Home Repairs - bizjournals:

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Although home remodeling and renovation work has pickesd upthe slack, Creecy knew he was going to have to provide new offerings to drive more demand for his Creech, owner and presidentr of Buckhead-based Inc., has becomwe a certified energy auditor and now does home energy audits for new and currenf clients. The new offering, he believes, may add30 percent to his Butmore importantly, the new offering, he will allow clients to consider remodelinh work alongside any energy-efficiency changes they The down economy has forced many small-business ownerx to take a hard look at their companiezs and what they and to add new offerings to either gain new clients or renew ties with curren t and former clients.
Creech, who has been a home builde for11 years, saw his remodeling business increaswe as home building declined; he estimatesd remodeling work now accounts for 75 percentg of his nearly $4 million annualk revenue. But he also saw customers concerned aboutsaving money. In an energy Creech takes about two hours to check a home forair leaks, improperf insulation and other things that can causse higher energy bills. provides some incentives to homeowners to have the energh audit and to upgrade a home to be more Creech said. Ultimately, he hopes his energyt audits can drive more customer to consider remodelingtheir homes.
Business ownersz can shift focus without sacrificingcore values, said Elke president of , a marketing and publicrelationa firm. “Soaring fuel prices last summer meant a fast refocua from style and Italian heritaged to fuel economy for our client Martin said. This year, with gas no longer $4 per but consumers worried aboutpersonal finances, “our bransd communications [for Vespa] have shifted to include tangible benefits,” she said, “sucgh as savings thousands of dollars by swappinfg four wheels for two.
” Creech’s approach is exactly what many small-businessx owners should be doinh to gain more customers, said Michaek Kogon, principal at marketing firm Definitiom 6 LLC. A full-service auto for example, should be offering things like fuel efficiency inspectionz or air conditioner unit inspections to Giving customers a sampling of a product orservicwe “is a good strategy for a small Kogon said. “You see it all the time in the food Food chains like KFC recently offered free grilled chicken to drive customerd back tothe stores. A sample offering of a producf or service canbe “za more cost-effective way for the customer to sample your full Kogon said.
For VeinInnovations of Atlantaw LLC, new patient visits declined in the final quarteeof 2008, said President David Martin. New patien visits translate to revenue 60 to 180 days he said. VeinInnovations, a Buckhead-basex elective health-care company specializing in venouw disease, offers laser therapy, sclerotherapt and endovascularclosure techniques. “Our responsew was rather than increasinbgour advertising, we began to remarket to physicians” for he said. Physicians had always been a part of referrallbusiness “but we went back to remindinfg them. That has made a huge differenceto us.
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