The Design Builder's Blog

Guest Blogger: Robert Ritsema is the owner/creator of The iPitch, providing iPad based solutions to the building materials industry.  Reach him at rob@theipitch.com or 719.314.5608  www.theipitch.com  (iPad® is a registered trademark of the Apple Corporation)

Is Your In-Home Presentation Boring and Costing You Sales?

“Death by PowerPoint” and “Powerpoint Hell” are common criticisms of slide-based presentations.  Largely due in part to their creating a state of boredom and fatigue induced by information overload.  Excessive use of text, bullet points and transitions are all leading factors.  Retired Marine Colonel Thomas X. Hammes calls this effect  “hypnotizing chickens”.

Today, flip-book & slide based presentations remain very popular, especially within the home improvement industry. Desire has always been to provide our sales reps with accurate information as well as a structured flow to the presentation; it’s been a key premise/belief for creating sales but it may be costing you sales in the end.

Homeowners today crave information.

Information that leads to confidence and trust with whom they’ve ultimately chosen to complete their project. Yet, they also expect that information to be informative, fun, motivating and maybe even a little addicting as well. 

Your sales team is no different.  They also desire and expect to interact with content that makes presenting fun and interactive.  Veteran reps (the good ones) make the necessary adjustments within their presentation to do just that.  Largely  in part because flipping through binders and PowerPoint slides may not be enough for many today; and by their very nature, create ineffective presenters, lost sales and revenue.

Revive

 Since it’s launch in 2009, the iPad has been seen as a highly innovative and “game changing” piece of technology for consumers, businesses and educators alike. Its revolutionary operating system allows for the creation of an unmatched user experience.

The “user experience”, however, doesn’t have to mean gimmicky.  Simply presenting information in a way that is “unique and surprising” can be as simple as capitalizing on the iPads native and intuitive gestures. 

Gestures like:

• Tapping to reveal content - Keep your prospect involved by creating “interactive portals”.  Revealing additional , hidden or more in-depth content.
• Pinching open for video/photos – Capitalize on your media collateral by embedding them into your presentation for a novel and engaging user experience.
• Swiping – Move seamlessly throughout your presentation via a navigate-able, customer driven sales rep controlled menu system, a more responsive and interactive way to present.

Thomas Malone, a young Xerox reacher concluded many years ago that “when people actively participate in the learning process, they retain more.”  So creating new ways for your sales reps to engage and interact with your prospects allows for a more unique consumer experience; further enhancing their ability to execute the presentation as well as your consumers ability to internalize and take ownership of your company and products.

A Well Executed Plan.

Capitalizing on the iPad requires more than just showing your presentation, pictures and video.  Take time to consider exactly how and what would change to your sales presentation, communication systems and training programs.

Consider these helpful tips:

1. Team Engagement -  Engage all of your department’s leaders. 

2. Create a “Pilot” Program -  For best results, do not consider piloting or testing more than 4 apps at a time.

3. Have a “Launch Event” - Create a fun and informative event; involving the entire organization goes along way to insuring your “changes” are accepted positively.

The iPad has an opportunity to revolutionize the way in which in-home presentations are delivered and business is won.  Your well constructed and executed plan will play a crucial role in its overall success.

Finding a Good Web Site Designer for Your Contractor Web Site

As a contractor you need to think of your website as a tool.  No contractor would buy a tool before verifying it would do the job intended.  And, if that tool didn’t perform as sold I’m sure you would want to return it.  You can typically return a tool if it’s not working, but you can't return a web site - ever!  

When I was ready to have a web site for my contractor coaching and contractor training business I didn’t just want a tool that listed what I could do.  I could have easily done that with a basic static web site for far less money.  Instead, I wanted a tool that would help my target contractor coaching prospects find me and figure out whether or not they wanted to work with me or not.  I was looking for a way to differentiate myself and my approach from other contractor coaches and trainers.  What I was looking for was an advanced marketing tool, not just a web site.  

