Do you feel like the only way to make more money in your painting business is to find more clients, but you hate the thought of spending extra cash on marketing?
In this article, Brandon Lewis of the Academy for Professional Painting Contractors shows how a simple upselling strategy can add thousands of dollars (or more) to your personal income each year – without investing tons of money or time.
Step 1: Understanding the financial impact of upselling
Does this sound familiar? “The sport package is extra, but you get the turbocharger and the awesome trim package. What do you think? Yes! ($3,200 added to a $27,000 auto sale.)
Roughly 20 percent of clients purchase additional services when offered correctly. Why? Clients consider the painting process an intrusion and if they can consolidate two projects into one, they’ll do it.
For a contractor completing 100 painting projects per year at an average transaction size of $3,000, this means 20 will say yes to an upsell. With product upsells equaling 25% of the purchase price, you’ll generate an additional 5% in sales. Here’s why that’s a big deal.
Upselling dollars all happen PAST the point of break even. This means revenue generated through upselling is two to three times more profitable than standard painting revenue, depending on your overhead.
Simply put: Contractors ranging from $300,000 to $600,000 in sales gain an extra $7,500 to $15,000 per year in net income by using these strategies.
Step 2: Create a blank, stand- alone “Painting Alternatives” form
Contractors fear upselling because they are concerned they’ll lose the primary sale if their prices are too high. A stand-alone “Painting Alternatives” form separates the upsell from the “main sale” entirely, eliminating the risk.
Your “Painting Alternatives” form contains four elements:
- The service or product
- The price to add or upgrade the service or product
- A place for clients to initial line-items for acceptance
- A pricing subtotal and authorization signature at the bottom of the form
Step 3: Select three upsells for your “Painting Alternatives” form
A few examples:
- Add one additional coat of paint to exterior: $2,213.32
- Include all ceilings in downstairs common areas: $734.56
- BETTER: Upgrade to Sherwin-Williams Cashmere® Paint: $183.90
- BEST: Upgrade to Sherwin-Williams Emerald® Paint: $228.75
Step 4: Make suggestions
Don’t overcomplicate this. Simply point to a line item and say: “If this were my home, I’d upgrade to Cashmere. It protects and cleans better. So, your paint job will last longer. What do you think?”
Upselling can easily produce thousands in income each year. Why not try it today?
This article was written by Brandon Lewis and was published in the Fall 2020 issue of Pintor Pro magazine. Learn more about Brandon’s quest to empower painting contractors to become successful entrepreneurs at paintersacademy.com and paintersweekly.com. And, read about more ways to build your painting business in the Pintor Pro archive.
