From the Home Office

Alicia Garceau
January 1, 2003
Professional Remodeler

Trying to make your customer brochure a standout? Why not skip the brochure entirely?

That's what Terry Bennett, president of Terry Bennett Builders & Remodelers in Westlake, Ohio, elected to do when he hired a production company to produce a video instead.

"None of our competition has anything like this," he says.

Bennett wanted to avoid a video that would bore customers or appear self-serving, so he went for something fun yet still professional and informational. Last summer, he spent two months writing a David Letterman-style script for the "Top 10 Reasons" to choose Terry Bennett Builders & Remodelers.

He hired a local company to produce the video at a cost of $10,000.

The actual shoot took just three days. The camera crew visited the office for two days and then went to several jobs in progress and completed projects for the final day.

Bennett began distributing the video in November. Clients who have seen it have bought $500,000 worth of projects. Bennett plans to include a question about the video on his 2003 customer survey but says it will take several more months to measure the actual return on investment. However, he says the company already is noticing the video's impact.

"The comments are being monitored, and they are very positive."

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