Sales & marketing tactics

Trough the years, I had been a Prime ( "first choice" ) subcontractor for most if not all of the sales and marketing home remodelers in San Diego. From big box stores to medium and small sales and marketing and construction companies. I primarly used these companies for filler work. Over time I have learned the client is never given an accurate - truthful total cost for the project, an accurate detail in the scope of work or a ligitmate timeline. I have also seen a disconnect between sales, internal office, design and project management. This causes delays in the project and aggravation not only with the homeowner but with the contractor as well.

How it Works
If you have contacted or were contacted by a home improvement - remodeler and a salesperson shows with a hugh packet of "who we are and what we do" promissing you the world while wearing dress clothes. Send them away, it will save you money and grief!

The salesperson with the sales and marketing company sales the project to the homeowner, most of the time only charging the homeowner labor and some small incidentals unless listed in scope of materials provided by the contractor. Nine times out of ten the cost breakdown of materials the homeowner will be responsible to purchase will be significantly higher. This is a tactic to get the homeowner to sign the contract as the assumption of project cost is lessor than the actual cost. I can not express to you over the years how many homeowners I have seen complain about this.

Once the homeower signs the contract, the project is then sold to a subcontractor or multiple subcontractors at line item set pricing. Some larger jobs, such as additions may be bid by the subcontractor. The subcontractor is paid on average less than 60% of the projects contracted sales price. Any change orders are marked up 100% by the sales and marketing company over what the subcontractor charges. All cabinetry or materials supplied by the sales and marketing home remodelers are marked up 100%+. Let's take an average kitchen of 12' x 12' with lower and upper cabinets. The average contractor cost for standard cabinetry for a kitchen of this size would be $7,000.00 to $10,000.00, this price included installation. I have personally seen sales and marketing companies sell a set of cabinets costing $8,400.00 for over $19,000.00. Highway Robbery!!!

I continually receive calls from sales and marketing home improvment - remodelers or their clients who have fired them to "fix" work which has been performed by inexperienced subcontractors. These sales and marketing subcontractors are new, a one or two man crew, unable to aquire work of their own, or have complaints against their licenses.

Reviews
Why are these sales and marketing home improvement - remodeling companies so highly-rated on accredited review and referral sites (BBB, Guild Quality, Home Adviser, Angie's list, etc.) and you rarely see a complaint. The reason for this is these sales and marketing companies have a disclosure contained within the certificate of completion. This disclosure states, if you are not satisified with the home improvement and you are given a reduction in final cost, you may not or will not leave negative feedback on any social media, referral or review site. The threat of civil action is given if this disclosure is broken by the homeowner. If this is not deceptive marketing, I do not know what is! We all can not be pleased.

In Home Sales Tactic
The sellers of products related to the improvement of your home can be some of the most challenging salespeople to deal with. Why? Because it's easy to convince yourself to spend more money on your home. You spend lots of time and you want any decision you make to be done right and to last for years. What's more, these sales professionals visit you in your house and are well trained. It's much harder to get someone out of your house than it is to walk away from someone in a store. With that in mind, here are some of the high-pressure sales tactics you might face so you can prepare yourself to handle them effectively.

Upselling
Not only might you be upsold on what you originally intended to purchase, but once you have a salesman inside your house, they might feel free to point out other shortcomings or things you should consider purchasing. You might hear something like, "I noticed when I walked up to your house that your gutters need to be replaced" or "as long as you're remodeling the kitchen, why don't we take a look at your bathrooms?"

Amazing Warranties
Let's say you're considering having a window replaced, and one of the main differences between the mid-grade window and the high-grade window is the warranty. The mid-grade window comes with a lifetime warranty; the high-grade window comes with a double lifetime warranty. The lifetime warranty will only cover the window while you are the homeowner, whereas the double lifetime warranty will stay with the home no matter who owns it. This sounds great, but the price difference between the two windows is a whopping $400.

If you have no plans to sell, this extra feature isn't worth the cost. Even if you are planning to sell, could you recoup the cost in the sales price of your home? If a buyer were looking at comparable sales when deciding how much to offer on your house, would they say, "But this house comes with a double lifetime warranty on all of its windows, so it's worth the extra $3,000 the seller is asking"? The subject probably wouldn't even come up. What's more, the double lifetime warranty does not cover accidental glass breakage, which is probably the window expense that people are most concerned about. (A home warranty may sound like a great form of protection against expensive unforeseen home repairs, but is it worth it?)

Extremely Short Term Sales and Deals
Once you've discussed your options and narrowed down what you want, the sales person should offer you a price, in writing, for the work you want done. But in order to close the deal, you might be offered a sale or a price that is only valid for a very short time - say, 24 hours.

Don't feel pressured by what appears to be a one-time chance to save money. If there really is a sale that really is ending, it will probably come around again. There's also a chance that you could take your time to decide and, if you got a new quote six months later, you'd be offered the same deal.

Even if the special price expires and never comes back again, by taking your time to completely think through your decision, you'll be much more likely to make the right decision. This is more important in the long run than getting the best possible price. A deal is not a deal if you don't really want what you're being sold or the workmanship is not what is promised..

Bottom Line
Dealing with high-pressure sales tactics can be challenging and even stressful. Just remember that it's your house and your money, and you don't have to make a decision immediately. Make sure that you only buy what you really want - not what someone else wants to sell you.

CBCS, is not a sales and marketing home improvement - remodeler, nor do we use subcontractors. CBCS has a full staff of master and journeyman electricians, plumbers, carpenters, drywallers and plasters. We will be dedicated to you and your project, never compromising the integerity of our workmanship or our promise in giving you the best in price, workmanship, product quality and service.

Ask the Home improvement - remodeling sales person the following questions

1. Do you self perform or do you hire subcontractors
2. Do you mark up materials
3. Can I get a copy of all reciepts for materials
4. Do you background check all employees