On Deck

Built-in Enthusiasm

I must say I’ve been doing the deck thing for a long time now.  If it wasn’t something I was born to do (it is), then I would have given it up long ago.  But even in challenging times, I (practically) dance out of bed in the morning.  I hope everyone has the chance to feel the same about the vocation they choose.

That aside though...times are making it difficult right now. When I first opened Tailor Decks 15 years ago, I was handling virtually every aspect…including sales. Back then, I remember building during the day and introducing our services during the evenings or weekends. I did the accounting and payroll on Thursday nights. (I’ve worn so many hats my hair has started to wear thin!) The sales hat has never been a favorite of mine.

I don’t think I’ve ever regarded myself as much of a "salesman". I think most of the work we’ve gotten has been due to the fact that we’ve had great customers who have passed the word.  If I said that I have great "technique", I think I’d be flattering myself.  But there are a couple things that I’ve maintained and communicate with prospects even today that I think are valuable.  Those things include a pretty large knowledge base about decks…along with enthusiasm.  Someone told me once that sales is just the transference of enthusiasm…and I believe that. Fortunately, enthusiasm about decks for me isn't contrived...it's pretty automatic.

Some things have definitely changed over the years.  Technology through emailing and websites (along with the really newfangled stuff like Twitter) has helped us communicate better.  But with the increase in competition, more products, an economic contraction, and legal considerations, it’s really more challenging to put up a deck than ever.  If you let it get to you it will.  I just keep thinking about the transfer of enthusiasm…and that gets me through any storm.

A New Perception of Marketing by a Seasoned Business Owner

If there’s one positive development of this economic downturn, it’s been my realization of the importance of marketing.  From April of 1994 until last year, I operated from the position of “if you build it right, they will come”.  To be honest, that mantra worked pretty well for about 14 years.  Tailor Decks did very well and we frankly worked from the many referrals we got from the clients we had.  We really focused almost exclusively on doing a good job as opposed to finding business.

But all that changed last year.  I’d had my mind on developing an organized marketing program for when business cycled, which happened from time to time.  But the general economic downturn last year hastened this process into first priority for us.  Fortunately I found a good Atlanta marketing consulting organization in Impact Marketing, headquartered in Alpharetta, led by Scott Campbell.  In addition to knowing how to market a business, Impact Marketing focuses on the home improvement sector…which made them an easy choice to partner with.

Scott could probably explain it better than I, but at the small business level, marketing is like working out with a personal trainer.  We don’t have a budget to hire a marketing department, so I need to spend time working on marketing activities during the day…and these activities have to do with proactive business development…such as networking, making calls, advertising, etc.  I’m quickly finding that companies that sit out and wait, particularly in this economy, are not going to survive (much less flourish).  My plan is to become proficient in this area of the business as I am at designing or managing the actual decking project.

Since I’ve been working with Impact Marketing, I’ve really learned things I didn’t know about my business.  More importantly, however, is that I believe we’re continuously building a more and more compelling reason for Atlanta area homeowners to give Tailor Decks a try.  Keep your eye out for us as we build our “marketing deck”.