Targeted Marketing – Decorative Concrete for Landlords

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According to the Associated Press, building permits are up for the last quarter of 2011. That’s great news for contractors.

The biggest surge in permits came in the rental property sector, with apartment complexes leading the way. Since many Americans have lost homes due to foreclosure, are unemployed, or simply don’t want to own a home in these uncertain economic times, they have become renters.

How should these facts affect your marketing strategy for 2012?

Target the landlords! As a decorative concrete contractor, you have the perfect solution to their problem of how to provide attractive, livable spaces at a reasonable price that will withstand the heavy use rental properties often suffer.

Here are some points to include as you prepare your marketing package aimed at landlords.

  • Decorative concrete is attractive.  Concrete floors can be stained and engraved to resemble wood planking, marble, tile, brick…nearly any design the landlord wants. Custom templates and stencils mean even more design options. Take along the Engrave-A-Crete Idea Book to show your prospective customer hundreds of decorative concrete flooring options they might not know exist.
  • Decorative concrete is suitable for indoor and outdoor installations.  Decorative concrete steps, patios, walkways and drives add instant curb appeal to rental units.  Show the landlord how you can turn a ho-hum complex into a high-end area that will attract renters who are willing to pay more for a quality environment.
  • Decorative concrete is practically maintenance free.  Rental units often have concrete floors.  Once those surfaces undergo the proper floor prep, and decorative staining and engraving are installed, the result is a luxurious flooring option that is much more durable than other flooring choices.  In fact, it lasts for the life of the concrete with only an occasional reseal necessary.
  • Decorative concrete is eco-friendly. Existing concrete doesn’t need to be torn out and sent to the landfill.  Simply use what’s already there, plan a design that incorporates any flaws, and produce a flooring option that’s sure to please. There’s no energy expended trucking away the old and bringing in the new.  And, Concrete Resurrection stain and sealer products are kind to the environment, meeting or exceeding governmental standards in every category.
  • Decorative concrete is renter friendly. Decorative concrete flooring emits no noxious fumes like those often associated with carpeting.  It’s easy to clean and doesn’t give pesky bugs a place to hide. Tenants will appreciate the ease of keeping their living spaces spic and span.
  • Decorative concrete is pet friendly. The landlord no longer needs to worry about stained and smelly carpet, or allergens that may persist long after the tenants and their animals are gone.  Decorative concrete floors offer NO safe haven for fleas, ticks or pet dander.
  • Decorative concrete is affordable.  Stained and engraved concrete is comparable in price to flooring options such as hardwood, tile, and carpeting. Considering its longevity, that makes decorative concrete a much more economical choice.

Resolve now to develop a marketing plan tailored to landlords.  Whether they’re constructing new units or remodeling older ones, you can offer them the best solution for their flooring needs.

4 Marketable Solutions for Concrete Problems

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Engrave-A-Crete Celebrates 2011

As 2011 winds to a close, it’s good to take another look at what we’ve offered to help you become the solution to your customers’ concrete problems.

Among other things Engrave-A-Crete developed four small packages that take decorative concrete to the next level. Each package contains the tools and supplies to create a project.

An elegant border can change the character of concrete edges on sidewalks, halls, rooms or sections of rooms. So, we put together The Border Package featuring a Mongoose 411, a Barracuda, a Wasp and 16 of our most popular border templates. With this package you are the answer to boring, borderless concrete.

The expandable Artisan Package includes a Mongoose 411, a center pivot system plus connecting rods, a Barracuda, and a Wasp. With the Artisan Package you’re set up to cut circles, brick and other geometric designs. Add templates for logos, wildlife or custom designs and you can offer customers elegant, one-of-a-kind flooring solutions.

Meeting a customer’s need for permanent basketball court layouts for their active kids with the Basketball Court Creator Package is a slam dunk beginning for you in the decorative concrete business. This package includes a Mongoose 411 with a center pivot, connectors tubes, a Wasp and templates for basketball hot spots – center hoop, free throw line, and block.

The Paver Engraver Package is the newest addition that makes it possible for you to engrave on pavers either in place or at your shop. A Barracuda, Wasp, air reducer and templates join four metallic stencil spray stains that will complete the engraving with stunning color. No need for your customers to live with plain pavers or pry them up to send away for engraving.

Each package alone is intended as a launching tool for a new engraver…overlap can be controlled by ordering the parts of some packages that you don’t have. You would still be able to offer your customers the variety of the small packs, but not have the higher initial investment. Your customers may come to you with a concrete problem — no borders, a wish for a logo, a basketball court for the kids or an idea to create donor memorials on pavers at a local park. You, as a solution source for concrete problems, will have access to each setup that you need.

