Booming!

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2021 is showing signs of being a record breaking year for the home improvement industry in the United States. Homeowners are feeling more positive about the economy; and after having spent more time at home over the last 18 months they’re noticing areas that need a facelift.

CTi Dealers are feeling the impact of this new outlook. Many Dealers across the country are reporting double digit increases in their businesses compared to 2020. Dealers are facing the issue of capacity and figuring out what to do when their backlog of work reaches out into months.

Some Dealers are simply charging more for their work and letting economic law take care of the over demand for their services. This solution leads to better piece of mind by bringing the back log back to a workable amount of time but also leads to geometric increases in profitability since no other fixed or variable costs are associated with the extra $.50 per square foot increase they put on their services (for example).

An extra $.50 per square foot is less than a 10% increase on the average square footage price charged nationally. However, since no other expenses are associated with this increase, the typical job of 1000 square feet has an increase net of $500. A full time Dealer will normally install 2-3 jobs like this each week so you can see where an extra $1000 to $1500 in net income weekly leads to a much better Dealership calculus.

Summer Fun

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Summer is right around the corner and customers across the country are looking at their outdoor areas around their pools, patios and walkways. CTi Dealers can transform any concrete area into a look that not only increases the enjoyment the homeowner has of the area but also improves the value of their home. A great example is this stunning before and after transformation done by Concrete Designs of Tampa Bay.