The Design Builder's Blog

7 Ways to Use Mobile Technology for Construction

Contractors tend to have a practical approach to their work, and in a competitive market with many moving pieces and complicated projects, investing in the latest technology can help good contractors do their work better. In fact, 75 percent of small to mid-sized construction firms in North America have used a mobile device for work. Like any good tool, using mobile technology can make construction more efficient, accurate and cost-effective. Here’s how:

1. Attract More Clients

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has revolutionized the planning phase of construction, drawing in more clients because owners can understand the design better. This technology is quickly rising in prominence, and with it comes the client’s expectation that the outcome of a construction project will be clear to them from the very beginning. With programs like BIM 360 Glue, contractors and clients with a tablet can see a model come to life before their eyes exactly where they stand in the building.

2. Tracking Workers

Say goodbye to messy timecards, spreadsheets and wondering where your employees are when they say they’re working. With GPS-enabled mobile technology like ClockShark, construction workers can clock in remotely via a smartphone app. Location and hours are logged automatically, and administrators can save time spent managing payroll by at least 50 percent.

3. Tracking Equipment

Rather than digging through piles of equipment or replacing lost items, construction companies around the world now use RFID tags to find misplaced or stolen equipment. High value assets can be tracked remotely, and managers can see in real time where each piece of equipment or tool is located.

4. Increasing Productivity

Mobile technology gives construction professionals the ability to track orders, make phone calls, read emails and solve problems from anywhere. Workers can view client contracts, share blueprints or submit maintenance requests from a tablet. Managers can respond to needs as they arise, saving time and moving the project ahead at a faster rate.

5. Improving Communication

Mobile phones and tablets can be used for photo sharing and video conferencing with clients. Use an app to schedule meetings and sync your mobile calendar with your desktop calendar. Push notifications out to all of your workers when you’re on the job instead of wasting time returning to the office. The new Apple iPhone 7 is equipped with a 12MP wide-angle camera for top-notch photo and video quality and is both water and dust resistant, which can come in handy on a construction site.

6. Lowering Costs

Streamline processes with mobile apps and automatic notifications. Virtually eliminate data entry with mobile time clocks and job write ups. Use BIM software or a simple photo sharing strategy to ensure that your work is approved by the client at all times. This improved communication process will result in less reworks, which saves both time and money. That way you can save the company’s bottom line for the really important stuff: getting the job done right.

7. Capture Real-Time Analytics

If equipment, inventory, job progress and workers’ time are all being tracked with a mobile device, then it’s possible to obtain real-time analysis of how all of those moving parts relate to each other. Being able to respond to real-time analytics means that you can achieve great efficiency and more profits that much faster than your competition.

With the Remodeling marketplace booming this spring and predictions of close to a 10% increase in remodeling spending this year over last there will be plenty of work out there for remodeling contractors in 2016.   With the surge in mind I have been coaching my contractor clients to be smart about how they do business.   I have been stressing that they should take advantage of this surge by being selective about the customers they choose to work with and by raising their margins now before they get too booked up and regret becoming unavailable.  If this makes sense to you and for your business read on to find out how to do fewer sales calls but at the same time close higher margin deals.

Agree on an agenda before committing to a sales call

Before you even commit to a sales call get your prospect’s commitment to discuss and commit to an agenda for the first sales call.  Doing so can help you control the sales call as well as how your valuable and limited time will be invested.  

The agenda should include the things they want to accomplish as well as the things you want to accomplish at that first meeting.   If you can’t or won’t agree to what they want to accomplish, or they won’t agree to what you want to accomplish, then simply let them know you won’t be able to help them. 

These three things should be part of your agenda

After you hear and approve of the items they want on the agenda ask permission to share the items you want on the agenda.  You can include anything you want on your agenda but make sure at a minimum you get a commitment to discuss these three things before asking them if it still makes sense to invite you over:

Can we talk about why you want to do your project?

You will need to know this info to create a unique solution and to have confidence in what you suggest to them when discussing options.  You will also need to know this information to avoid becoming a commodity contractor by just giving them a price on what they thought they needed.  You know, just like pretty much every commodity contractor does every day.

Can we talk about your budget for this project?

