Production

Making powerful emotional connections using empathy-based marketing with Tanya Bamford – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

February 2, 2023 Marketing 00:25:14

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.

Exploring a Large Project Sales Process with Lane Cooper – [PowerTips Unscripted S4 E11]

January 26, 2023 Business Management, Sales 00:28:14

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
  • And more… 

Using the Financial Review to Pivot to Profitability with Michael Hodgin – [PowerTips Unscripted S4 E9]

January 12, 2023 Financial Management 00:38:49

Today on PowerTips Unscripted, Mark and Victoria are joined by Michael Hodgin to discuss using the financial review to pivot to profitability. A complete understanding and review of your company’s financials is a practice that requires a disciplined effort. However, with this practice in place, an owner will be able to use the information from these reviews to pivot when and where necessary to be more profitable year over year. Using his expertise as a former business owner and a business coach, Michael talks about how he examines a company’s financial statements, including what KPIs to review and whom to review the financials with.

Michael was an owner of a successful remodeling company for over 22 years. He has since left and is the owner of Maestro’s Toolbox, where he works with owners of design-build companies across the country to help them build better companies and, therefore, better lives. In addition, Michael has been part of the roundtables as an owner, a facilitator for roundtables meetings, and part of the Remodelers Advantage Business Coaching team.

Victoria, Mark, and Michael talk more about:

  • When is it best to review financials
  • What should be getting reviewed
  • What is the next step after reviewing
  • And more…

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

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 …

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…….

Gauging Your Designers’ Workload Effectively With Jeff Talmadge-[PowerTips Unscripted] S4 E1

September 29, 2022 Business Management, Design, Productivity, workload 00:21:24

In this episode, Jeff Talmadge discusses how he and his team created a point system for his design staff to spread their workload.  Each designer is assigned a predetermined number of points, weighted by criteria such as permitting, scope, and complexity of the job.  The team tracks points weekly and has found that designers are less stressed, customers are given more accurate timelines, and production can plan their workload better.

Jeff Talmadge is the president of Talmadge Construction, a large, premium design-build firm based in Aptos, CA.  Jeff and his team pride themselves on their commitment to customer service, quality workmanship, and a strong team culture.  

Jeff’s five words of wisdom – patience, persistence, never give up.

Listen as Jeff, Victoria, and Mark discuss:

  • Increasing job satisfaction across the company by managing designer workloads
  • Improving customer service by managing expectations with accurate timelines
  • And more…

The Delicate Art of Qualifying Remodeling Leads with Chip Doyle- [Best of Powertips Unscripted]

September 15, 2022 Business Management, Company Culture, Marketing, Production, Sales 00:32:56

Leads! Lead! Leads! Business is good, leads are coming in. But are you over-qualifying, under-qualifying, or doing it just right? 

Chip Doyle’s got research that says 30-60 percent of business is lost because the initial phone call is handled incorrectly. So if you’re not doing it just right, you’re leaving money behind.

In this episode, Chip’s back with Victoria and Mark to break down the best practices for lead evaluation over the phone, and what to leave for the salesperson to handle in the prospect’s home.  

Chip Doyle wrote Selling to Homeowners — The Sandler Way, a best-selling industry book, and has been offering Sandler training for 20 years. He has worked with hundreds of remodeling companies across North America — including many of our Roundtables members and RA University members, and many other RA programs.

The most fundamental mistake many remodeling companies make — especially in this hot market — is mismanaging leads over the phone. Over-qualifying leads mean you’re actually losing money, says Chip. He says the salesperson’s job is to go out and get “no”s. Getting into the home is key, but too many owners wear too many hats and don’t have enough time to devote to sales calls. The result is being too stringent during the initial phone calls. Chip talks about how to qualify your prospects the right way, including:

  • Predictive qualifying
  • How long the initial call should take
  • Who should do the qualifying
  • Training the qualifier, or LIP
  • Ensuring that the homeowner has a positive experience on that first call
  • Finding out the client’s pain points while on the phone
  • Making and confirming appointments
  • And more …

Growing a High Volume Remodeling Business with Jake Schloegel- [Best of Powertips Unscrpited]

September 1, 2022 Business Management, Financial Management, Marketing, Production, Sales 00:24:49

Many remodelers dream of one day building a high-volume remodeling company. Others aren’t sure it’s worth the effort.

In this episode, we talk to Jake Schloegel about what it takes to grow a high-volume remodeling business. Why build it? Who should be involved? What are the expectations?

Jake is the Founder of Schloegel Design Remodel, an award-winning Design/Build firm in Kansas City. He started in 1980 as a one-person company and has grown it, with the help of his team, to an operation exceeding $14 million in revenue annually. The company is now managed by Jake’s son, Charlie Schlegel, and his business partner, Chris Peterson.

Jake has been a facilitator and instructor for Remodelers Advantage for years and is very active in the remodeling community, having served as president of NARI from 1990 through 1992.

Victoria, Mark, and Jake talk more about:

  • Jake’s business and what prepared him for growth.
  • Who helped Jake in building the company?
  • The key components necessary for sustainable growth.
  • Why Jake wanted to achieve high volume.
  • What Jake would do differently if he could have some do-overs.

Ep.90: Inside the Design-Build Movement with David Supple

November 27, 2019 Business Management, Financial Management, Production 00:27:26

You may have thought that the design-build business model is a recent phenomenon. But years ago, all builders practiced design-build, but something happened along the way to create separate industries.

In this episode, David Supple takes Victoria and Mark on a deep dive into the history of the design-build model, the truths about it, and why it’s been around as long as buildings have.

David is the founder and CEO of New England Design & Construction in Boston. He’s grown NEDC to be a leader in design-build excellence, winning more than 30 awards and being written about in more than 30 publications over the past 14 years. In addition to expanding the company, David has started the DesignBuild Movement, a forum with the purpose of educating the public on this topic with the end goal of creating better buildings. 

David has had a fascination with creating buildings since his art history teacher in high school showed the class slides of landmarks in Europe like Notre Dame Cathedral and the Sistine Chapel. He decided he wanted to build those types of spaces, and was steered into architecture. He graduated from college with an architecture degree, and started practicing. Then, he says, he realized he didn’t know what he was doing. So he went to work as a carpenter to get a foundation in actual building before he opened NEDC. David talks about the history of architects and builders, and how the industry got to where we are now, including:

  • What an architect used to be
  • The historical apprenticeship process
  • How the industry separated into architects and builders
  • What social status had to do with it
  • Why design-build almost went away
  • The efficiencies of design-build as a process
  • How to position design-build with consumers
  • Design-build vs. design-bid-build
  • And more …

It’s a fascinating look at the history of building, architecture, and remodeling, and will make you better prepared to discuss what design build really means. To learn more about the DesignBuild Movement, check out the pages on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.


MASTER NAVIGATION

This website is part of the Remodelers Advantage Network.

Visit our other properties:

 

MASTER NAVIGATION

This website is part of the Remodelers Advantage Network.

Visit our other properties: