Build to Win

Your pricing is right. The margin is built in. Your reps still give it all away.

In Episode 34, Jonathan Weinberg and John Kolbaska sit down to break down a $4M home improvement company that was losing $600K to $700K a year. The fix took two weeks and one set of controls most owners never run.

John also walks through the launch of Core Ignite, his new remote marketing team and call center installed inside a contracting business. A trained marketing manager handles Facebook, Google Ads, and Google LSA spend. Remote reps apply speed to lead at a 50 to 60 percent target set rate on raw opportunities. It's the playbook he ran to scale Windows and Doors by the Men with Tools, now packaged for contractors trying to break $10M to $15M.

Here is what you will get from this episode:

• How a $4M contractor lost $600K a year to over-discounting and missing post-install job costing checks
• What 3 remote call center reps can produce: 50 to 100 booked appointments per week
• Why profit has to come before people and process
• The hiring profile of a roofing production manager who came in with his own crews and SOPs
• Who Core Ignite is built for and how it pushes contractors toward $10M+

If the leads are coming in but the bottom line isn't, this one names what's eating your margin and what to install next.

Key Takeaways: 

00:00 Intro

00:42 Introducing Core Services and Core Ignite

03:56 Ideal Client: $2M–$5M Companies Looking to Scale

05:16 AI Agents, Graphic Designer, and Videographer

07:06 Future of the Call Center and AI Regulation

09:28 Sales Capacity and Remote Recruiting

13:44 KPI Tracking, Guarantees, and Replacing Underperformers

16:18 Lead Aggregator Strategy and Weekly Client Meetings

18:24 10–20 Set Appointments Per Day: What to Expect

20:46 Why John Started Core Services

23:50 Consulting Case: $600K–$700K Lost to Over-Discounting

27:06 Running Multiple Companies: Profit, People, Process

29:22 Adding Roofing: Hiring a Production Manager with His Own Crews

33:00 Final Thoughts

Additional Resources:

🔥 Watch our FREE on-demand webinar: HERE

⚡ Learn more about us: https://www.builderprime.com/ 

📱 Connect with us on social media:

Facebook: / builderprime  

LinkedIn: / builderprime   

Jonathan’s LinkedIn: / jonathanweinberg   

John’s LinkedIn: / john-kolbaska-a271a757   

Instagram: / builderprimecrm  

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Build to Win is a podcast for contractors where we give you the tools to grow your home improvement business. Follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts!

Eight to ten percent of sold contractor jobs cancel, and most go silent before they do.

In this highlights episode, Jonathan Weinberg and John Kolbaska open up John's live Builder Prime account and walk through the customer follow-up system running behind every Men With Tools project. John runs three locations doing eight figures in windows and doors, with over 1,000 five-star reviews and 30 to 40% of new opportunities coming from repeat and referred clients. The system you'll see inside is what makes that math work.

Inside this episode:

• The happy email that fires 24 hours after the contract is signed
• How to fill the 4 to 6 week production window without ever going silent
• The rehash recovery process that pulls back roughly 10% of canceled jobs
• The install day email that pre-handles payment, alarms, and weather
• The 14-day walkthrough that surfaces repeat door and window projects
• The 365-day anniversary inspection that drives referrals years later

If your sold board has jobs going quiet on you, this episode shows you where the leak is.

Key Takeaways:

00:00 Intro

00:48 The Happy Email: Setting Expectations After the Sale

02:32 Internal SMS Notifications and Referral Touchpoints

03:06 Sold Job Canceled: Rehash and Recovery

05:00 Order Submitted, Acknowledged, and In Process

08:12 Order Shipped and Product Received at the Warehouse

10:06 Schedule Install: Email and Text Cadence

12:08 Install Revenue and Keeping the Warehouse Empty

13:44 Job Scheduled Email: Scope, Payment, and Day-of Prep 1

6:56 Install Complete and Walkthrough Scheduling

18:48 Warranty Registration and Manufacturer Coverage

19:44 One-Year Anniversary Inspection

20:16 Referral Program: 90-Day Email Cadence

21:44 30–40% of New Opportunities from Repeat and Referral

22:08 Five-Star Reviews and the Customer Experience

23:56 Final Thoughts

Additional Resources:

🔥 Watch our FREE on-demand webinar: HERE

⚡ Learn more about us: https://www.builderprime.com/ 

📱 Connect with us on social media:

Facebook: / builderprime  

LinkedIn: / builderprime   

Jonathan’s LinkedIn: / jonathanweinberg   

John’s LinkedIn: / john-kolbaska-a271a757   

Instagram: / builderprimecrm  

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Build to Win is a podcast for contractors where we give you the tools to grow your home improvement business. Follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts!

