Getting Follow-Up Refinishing Projects

This month’s article will teach you how to gain follow-up refinishing projects from your current or recent customers. This will include when to discuss follow-up projects, how to ask for customer interest, and how to close the sale. We will also discuss how to approach recent customers to ask about follow-up projects, including conversation and call scripts.

The Opportunity

The opportunity to gain follow-up projects from current or recent customers is excellent. There are several reasons for this. The most obvious reason is when you're working on a current project, you're already in the house, have built trust with the homeowner, and are already doing excellent work they admire. It is convenient and easy to look at other potential projects on the property or in the house and even quote them while you are still working on the original project.

Your recent past customers also represent an outstanding opportunity to pick up follow-up projects. This is because you've already accomplished two very significant things with these customers. First, you have earned their trust such that they hired you to do a project in their home they care about. Second, you did a beautiful project they appreciate and charged them a fair price for your work. In selling, you have already built trust with the homeowner, and are already doing excellent work building trust and credibility with proof of your good work is more than half the job of making the sale.

For these reasons intentionally pursuing follow-up projects with current or existing clients is an easy and obvious opportunity to increase your revenue with relatively little effort

While we talk about homeowners in this article, the conversations are almost identical if you are working with a property manager or a maintenance manager.

Start Early to Win Follow-up Refinishing Projects

Your efforts to win follow-up projects do not begin once you've completed the original project. They start much earlier when you are originally on the property looking at the project the homeowner or property manager would like you to refinish. Whether the owner is seeking refinishing work on a tub, a bathroom floor, a kitchen floor, countertops, or cabinets while you are there you should be making notes about other opportunities for future projects. You might even want to create your own printed checklist that you bring into the house with you.

Pay particular attention to various conditions in the house. Are there worn chipped cracked or faded hard surfaces in the areas of the house not part of your currently requested quote? Are there conflicting color schemes? If the owner is requesting a tub, shower, or bathroom floor refinish, you may want to notice the color schemes used in the other bathrooms or even in the kitchen. If you notice that a bathroom has recently updated fixtures, but the hard surfaces appear to be older and worn this also presents an opportunity.

Three Opportunities to Gain Follow-up Refinishing Projects

These observations and note-taking prepare you for your conversations with the homeowner or property manager. There are three opportunities to gain follow-up projects while you are working with a homeowner or property manager. The first opportunity is when you are initially inside the property inspecting the initial project.

As you are inspecting and measuring the immediate project, you will begin asking questions about other opportunities on the property. The second opportunity is when you have completed the initial project. This is when the owner sees your beautiful, finished project for the first time. They are delighted. The third opportunity is within thirty days after completion of the initial property when they have had time to enjoy and fully appreciate the quality of your workmanship and have realized how much they love the project.

Conversations with the Homeowner or Property Manager

The First Conversation: During the Quote

The first conversation with the owner is when you are evaluating and quoting the original project which may be a tub, countertop, or floor. After you have asked the homeowner all the appropriate questions about the project you're quoting (color, time frame, etc.) this is when you open the subject about follow-up projects. The conversation might go something like this:

Refinisher: Thank you for the opportunity to work on this project with you. I can already see that this is going to turn out beautifully. I think you're going to be very happy. Can I ask one more question before I leave?

Homeowner: Sure, go ahead

Refinisher: Very often when I am working in a house and the homeowner asks me to work on a project, they have another tub, bathroom, or countertop they also want me to take a look at. It's the easiest thing in the world to provide a quote on that as well while I’m here. Do you have anything else you want me to look at while I'm here?

Homeowner: Yes, now that you mention it. I did not know that you did floors. I've got a second bathroom here that I'd like you to see.

Refinisher: Of course, lead the way. I will follow you.

The refinisher reviews the second project with the homeowner and then asks the homeowner:

Refinisher: As I see this bathroom, I can tell you that this project is going to turn out to be beautiful as well. As I'm looking at both projects together, I think I can give you a discount on the second project. Since my crew will be here anyway working on one, it's very easy to do the second project at the same time.

If you are only interested in doing that first bathroom the price would be $XXX if you would like me to do both of them, I can do that for $YYY. As you can see there's a nice discount on the second bathroom. Would you like me to add the second bathroom to my quote?

Homeowner: Sure, that would be wonderful.

The Second Conversation: At Project Completion

The second conversation occurs when the initial project is completed. You have cleaned up after the project. The refinished tub looks brilliant. At this point, you are introducing the homeowner to their newly refinished tub or floor.

Refinisher: Well, I would like to introduce you to your newly refinished tub. What do you think?

Homeowner: Oh my gosh! It looks like brand new. I love it.

Refinisher: I appreciate hearing that; I was also very pleased. When I saw the finished project, it looked better than I originally thought it would. Can I ask you one more question before I leave?

Homeowner: Sure!

Refinisher: When I was here the first time, we briefly talked about your second bathroom and whether you wanted to do some refinishing there. Now that you see how beautiful this bathroom looks, are you open to me giving you a quote on the second bathroom?

Homeowner: Yes, I would love that.

Refinisher I will write that up for you right now but I can tell you that the price will be the same as for this tub. Do you want me to write up that quote and do you want to do the project?

Homeowner: Yes, that would be terrific.

Refinisher: Would you like me to schedule the project?

Homeowner: Yes, let me look at my calendar and we'll pick a date.

Refinisher: Terrific, what date works for you?

The Third Conversation: Project Follow-up

The third conversation is a phone call made to the owner 30 days after the completion of the project. This call has multiple purposes. The first purpose is to check with the customer to see if they are satisfied with the project now that they have lived with it for a month. The second purpose is to kindly ask them to leave a review on Yelp or another site. The third purpose of the conversation is to ask about a follow-up project. I will review that portion of the conversation below.

Refinisher: I'm glad to hear that you love your new tub. I was looking at the pictures we took of the completed project, and I must say I was very impressed with how it looked. It turned out fabulous. Can I ask you one more question?

Homeowner: Sure, go ahead.

Refinisher: I realize it may not be something that you want to do right away but I have crews in your area regularly. I'm very happy to stop by and give you a quote on that floor or the second bathroom that we talked about when I was there last month. Are you open to getting a quote on that second bathroom now that you've seen the results on the first one?

Homeowner: Yes, that would be wonderful. Please give me a quote on that tub as well.

Refinisher: I will write up the quote but from my pictures of that tub, I can tell you that the price is going to be the same as the first. Would you like me to schedule the project?

Homeowner: Yes, let me look at my calendar and we'll pick a date.

Refinisher: Terrific, what date works for you?

Conclusion: These Conversations Are the Easiest Money You Will Ever Make

Many of you ask these questions as a normal course of every project. You understand the tremendous benefit to the homeowner and the opportunity for you to get more refinishing projects with no further investment in marketing.

The lesson here is that when you ask these questions on every single project, you're not going to win a follow-up project every time. But you will win follow-up projects often, and definitely more often than if you don’t ask. As the great hockey player Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100% of the shots that you do not take.”

Asking these questions is both good customer service and ethical selling. If you train yourself and your team to ask these questions on each project, you will make more money easily and help the homeowner as well.

Good Selling!