Seek referrals before you choose a website designer

In my quest for a web site company to work with I was specifically referred to the one I chose by another business owner I know who had similar goals for his business.  This web site design company owner did what I thought was a great job interviewing me to uncover my purposes before she designed, priced and built my site.  Now, because of her assistance, I can help targeted prospects find me and prevent suspects from wasting my time and resources!  And, if contractors seeking help with their businesses aren’t yet ready to buy, I can nurture them along with more information about me and my business until they are. 

Don’t waste time or money on a bad web site or a bad web site designer

You and your business may not be looking for the same prospects as my business, but I bet you have the same desire to have a web site that will help you find and prequalify the right prospects for your business.  Done right, after the original investment of working with a web site designer, your contractor website can be a very effective and low cost way to attract the right clients for your business.  But if you choose the wrong designer or choose one based on price alone, you will have wasted a lot of time and money.  Even worse, your target customers won’t be able to find you on search engines and you will remain a commodity selling yourself and your service on price.

I hope you found this article helpful.  You might also like my list of red flags to watch out for when selecting your web site designer. 

If you want help planning the purpose and function of your web site, or help with selecting a web site designer, send me an email me now.  I’d be happy to discuss what you want and or need so you can do your first website right the first time.

More articles about creating a contractor website:

Seven Ways Contractors Can Prequalify a Good Web Site Designer

Hate Contractor Lead Generation Services? Why Not Get Some Chickens!

On Your Contractor Web Site, Qualify, Don’t Disqualify Your Prospects

If You Don’t Or Won’t Offer Generation Y Prospects What They Want They Will Go Away

Hate Contractor Lead Generation Services?  "Rather than buy all your eggs, why not get some chickens?"

On discussion groups liked LinkedIn, contractors and remodelers have been bantering about on-line lead generation services.   It seems for every business owner who speaks negatively about using them, there is another who shares stories about how these services have been great for their business.  For the purpose of this blog post I won’t get into the pros and cons of or any specifics about one service vs. another.  Instead I’d like to offer an alternative; take control of your destiny and create your own leads.

What’s the problem?

In my opinion way too many contractors are abdicating their marketing responsibilities to lead generation services without a full understanding of how those services work.  Then they complain they don’t like how they work and or how they are being treated when they seek customer service to resolve problems.   Many others complain that the quality of the leads is very poor and or the same leads are being sold and distributed to way too many other contractors, increasing competition.  Still others complain about negative customer reviews that are libelous and the service won’t help remove them or go after the customer who posted them.  

Why should these business owners be surprised?  

Just a little research on the internet is all it takes to find out what many other businesses have already found; that’s how those services conduct business!

What is sad to me (and really ridiculous if you think about it) is these business owners are doing the same thing many remodeling consumers do.  They hire a service provider to take care of something for them without first being clear on what they expect, or, what they can expect will actually be included if they buy.   Then, rather than take responsibility for their own lack of due diligence before buying that service, they rationalize why it’s the service provider’s fault they are not happy and want their money back.  You can find lots of evidence to back up this reality by reading just a few of the articles on the“Dietz Angie's List and Yelp Reviews Lawsuit Updates” page of my web site.  The page is full of links to articles and blog posts about the nightmares many businesses have experienced with lead generation services.   It also has links to helpful information regarding what to do if you are already having problems with contractor lead generation services.

What’s the solution?

I suggest business owners work to generate their own leads.   Not saying they shouldn't also use a lead gen service, just pointing out that those services often have a history of changing their business model and many have gone out of business.  If your lead generation service leads go away, you might not have any leads at all unless you are creating your own leads as well. 

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket" 

Good quality leads for targeted customer and project types might well be the most significant factor when it comes to creating and growing a healthy and profitable construction or remodeling business.   Without a way to create a sustainable flow of high quality leads the business has to wait for leads to show up out of the blue.   If you wait for leads to happen, or for a lead gen service to send you leads, your business has little or no control over who will be inquiring for your services.   Also, you won’t know whether or not they are the right prospects for what you offer, how you perform your services and or what you have to charge to provide them.   Essentially, you might get leads, but after you get them you will need to still figure out which ones are qualified and which ones aren’t.  Prequalifying leads after they contact you, instead of before they contact you, wastes a lot of everyone’s time.  Think about it.  Are you and or your sales people visiting with people who would have disqualified your business if your business took control of how its leads were generated?

