Business Management

Solving the Challenges of Leadership Development in Remodeling Companies with Wayne Ottum – [PowerTips Unscripted] S4 E10

January 19, 2023 Business Management, Hiring, Personal Development 00:25:25

As remodeling companies grow, owners face the challenges of deciding when leaders are needed, how to find them, and train them to be good leaders. In this episode of PowerTips Unscripted, Wayne Ottum discusses these challenges and provides tools and methodologies for facing these challenges head-on. In addition, he talks about how he helps owners create a business that works for them.

Wayne Ottum is a senior consultant at Remodelers Advantage. Wayne has over 30 years of experience, with 15 of those years specializing in the remodeling industry. He helps create clear and compelling paths for owners to meet their goals.

Wayne, Victoria, and Mark talk more about:

  • Checklist of leadership skills
  • How to know when to develop or hire leaders
  • Managers vs. Leaders
  • And more…

The Magic of Disney’s Customer-Service Strategies with Pete Blank – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

January 5, 2023 Business Management, Company Culture, Customer Service 00:36:27

In this episode, Pete Blank shares customer-service strategies from Disney with Victoria and Mark, and discusses how to apply these lessons to your remodeling company to boost your own team’s customer-service performance. 

Pete has been developing leaders and improving service levels of organizations for the past 25 years — 13 of those with the Walt Disney Co. and the past 12 in local government. He loves inspiring others with ways to enhance their organizational culture. You can learn more about Pete Blank at his website: www.peteblank.com, or on his LinkedIn page. 

Growing up near Disney World in Orlando, FL., Pete says he knew he always wanted to work there. After a few years as a sportscaster in Alabama, Pete went to Florida and began working for Disney. After 13 years, he and his family moved back to Alabama so he could start working in the local government.

Blank said that the biggest challenges to providing outstanding customer service and experiences are speed and expectations. Technology has changed the speed and convenience with which goods and services can be delivered, so you have to align your client’s expectations with what you can actually deliver. 

Mark, Victoria, and Pete talk more about:

  • The difference between customer service and customer experience
  • How social media amplifies all experiences —good and bad
  • Making customer service part of your mission
  • How emotional connections create relationships
  • How to measure your customer-service success
  • The power of follow-up surveys
  • And more …

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Fighting the Labor Shortage with In-house Training with Dan Hurst – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

December 22, 2022 Business Management, Hiring, Recruiting 00:27:59

The demand and absence of skilled labor is a huge challenge for remodelers across North America. We hear it from our Roundtables Members as well as from our associates, sponsors and Podcast guests.

In this episode Victoria and Mark explore different ways to tackle the issue, and welcome Dan Hurst to the show to talk about how his firm effectively creates a culture and career path that provides opportunities for his staff to learn and develop new skills.

Dan is the President / General Manager of Hurst Design Build Remodel in Westlake, OH and is actively involved in NARI as well as a Master Certified Remodeler and Certified Lead Carpenter.

Dan, Victoria and Mark talk more about:

  • Things you can do to create a culture and provide a path to grow your own skilled workforce
  • Why there is a need to develop your own staff vs. hiring
  • Creating opportunities for your employees to learn and develop new skills
  • What a typical career path might look like
  • Managing and helping your staff achieve their career goals
  • The fear of investing time and energy into developing someone, only to have them leave

How To Double The Number Of Top Leaders In Your Remodeling Comapny: Hire And Train More Women, Featuring Iris Harrell – [PowerTips Unscripted] S4 E8

December 15, 2022 Business Management, Company Culture, Human Resources, Personal Development, Recruiting 00:23:46

In this episode of PowerTips Unscripted, Iris Harrell discusses the importance of having women in key positions within remodeling companies. They make up half of the US workforce, so there is a sizeable recruitment pool, and they also relate on a deeper level with female customers, who often drive decision-making. Women are multi-taskers, organizers, collaborators, and task-oriented, making them assets to any organization. 

Iris founded Harrell Design Build, a large, female-led, employee-owned, full-line remodeling company.  Harrell has consistently committed to high-quality design and craftsmanship and conscientious customer care since their inception in 1985. They also employ only people who share these ideals, including their reliable, rigorously selected subcontractors, and they are very proud of their commitment to women and diversity in the workplace.

Iris, Victoria, and Mark discuss:

  • Women in key positions in your company are a competitive advantage
  • Overcoming internal (and inherent) biases
  • And more…

Listen…

Outsourcing 3-Dimensional Design with Lauren Campuzano- [PowerTips Unscripted] S4 E7

December 8, 2022 Business Management, Design, workload 00:22:40

Today on PowerTips Unscripted, Lauren Campuzano joins the show to discuss outsourcing 3-Dimensional (3-D) Design. 3-D designs can help remodelers sell their plans, but finding the right talent can take time and effort. Lauren found that 3-D designs were great communication tools within the design department, construction department, and sometimes with clients. Creating 3-D models in-house was difficult for Lauren, so she outsourced them.  

Lauren is the Principal Designer at New Market Builders LLC. After working within the Design- Build industry, and many years teaching Interior Design at The Art Institute of Philadelphia, Lauren joined her husband, Michael, at New Market Builders to launch and oversee the Design portion of the company.

