Summer is Here: Time to Embrace the Warmth

As we approach summer, you’ll find that with the warmer weather comes a warmer personality from most people. We tend to be more upbeat and ready to take on all sorts of activities from family fun to festivals to home improvements such as expanding your deck, landscaping and getting new windows. Yes, in our business, we find that we get busier business as people come out from hibernation, especially after a long and cold winter such as the one those on the east coast have just endured.

But, it’s More Than the Weather

While warmer weather definitely gets more people out and about without the need for layers of clothes or digging the car out from under the snow, weather alone is not why they want to make purchases and do home improvement, or even self-improvement.

Customers make purchases and changes to bring comfort to their families, themselves and others around them. Perhaps there has been tension in the household, a divorce, loss of a job or a loss in the family. The warmth of a beautiful sunny day can trigger a different sense of warmth, one that comes from making life better for you and for those around you. The value of summer purchases is often driven by the need for some joy which has been swallowed up by the dreariness of winter.

Is Your Business Up for the Challenge? 

So, the customer is soaking in the rays of the sun, and treating themselves, and/ or their family to something new as a way of making their house more of a home. How does your business respond?

There are two types of business owners, those who are focused inward and those who are focused outward.

The inward thinking business owner is not reflecting the upbeat enthusiasm of the customer and may not even staff up to handle the business, which means leaving people waiting for returned phone calls or simply explaining that they cannot do the job. He or she does not want to spend more money to bring on the necessary help, and is focusing only on the bottom line. To make more money, the business owner may also be charging more for less service or selling lower quality products at higher prices just to boost the sales margin. Hence this owner is a dark cloud on a sunny day, trying only to capitalize on the increase in business without providing real value to the customers.

The business owner focusing outward takes this opportunity to provide value to his or her customers. Since actually value goes beyond monetary value, this is where you take the time to share the customer’s summer-driven enthusiasm. These owners are selling not just a product, but are reflecting the customer’s upbeat mood. They are, therefore, selling the customer a happier summer with the right products to meet each customer’s needs, plus they want to provide the best service.

Truth is, business is actually all about value propositions. If your product and service meets the needs of the customer, beyond new grass in the yard, a new deck or even the new windows, and serves their deeper needs, then you are forming a long-term relationship with the customer – and that’s a sunny day for all concerned.

It’s time to start enjoying that long, and I do mean long, awaited summer! Have fun.