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In this episode:

Part 1: False Positives

Mark Richardson shares insights into 5 false positives that he encourages small business owners to have on their radar to help position their businesses for success.

1) Lead Flow: While many businesses are starting to see an uptick in leads, Mark stresses caution on thinking that it also means it's safe to scale back marketing and advertising. The unpredictability of the pandemic could create another period of uncertainty if a second outbreak should occur and those that stop marketing will find themselves in trouble once again.

2) Online Engagement Rates: Just because open rates and engagement on social media are higher, it doesn't necessarily equate to better marketing. Mark stresses the importance of understanding the environment and how it affects your performance when determining which activities are yielding the greatest ROI.

3) Close Rates: While businesses are seeing a 5% to 10% increase in close rates, that could be more of a representation of the buyers' sense of urgency than anything else. It's always critical that you review and improve your sales processes on an ongoing basis.

4) Virtual vs Face-to-Face Interactions: Virtual sales consultations will become the new normal, but for right now at least, many customers still expect in-home visits because that's all they've ever known. However, the businesses that don't make it a priority now to focus on virtual selling and mastering the art, will soon start to see opportunities lost to those that have.

5) Balancing Your Project Portfolio: While home services contractors are starting to see customers resume their "big ticket" projects, it's important to still accommodate smaller-scale projects to keep a balanced portfolio in the event of another outbreak creating another period of uncertainty.

Part 2: Thought Leader Interview with Kermit Baker (Chief Economist for the American Institute of Architects and Project Director of the Remodeling Futures Program at Harvard University)

Mark and Kermit discuss what's happening and share the latest insights on how COVID-19 continues to impact the home services industry and economy.