It’s always useful to ask actual small-business owners what they really need to run their businesses, what their objections are to the various digital marketing solutions being pitched to them and what messages resonate with them. We did just that during a recent visit to Denver.

Ann Crays, owner of Archadeck of Front Range, a home remodeling franchise, sat down with us to share some perspective. Ann and other local business owners will participate in a panel discussion at BIA/Kelsey’s upcoming SMB conference,  in Denver, Sept. 29-30.

Ann confirmed the generally accepted notion that over the course of a month most SMBs get 30 or more sales touches from companies selling various flavors of digital marketing services. Her main takeaway? Few of the sales reps that call her appear to have done much sales prep before picking up the phone.

“What I find a little bit disconcerting is that they don’t do their homework,” she said, adding that many reps call offering to get Archadeck ranked No. 1 on Google. When she tells them her company already ranks high on Google, the rep is often left fumbling.

“I will ask them, ‘Do you have any other services that you provide?’ And at that point they often don’t know what to say.”

Crays’ business does custom decks and has expanded into other areas of remodeling. Check out the video below for more from our conversation with Ann.

Thanks to bieMedia for its assistance with shooting and editing this video.