Decorative concrete is headed into 2012 prepared to solve concrete issues for people.

 

Tell-all Architectural Specs – A Must Have Marketing Tool

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Decorative Concrete Engraving and Finishing System Architectural Specifications
Get yourself some exciting, tell-all reading at the Tech Data page of the Engrave-A-Crete website!  A tale of measuring-up dramatically produced in brilliant detail.  You’ll find the Decorative Concrete Engraving and Finishing System Architectural Specifications leave nothing to the imagination and are a vital tool in your marketing portfolio.

As a local engraver, you have a chance to make a networking contact with architects and designers who are the first people working with the big projects in your market area.  When the local architects and designers get acquainted with you and become savvy about the process of decorative concrete engraving, they will be able to present it to their client with a strong recommendation.  Many already know about decorative concrete in other forms, particularly simple staining and sealing.  When you make the effort to build trust and get a copy of the Idea Book from Engrave-A-Crete in their hands, you’ll open new vistas for them.

But, they know they are going to need specifications to apply to project proposals. Architects and designers are too busy to be interested in developing specifications for an application that they’ve never used.  No problem! With Engrave-A-Crete’s architectural specs, you have the specifications available in remarkable detail right down to scheduling meetings with the client and creating mock-ups for color selection and design trials.

The package is ready to drop into a preliminary plan, then be expanded with specifics about color and designs as plans are finalized.

Tell your local architects about this package and what you do to transform concrete. Until they know about you and what you can bring to the table, they can’t help you get into the better jobs where architects and designers are influential.  These architectural specifications and the Idea Book are terrific marketing tools for you. Michelangelo and Da Vinci would be impressed!

Score Big With Decorative Concrete Clearance Prices

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Clearance Sale -- Slightly Used, Overstock tools and supplies
Who doesn’t love a sale! It’s what you’ve been waiting for — the end-of-the-year clearance at Engrave-A-Crete.

We’re drastically slashing prices as we sort through and rearrange our warehouse. That means you get huge savings on small amounts of really good stuff.

Overstocks, discontinued items, demo equipment and some slightly used items must go to make room for the exciting line-up of new products and processes we’ll be introducing in 2012. All clearance items are in good condition and ready to go.

The selection lets you shop for what you need from a super-bargain trailer package to RAC stain color extender. You score big with clearance prices, and that means more profit for your pocket.

The clearance page is updated frequently, with sold items removed and new/different items added. Quantities are limited, so check the list often and give us a call. You’ll be glad you did.

Don’t Forget the Architects – An Untapped Decorative Concrete Market

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When organizers planning a recent seminar for the Concrete Promotional Group of Greater Kansas City told Mike Murray of Murray Decorative Concrete Supply that acid-stained concrete was old school and didn’t look good, Mike took up the challenge to prove them wrong.

He asked for and received permission to show the many vendors, polishers, architects and guests  who would be attending the seminar just how stylish and functional decorative concrete can be.

Mike had two slabs on which to demonstrate staining and engraving techniques to impress the naysayers .  He also had a problem. He was scheduled to be out of town during the event.

Not about to give up on proving the organizers wrong, Mike turned to his daughter, who works part time with him, for help.  She had used decorative concrete stain before, but she had never engraved concrete.

Could an inexperienced decorative concrete engraver really convince an already skeptical audience that acid stain and engraving was the way to go?

After a crash course in laying out the design to be engraved, learning to change the blade on the Engrave-A-Crete Mongoose, and doing a dry run the night before the seminar, Mike left his daughter on her own.

Using three colors of acid stain, the Mongoose and her father’s instructions, she produced a decorative concrete job that astounded the onlookers.  Among them were a group of architects who admitted they had no idea concrete could look so good, and immediately started planning ways to incorporate decorative concrete staining and engraving into upcoming projects.

Mike, with the help of his daughter, had won the challenge, hands down!

So the points of this true story are:

  • Don’t neglect marketing to specialized groups, such as architects, who may not realize the benefits and beauty of decorative stained concrete;
  • Decorative stained and engraved concrete is still one of the most stylish and practical options for new and old concrete surfaces; and
  • Be ready for a challenge. It might turn into your next decorative concrete job.

Mike Murray
Decorative Concrete Supply, Inc.
8329 Monticello Road, Suite E
Shawnee, KS 66227