Home improvement projects are a great way to add value to a home and enhance the living experience of the homeowners. However, in recent years homeowners are looking for alternative ways to access the contractors that can provide home improvement services. Virtual home improvement projects are becoming increasingly popular and effective, offering homeowners the ability to shop and hire contractors online, from the comfort of their homes.
Here are some of the reasons why you might consider selling virtually:
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- Increased reach: Selling virtually allows you to reach a wider audience beyond your direct market. With the option to sell virtually, you can make the choice to increase your service area, and therefore increase your customer base.
- Lower overhead costs: Selling virtually limits driving time, which can significantly reduce team time and overhead costs.
- Improved customer experience: Virtual selling allows customers to browse your services from the comfort of their own home. This can improve the overall customer experience and increase customer satisfaction.
- Greater convenience: Selling virtually is more convenient for both the seller and the customer. You can present why a customer should go with your company at a time that is convenient for them, at home or at work.
- Increased efficiency: Virtual selling allows you to do more bids and presentations in less time without having to drive across town and risk having a no-show.
- Data and analytics: Selling virtually and using tools like Ingage allows you to track and analyze customer behavior and preferences. You can use this data to improve your marketing and sales strategies and to make data-driven business decisions.
Steps to Creating a Virtual Estimate
- Contact the homeowner to discuss design preferences and job scope.
- Define scope and gather measurements:
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- For Interior Projects: With the customer’s participation, gather measurements remotely using One Click’s Smart Interiors 3D measurement tool. Smart Interiors takes pictures and video with the homeowners own smartphone while generating a complete 3-dimensional rendering. The measurements are automatically imported into One Click’s estimator to generate a quote. Homeowners have access to the rendering via One Click’s portal which helps to get them more engaged.
- For Exterior Projects: Exterior measurements can be calculated a couple different ways. First, One Click’s built in measurement tools can calculate the area of the roof, siding or size of windows and doors. Or if you are a Hover or Eagleview using simple order a report and the measurements will be available to use in One Click’s estimator.
3. Create the Design
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- Utilize your favorite design software or visualizer to bring the customer’s dream to life.
- Prepare digital designs in a way that you can share them with the customer when you do your virtual presentation.
Pro Tip: Link those designs to the estimate in One Click Contractor or
export the designs to PDF and upload them to be part of the estimate or agreement.
4. Generate the Digital Estimates & Agreements
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- Use the documents that you’ve loaded into One Click’s platform along with the measurement and job scope, to share with your customer, and generate a customized estimate.
5. Virtual Presentation
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- Invite your customer to a virtual meeting using the One Click Contractor platform—you can invite them via text or email. Unlike other video conferencing solutions, there is no software to download with One Click’s screen share and video conferencing, and it comes free with the platform.
- Turn on your video so the homeowner can virtually meet you and share your screen.
- Now it’s time to present your design and estimate to the homeowner. Click on the link inside the platform, present your design to finalize project scope, and then save the final design and documents as a PDF.
- If you want to level up your presentation and really wow your customers, we’ve partnered with Ingage.io, a sales presentation platform that specializes in home improvement presentations. They’ll get your existing presentation into their engaging and interactive format for you to showcase your work through a truly beautiful and interactive presentation homeowners will really enjoy.
Pro Tip: If you want your customer to form an emotional connection by physically touching
samples and seeing them in their home, but your customer is concerned about having people
in their home, drop off a sample kit to the customer on their porch.
When delivering a virtual presentation, there are several important items to cover to ensure that your message is effectively communicated to your audience. Explore how to create the best online presentations here.
6. Finalize the Agreement, Close the Sale & Get Paid
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- Upload the PDF designs and documents into the Documents tab.
- Complete your agreement using the Proposal tab.
- Easily attach your documents to the proposal and/or agreement.
- Email your documents to the homeowner through the One Click Contractor platform.
- Homeowners can now easily sign their agreement digitally.
- Collect payment for the job easily through the One Click Contractor platform with credit card, ACH or financing options.
What Do Homeowners Worry About Most When Hiring A Contractor?
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- Cost: One of the biggest concerns homeowners have when hiring a contractor is the cost of the project. They may worry that the project will go over budget, or that they are being charged fairly.
- Quality of work: What quality of work will the contractor provide? Sometimes, homeowners have heard horror stories about contractors who did a poor job or cut corners to save time or money. To be fair, we have heard horror stories about homeowners or worse, experienced them for ourselves too.
- Reliability: Homeowners worry about whether the contractor will show up on time, complete the project in a timely manner, and communicate effectively throughout the process.
- Reputation: Negative reviews mean a lot to a homeowner, who may be considering a contractor’s reputation before hiring them. They may have seen one negative review or may be concerned about the contractor's licensing or insurance status, among other things.
- Safety: They may be concerned about damage to their home or property, or about the safety of the contractor's workers during the construction process.
- Trust: Homeowners want to ensure that the contractor is trustworthy and honest before hiring them, as they’re trusting them with their home and private space.
Homeowners worry about a lot of things during a remodel project for several reasons. To ease these concerns, it is important for contractors to try and address these in their presentations by communicating effectively, providing clear and transparent pricing, maintaining a strong reputation, and prioritizing safety and customer satisfaction.
Get Started with Virtual Selling Today
Now that you see the process and how easily you can succeed at virtual selling, learn how One Click Contractor will save you even more time and help you seamlessly sell more jobs in today’s new virtual environment. We offer the complete sales solution for contractors, allowing them to create estimates faster, eliminate costly mistakes, reduce travel time, and increase efficiency—all in one place inside the One Click Contractor Virtual Sales Platform.