Prices are up, past clients are being coddled for more business, and selling, several remodelers say, is easier than ever. But what sales and marketing tactics win results in today's environment?

According to three successful remodelers, this is what you should do in boom times:

Use brand name products.
"If you brand yourself with quality products, people look at you as someone who doesn't cut corners," says Mark Brick, owner of B&E General Contractors of Milwaukee. "It does brand your company."

Stay close to previous clients.
"We realize that's where most of our work is coming from," says David Brady, owner of Oak Design and Construction of Oak Park, Ill. Brick agrees. "I just make sure my past clients are my most important," he says. "Because that creates my new clients."

Reward previous clients for referrals.
Both Brick and Brady use dinner gift certificates as thank you's for job leads. Brick sends $50 certificates even if a referral doesn't turn into a job; Brady also gives away movie and popcorn coupons.

Consider a new tack.
Although Robert Whitney Jr. of Whitney's Inc. in Franconia, N.H., hand delivers linen calendars to 1,800 former clients each year, he has started running testimonials from customers in local papers. "That's been exceedingly successful for us," the remodeler says.

Market at the same pace--or better.
Brady and Whitney say despite the boom market, they're marketing aggressively. "The competition is tough," Whitney says. "Our workers are now out working on their own." Brady says his $2.3 million shop has doubled its marketing budget from $23,000 to $46,000.

Brick, like the other remodelers, says the boom market has allowed him to boost prices. "People have not coughed at our prices," he says, "which have definitely gone up. Over the past two years, they're up 25 percent." Whitney increased his prices by 10 percent; Brady says his shop works toward the industry standard markup of 67 percent.

"Most of the people I know are pretty overwhelmed with the business they have, so I see a lot of people not marketing," Brady says. But the remodeler sees this time as the perfect time to market, "because business is good, the money is there, and this is a good time to do it."

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