How does a remodeler tell a serious remodel inquiry from a window shopper?
A few plain questions at the first contact separate a homeowner with a plan from one who is only curious, so your estimating time goes to the right people. A serious inquiry tends to come from someone who can tell you when they want the work done and what is behind it. A curious homeowner still deserves a friendly reply and a place on your list, even if a full estimate can wait.
What does a window shopper cost a general contractor?
The call comes in on a Tuesday, about a kitchen remodel. The homeowner sounds excited and wants an estimate, so after a full day on another job the contractor drives over that evening and spends an hour walking the room with her. He gives up most of Sunday to price the cabinets and the counters, and he sends a careful estimate on Monday. She thanks him and mentions that they were curious what a kitchen costs these days and might do it in a few years.
Nothing about that homeowner was dishonest. She was curious, and nobody asked her anything before the estimate went on the calendar. A remodel estimate takes real hours, and in a busy season those hours come out of the owner's evenings and weekends. When every inquiry gets the same full treatment, the curious ones take time away from the homeowners who are ready to hire someone this year.
What separates a serious remodel inquiry from a curious one?
The difference is usually a plan. A homeowner who is ready to hire has already thought about the project, even if the details are still loose, and can tell you something about it when you ask. A homeowner who is only curious has an idea and a question about cost, and not much else yet. Both are pleasant on the phone and both say they want an estimate, so you cannot tell them apart by how interested they sound.
One question that helps is asking when they hope to have the work finished. A homeowner who wants the new bathroom done before her parents move in next spring has a date and a reason, and she has probably thought about what she can spend. A homeowner who says there is no rush and they are just getting an idea of prices has told you something just as useful, and neither answer took more than a minute to get.
Asked the same way at every first contact, a few plain questions like that one show you who has a plan. Which questions fit your business depends on the kind of remodels you take on and the size of job you want, so think them through before anyone starts asking them.
Will asking questions on the first call put off a good customer?
A homeowner who is serious about a remodel is about to trust someone with the house for weeks or months. A contractor who asks sensible questions before showing up sounds like someone who plans the work carefully. The questions only feel pushy when they sound like a test the homeowner has to pass. Asked in a friendly way, as part of getting the details right, they come across as the start of a well run job.
Think about the last time you hired someone to work on your own house. The contractor who asked when you hoped to start and what mattered most to you probably seemed more organized than the one who said he would come by sometime next week.
What should a general contractor do with the curious homeowners?
Keep them as future customers. A homeowner who is curious about a kitchen this year may be ready for it in two years, and that remodel is still a real job that some contractor will win. Give them a friendly answer, tell them you would be glad to help when the time is right, and put them on the list of people your business stays in touch with. When they are ready, the contractor who answered them kindly and kept in touch has a head start on everyone else.
A curious homeowner is a real person with a real house. Fake inquiries and sales pitches are a different problem, and the answer to spam and junk leads is to filter them out before anyone has to read them.
What a fix looks like
In a general contracting business that has fixed this, the owner reads the answers to the first few questions before he books a walkthrough. He can see that one homeowner wants the kitchen started in March and has a figure in mind, so she gets an evening appointment that week, and his estimating hours go to jobs like hers. The homeowner who is only pricing things out gets a friendly reply the same day and hears from the business now and then, and when she is ready two years later, the company's name is already in her inbox.
The Home Service Guild Marketing Operations System gives the owner one list of inquiries with the spam filtered out, an alert on each new one, and follow-up reminders on every open estimate.
Questions owners also ask
What if a homeowner will not answer the questions?
That tells you something too. A homeowner who is not ready to say when or why is usually not ready to hire, so give them a kind reply, let them know you are glad to set up an estimate when they are, and keep them on your list.
Can someone in the office ask the questions instead of the owner?
Yes, and that is one reason to ask the same questions every time. Anyone who answers the phone or reads the web form can ask them and write the answers down, so the owner sees them with the inquiry even when he is on a job site all day.
Does a small budget mean the inquiry is not serious?
No. A homeowner with a modest budget and a clear plan is a serious customer, and a smaller job done well often leads to the bigger one later. The questions are there to find out whether there is a plan, and the size of the job is a separate decision about what work you want to take on.
