Making It in Miami

A contractor and her rep collaborate to help multi-family properties stand out

For most start-up painting contractors, the thought of doing door-to-door cold call prospecting doesn’t sound very appealing. As if that weren’t difficult enough, imagine that the segment you want to serve is the highly competitive, price sensitive multi-family market. Oh, and you’re a woman in a male dominated space.

Well, that’s exactly how Aideline Amaran, owner of the Amaran Group built her business.

“Driving around the city of Miami, I saw there were so many multi-family properties that were run down, shabby looking and in need of numerous updates,” she said. “So, I decided to do something about it and went from facility to facility trying to convince property owners/mangers to give me a chance to restore their properties.”

Amaran is careful to point out though, that she wasn’t alone during those cold calls.

“The Sherwin-Williams brand was like a calling card for me,” she said. “While knocking on doors, I always emphasized that we were 100% Sherwin-Williams and would never use any other paints and coatings.

Whether I was calling on a multi-family property, an HOA, or condo association, being closely aligned with Sherwin-Williams gave me credibility and projected an attitude of professionalism.

In some instances, I was able to close deals by asking to paint a sample wall to demonstrate the benefits of using high-quality coatings like SuperPaint® then, and Latitude now.”

Amaran emphasizes the key role her Sherwin-Williams representative has in the success of her business.

“Alex Zajman has been our sales representative for the past five-plus years,” she said. “He represents the high character traits that we value: honesty, loyalty, trustworthy, reliability and very straightforward. We’re thankful to have him on our team, and he has truly made a difference.

“For example, he makes sure, when necessary, that paint is delivered from the Sherwin-Williams store directly to our job site, which saves us time and money. Or he will source paint from other stores to make sure we have what we need – when we need it.

“Also, with the vibrant exterior colors we see here in Miami, helping property managers through the color consultation and selection process is critical. They expect us to be the color experts and Alex has been a great resource for us in presenting color options – whether it’s by using the Commercial Visualizer or offering an informed opinion, he takes the stress out of color selection for our clients.”

These services are available from Sherwin-Williams nationwide. Your rep can connect you with a designer from Sherwin-Williams Color Marketing & Design Services to provide product and color suggestions customized for your specific property. Sherwin-Williams also offers free and convenient jobsite delivery service with their PRO+ program, which is now available for the first time in the PRO+ app.

Because the bulk of Amaran’s work is contractual – anywhere from a 1-year to 3-year agreements – she has managed to get her company involved in capital expenditure budget planning meetings with clients.

“In the multi-family market, budget allocations are usually reserved for big-ticket items like HVAC, plumbing, roofing, and parking lots. However, we have persuaded clients and governmental agencies that paint should also be included in capital expenditure discussions,” she said. “Having an attractive property with drive-by curb appeal can be as important to attracting and retaining residents as having up-to-date mechanical functions.”

And as Amaran has shown, it sure helps to be associated with the right paint supplier and a dedicated Sherwin-Williams representative by your side – that’s a formidable team.