As a distinguished author and CEO, David brings his knowledge of world-class sales, sales management tactics and actionable strategies into this episode.
Current events have created an environment of incredible stress for homeowners across the globe. Remodelers have an opportunity to tap into their dissatisfaction with their home environments by using an empathy-based marketing approach to make an emotional connection.
On this episode of Best of Powertips Unscripted, Tanya Bamford joins Victoria and Mark to share how using the right messaging, imagery, and delivery channels can allow remodelers to present themselves as conduits for creating retreats from stress at home. These tips can help them fill their pipelines with homeowners who are hungry for a reprieve.
Tanya Bamford is the Managing Director of R/A Marketing–a full-service agency providing creative, yet straightforward marketing solutions for remodeling companies across the United States.
This episode will cover:
What empathy marketing is.
Practical ways to incorporate empathy into your marketing messages.
How this is this different than leveraging “pain points.”
The challenge of making an emotional connection with a stranger and how empathy marketing bridges that gap.
How remodeling companies can begin to incorporate empathy into their marketing.
Today on PowerTips Unscripted, Lane Cooper joins the show to discuss the large project sales process. Price is a process like design. Setting our clients up for a successful pricing process is critical to large remodeling projects moving forward through design into construction. Lane walks us through his pricing process to manage clients’ price expectations.
Lane Cooper is the President and founder of COOPER Design Build in Portland, OR., and is a valued Roundtables member. COOPER Design Build specializes in large remodeling and addition projects.
Victoria, Mark, and Lane talk more about…
Scope Creep
Challenges of selling and pricing major additions and whole house remodels
Determining if the project is suitable for your company
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.
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
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
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
Today on PowerTips Unscripted, Jeff Borovitz joins the show to discuss the top 5 remodeling sales secrets every business owner must know. In addition, Jeff talks about how sales professionals should establish a clearly defined future with clients and how that helps eliminates surprises during the sales journey.
Jeff Borovitz is the President of Sandler Training, a company that helps train remodeling professionals. Known for triple-digit revenue and profit increases, Jeff has 28 years of experience as an award-winning quota-busting salesperson and has trained over 1,000 salespeople. Jeff also runs SalesEdge, a program exclusively for Remodelers Advantage, where Roundtables members can receive sales training.
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
On this episode of PowerTips Unscripted, Jody McLeod joins the show to answer legal questions, including whether companies are set up to withstand a legal challenge. Jody discusses the best way to ensure having a complete personnel file for each employee, including documentation of conversations and key facts, so that you can support yourself and your company during a legal trial. Jody also advises business owners to help them avoid lawsuits through a complete onboarding process and proper training for all managers.
Jody, an attorney, and former Fortune 500 legal executive is the Founder and Principal of McLeod Legal Solutions (MLS). MLS partners with business owners to protect their business during HR and employee relations disputes with direct access to litigators, employment lawyers, and legal executives from Fortune 500 companies. Jody specializes in employment law, litigation and litigation management, compliance, investigations, and training.