1. Answer the Phone Professionally

Professionalism starts before you ever visit the house.

When someone calls your company, answer with your company name. If you miss the call, return it promptly. If the homeowner sends a text or email, respond.

You do not need a call center.

You need a repeatable communication process.

2. Have a Professional Email Address

Small details influence how customers perceive a business.

If you own ABC Exteriors and your website is ABCExteriors.com, an email such as:

john@abcexteriors.com

generally creates a more consistent business identity than using an unrelated personal email account.

Use the same company name, logo, phone number and contact information across your website, estimates, invoices and marketing materials.

3. Show Up When You Say You Will

This may be one of the simplest competitive advantages available to a contractor.

If the appointment is at 5:00, arrive at 5:00.

If something changes, communicate before the homeowner has to call you.

Reliability builds confidence before you ever start discussing siding.

4. Don't Walk Into the House With Just a Catalog

This is one of the easiest areas for a smaller contractor to improve.

If you are asking a homeowner to make a major investment in their home, bring something worth looking at.

A basic siding sales kit might contain:

• Full-size siding samples
• Color samples
• Profile samples
• Corner samples
• Insulation samples
• Product brochures
• Warranty information
• Installation details
• Before-and-after project photos
• Company information

Do the demonstration. Let the homeowner touch the product you are recommending.

5. Learn How to Explain Feature, Advantage and Benefit

Knowing a product specification is not the same as knowing how to sell it.

A professional salesperson should be able to explain three things:

• Feature: What does the product have?
• Advantage: What makes that feature different or useful?
• Benefit: Why should the homeowner care?

For example, simply telling a homeowner that a vinyl siding panel is .046-inch thick gives them a specification.

A better presentation explains what the construction of the panel means and why you selected that product for their project.

6. Give the Homeowner Choices

Professional contractors do not necessarily recommend the exact same product to every homeowner.

Learn enough about different siding systems to offer appropriate choices.

Depending on your product lineup, that could include:

• Quality vinyl siding
• Premium vinyl siding
• Insulated siding
• Steel siding
• Aluminum siding
• ASCEND Composite Cladding
• Board & batten accents
• Tando Stone accents

A good-better-best presentation can help move the conversation away from simply comparing your lowest price with somebody else's lowest price.

7. Make Your Estimate Look Like a Proposal

A handwritten number on a piece of paper does not communicate much about what the homeowner is purchasing.

A professional siding proposal should clearly explain important project details such as:

• Company name and contact information
• Homeowner and project address
• Product manufacturer
• Product line
• Profile
• Color when selected
• Removal of existing materials
• Wall preparation
• Insulation when included
• Soffit and fascia work when included
• Trim and accessory details
• Cleanup
• Warranty information
• Payment terms
• Project price

Make it easy for the homeowner to understand exactly what they are buying.

8. Use Real Manufacturer Literature

You do not have to create every sales tool yourself.

Manufacturers invest heavily in product photography, color literature, technical documents, warranty information and samples.

Use those resources.

A good building material distributor should help contractors obtain current samples and literature from the manufacturers they represent.

9. Know More About the Product Than the Homeowner

Today's homeowner can research siding before you arrive.

They may already have questions about vinyl thickness, steel siding, composite cladding, insulation, warranties, colors, maintenance and installation.

You do not need to memorize every technical specification.

But you should understand the products you recommend and know where to find reliable technical information when a detailed question comes up.

Product knowledge is one of the least expensive ways for a small contractor to compete with a larger company.

10. Keep the Truck and Trailer Presentable

Your truck does not have to be new.

Your trailer does not have to be expensive.

But they should look like they belong to a professional contractor.

Keep equipment reasonably clean and organized. Consider professional company lettering or graphics. Make sure ladders and materials are properly secured.

Your vehicle may sit in front of the homeowner's house for days. It becomes part of your company's presentation.

11. Make the Jobsite Look Professional

The homeowner sees more than the finished siding.

They see how you work.

Professional jobsite habits include:

• Organized material storage
• Protecting landscaping where appropriate
• Keeping debris controlled
• Keeping access areas reasonably clear
• Communicating before disrupting entrances or driveways
• Cleaning the property regularly
• Performing a final cleanup

A clean project can become a sales tool because neighbors are watching too.

12. Communicate During the Project

Do not make the homeowner hunt you down for information.

Tell them what is happening.

A short update can cover:

• What was completed today
• What happens tomorrow
• Any unexpected conditions discovered
• Weather-related schedule changes
• Any decisions you need from the homeowner

Consistent communication can make a two-person company feel extremely organized.

13. Take Good Before-and-After Photos

Every completed siding project can help sell the next one.

Take clear photographs before work begins, during important stages of installation and after completion.

With the homeowner's appropriate permission, those photographs can become useful for:

• Your website
• Google Business Profile
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Sales presentations
• Before-and-after examples
• Showing installation details

A small contractor with 50 well-documented projects may present a stronger body of work than a larger contractor that does a poor job documenting what it builds.

14. Ask Customers for Reviews

Your company can tell homeowners that you do good work.

Previous customers can provide independent feedback about their experience.

Build review requests into your normal completion process instead of remembering to ask only occasionally.

15. Let Your Distributor Help Fill the Gaps

A small siding contractor does not need to build every resource internally.

This is one of the reasons the relationship with your building material distributor matters.

A contractor-focused distributor can potentially help with:

• Product samples
• Color samples
• Literature
• Demo materials
• Product education
• Installation training
• Manufacturer representatives
• Estimating and ordering questions
• Local inventory
• Jobsite delivery

That allows a smaller contractor to access resources that might otherwise be difficult to develop alone.

Use the Suburban Wholesale Showroom as a Sales Resource

Do you have a great customer but not a large showroom of your own?

Talk with us.

The Suburban Wholesale & Supply showroom gives contractors access to exterior products, colors and displays that can help customers better understand what they are considering.

Products such as Gentek siding, ASCEND Composite Cladding, Tando Stone and other exterior materials can be much easier to sell when homeowners can actually see and touch them.

Small Can Actually Be an Advantage

Do not apologize for being a small contractor.

Use it.

The owner may be the person who performs the estimate. The owner may be on the project. Customers may have one direct phone number instead of moving between departments.

Those can be genuine advantages.

The goal is not to make a small company look enormous. The goal is to make a small company look organized, knowledgeable, dependable and professional.