Firm Triples Revenue

Client Challenge 

Affordable Kitchens and Bathrooms (AKB) is a full service, home-improvement provider that had been in business for five years. By offering and, more importantly, delivering the right balance of unique design, quality and price, they had established a foundation of extraordinarily satisfied customers. With impressive revenue, a stellar reputation, and an excellent value proposition; they were poised for growth.

President and owner David Decker, a very capable and savvy businessman, recognized that to reach AKB’s potential there was a need to not only fine tune the messaging and brand, but to also determine how to get that message out to his target audience. 

Carey Road Solution

Analyzing AKB:

When the recession hit late in 2008 and early 2009, a decision had to be made; to cut back or move forward. AKB/CRM decided that the market was there and, while other businesses were cutting back, AKB increased their advertising budget.

To maximize the marketing ROI, our strategy and plan was to gradually learn what would drive business to AKB and we wanted to do it in a very disciplined and measurable way. We set up a plan that allowed us to test several methods of attracting customers over 90-day periods.  Every 90 days we would analyze the data, keep what was working, stop what wasn’t and then try something new. We didn’t get “married” to any one method so we were able to objectively assess what offers and mediums drew the most response. We tested:

·         Direct Mail

·         Print Advertising

·         Internet Advertising

·         Event Marketing

·         Directory Listings

What We Learned:

We identified different motivators for home improvement.  Some were definitely tied to improving the home so it would stand out as it was being sold.  Those jobs tended to be lower total sales revenue. But we also saw customers really focused on “adding value” to their current house.  Since kitchen and bathroom remodeling have some of the highest returns in terms of home equity, during the recession we found that customers saw real value in doing these improvements.

We also identified the de-motivators for home remodeling. Cost, not surprisingly, was high on the list of concerns, but there were other negative factors that did surprise us.

AKB’s quality has always been unsurpassed, per customer feedback, so it was just a matter of letting potential customers know about it. 

Action:

By applying what we learned from our analysis we were able to develop several measurable plans. A high-level synopsis of some of those plans included:

·         Adding before and after customer testimonial videos.  These spoke to the communications with customers always being clear and consistent throughout the home improvement project

·         Displaying the quality of product and design in all advertising

·         Redesigning  AKB’s website

·         Supporting position of David and AKB as an expert and therefore adding articles and blogging to the mix

Results:

In a struggling economy with low consumer confidence and record home foreclosures, AKB’s revenues tripled. There is no need to expound any further.  

Summary:

Increasing customers and revenue (3X) during a severe economic downturn would have been impossible without AKB’s absolute commitment to quality and customer satisfaction. Conversely, this remarkable growth would not have been possible without a superb marketing team that knew how to develop marketing strategies and plans that communicated AKB’s vision.  AKB is now a multi-divisional firm, and has been rebranded and repositioned as The Affordable Companies.

Great teams need a great supporting cast.

The Affordable Companies and Carey Road Marketing are a great team.