"Rather than buy your eggs, why not get your own chickens?"

Instead of the old outbound marketing methods of buying ads, buying email lists, paying for lead generation services and praying for good leads, consider the new wave in marketing; “Inbound Marketing”.  Inbound marketing focuses on creating quality content on your business’ web site that pulls people toward your company and product.   By aligning the content you publish with your target customer’s interests, you naturally attract inbound traffic that you can then convert, close, and delight over time.  If visitors to your contractors web site don’t like what they find out about your business and how you do business, they won’t call you or waste your time.  In addition to creating high quality leads, done well, inbound marketing can also help you increase the number and quality of referral leads from those customers you have delighted. 

When you own the chickens you know where the eggs came from, and after eating the eggs...

You still have chickens still laying more eggs!

Free Webinar: Help For LBM Dealers Planning Contractor Education Events

One big win-win for building material dealers and their contractor customers is offering contractor education.  By helping contractors improve their businesses, and advance the trade skills of their employees, contractors can do more business and improve profitability.   If the contractor can increase the amount of business he or she does, the supplier benefits as well because that contractor will likely need to buy more products and services from the dealer.  Helping contractors grow their business is also a great way for LBM dealers to initiate and expand upon the creation of mutually beneficial relationships with their contractor customers.

For suppliers and manufacturers, planning a successful educational event for contractors takes a lot of work and time.   Many factors go into planning, promoting and executing an event that will provide value for the attendees, the dealer as well as any event sponsors.  However, if planned and executed correctly, educational events for contractors will not only attract attendees for the first time, the events should also make attendees want to keep coming back for more!

If you are a LBM dealer thinking about holding your first educational event, or want to improve results at your next event, consider attending an upcoming webinar I will be presenting on April 11^th, 2013 titled “Planning and Delivering Educational Events to Maximize Your ROI”  The webinar will be hosted by BuilderLink.

 Click here now to register for the webinar

If you are a contractor looking to encourage educational events at your lumberyard or supplier, consider forwarding this article to them.  By attending the webinar dealers and their staff can learn how to plan a great event, choose topics and speakers that will help you grow your business, and make sure the event will be fun and entertaining to attend.

Here’s a partial list of how attendees will benefit by attending this webinar

• Learn some creative ways to promote the event, attract contractor attendees and get them to show up!
• We will explore seminar topic ideas that can be beneficial and profitable for the contractors as well as the dealer.
• Learn several very important things to consider before choosing a presenter/speaker.
• Learn several ways to maximize the investment for the dealer and sponsor(s); before, during and after the event.

Other LBM Dealer Related Articles:

Lumberyard Ambassadors - Partnering With A Lumber Dealer’s Yard Staff

Understanding and Selling the Many Shades of Green

New Business Owner Offers Perspective Regarding Reputation Of Construction Industry

Guest Blogger: Randy Strauss is a new handyman business owner trying to find his way in the age of social media and 30 minute pizza delivery.  When he is not repairing other people’s homes, he tries to find time to repair his own.

As a consumer, I preferred to do everything myself rather than hire someone to do it. There are times when I’ve hired people to do work when I didn’t have the necessary skills and sometimes it was just cost effective to have a crew do it in a day or two when I knew it would take me a week doing it by myself.

Most of my experience with contractors has been from a consumer perspective. Those experiences have run the gamut of “outstanding” when jobs were completed in the blink of any eye and a minimum of dust to “outrage” when an HVAC contractor told me to go “F” myself when I asked him to honor his one year warranty.

In November of 2012 I was unemployed and carpet bombing every job ad in sight was exhausting. So, I decided to start a handyman business. My experiences using contractors motivated me to do so because I saw an opportunity needing to be filled.

Using What I Learned as a Consumer

Now that I’m working in other people’s homes, I can use that perspective to manage my clients’ expectations, perform work that meets my standards, and finish the day satisfied that I do good work. When I’m not working, I do research to better myself as a business owner and contractor.

