Most remodeling business owners are against putting pricing on their website—either directly or through a lead capture—because they believe it will allow their competitors to undercut them and it will price them out of possible leads before even speaking to them. Many also feel it is not possible without learning more about what a prospect wants.
Danielle Henslee-Fauteaux argues on Remodelers Advantage that remodelers should put pricing online because a majority of online users want to know price off the bat, and because it can differentiate a business from its competitors, increase online traffic, and reduce the number of unqualified leads. Henslee-Fauteaux also responds to several of the most common objections to putting pricing online.
“If I put my pricing on my site, my competitors can go look at it and undercut me.” This is true to some degree. Your competitors will do some competitive research, especially when expanding their service area or offering new remodeling services. But your primary focus is providing value through your services. Competing on price alone is a hard game, but adding value to homeowners comes in a variety of ways.
You have two types of competitors: those who disclose pricing and those who don’t. Ninety percent of searchers haven’t made up their minds about a brand before starting their search, so you have ample opportunity to capture and nurture leads by providing them with answers to their top-of-mind questions. Sixty-two percent of those searching consult a search engine for more information, while 29% want to talk to a salesperson. Businesses that are transparent about their pricing on their website are keeping leads in the funnel because they can complete more of their research and request a personalized estimate based on the pricing figures without having to talk to anyone first.
“What if they don’t want to talk to me after seeing how much it will cost?” Talking about cost is a qualifying tool, as at least half of those prospects are not truly qualified leads and 50 percent of those deals are lost because of budget. Your sales team should re-evaluate their expectations and sales goals to align with the reality that not every prospect will choose you. The sooner prospects know the information that matters most (which is most often price), the sooner they can dialogue with companies who fit their budget.
“I have to know more about their project because pricing depends on what they want.” True, and that provides a value to remodeling prospects. Your services are tailored to their needs. You can provide them added value by giving them an idea of what their dream kitchen or bathroom remodel might cost. There are several ways you could do this:
- Provide price ranges: When you talk to a homeowner in person and they ask about costs, you likely give them a range. Simply do the same thing on your website or downloadable cost guide.
- Share specific examples: Prepare “case studies” of some of your best projects outlining what all you did and how much it cost.
- Create a Remodeling Cost Calculator: Something as simple as a cell value dependent spreadsheet will work to provide prospects with content to engage with and answers to their top-of-mind questions. Plus, you are capturing more organic searchers from high value cost calculator search queries.