To say Sonny Lykos has had an illustrious career is an understatement.

Sonny, now a semi-retired remodeler in Florida, has re-invented himself three times over his business career.

He has been responsible for creating, from scratch, three different remodeling businesses in three different states, and growing each of them to 'by-referral-only' status in less than six months!

Sonny did it all by running one simple ad in each region for six months, then continued without advertising, solely on the strength of referrals and repeat customers alone.

"I really want people to say when they refer me, 'He's not cheap but he's really great.' or 'He really does what he says he's going to do,'" starts Sonny. "Generally people are willing to pay more to get what they want - that's the approach that I take."

"However, I think a majority of the problem [others face] is because of the way we sell.

"We force the customer to look at us like we're another good - like we're nuts or bolts, and all they have to do is find the cheapest manufacturer for the nuts or bolts that they want."

Foundational to his 'referral-only business', Sonny avoids this by focusing on branding.

"My definition of branding," says Sonny, "is the potential customer's perception of my company or my name, is desirable to them. Everything that I represent [and] what they perceive I represent, is what they want.

"So, instead of having to try and sell a job, or sell a customer on me, I want them to call me because they're pre-sold on me - they've heard of my reputation and they call me up because they want me to do the job.

"This has worked out fine for me," says Sonny.

"It has allowed me to get higher margins, and to eliminate the type of people I don't want to work for and it takes price and pushes it lower down the list so it becomes less of an issue. To me, that's the only way to go," he says.

Sonny does this by entering every sale with three things on his mind.

"I have to:

To accomplish this, Sonny uses what he calls "sales tools."

He keeps a sample of both finger-jointed and clear-fir trim in his truck so he can show the homeowner what happens with finger-jointed trim over time versus using seamless trim.

"Instead of just talking, I show them why," says Sonny. "In other words I'm saying to them, 'I'm not the cheapest guy in town and here's why.'"

Another method Sonny uses to win projects involves competing against multiple bids.

"I like to go on an estimate when I'm the second or third contractor bidding," Sonny says, "because the first thing I do is change the scope of work, and I do it to the benefit of the homeowner.

"For example, I might say to the homeowner, 'I have to ask you some minor things about your lifestyle.'

"I might say to the wife or husband, 'In the morning when you make coffee do you like to watch the news.' and they may say, 'Well yeah, we do!'"

Sonny will then answer, "'I'm glad you mentioned that, because I'll run a cable line [and] I can either put in a wall mounted bracket or a small turntable [to] hook-up a twelve or fifteen-inch TV.' And they think that's a great idea!"

By "changing the scope", Sonny provides more ideas, and more value, than his competition.

"What happens is [the homeowner] can no longer compare apples, to apples, to apples," explains Sonny. "I'm now taking the other two proposals of 'apples', and making them into an orange."

By implementing this philosophy with his first company in Illinois, and then duplicating it in Michigan, then Florida, Sonny was able to capture more jobs at higher profits.

This also created such a desirable name, or 'brand', for each company, that he could stop advertising in just six months, and continue on referrals alone.

Sonny understands what it takes to win projects profitably, and for long-term gain.

"Generally people are willing to pay more to get what they want," says Sonny ... and what they want is someone they can trust to do the job right.

Follow Sonny's three-step formula for building trust, showing knowledge of the job, and showing why your price is more than the average contractor, and you'll win more projects at higher profits every time!

Go to www.SuccessfulHomeBuilders.com today and you can listen for FREE how one builder/remodeler eliminated time-wasting free estimates from his business -- for good!