During this research, I read a few blog entries on this site regarding Chris Dietz’s lawsuit filed against a customer who allegedly posted libelous comments about his work on review websites.  The posts from fellow contractors were generally positive, but I noticed that supportive comments were conditional.  For instance, “…providing he’s telling the truth…” and “…as long as he’s honest…”

Regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit, which I understand may be ultimately fruitless; we are still faced with cynicism about our profession.

That is a black cloud of distrust hovering over our industry.  That sense of distrust has led us to lead generation review websites such as Angie’s List and Yelp.  When fellow contractors feel the need to put conditions on support for one of our own, it reeks of skepticism. 

I believe those doubts are founded in two fallacies:

1. The customer is always right.  No, they’re not.  They may have the right to decide the paint color or the tile selection, but when they ask us to remove a load-bearing wall because they want to “open the space” they are quite simply wrong. It’s our responsibility to educate them why.
2. Customers have a right to freedom of speech. They do.  But, that right is worthless without the responsibility of truth.  No one has the right to slander or libel another person.

To be honest, I’m terrified of working for that client that has nothing better to do than bad mouth my new found profession.  I hope I never meet them.

What can, should we do?

If you go to someone’s house to repair something that another contractor ruined, tell them to follow up with a complaint to the BBB. Follow up with that yourself.  By getting rid of the bad actors, we can ensure respect and trust in the future.  Perhaps a self-regulating entity might not be such a bad idea in light of the above.  So, my questions to you are these:  What can we do to improve the perception of our profession?  What would make the average consumer, and us at times, less likely to believe that a contractor ripped off a client? Doesn’t it make your blood boil that you are less likely to be trusted in someone’s home because profit happy thugs with hammers and a screwdrivers have ruined the reputation of our professionalism?

How Contractors Can Make More Money, Faster and By Doing Less

With only so much time in a day, contractors need to maximize the revenue and or gross profit they earn each day in order to cover business overhead costs and contribute to their desired net profit goals.   Selling and producing more work is certainly one option to consider.  However, why not implement ways to increase the selling price and earn more gross profit without having to do any more work in the field or add anymore labor costs at the job site.

Options to consider

If you want to increase your sales volume and earned gross profit you can either produce more work or increase the selling price of your projects.  Here are a few things to consider:

• Producing more work at the job site means you will need more labor and the project will take longer.  Finding and keeping more employees busy can be challenging.    
• Increasing your selling price doesn’t have to be limited to raising the prices of what you sell.  Increasing your selling price can also be accomplished by increasing what is included in the selling price.
• Assuming you mark up everything you sell, if you find the right prospects and sell them higher price point products than you have used in the past, your average sell price goes up and the gross profit earned on each job goes up as well, without adding more labor or days to the project schedule.
• Also, consider that selling product options can be another way of increasing the sell price and earned gross profit, again without having to add any more time, do any more work or add any more labor to get the work done.

Here’s one example of what I am talking about 

At a recent Remodeler Summit event I participated in for Marvin Windows and Doors at their Warroad MN manufacturing facility, contractors learned about Marvin’s new option of prefinishing the interiors of their window and door products.   By selling this option to their customers, contractors can increase the cost of each window they sell by offering an additional service to their customers.  And, they can do so without increasing the production time of a window project and without having to add any additional on site labor to their projects.   The windows are prefinished at the factory, under controlled conditions and can either be prepainted or have a clear finish applied.   Because the prefinishing is done off site, all the mess of prepping and finishing is avoided, no extra job labor is needed and the smell of any finishing products is avoided at the job site.  Selling prefinished construction products can be a win-win, both of the contractor as well as the homeowner.  Selling prefinished products means more gross profit earned for the contractor without doing any more work.  The home owner benefits because more work is done in less time, with less mess and disturbance to their home and their daily lives.

Here’s one more example

At a tour of Reliable Truss and Components Inc., a division of National Lumber in Mansfield MA, I found out they offer prefabricated custom structures and components.  Using this service contractors can have components of their projects prebuilt and even prefinished in a controlled factory environment.  The components are then delivered to the contractor’s job site ready to install.   Partnering with a vendor who can offer this type of service helps the contractor earn more money by doing less work in several ways.  

• The contractor can earn gross profit on the labor as well as the product being provided by the vendor.
• At the same time, the contractor can be earning gross profit on the labor and the products being installed by his own crews while they get the project ready for installation of what is being built off site.
• Some vendors, including Reliable Truss, will also come prepared with the equipment needed and help your crew install the prefabricated and prefinished items at the jobsite.

It just keeps getting better!

Both examples above can help contractors earn more money in less time.   Both examples offer ways contractors can get more work done without having to add any additional talents or skills to their crews.  Both examples also eliminate or reduce the need to find and bring in sub contractors to do work the contractor’s own crews either don’t have the talents for or might not be cost effective at doing.

I bet more and more contractors will be thinking this way as the increasing costs of labor and the lack of available skilled labor puts pressures on their businesses and their profits.

How Should Remodelers Be Prequalifying and Selling To Generation Y?

A recent guest blog posted here at the Design Builders Blog was written by a Generation Y member.   The author, Mark Brown, offered some advice for contractors on how to work with Gen Y employees.   His blog created quite a discussion with over 38 thoughtful comments as of posting this blog from contractors and employees from all generations.   One contractor praised the blog and the discussion but also brought up another very valid consideration for contractors and remodelers: How to sell to Gen Y clients?  The answer to that question is probably a very big conversation and a very involved one as well. 

One thing is for sure.  Trying to force Gen Y to buy remodeling (or anything) the way you have always sold to other generations isn’t going to work.  That said how about bringing the answer down to a few simple but big picture considerations to help get the conversation started and offer some direction.  With a new direction in mind, you can then seek out and get the remodeling sales training you will need to sell to this new customer type.

If you can’t beat Generation Y, why not join them

The members of Gen Y are used to getting information instantly and for free.   Almost every one of them has a smart phone and can Google any subject or topic to find instant answers or information, all at no cost to them.   And they can get that information at any time of the day or night they want it.  That desire and internet content available about anything you can think of has definitely defined how Gen Y does their research and makes their remodeling or home improvement buying decisions. 

For contractors who have always sold to the generations born prior to Gen Y, the idea of providing instant and free information about a remodeling project for some young kid who isn’t ready to buy or make a decision without first checking you and your suggestions out online using social media throws a monkey wrench into any veteran contractor’s long standing selling process.  Those changes probably also all but kill a contractor’s sales closes rates when it comes to Gen Y remodeling and home improvement prospects.

“The reality to recognize is that Gen Y isn’t going to change.   So, contractors need to change how they both market to and sell to Generation Y if they want to do business with them.”

Save yourself a lot of time, give them what they want

If your construction or remodeling business doesn’t have a web site, stop reading right now or recognize and commit to the fact that you better get one up right away if you want to sell to Gen Y.  Done right, and it must be done right, a contractor’s web site  offers a place to give Generation Y, and any other generation for that matter,  the information they need to work through their decision making process and prequalify your business as a good option for them to consider.  If you’re strategic and you put the right information on your site, you won’t need to waste your time doing live sales calls with someone who would never have bought from you anyway and or who isn't far enough along yet in their decision making process to make any commitments that will include money.

What Information Should a Contractor’s website have on it?

Good question.  It has a lot to do with how Generation Y makes remodeling decisions.  I’ll offer some advice and suggestions on that topic in a follow up blog to be titled “If you don’t or won’t offer Generation Y Prospects what they want they will go away”

Guest Blogger: This article was contributed by Carrie Van Brunt-Wiley, Editor of the HomeInsurance.com blog. Carrie has been writing insurance news and consumer information for HomeInsurance.com since 2008. She graduated from the University of North Carolina in Wilmington in 2005 with a B.A. in Professional Writing and Journalism.

Contractor Insurance Can Help Set You Apart from Competitors

Always remember this: Your customers have plenty of other options. So you need to make sure that you stand out from your competitors. That's easy enough when you've done a job previously for a customer – your work speaks for itself. But what about when the customer has never hired a contractor? How do you differentiate yourself among a group of people who say they can do the same things you can?

One way is by assuring your potential customer that you have something that other contractors might not – especially the jacks-of-all-trades and the less reputable competitors that could be undercutting your prices because of a lack of expertise or experience or both. That “something” is general liability insurance coverage.

That's what will cover any damage in case you or an employee has an accident or makes an error that causes damage to a customer's property or that of a neighbor. You're probably thinking, "I never have accidents." But remember, this coverage will cover employees as well. Are you that sure of everyone who works for you?

Offer Proof of Coverage

When you show your prospective customer your certificate of insurance, what you're really showing him is that you're taking responsibility for the project and anything that happens on the job. Ask the customer whether every contractor he's considering can make that claim. The Better Business Bureau also recommends that customers ask to see a contractor's certificate of workers compensation coverage. Again, you'll be demonstrating that you'll step up in case one of your employees is injured while working on the project. Remind the customer that otherwise, he or she could be held financially responsible if property is damaged or someone is injured while work is being done on their home.

Warn Them

Some contractors could claim that homeowners insurance will cover the customer in case something happens during a project. That claim is just not always true. And not only is it not always true, but if the homeowners has to file the claim on their own policy their premiums will likely skyrocket when the policy renews.

As a responsible contractor, you owe it to your customers to let them know that and to let them know you have the right coverage if there is a problem.

Remind them, also, that price shouldn't be their only consideration in selecting a contractor, neither should insurance. While having proper insurance and licenses should give the customer an idea of your professionalism, you also can prompt them to check references from your customers. Let them know there is a difference, and that a cheap project often can be just that – a cheap project.

Checklist of Consideration for Contractors Offering Snow Removal Services.

When winter snows and ice dams hit many contractors see offering snow and ice dam removal as an opportunity to make money.   If you’re considering snow removal as an opportunity for your business thinking ahead about how and where you offer it, as well as how you will perform the work, can help protect your business from inherent risks.  Thinking ahead about your approach can even help you drum up additional work after the snow has disappeared.

Offering snow removal services makes sense for many contractors 

After all, if work is slow during winter months, snow removal can bring in extra revenue.   Also, many projects come to a halt when the weather makes working outside impractical or makes going in and out of a building while working on interior renovations dangerous and messy.   If you price it correctly, offering snow removal and ice dam removal can help keep employees working and help contribute gross profit to cover business overhead.

How the snow removal checklist list came about

Several years ago I helped one of my remodeler coaching clients plan out how to offer and perform snow removal services.   He called me because he realized there were a lot of things he should consider before just sending his guys out with there with shovels and axes.  Below is a list of considerations from my coaching session notes created during my discussions with him.   By sharing my notes my hope is that you will find them helpful, you will price the work for profit, you and your employees will be safer while performing the work, you can use the opportunity to create new customers and you will generate future work from those that hire you.

Checklist of Snow Removal Services Considerations for Contractors:

• Suggested he consider the work is labor intensive, he will not be earning his typical gross profit on subs or materials, be sure to price hourly rates accordingly.
• Agreed on $300 first hour with two men, $80/hr per additional man hour.
• 4 men doing it currently.  Full employees with Workers Compensation (WC) coverage. 
• Discussed properly equipping his employees to avoid risk and health problems. Confirmed he has fall protection equipment needed to meet OSHA requirements and employees know how to use it.  Should try to do as much of the work as they can from the ground.
• Confirmed that he knows which WC classification workers will be in while doing the work and what rate he will be charged on all related payroll.
• Discussed a variety of ways to do the work to limit residual damages.
• Discussed setting realistic expectation with clients before doing the work. Agreed that only using a verbal agreement about services would not be acceptable.
• Help home owners understand nature of the work, let them know that damages will happen and that he cannot guarantee preventing leaks or any possible damages inside or outside.
• Suggested he have an agreement; created and or reviewed by legal counsel.
• Suggested he disclaim in the agreement any water damage prevention and or remediation responsibilities.
• Look at the work as a good way to meet new clients.  Because there might be more demand than he can service, be selective about who he will work for, make sure they fit within his target customer/location niche.
• Suggested he make follow up calls to verify home owners are all set and happy, ask if they should come back if it keeps snowing.
• Collect contact info including e-mail addresses so he can re-market for future work.
• If he uses any subs make sure they are properly insured and follow OSHA requirements.  Make sure subs know not to attempt to solicit or accept any work from his customers.
• Keep emergency contact info on site and or in each vehicle.
• Suggest he ask about future work, both snow related and remodeling.
• Could create a checklist of things to ask or tell customers related to the work and future work; what his company does.  Said he has already created a simple sheet listing other work they do.
• Suggested he should be prepared regarding how to differentiate his business from other businesses offering the work. Discussed one way is to offer all clients an insurance certificate that lists the home owner as an additional insured, sent direct to the client from his insurance agent before work starts.  Verify his agent is prepared and capable to do so.
• Suggested considering doing a YouTube video commercial about the service and put it on his website ASAP.
• Discourage use of Red Bull, maybe even coffee. Suggested hot chocolate and donuts.
• Suggested refrigerator magnets would be a good leave behind.  Also consider 5-5-10 door hanger package we had discussed on a previous call about jobsite marketing.
• Asked him what his top three takeaways from our discussion were:

1. Caution regarding liabilities, set expectations with clients in writing.
2. Realizes the marketing opportunity, concentrate on working for his target customer.
3. Keep an eye on the big picture to avoid liabilities and not miss an opportunity by being blinded by a just getting the work done mentality.

Rebuilding Your Construction Business On Purpose in 2013

Most remodeling and construction business owners didn’t start with a plan for where their business would end up; they just ended up where their businesses took them.   As they did business the employees and subs who worked for them, the clients who bought from them and the project types they bought are often the factors that eventually defined the business and therefore defined who their target customer type and job types are today.  If you’re not happy with where your business ended up, and you had to downsize during the recession, your current position might just provide an opportunity to rethink how you move forward before the economy and your business picks up.  Here’s a path to consider if you want a different business going forward.  Reflect back on and take advantage of lessons learned in the past as you map out your plan.

First establish goals for your business.  

Make sure the goals support both your professional and personal ambitions.   If you want to work to live, rather than live to work, now is your opportunity to make the change happen.

Your goals must be measurable

Next, establish metrics by which you will measure whether your business is on the right track and is achieving those goals.   In your metrics include ways to measure things like financial health, quality of service, quality of work, company culture, when you will be ready for the next stage of growth and the related employee growth or advancement that needs to be achieved. 

Decide who you will need for employees

Now that you have a clear idea of your goals and have defined objective ways to measure whether you’re achieving them or not, you can develop organizational charts for each stage of growth as well as job descriptions and candidate profiles for the people you will need to hire and advance.   Rather than let who you hire define your business and the job descriptions for those people, you will this time be able to proactively define, seek out and better qualify the right employees for each job position you will need to fill as the business grows. 

Here are a few examples. 

If you want to use a lead carpenter system, hire field staff with both trade and management skills.  If you can’t find real lead carpenters with management skills (because in reality very few exist) find good carpenters with the cognitive abilities and desire to learn and use those skills.  Then, train them yourself or find someone else to properly train them.  Your lead carpenter job description will help define the training you will need to provide.   If you want managers who will lead employees rather than supervise them, make sure you include that consideration in the employee profiles you will use to complement your job descriptions and hiring decisions. 

Putting the pieces together

If you hire the wrong managers you will be compromising your ability to hire and keep the right employees to do the work.   If you have to compromise on who you hire to do the work they will not be able to live up to your metrics or you will have to lower the standards by which you measure their performance.   If you drop the bar on your metrics you will either have to accept that you will never achieve your business and personal goals, or you will have to drop the bar on those too.

One definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things but expect different results.  If you want 2013 to be the year you changed the direction and performance of your business, you would probably be insane not to consider the path described above.

Thinking about figuring all this out on your own? 

If you and your business have the ability, the time and the money to learn all this stuff on your own check out this list of Five Great Books for Remodeling Business Owners.

Rather work one-on-one with a coach to help you?

Contact Shawn to find out how he helps remodelers and other construction related businesses all over the country achieve the business and personal results they desire.  If you're not earning and keeping enough money for your retirement yet he can help you change things.