What to Focus On + Interview with Chris Marentis, CEO of Surefire Local

Part 1. What to Focus On What are your top priorities in the next 30, 60, or even 90 days? While most home remodelers will have a quick answer to this simple question, it is still possible the things they’re focusing on are not necessarily the right ones. “I don’t think there is a cookie-cutter answer to that,” says Mark Richardson. “…But what I do know is there are a few questions that you can ask yourself…that you can determine for yourself or your team can determine what they should be focused on.” What do you know? The current situation we’re experiencing right now remains full of uncertainties, from possible government restrictions relating to COVID-19 to doubts whether the continuing interest in home improvement will last. But what you do know is that your clients are probably your biggest assets. You’ll want to focus on projects that will give them greater peace of mind in terms of health and safety, while ensuring you can produce fast but excellent results. What do you have? Leads are an opportunity--not a real client, and design agreements don’t always guarantee you’ll have a project to work on in the future. What you DO have, however, are real projects under construction, and real clients that need you to meet their expectations. Make sure to focus on these things, along with cultivating a good relationship with your team members because they are more important to your business than ever. What can you control? Avoid getting into the media hype surrounding the pandemic--it’s a situation you can’t control. You’ll want to focus on things that you can, including the time and energy you spend on your team members and clients, and on opportunities for greater leads and business growth. You can control your sales process, and how much safer you can make the remodeling experience for everyone, as well. Bottom line is to focus on what you know, what you have, and what you can control right now instead of looking too far ahead in these unprecedented times. Part 2. Interview with Chris Marentis, CEO of Surefire Local In this section of the podcast, Mark discusses with a leader in the digital marketing space, Chris Marentis, CEO of Surefire Local, how this particular aspect of marketing has been affected this year by the pandemic. “The trend of consumers and households using digital to find and buy products and services accelerated greatly,” says Chris. This shift to driving their business online has allowed for record-breaking years in smaller retail shops. “Professional services and local business spaces have been going through that same transformation and acceleration into digital.” Chris also shares how a few years ago, most businesses would typically focus on building a website to make themselves more visible online, but now they have access to more digital marketing vehicles, such as using Google My Business reviews and email marketing to build their company. “Marketing is pretty simple--social or digital--if you have all the data coming in and it’s all in a way that you can understand it and act on it.” Listen as Mark and Chris further discuss why businesses should focus their efforts on advanced digital marketing strategies.