Let them know you will either need to get a realist budget from them in order to help them, or that you can let them know what they should assume for a budget.  But, be clear that a requirement of getting together will be to discuss and decide if there is a fit between their budget and the scope of work they would like completed.

Can we talk about how you plan to make your decisions?

You need to get their commitment to discuss how they will decide about important project details as well as which contractor they will ultimately partner with.  If you don’t know how they plan to make these decisions how can you possibly help them make decisions and why should you be surprised when they don’t or can’t decide? 

If they don’t know how they plan to make decisions think of it as your job to help them figure that out.  That alone can help differentiate you from the commodity contractors.    

Setting the agenda shows you’re serious and filters out the commodity buyers

Many of my consulting clients are now using what I call “the agenda step” as a way to prequalify who they are willing to visit.  By creating this agenda they essentially give their prospects some homework to do to get ready for the visit.  After my clients get good at setting the agenda they experience much better close ratios and they all report selling to much better customers.  They also report most of these better customers are also willing to pay higher prices.  

After setting the appointment several of my clients even send a follow-up appointment confirmation email documenting the agreed agenda.

One more thing to keep in mind

Good customers who are willing to have honest discussions and are willing to pay more for “different” hang around with other people just like them.  After successfully putting the agenda step in place at your business, like my clients, you will probably get referrals to more good customers who will pay more for different.

More Work Coming In Than You Can Produce? – Here’s Some Guidance and Advice

The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University indicates that the dollars spent on remodeling will increase by 8.6% by the end of 2016.   Most remodelers are already feeling this surge in spending as their backlog of work keeps increasing and at the same time the number of estimates they need to push out is also increasing.  Smart business owners seeing this happening are already increasing their field staff capacity to take advantage of the work.  Adding staff can help get more work done.  However if production efficiency and organization are challenged due to the growth profits can quickly drop. To help these contractors out I have searched out and assembled the list of articles below. Each article is helpful, but collectively they can help identify a plan of action contractors can take to protect the profits they expect to earn by growing their businesses.

A good number of contractors have been contacting me for help in this area.  Most share now that they have more staff they are challenged to properly manage them and the sequence of work. Others report they have come to realize they may have hired the wrong staff.  The solutions to these problems are actually not that difficult to put in place.  What typically gets in the way is not knowing what systems to put in place to support the growth and how to get things started. 

Here is one message I got just today, from an employee:

“Hello. I was hired 3 years ago as an estimator. We had 2 carpenters and a super. We now have grown into 7 carpenters, super, production manager and additional secretary. None of our carpenters are "lead carpenters" but about 4 think they are. We are experiencing some growing pains for sure so any input would help. Thanks.”

So, here is my list of helpful articles for contractors seeking to advance and grow their production capabilities.  The articles will help enlighten you to what your options are as well as several important considerations to be aware of before you jump in and get things started. I hope you find the info helpful and motivating.

List of articles about growing production capacity at a Remodeling Company:

Options for Managing Production

What’s the Difference Between a Production Manager and a Production Supervisor?

All I want for Christmas… Is a Real Production Manager!

Is He Really a Lead Carpenter?

Key Differences Between Carpenters and Great Lead Carpenters: Part 1

Key Differences Between Carpenters and Great Lead Carpenters: Part 2

Checklist for Implementing the Lead Carpenter System

Considerations for Putting the Right Employee on the Right Job

Help With Evolving From Contractor to Construction Business Owner

How to Raise Your Markup: The Short 7 Step No BS Answer

OK, I’m sick and tired of the foo-foo fluffy BS answers some magazines and bloggers put out there to answer how contractors can raise their markup.  All the BS answers I see offered by others never call these contractors out on their ignorance. Without knowing what markup they actually need to use how would a contractor who is “slowly raising” his markup know when he has finally hit the right markup? It drives me crazy!   If you are ready for the no BS answers read on…

I have observed that the most common reason contractors can’t or won’t raise their markups is because they have no idea what markup they actually need to use. Yes, the hard truth is they are ignorant to how profits are built into their pricing and how to determine what markup they actually need to use. Due to their ignorance they have to guess and therefore completely lack any confidence in the prices they quote to consumers.

OK, no more BS.

