The Contractor Coaching Partnership Blog

We are fast approaching the mid year mark and hopefully the beginning of an improved market. Many contractors and entrepreneurs are telling us that leads are increasing. However consumers are still cautious, slow to make decisions, seeking multiple bids, considering smaller projects, looking for more value and sales cycles are much longer. One friend said he just had 6 appointments to make one window sale, when it used to be two calls only 1 year ago. Does any of this sound familiar?

I was riding through a suburban neighborhood last week and saw 12 projects in progress in an upscale Massachusetts town. I took the names of the companies down to research who they were. I was somewhat pleased to see that at least some companies are winning jobs. 

A few months ago I discovered a company on ContractorTalk that is a great resource for marketing ideas for remodeling and trade contractors. The owner of the company is Mark Buckshon and he has been working with contractors for many years. He is in touch with the contractor's needs, understands consumers and has great insights for marketing your business. I frequently read and learn from his site and always come away with ideas that can help my business as well as my contractor coaching clients. I recommend you sign up for his newsletter and visit his site frequently. Here is his blog link.

In our 4 Legged Chair System for contractors and entrepreneurs, the first leg of the system is marketing.

A recent thread on the Linkedin NARI group has generated over 130 responses from parties interested in the relationship between contractors and lead generation sites. The purpose of the thread was to provide a forum for contractors and LGC's about the numerous problems between the two groups. We were interested in obtaining dialogue from contractors and LGC's.

This past week I posted a simple question on the Linkedin NARI group. It was, should contractor organizations and trade publications lead the charge to protect contractors from lead gen companies tactics. Little did I realize, that the thread hit a nerve in a big way with many contractors throughout the country. The responses blew me away and started a strong and passionate debate about the subject. This debate is likely to continue for weeks. The basic problem is how lead gen sites use questionable tactics to sell low quality leads to contractors. There are thousands of verifiable complaints about lead gen firms all over the web on forums.