Assuming you are already among the premier suppliers in your area (and we’ll assume that, because you’re reading this), you are already covering the basics: a good-looking post, installed on time, and performed with courteous office and field installation personnel. What next? Here are the top five ways to grow your real estate sign installation business, based on our observations of our most successful sign installation companies:
Market to the broker, operations manager, or office manager. Avoid the “hand to hand combat” of winning over agents one by one. Using a platform like SignTraker will enable you to provide the inventory control, predictability, team ordering, and cost savings that business management professionals such as these are looking for. Gaining one manager gains many agents.
Expand the array of things you sell—or resell. There are many services your agents need in the process of selling a house, and here are just a few. Enable these in your SignTraker today:
Sign panels and riders. Need a source? We can put you in touch with other SignTraker providers that can help you.
Shoe covers. You're probably saying, "Really?" Well, yes, of course. Shoe covers are a great consumable item that agents will appreciate you for providing.
Ancillary services such a photography, videography, or landscaping clean-ups supplied by others. Use your local networking groups to find a superior provider, and work out a mutually beneficial resale or commission arrangement.
Drive-by “house watch” services that leverage your existing infrastructure of vehicles and manpower. Put more dollars on the bottom line having your drivers do what they already do a lot of—driving! With SignTraker, you can take up to three photos with your house watch and automatically send them to your agent.
Use a modern order management platform. Missing even one service call, or worse—performing it badly—can very quickly help you achieve negative growth: lost profits, lost customers, or both. Choose a platform that is easy for your agents to use, that provides all the communication, photos, and reporting that they desire, while helping you fulfill the service request efficiently with as little overhead as possible.
Grow profit—with less work, and the same level of revenue. Is your sign management platform doing everything it should be doing for you? Do you find yourself doing the same exact rudimentary tasks over-and-over again? If the objective is to make more money, you can achieve higher profits with the same level of revenue by doing what you are doing now—just better, faster, and cheaper. Balance the cost of the platform you are using with the benefits it is providing. Can a new platform save you 10, 20, or even 40 hours or more per month? If so, your “inexpensive” (or even in-house home-grown) program is costing you money, not saving you money. Achieving 40 or more hours of labor per month is easily achievable with SignTraker. Having invoices automatically generated in QuickBooks in seconds versus multiple tedious hours of hand entry is just one example.
Brand your service. Are you doing a good job, but think that nobody knows it? Well, you’re probably right. Let potential customers know who installed that beautiful post. How is this done? Typical SignTraker licensees use both signpost property labels AND barcoded sign panel inventory labels. Why both? The post label is easy to see by agents when departing listings where you have installed the post—they want to know who you are. Panel labels? Similar benefits to the post labels, with the added benefit of “advertising” that your service includes professional inventory management of their valuable panels and riders. These types of labels can be produced SignTraker, or by any local resource capable of printing high durability, weather resistant labels.
By branding your service, tweaking your marketing approach, expanding the things you sell, and selling those products on a modern platform that helps you execute efficiently and keep your customers satisfied, you will be able to grow your sign business consistently year after year.