Most contractors are running their sales reps into the ground and wondering why their closing rate keeps dropping. In this episode of Build to Win, Jonathan Weinberg and John Kolbaska break down the lead distribution change that lifted John's net closing rate from 27% to 37% in 60 days.

John caps his reps at 5 to 7 leads a week instead of the usual 10 to 15. Every appointment gets full effort, fewer leads get burned, and commissions stay the same because reps are closing a higher percentage. He walks through how to route leads by project type, lead source, and zip code, why hometown and showroom-area appointments close highest, and the day-of-week sit rate data most contractors are missing.

The episode also covers a closing move John picked up at the Wealthy Contractor Success Society, where the owner gets pulled into the deal before the rep can leave the home. Plus a real story about how one discounting control fix is worth more than $500,000 a year to a contractor John has been consulting with.

If your closing rate is stuck and your reps are burning out, this is the playbook.

Key Takeaways: 

00:00 Intro

01:32 Recruiting Like an Inbound Lead

03:56 How John Went from 27% to 37% Closing Rate

05:44 Lead Distribution and Creating Scarcity

08:00 Why Overworked Reps Burn Leads

11:48 Weekend vs. Weekday Closing Rates

13:44 All-Party Sit Rate by Day of the Week

17:54 Routing Leads by Zip Code and Lead Source

19:06 High, Medium, and Low Intent Buyers

22:06 Scarcity Creates Leverage

24:28 Ticket Size and Adjusting Lead Volume

26:04 The "Burn It to the Ground" Drop Strategy

30:04 Consulting Case: $500K–$600K Lost to Unreviewed Discounts

32:06 Final Thoughts

Additional Resources:

🔥 Watch our FREE on-demand webinar: HERE

⚡ Learn more about us: https://www.builderprime.com/ 

📱 Connect with us on social media:

Facebook: / builderprime  

LinkedIn: / builderprime   

Jonathan’s LinkedIn: / jonathanweinberg   

John’s LinkedIn: / john-kolbaska-a271a757   

Instagram: / builderprimecrm  

—

Build to Win is a podcast for contractors where we give you the tools to grow your home improvement business. Follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts!

A lead aggregator rep told John straight up: send you 100 leads at $75 each, you'll close one job. That's $7,500 in marketing spend for a single $14,000 sale. Fifty percent cost of marketing. She said it with a smile.

That conversation kicked off the playbook Jonathan Weinberg and John Kolbaska break down in this episode. John walks through the exact terms his team puts in front of every aggregator now: pay per issued lead at his real cost, pay per demo, or a flat percentage of the closed sale. About 40 percent of providers sign. The other 60 percent walk, and that filter is the whole point.

Then John gets into a contact rate problem most owners haven't caught yet. Carriers are flagging outbound numbers as spam likely after roughly 50 calls in a day, and once a number gets flagged it stays flagged.

In this episode:

• The three pay structures John uses with lead aggregators
• Why 60 percent of providers walk away and why that's a good thing
• The spam-likely flag killing your contact rate
• The area code trick that lifted pickup rates 10 percent
• The exact call cadence his team runs every day

If you're a specialty contractor spending real money on leads, this episode hands you a system you can put in place this week.