Victoria, Mark, and Lauren talk more about:

  • Online marketplaces to outsource
  • Payment terms for the designing
  • How long it takes to make the designs
  • And more…

Strategy Isn’t Enough with Brian Gottlieb – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

November 17, 2022 Business Management, Company Culture, Personal Development, Productivity 00:30:45

A successful remodeling business isn’t only dependent on tactics or the larger strategy behind them. A company’s culture plays a crucial role in executing any business strategy. 

In this episode, Brian Gottlieb discusses the key steps needed for a business to implement their desired strategy with Victoria and Mark.

Brian Gottlieb is the founder and CEO of Tundraland Home Improvements, which serves all of Wisconsin. He started his business on a plastic folding table, with just $3,000 in cash. Today, Tundraland employs more than 220 people, and revenues  are in excess of $42 million. 

He defines strategy as an integrated set of choices an organization makes to position against the competition, add value to their customers, and add value to the company. Brian’s “a-ha” moment came last summer, when he understood that when a community is at its full potential, we’re all in a better place; and when an organization is at its full potential, we’re all in a better place.

He calls Tundraland a training organization — developing an employee to his or her full potential is a key point of the company’s  strategy. Brian describes the four ways to define your culture, and how to make it stronger, including:

  • How building a strong culture is like building a ship
  • How realizing potential depends on others
  • Examples of the wrong strategies
  • And more …

Everyone Should Think Like an Entrepreneur with Sean Castrina – [PowerTips Unscripted] S4 E4

October 27, 2022 Business Management, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Sales 00:23:44

Sean Castrina joins the program to discuss why everyone should think like an entrepreneur and the importance of developing a strategy for determining what business you want to start. He shares that when he lost his job, he found another one so he could take his time to figure out his next steps. 

Sean Castrina is the Founder of The Weekend MBA, host of The 10 Minute Entrepreneur Podcast (a top 10 entrepreneurship podcast), an author of 4 bestselling books, and a serial entrepreneur.

Sean, Victoria and Mark discuss:

  • Critical components of building a successful business
  • The top reasons why most entrepreneurs fail
  • Why you must constantly look for new revenue streams 

Using Kaizen to Improve Your Business with Michael Sauri [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

October 20, 2022 Business Management, Company Culture, Personal Development, Production, Productivity 00:35:02

In today’s episode of PowerTips Unscripted, we are featuring one of our more popular episodes. If you have topic ideas for an episode or a guest we should be interviewing, send an email to victoria@remodelersadvantage.com.  Enjoy!    

The Kaizen practice focuses on improving existing, standardized processes by eliminating waste and was first practiced in Japanese businesses after World War II.  Kaizen translates to “Change for Good,” and that can mean many great things for your growing remodeling company. The process of constant improvement, with every team member participating, allows your company to constantly raise the bar on its target metrics.  

In this episode, Victoria and Mark learn more about the Kaizen practice of process improvement by welcoming Michael Sauri, CEO of TriVista USA, to the show.

Michael and his wife Deborah started TriVistaUSA in 2005 with the goal of providing an outlet for creativity and a Ritz Carlton-level client experience. “Our Thoughtful Design Builds Fine Living,” is their mission statement and their mantra as they bring phenomenal, award-winning design to the Design/Build community in the Washington DC area.

Victoria, Mark and Michael talk more about:

  • The background of Kaizen and how TriVista got involved
  • Hiring and developing a team within the Kaizen structure
  • The differences between Kaizen and other process improvement practices
  • And More…

Why The Design-to-Production Handoff is Worth Measuring – [Powertips Unscripted] S4 E3

October 13, 2022 Business Management, Design, Production 00:34:31

Today on Powertips Unscripted, Dan Hurst joins the show to discuss the handoff from design to production. Dan talks about how to define the minimum standard of completeness and quality for each function or role involved in preparing the handoff packet. Dan also discusses how to use checklists for each role to ensure that quality standards are met.

Dan Hurst is the COO and part owner of Hurst Design Build Remodel in Cleveland Ohio. Dan and his brother Pat have been a part of Roundtables since 2006. Dan was also on a panel at the 2022 summit at the Gaylord in the National Harbor.

Victoria, Mark, and Dan talk more about:

  • Team handoff meetings
  • 3 core project deliverables
  • How these core deliverables can improve standards
  • And more…….

Building a Culture of Support in Construction with Steve Barkhouse – [Powertips Unscprited] S4 E2

October 6, 2022 Business Management, Company Culture 00:29:49

Steve Barkhouse joins PowerTips Unscripted to discuss how to create a culture of mental health support in the remodeling industry. In the post covid era, Mental health has affected many employees and business owners, so Steve and his team created a framework for dealing with the added stress that comes from covid. This support framework includes a video and a full-day training session to help employees work on and improve their mental health. Steve talks about how this initiative of offering additional support has helped his company build a healthy culture.

Steve is the owner of the award-winning remodeling firm Amsted Design-Build in Ottawa, Canada. Over the past 33 years, Steve has grown Amsted into a 50-person team with over $20 million in revenues. He is a past Impact Award winner and a 15-year member of the Mentor group Remodelers Advantage Roundtables Peer Group.

Steve, Victoria, and Mark talk more about:

    • The impact of mental health on the employees
    • Why mental health is crucial right now
    • Mental health in the remodeling industry
    • And more…
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MASTER NAVIGATION

This website is part of the Remodelers Advantage Network.

Visit our other properties: