Real Remodeling Reviews, False "Filtering"?

And speaking of online reviews ... does Yelp have something against small companies? 

A remodeler writes:

"We as a company have been asking our clients to review us online at various sites like Yahoo, Google, Houzz and Yelp. We have had two new reviews on Yelp's website in the past couple months, only to find that those reviews have been “filtered” by Yelp because they say these are fake or “less relevant” reviews. Although I have responded to Yelp with the clients' information (phone, address, project pictures, etc.) I cannot get even a response back.

"Some companies have noticed that only companies who pay to advertise on Yelp get to 'keep' all their reviews. This website has a link to a petition for the attorney general to investigate Yelp. Could you could rally the troops and gain some support for us and other remodelers around?"

Here is how Yelp describes "filtering," by the way.



So, what say you, remodelers:

Has Yelp filtered out any of your "less trustworthy" reviews? How have you responded? Please comment below.



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Value Selling: Tried This Approach, Remodelers?

Remodelers: Sure, homeowners can look up many of your costs these days -- appliances and fixtures, for instance -- but that doesn't mean they understand or appreciate the real value you offer. Or your real costs, for that matter. What about your company's vehicles, office space, staff training, licenses?

That's where you might want to do some value selling. Here's what Sandler Sales trainer Chip Doyle has to say:

 "My girlfriend took me to Hawaii recently so I was happy to offer to pay for some island tours for the two of us. Instead of letting me forget about work, she adeptly noticed that every tour brochure highlighted the value of the craft that each tour used. $1 million boats for fishing and snorkeling, $1.5 million dollar airplane for island sightseeing, etc. And of course for mere hundreds of dollars you could participate in a tour on each of these expensive vehicles. Their mention of these tour vehicle values was not by accident. They were exploiting a concept known as establishing context, validated by Cialdini in his book Influence. Several other authors have also documented this sales technique.

"Value selling is the concept of pricing products or services not based on their cost but on their value to the buyer. Understanding the context of the value to the buyer allows the buyer to justify the purchase and the salesperson to change how they quote and charge prices...."

Read the rest of Chip's post here. 

Read Chip's advice on remodeling sales specifically, from these past d5R articles:

• Learning to Prospect, Saving the Company
• Strengthening Conversion Rates
• Selling Isn't Debate: an Engineer's Confessions
• The Fourth of July and the Three-Foot Rule

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Is Yelp Mostly Irrelevant to Remodelers?

Remodelers might come out smelling like roses or stinking like rot when they're reviewed on Yelp -- as on Angie's List or Kudzu or Google + or so many other sites where consumers can post reviews of businesses. Over at GuildQuality, Geoff Graham makes a compelling case for why Yelp isn't terribly relevant to the building and remodeling industry. Which is not to say that remodelers shouldn't be aware  of what's being said about them.

"... Yelp works well for prospective customers seeking feedback about businesses with a large volume of customers. Restaurants (their biggest market) may serve hundreds of people in a day. With a very large volume of customers, over time a business will attract a meaningful number of reviews on Yelp. This is good for customers, and it's also good (in the long run) for elevating professionalism in the restaurant industry. It shines a spotlight on great restaurants, and makes it tougher for less-than-great ones to attract customers."

"...Yelp, Google, Angie's List, and others all face the same problem: the way they gather information and communicate quality is inherently biased in favor of businesses with large volumes of customers and against those with small volumes of customers." 

Read the rest of Geoff's post here.

In the meantime, we at d5R have covered online reviews a number of times, most recently tracking the story of a DC-area remodeler who sued a client for posting inflammatory reviews. (See that thread here.) And on Wednesday, we'll publish a big story about the potential hazards of online reviews: how to get good reviews, how to avoid negative reviews, and how to mitigate the damage of negative reviews when and if they happen.

If you'd like to share your experience in avoiding and mitigating damaging reviews, post a comment below, or email me: leah@daily5REMODEL.com.



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Website Design: a Free Webinar, a Discounted Review

So, remodelers. Wondering why your website isn't bringing in more traffic and more leads from qualified buyers? Here are two opportunities to learn and improve. Both are limited, so act quickly.

Webinar: How to get more leads from your website

January 23, 1 p.m. EST
Free
taught by Spencer Powell and Chris Amber, TMR Direct
Click here to register


Website review: Is your website as good as it could be?

$99 for the first 15 contractors to sign up
review by Darren Slaughter, DarrenSlaughter.com
Email Darren directly to sign up

Regarding Darren's review, just a few spaces remain, he told me yesterday. He also volunteered the following problems as those he most commonly sees in contractors' websites:

• When the content is all about the contractor, with no clear benefit to the reader.
• When he site navigation has no flow. Good navigation should move people along the "sales funnel," he says.
• When the "about us" pages are poorly written.
• When there are no client testimonials.
• When the design is bad: poor color choices, poor contrast, too-small typefaces.

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Is a Second Career in the Cards?

Remodeling is often a lifelong career but, like any other career these days, it doesn't have to be -- and in some cases it can't be a lifelong career even if you want it to. Just as I've known of people who came to remodeling after previous jobs as accountants and lawyers and musicians, I've known of remodelers to close their businesses -- or sell them, if their timing is right -- and become building inspectors, management consultants, teachers and a number of other occupations.

If you've considered moving on from your job, and you've worried that your age might hold you back, check out this article in yesterday's New York Times. Excerpt:

"[S]ome people who have gone through the emotional and financial strains of late-career unemployment say that with skill, determination and a bit of luck, the end of a job doesn't have to be the end of the world. Changing jobs or careers can be a good thing later in life, despite the many risks. Many agree that a willingness to push beyond the comofort of location, lifestyle and line or work is vital.

See the full story here.

Considering a serious career change? We're tracking that topic on d5R. Feel free to post your comments below, or email them to me, leah@daily5REMODEL.com.



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IBS Previews: The Latest "New American Home," More

The International Builders' Show starts in eight days, and remodelers, builders, building products manufacturers and others are gearing up for the big week in Orlando. Here are some previews:

• Product preview from the Marketing Home Products blog
• Show overview from ForResidentialPros.com

And a video preview of the latest "New American Home" to be unveiled:




By the way, the d5R Construction Industry Calendar provides links to dozens of industry events all year, from those at the level of local NARI chapters to national and international building events. Click here to see what's coming down the pike. Want to add a listing? Email the details -- event, time, location, audience -- to me at leah@daily5REMODEL.com.



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Death of an Architecture Critic

"It is a world of corridors by Kafka and rampant mediocrity."

Need conversational fodder for cocktail parties this weekend? Consider the contributions of Ada Louise Huxtable. The architecture critic died at 91 on Monday, ending an era of caustic criticism that seemed to find special joy in lacerating the Nation's Capital (this editor's hometown). For example:

On the Kennedy Center: "Albert Speer would have approved.... What it has in size, it lacks in distinction.... The building is a national tragedy. It is a cross between a concrete candy box and a marble sarcophagus in which the art of architecture lies buried."

Kennedy Center, via Flickr user Kyle Rush

On federal buildings: "If you think of a Federal office building as a place where architecture and offices have been raised, or lowered, to an environment of consummate ennui, you are right. It is a world of corridors by Kafka and rampant mediocrity."

Probably a good thing Huxtable didn't deign to publicly criticize residential remodeling. Or remuddling, as she might have called it.

Here's her New York Times obituary.



Also in today's d5R Update:

• Today's number 
• Houzz about a question? 
• 10 questions on the new mortgage rules 
• These remodelers are resolved. 

Remodelers: Houzz About a Question?

Put it out there -- to a massive audience of home-design enthusiasts

Houzz, that incredible source of home design and remodeling ideas (and many remodelers' number-one marketing tool these days), is launching its second annual survey of on Monday and welcomes suggested questions from d5R readers.

"Last year we had 30,000 responses," says Liza Hausman, a VP for the company. "We're expecting more than 75,000 this year."

You've got questions, remodelers. This massive community of homeowners, designers, architects, remodelers, etc. has answers. Share your questions by posting them below, or email them to leah@daily5REMODEL.com.

By the way, consider attending an "Open Houzz" event if you're in Texas. Three are scheduled for January, and you're all invited. I went to the DC event recently and it was funnn. And fascinating. Click below to RSVP.

Austin Jan. 22
Houston, Jan 23
Dallas, Jan 24




Also in today's d5R Update:

• Today's number 
• 10 questions on the new mortgage rules 
• Death of an architecture critic 
• These remodelers are resolved. 

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These Remodelers Are Resolved. What About You?

Come hell or high water, growing numbers of remodelers say they won't settle for just another post-recession year in 2013. It's great to see that enthusiasm is back. Check out the business resolutions they've shared in this week's d5R Answers discussion, and consider sharing your own. Here's one from Minnesota:

"It is not a stretch to say that the last 5 years have been tough. Going from a staff of 34 to 14 changes things.... It finally feels that we (I) can add the word 'growth' back into our vocabulary with some conviction that it means something. I have feelers out for sales staff and am encouraged by who is responding!"

That remodeler's resolutions for 2013?

• Grow volume by 20% and overhead by 12%
• Hire one salesperson in January and another in March/April.
• "Recast our company vision and share with the team."

Share your resolutions, remodelers. And read about these other resolutions (and suggested resolutions) also.



Also in today's d5R Update:

• Today's number 
• Houzz about a question? 
• 10 questions on the new mortgage rules 
• Death of an architecture critic 

Have a great weekend. 

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Needing Projects, Sizing Up Leads, Getting Queasy Feelings...

I love it when remodelers really get into the discussion on d5R. Lately, there's been a lively back-and-forth on the matter of assessing the profitability of any one project lead, based on what you know about your past clients. Fantastic comments -- and here's the most colorful so far. Thanks, Michael Anschel!

Listen to your gut. 

My gut tells me that you are right, but my brain is happy to inform my gut that it is easily influenced, and being a digestive organ, lacks the requisite intellect to make informed rational decisions.   

My heart wants to get in on the action as well, and proceeds to pour out the most moving anecdotal rhetoric. It is so powerful that my brain would have fallen for it, except that all that sappy garbage made my gut sick, gave me indigestion and pretty soon heart burn. 

Released from its trance, my brain, in control again pointed out that I run a business. And while my gut and my heart are useful tools, at the end of the day it is the brain that must run the show. 

No clue what he's talking about? See the full discussion (and add to it) here: How Profitable Is That Lead?

Technology Would Be Hilarious ...

... if it weren't so bleeping frustrating. Here's a note I tried to send to the entire d5R readership late this afternoon, following the discovery of one site problem after another. Unfortunately the note didn't go out. That part of the site was broken too. Here's to Tuesday.

Tuesday update: Today's issue features yesterday's content because yesterday's issue didn't go out. And then today's issue went out twice.

Dear d5R Community:

You may have noticed a conspicuous absence in your email this morning. My apologies. Today’s d5R didn’t go out, and in fact the site was down for most of the working day. Our web-hosting company switched to a faster server -- and “something broke” in the process, as the tech people say.

Thankfully, after hours of research and testing, the problem has been fixed, and the site is up and running with the latest stories. Tomorrow’s d5R will re-feature these stories to give you time to read and respond, in the event that you don’t make it over today.

Two more quick notes:

The site outage delayed the start of voting on the November Snapshots contest (“Our Favorite Clients”). Voting is now open and will remain so through next Monday. Click here to go directly to the voting booth and here to review all the entries. Thanks again to GuildQuality for sponsoring the contest and providing an iPad 2 for the winner.

And … a collective thanks to all of you who have upgraded to d5R Premium under the new price structure announced November 18. Woefully, there was a glitch in that system as well, and I hear that many of you did not receive your receipt or an automatic email explaining how to take advantage of your awesome Premium benefits. If that’s the case with you, please shoot me a note. I’ll send you those two items asap.

Thank you for your patience, and fingers crossed that we all have a much better rest of the week!

Leah Thayer
leah@daily5REMODEL.com

Great Remodeling Snapshots: Pick Your Favorite!

News flash: the winner is Pine Street Carpenters! 

From Michael Dolan, marketing director: 

"These materials will be a great resource for Pine Street, 

and a valuable part of our library. We'll be sure to put them to good and frequent use!"

Every day, we at daily5Remodel invite remodeling professionals to submit a photo, video, PDF or other image and brief caption demonstrating a best business practice. At Thanksgiving, we launched our first Snapshots contest, and here is your chance to select your favorite Snapshot published in December. The winner will receive more than $200 worth of remodeling-specific books and DVDs generously provided by Remodelers Advantage, Construction Programs & Results, and Train2Rebuild.

Poll closes January 10!

(Here's an image from December 17, submitted by Pine Street Carpenters)

Click here to see these and other d5R Snapshots.
Click here to get daily5Remodel every day for free!

poll by twiigs.com