If you want to make a predictable profit as a contractor here is the short and sweet no-BS plan.  

1. Recognize you have no clue what to charge to be profitable and make a commitment to stop using the WAG Method (Wild Ass Guess)
2. Learn how the financial game works so you will know what needs to be considered and how to figure out what to charge. If you have never been able to do this on your own, consider the definition of insanity and take a different route.
3. Do the work and due diligence required to calculate the markup you need to use to be profitable, to live the life style you deserve, and to be able to retire some day (before your body gives out or you die). Knowing this number will be business and life changing.
4. Accurately estimate your direct costs to build projects and then use the markup you calculated to establish the profitable price you need to sell at.
5. Tell prospects your price and stick to it with confidence.
6. If you don’t know how to sell, other than by dropping your price, get real sales training. Remember, profits are earned during the sales process and protected during production. If you are trying to make money in production it’s probably because you’re not a business manager, you’re a carpenter.
7. If the people in your current market won’t pay what it takes for you to run a real business find a new market to work in.

Done! No more BS.

She took control of the bull.  But, will you do it?

Guest Blog: What Happened When I Stopped Providing Free Estimates

If you are still running free estimates and playing a numbers game of leads to appointments to sales then I have something valuable to share. In the past I believed that if I did not actively pursue new clients, and provide free estimates, I would have no income. It was a numbers game; 5 leads - 3 appointments  -1 sale. Sound familiar? In this article I share my lesson in letting go; finding the faith to trust a system to qualify prospects, and the positive impact it can make for your business as well as your cash flow.

How I discovered the solution that worked for me

For me, it was getting increasingly difficult to find and schedule client meetings with my increasing responsibilities of being a Mom with a terminal illness. Running from lead to lead was taking up the time I needed to run my business and finish the contracts that we already had in the pipeline. Holding on to how I always did things was holding us back. I needed a temporary solution to what was a temporary situation.

Then, one late fall morning while catching up with reading emails and industry updates, I came upon an article about a remodeling business joining with another remodeling business to create a winning partnership.

Inspired by that article I decided that if I could temporarily give up running the leads to create the sales opportunity I would then be able to concentrate on design, closing the deal and project execution.   Doing so would be the temporary solution I needed to solve my current challenges. It worked. I found a design firm with a great front end sales system and at the same time was struggling with project management and finding responsive sub contractors. And, fortunately there would be no conflict, as they only needed to temporarily fill this need as they were relocating out of the area in six months, one year max. It was a good fit, they were looking to hire a per contract designer/project manager. The fact that I already had a top notch construction team in place sealed the deal.

The results

As a result of that temporary relationship I learned how to create a trained support staff at my own business and secured steady work for my team. By learning how to use and sell paid consultations our leads turned into project development retainers which then turned into profitable construction contracts. That temporary relationship was also a big success for the partnering firm; they had a record earning year and made a lot of money.

When I stepped out of my business and worked within a sales process for another firm it forced me to stop chasing down those leads that after too much investment of my time proved to be unqualified. As an owner, I would not have had the faith that charging for estimates would actually provide a constant flow of better customers. I was too invested in my previous training and experience as a sales person. I was dead wrong.

The change was an emotional one; here is how I did it

First I had to stop thinking of my role as being an in-home salesperson. Second, I had to better and fully understand why our clients were actually hiring us.  Finally, I had to set up a marketing and sales system that could drive value and was not contingent upon my making it through the prospect’s front door to get the “opportunity to do an estimate".

Here are the steps I took and worked for me:

The result of adopting this system has been life changing

I no longer run around from appointment to appointment. I now have the time to focus on creating more ways to provide paying prospects with value early in the process. Our business is running with more consistency and cash flow has increased. For every consultation I go on now we have a 70% close rate to a full construction contract, a 20% conversion to a design/material contract and about 10% of our prospects don’t move forward.  

Since returning to concentrate in full on my business and my new sales role gross sales have increased over the last twelve months by more than 75%. This is because we now focus on our ideal client. We actively seek clients that have budgets that match our business model and refer the other prospects to contractors that are better suited for them. Cash flow problems have all but disappeared.

It starts with faith. It took trusting a system, knowing who our client is, and having the time to create opportunities to provide value.

