Our 5 Most Important Factors For Qualifying Project Leads
Last year this time we were struggling to find our flow with managing new project leads. High on the volume of inquiries and low on response time. Follow up, a non-negotiable in our book, was hard. We needed an easier way to facilitate new business conversations, make decisions and respond to inquiries (with confidence).
What we ended up with? ‘The Big 5’ - an internal qualifying criteria of sorts. What we consider the ‘essential components’ for success, uncertainty and what we go to when feeling our way through prospective projects.
The Big 5 have given us a better way to think about inquiries and navigate follow ups. It’s easy to say ‘yes’ to a phone call, meeting or walk-through especially when: reaction is routine, scarcity is expected and uncertainty lurks. But, operating decisions based on a consistent criteria has been a game changer. It forces us to pause and reflect on what value each prospect could lead to. Holding us accountable to our time, goals and values. Not only have we gained more confidence in making hard decisions, but we’ve gotten time back.
Our 5 most important factors for feeling our way through project leads.
1. People
Does this person, conversation or connection feel right? What breadcrumbs are there to anticipate how they might be to work with? Have they been through a home renovation before, what’s their current understanding of the industry and pricing? How may they be at making decisions? Or, handling bad news? You’d be surprised by how many insights you can discern about people through communication.
2. Perspective
What impact will this relationship or project have on us 3 years from now? What might we learn from today that will create growth and opportunities for tomorrow? Will this bring competency with a new capability, a portfolio piece we can market or connections that could lead to repeat business are some of the things we consider when getting to know more about a perspective project.
3. Proximity
How close is the potential job to our home, office, trade teams and other jobs that may be underway? Bringing multiple teams together requires boots on the ground. Communicating needs with trade teams, craftsmanship quality control, client or design meetings, carpentry and installation not to mention unforeseen things that pop up - we log the miles! More face time on site brings more understanding of estimation vs actuals, efficiency and opportunity to build relationships.
4. Production
Each plan set, job, client and scope is different and new. While past project numbers are helpful for anticipating ballpark costs every job brings new variables. Estimating a job requires time to digest the scope and its nuances. What does this job require and can we execute it successfully within budget? What are the right teams for the job? What additional dollars or resources do we need to consider? What allowances should be earmarked and where do we need clarity? Are there dependencies we need to consider? Does this investment make sense for the client?
5. Profit
We are in the business of creating livable homes for people that stand the test of time AND creating a livelihood doing what we love. For each prospect, does this make good business sense? Passion doesn’t pay to run the business. Profit can be tricky when control is limited and variables are never-ending. We up hold a build process and level of quality that requires more time in labor, management and oversight. We believe in a fair and transparent fee structure - one that is reflected up front, and often.