When Richard Lusa was the sales manager for a large exterior remodeling company, he had a few ideas about how an exterior contracting operation could grow. Soon after, he put them into practice by buying a fencing company and expanding into decks.
Fence and Deck Depot’s average ticket—$4,800 for a fence—is a fraction of what design/build remodelers command for projects. The company sets itself apart from competitors by bringing professional sales presentations into a mom-and-pop dominated industry, where estimates are given over the phone or by email after the contractor or salesperson visits.
Lusa also monitors manufacturing trends in the fencing industry to plan for better use and avoid products that are problematic. To make sure that his clients are satisfied, Lusa obtains product samples and tests them whenever he can.
Takeaways
- Maintains a separate checking account for customer deposits, a sales point in an industry where taking deposits and not showing up is common. “We separate deposits from working capital,” Lusa says. “It’s peace of mind when you share that with prospects.”
- Offers a separate gate warranty. The gate, Lusa says, is “the only part of the fence that moves,” and therefore the one most likely to wear out. Fence and Deck Depot offers a warranty on the gate for as long as customers own the home. The company custom builds its own gates using a machine “that welds the corners like windows,” to ensure that warranty claims are few.
