Remodelers On The Rise

I enjoyed this lively chat with Vicki Suiter. Learn from her expertise as I ask her and we discuss:   1. What are the biggest mistakes you see contractors make in pricing? 2. How do you suggest people overcome pricing objections? 3. There are only two ways to increase profitability - what are they? 4. What process do you recommend contractors have in place in order to make sure they are bidding to meet their gross profit margin goals? 5. What is ONE thing every person listening to this podcast can do right now, that is super simple, to get a better handle on their numbers?   Enjoy and be sure to pick up a copy of Vicki’s new book at www.TheProfitBleed.com   

What is the 5P? How can it impact your business? Find out in this episode!

Where did the money go? We aren’t making any money on this project! Maybe I need to sub out more of my work and cut back on my self-performed/in-house labor? These are questions and thoughts one of my remodeling clients was saying on the phone the other day. He had a lot of hypotheses. A lot of, ‘Maybe it’s this? Maybe it’s that?’ What he was lacking is a hard look at his Job Cost Reports.

This isn’t specifically related to your remodeling business, but, if you’re like me, it might be something that is a good message for you to hear or something to forward onto a friend or family member. Reach out anytime if you want to chat – about topics like this, your remodeling business, or life in general. I’m here and available. 

Here are some questions to think about over this weekend: 1. You started the year with some clarity and big plans. When you think of your business – What’s working? What’s not working? Pull out a sheet of paper, slow down for a minute, and write some things out. 2. Your work/life balance – what is your plan for the next 30 days to improve it? 3. How’s the financial side of the business? Are there any expenses to cut? What are you going to invest in this fall? Read all 10 questions here. 

REMEMBER: If you don’t do anything about it, nothing changes. Maybe this means you need to drop and knock out 20 pushups Maybe you need to go for a walk and clear your head Maybe you need to immediately text your spouse and set up a date Maybe you need to call your employee and set-up a time to meet Maybe you need to talk to me about getting involved in Remodelers Circle so that you have a business group to belong to Maybe you need to order a salad for lunch today If you don’t do anything about it, nothing changes. Remember that and do something about it.

I’m working on a new website for my Remodelers Circle program. Like any website project – it has a lot of moving parts. I need to figure out the pages to include, how I want it designed, and lots of content writing. Last week I worked on it for about an hour. What did I have to show for my hour of dedicated work? Absolutely nothing. I started writing some content. Then switched to making an outline of the menu and what pages I wanted to create. Bounced over to my main website to see what blog posts I would move over to the new website. Tinkered with a testimonial that one of my clients sent over. I was sporadic and jumping all over the place. The next day before I sat down to work on the project again, I thought for a minute and picked ONE thing. Just one thing related to the project to focus on and move forward. At the end of that hour, I had one piece of content written out and completed. I was able to check something off! —— A lot of your remodeling projects for clients are like what I described above. A

Imagine that you have the ideal prospect and project come into your remodeling business. The project is exactly what your team excels at and the homeowners are wonderful. They have a realistic budget and everything is looking great. What are you going to do to reel that project in? You’re going to pull out all the stops with your sales process! I bet you’ll ask a lot of great questions so you truly understand what they’re looking for and what they value. You’re going to send them a professional appointment confirmation email between the initial phone call and in-person meeting. You’ll show up on-time for the in-person appointment – looking sharp and with a smile on your face. You’ll bring your A game to that first appointment and work hard to connect and build trust with them. You’ll explain your process in crystal clear detail and share great design ideas. That handwritten thank you note will hit the mail the day after the initial meeting. You’ll pull out all the stops. The same level of effort, planning, an

"I've known Kyle for years and have been impressed by his work AND even more impressed with HOW he works. He is a person of such deep faith and it comes across in his business in a humble, serving, very human way. Beautiful. I asked him to speak with me about how his faith influences his work. Then he quickly turned the tables on me! And agreed - BUT only if we made it a co-interview and he could ask me about my faith and how it influences my work. So here we are... sharing our different faiths and many common practices for bringing this to life in a business environment." - Jayme Dill    

Listen to Kyle Hunt's interview with Jayme Dill to find out how you can make the most of your initial phone call with a remodeling prospect.

I spent a little time on the phone with a remodeler down south recently. He went to a home show last week – generated 24 leads – and is struggling to qualify them and have control of the initial phone call with a new prospect. Here’s a list of some initial phone call best practices I shared with him that he found helpful – I hope you find them helpful as well: First things first – pull out your Project Discovery Sheet. Have a process. Have the questions you want to ask in front of you. Not so that you sound scripted at all, but so that you have a process to follow. Be 100% focused on the call. Don’t be multi-tasking. Don’t be driving. Be 100% into it. Smile (yes – you can ‘see’ that smile through the phone.) Be friendly and up-beat. Set the expectation of how long the call will last. ‘Do you have 10-15 minutes to talk about your project?’ If your initial phone call is lasting 5 minutes – you aren’t asking enough questions. Ask a lot of questions about their project – enough so that you have a clear picture o

Imagine you are on one of your jobsites and have an ideal prospect standing next to you. What are the little things on the jobsite that you would want to tell that prospect about? (Think creative design, what’s behind the drywall, process, products, jobsite cleanliness, attention to detail, etc.) Now pull out your iPhone and record a quick 45-second video explaining one of these things on the jobsite. Upload that to your website, use it in your follow-up emails to a prospect, and post it on social media. Listen to this podcast and imagine creating these for your remodeling business...

You know processes and systems are important to your remodeling business. You may also know that creating a process isn't that hard. Pull out a sheet of paper, put the title of the process at the top, and list out the steps. So why don't we have more processes locked and loaded in our businesses? I aim to answer that (and motivate you!) in this little audio clip.

Want to know a great way to start the day? Eat your frog. I know, sounds weird, but give this a listen - you won't forget it and it's an exceptional time management tip for the busy remodeler.

Our guest for show #14 is Pam Kofsky who is the Founder and Designer at Elegant Interior Designs which is located in Ambler, Pennsylvania. Pam is an Award Winning Interior Decorator and mostly recently won the Remodelers Magazine Big 50 award. She works with clients from the smallest design dilemma to an entire space. She does Corporate, Residential, and Space Planning work - and will be bringing us a little different perspective to the Remodelers on The Rise podcast. Pam reveals her complete marketing strategy and the little things she has done over the past few years to build a super successful interior design business. Don't forget the free resource Pam has so kindly given to all Remodelers On The Rise Listeners. Download her Bathroom Estimate Template.

Show 13: Don Kennedy with Pro Master Home Repair shares his ideas on how to never starve as a remodeler and how to build a team that actively sells for you. You do not want to miss this podcast as you will pick up 1 or 2 things that you can implement immediately into your handyman or remodeling business.  Don is a former Air Force officer and KC-135 pilot and brings a high level of structure and order to his business. Learn what books Don recommends and some of the things that he has implemented into his business to become one of the most recognized remodeling brands in all of Cincinnati, Ohio.  Download the Free Resource and Full Show Notes: http://www.remodelersontherise.com/show13

Andy Haste with Riverside Construction shares how his weekly strategic meetings have made all the difference in his remodeling business plus shares the very best way he’s generating new business. Andy also discusses his secret to success which involves surrounding yourself with really smart people from the industry and implementing great ideas as fast as possible.  We also get into how to put on remodeling seminars and make those work for your remodeling business. 

Todd Cella with Utah Basement Kitchen and Bath out of Layton, Utah….started working with his dad, Bob, in 1992 as a finish carpenter. After completing years of training, he was finally able to step into the sales role for the company. For the past several years and was able to take over the reins in 2014 as the president.  They have 35 employees and have completed over 1000 remodeling projects over the past 5 years. Todd shares great information and ideas with Kyle & Ryan in this podcast - listen closely and enjoy!