Guest Blogger: Cynthia Murphy, CKBR, is a Certified Kitchen and Bath Remodeler and co-owner of Murphy’s Design, LLC. She operates a Design Studio in Fairfax Virginia. She will be launching her blog called “Home Design Labs” in June and hosting an industry specific interview podcast called “The Social Home Pro” this summer on iTunes and Stitcher radio. If you would like to connect with Cynthia you can contact her via her website, blog or you can email her at cynthia@murphysdesignllc.com.

Thoughts on Choosing a MA CSL Renewal Class and Instructor

Choosing your MA CSL renewal class simply by price or location may not be a good investment for some MA CSL license holders. Sure, you may get the credits you need, but why not also seek to increase the return on investment of your hard earned money!

Here are a few things to consider before you choose which class you will sign up for.

Different trainers offer different classes and subjects.  

Some trainers offer classes that concentrate on trade skills. Others offer classes that concentrate on building code and or energy code requirements and amendments. On the other hand we have decided to concentrate our classes on helping contractors charge and keep more money by helping them with the way they run their businesses and how they manage construction. For example, one of our previous 6 hour CSL Classes titled “Estimating, Pricing and Producing Successful Construction Projects” covered ways contractors can be accurate about pricing their projects, write proposals that help sell work and assemble job packages crews can build from on their own so the owner can concentrate on selling another job.

I find it amazing how many attendees don’t even know what topic will be covered when they get to the class they had signed up for. Before you choose a class to renew a MA CSL first consider the topic being offered. As a business owner you may want to take a business related class but send your licensed production employees to a different class.

Make sure you get the right number and categories of credits you need

Depending on your license type you will need either 6, 10 or 12 credits to renew your MA CSL. Check out this link for a full explanation of how many credits each CSL License type requires.

Although the number of credits needed differs by license type, all three license types require the license holder obtains credits in certain topic areas called categories. The list of required categories is different the first time you renew than subsequent renewals. Make sure the class or classes you take will give you the right credits to renew.   Check out this link for clarification about the required CSL Credit hour categories.

Some trainers have more experience than others

Two things to think about regarding the trainer you choose.

The first is whether the class instructor is experienced as a teacher and can effectively help you and or your employees learn the topic at hand. Some trainers have degrees in education and lots of previous experience actually teaching.   Other trainers lack the skills and or experience needed to help you actually understand and then apply what you learn in class in the real world. I suggest you choose a trainer with a proven educational background. If you don’t already have past experience with the trainer and his/her abilities, referrals and or testimonials from past attendees can be a big help when making your selection.

The second important consideration about choosing a trainer is the level of actual practical experience that trainer has had using and or performing the skills being taught.  In my opinion too many trainers have read the book on how to do something and then decided to teach about it. If the instructor lacks practical experience he or she may actually be misleading the attendees. We are seeing a lot of this now that contractors and workers are renewing their RRP certifications at our RRP Refresher classes. Many attendees share they are very disappointed when we tell them the information and guidance they got form a previous instructor was incorrect and has cost them a lot of money and or put them at risk for potential fines.

Renewing your MA CSL takes up a lot of your time.

If you have to do it anyway why not maximize the value of your time and the money you spend by being strategic about the topics and instructor you choose? By doing so the money you spend will be an investment, instead of an expense.

Why January Is Great Time Of the Year for Me and My Contractor Coaching Clients

One of my goals when working with my contractor coaching clients is to offer them new ways of looking at and doing things than they may have already experienced in the past. At this time of the year we debrief how well they did last year putting changes in place. Our interactions typical include review, celebration, planning and commitments. Using this process proves to be very rewarding for them, and for me as well.

My coaching strategy is to help them explore the options they have to improve and grow their businesses so they can make their own informed decisions about how they want to move forward. I really enjoy working with them in this way because it helps them discover and experience how to think and act on their own. I purposely do it this way so as not to create a dependency on my assistance and so they won’t need me to help them over and over again with the same things year after year.

My calls and interactions with them during this time of the year focus on reviewing the successes of the past year’s efforts. They also include identifying the goals and actions they will commit to in the New Year to continue moving forward on their defined path to personal and professional success. We also agree on how they want me to hold them accountable to achieving those goals.

Here is a taste of what we do in January and why it is so rewarding for me

First they share with me their excitement about their personal and professional progress, and how much more time they have to work on their business, not just in it.

We then review their financial reports for the previous year to see how they did and make sure all transactions are in the right places within their chart of accounts based on the financial system strategy we designed together. This helps get things ready for their accountant and simplifies filing tax returns.

I celebrate with them and point out how much better they did financially than the previous year because of the changes they put in place. Then we discuss budgeting and pricing/markup for the New Year using their historical information as our guide and as a reference. With the economy improving most of my clients are willing to sell at higher prices to help increase volume in the New Year, rather than just sell more work.

I encourage and support my clients in accomplishing a combined total personal compensation and net profit of 20% of produced volume.   This compensation strategy gives them the money and the confidence they need to use some of those profits for investing back into their businesses to continue growing them. That level of total compensation also provides money to build their retirement funds and or finance other investments.

If we have worked on their marketing plan and strategy over the past year we also do a year end review of their results.   After doing so most tell me they want to invest more on marketing this year because of the result they experienced last year.

“Before, when I was working with other people, I felt like I was on a trampoline. Now, when I work with you Shawn, I feel like I’m on a concrete floor.”               David C. Agnew, Custom Home Renovation Solutions, LLC

I actually love what I do!

The business owners I work with are great people. Although they all have different motivations for seeking my assistance, they all share the common desire to remodel their businesses to make them better. As a bonus for me, when they give me the opportunity to help them, I also get the opportunity to help change the lives of their employees, trade partners and the customers they serve.

And, these are just some of the reasons I really love what I do!

What Should You Do To Improve Your Remodeling Business In 2015?

It’s that time of the year when many forward thinking Remodeling Contractors contemplate and commit to the strategic business improvements they will make in the New Year.  If you want to grow your business and or make more money in 2015 having a plan to help you get there will make it much more likely to happen.  

If you already know what changes you need to make assembling your plan will probably be easy.  But if you aren't confident about what to do you might just invest your time and money in the wrong areas.   

Here are three important considerations to take into account before you commit to a plan:

First, make sure you work on the right areas in your business.

This may seem obvious but unless you already have a lot of business training and experience will you be sure you are working on the right things and in the right order?  For example it might not make sense to work on your sales skills if you’re  to not confident you will be properly marking-up your estimates cover your new overhead costs as you grow.  By making this mistake you might just be buying jobs instead of selling them and the growth could put you out of business.

Second, work to get your business in balance. 

To help clarify what I mean by this suggestion ask yourself if your business has systems or a system.  If you have systems maybe each system is working OK on its own, but by looking at it that way each might not be contributing as much to the overall success of your business as they could.  On the other hand if you work to balance the advancement of each of your business systems in the right order they could better unite together to form a system that produces far greater results.  Think of it like the cross pollenization of plants where, working together in balance, one plus one can equal three.  But, sticking with the plant analogy, if you only water and fertilize half of your crop the weak plants will not be contributing as much pollen as the healthy ones and the overall harvest at the end of the growing season will have suffered.

Third, recognize your own weaknesses as the business' leader and commit to a plan of self improvement. 

For example if you add employees so you can get out of the field will your personal management and mentoring skills be adequate for the task at hand?   If you end up being a micromanager instead of a leader you may end up holding back inspired employees who want to grow.  If that happens you could lose them as well as the investments you made in attracting them in the first place.  Remember, most employees don't leave because they are not happy with the company they work for; most employees leave because of the boss they work under.

Do a business assessment before you commit to changes

Creating a solid plan for what you will do to grow your business is not easy for most remodeling business owners.  Depending on your business experience it may actually be impossible to do.  To help you assess where your weak areas are and what things you should work on you can download my free Remodeling Business Assessment Worksheet.   By filling it out, it can help you see where your business is out of balance.  In the example to the right the business is producing work faster than it is selling it, probably due to a lack of sales staff.  With this information the business owner will have a much better idea regarding what areas to work on to help get the business in balance and grow it.  

If you download and fill out the Business Assessment Worksheet please share some comments here about your experience using it and what it might be indicating to you.   I bet what you share can be very valuable for other business owners.

Once you have your business in balance you will be closer to having a “system” instead of “systems”. 

(Note: This is the seventh article in a series of articles written specifically for remodelers who want to successfully break past doing $1M/year in installed sales. Click here to see a list of all the articles in the series that have been published.)

As a remodeling business seeks to grow past the $1million a year threshold things can very difficult for most business owners.  Taking the jump can even be fatal for the business. I call it the “Take-Off Stage” because either the business takes off successfully, or it doesn’t.

The typical challenges most owners experience during this transition include having the right skills to make the jump successfully and getting it done quickly enough.  The growth has to happen quickly enough so the increased volume produces the gross profit needed to cover the additional related overhead expenses required to first make the jump and to sustain it.

At the doorstep of approximately $1M remodelers must make a decision

Will they remain contractors or will they become construction business owners? 

Either is a good choice, but being a construction business owner is much more involved.  It can also be much more profitable.

 It’s the best time to introduce the structural and behavioral changes the business and the owner will both need to make.  

 

Growing past the $1M mark without putting significant changes into place is a huge risk

The reason most small businesses fail is not because they are not profitable, but rather because they grow faster than the business can successfully implement the systems needed to manage that growth.

 
Want help making the $1M Jump?

If you what help here is what I am setting up to help you.  Over the next two weeks or so I will be publishing blog topics specifically written to help remodelers who want to grow past $1Million a year.  In the next article I will share the typical characteristics of the Take-Off Stage.   After that article I will share some important considerations for the business owner and a list of goals the business and the owner should consider committing to and working on to get ready for the growth. 

Then, following those articles I will post a series of articles.  Each article will specifically discuss one of the seven business systems I have identified as critical to the successful and profitable growth of a remodeling business.  Again each one will be written for the purpose of helping remodelers with what they will need to consider and put in place to help them break $1M profitably.

The list of systems to be discussed will include:

1. Financial
2. Marketing
3. Design
4. Sales
5. Production
6. Personnel
7. Communications.

If you haven’t already done so subscribe to my blog so you won’t miss a single article.

Invest In Your Remodeling Business Now, Or Pay Forever

The New Year is here again. For many it’s a time to plan and make commitments for the changes and improvements needed to make the coming year better than the last.  Then there are the remodelers who say they and their companies are too busy working to take the time to remodel their own businesses. What they may not know is that if they don’t invest now to either train employees or restructure their businesses, they will be paying for not doing so for a long time to come.

What am I referring to?

• I'm talking about proactively taking a look at how efficiently you run your company in order to get better returns on your investment of time, money and focus.
• I am talking about assessing your company's cost effectiveness and taking into account if employees are properly trained to do their jobs so you don’t have to micromanage them.
• I’m also talking about creating the ability to actually be “present” when you sit down to have dinner with your family or attend your child’s soccer game.

You can invest now to train managers or employees and to rework structural shortcomings within your business.  Or you can pay forever by running a shoddy show that won't give you the financial returns that it takes to stay in business and retire before your body eventually gives out.

If you don't do it now, how much profit will you possibly lose until you do set a plan into action?  If you don’t do it now how much will your procrastination cost you over the coming years you are in business; including the compounded interest you could have earned each year towards your eventual retirement? 

I know many remodelers who have no retirement funds at all.  How about you?

Don’t forget about lost opportunities

By sticking with the status quo many business owners are also missing out on opportunities they could have concentrated on if they were not constantly dealing with and fixing the same problems over and over again. For example, at a recent workshop for remodeling business owners I broke the attendees out into several groups and asked them to assess their business’ current status. One group of eight remodelers agreed their production slippage problems hurt them financially at a cost of at least 10% of total volume each year.

I then asked them to reference that in the point of view of being a $1 million/year company. They agreed this 10 percent production slippage loss would equal a $100,000 deficit each year. Would you want that to happen or keep happening at your business?

Here is a tough question to ponder

Does your spouse or significant other know you have such opportunities to make and keep more money?   Or, are you hiding that fact from them and others so you don’t have to recognize and address the shortcomings of your business and or your business acumen?

It's up to you. You can pay now, or you can pay forever.