Key Takeaways: 

00:00 Intro

01:28 Why I Stopped Playing by Their Rules

04:06 How a Great Lead Source Got Ruined

06:24 The Strategy Meeting That Changed Everything

08:00 Here's Exactly What We Pay Lead Aggregators Now

10:04 Why 60% of Aggregators Walk Away

15:08 She Said 1% Close Rate Like It Was Normal

23:28 The Hidden Reason Your Contact Rates Are Tanking

26:00 What We Found After Counting Every Call

29:52 Two Small Changes That Are Adding Thousands Per Day

31:06 The Three Call Windows That Actually Work

36:00 Final Thoughts

Additional Resources:

🔥 Watch our FREE on-demand webinar: HERE

⚡ Learn more about us: https://www.builderprime.com/ 

📱 Connect with us on social media:

Facebook: / builderprime  

LinkedIn: / builderprime   

Jonathan’s LinkedIn: / jonathanweinberg   

John’s LinkedIn: / john-kolbaska-a271a757   

Instagram: / builderprimecrm  

Most contractors know they should be offering financing. In this episode, Jonathan and John break down why it's the most powerful tool in your sales process, and exactly how to use it.

The average home improvement job is $14,000. The median household savings account has $8,000. They walk through the math, the mindset, and the exact three-option pricing structure that makes payment options the default, not a backup plan. They also cover why offering cash discounts is one of the fastest ways to tank your close rate, and what to do instead.

Here is what you will get from this episode:

•Why the median household can't comfortably write a $14,000 check

•How to present payment options without ever leading with the total price

•The three-option pricing structure that closes more deals

•What happens to your close rate the moment you allow cash discounts

•How to get started with financing today if you're not offering it yet

Stop leading with price. Start leading with payment options.

Key Takeaways: 

00:00 Intro

01:12 The One Thing Every $100M Home Improvement Company Has in Common

03:56 Never Say the Word "Financing" in Front of a Customer — Here's Why 

08:22 The Real Reason Customers Say "I Need to Think About It" 

11:52 How to Turn a $14,000 Price Tag Into an Easy Monthly Yes 

14:46 Present These 3 Options and Watch Your Close Rate Climb 

18:44 Why Giving Cash Discounts Is Slowly Killing Your Business 

23:24 How to Handle the Customer Who Asks for the Total Price 

25:28 The Hidden Remarketing Strategy Hiding Inside Your Finance Reports

 30:50 How to Get Started With Financing This Week — Step by Step 

35:10 Why Removing Cash Discounts Jumped Their Finance Rate From 35% to 78% 

40:00 Final Thoughts

Additional Links & Resources:

Presentation Link: Why Financing is the Most Important Tool in Our Sales Process

🔥 Watch our FREE on-demand webinar: HERE

⚡ Learn more about us: https://www.builderprime.com/ 

📱 Connect with us on social media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/builderprime/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/builderprime/ 
• Jonathan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweinberg/ 
• John’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-kolbaska-a271a757/ 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/builderprimecrm/ 

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Build to Win is a podcast for contractors where we give you the tools to grow your home improvement business. Follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts!

Hiring sales reps from your competitors feels like a shortcut. It's not.

In this episode of Build to Win, John Kolbaska breaks down how he grew his sales team from 7 to 12 reps — and why the best candidates aren't coming from inside your industry. You'll hear how he built a full-time training program, what it actually costs to onboard a bad rep, and the two things he tests in the first three days to weed out the wrong hires fast.

If you're trying to scale a sales team and keep burning through recruits, this one's for you.

🎧 Listen now.

Key Takeaways

00:00 Intro

01:36 Why you need a full-time sales trainer

03:50 Recruiting is a marketing funnel

07:52 The real cost of a failed rep: $15,000+

13:42 Early role-play and tech screening

17:38 Never hire your competitor’s failed reps

19:24 Recruit from lower-ticket industries

26:18 Always lead with financing

Additional Links & Resources:

🔥 Watch our FREE on-demand webinar: HERE

⚡ Learn more about us: https://www.builderprime.com/ 

📱 Connect with us on social media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/builderprime/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/builderprime/ 
• Jonathan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweinberg/ 
• John’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-kolbaska-a271a757/ 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/builderprimecrm/ 

—

Build to Win is a podcast for contractors where we give you the tools to grow your home improvement business. Follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts!

Most contractors trust their reports. But if the data going into your CRM is wrong, every decision you make from it is wrong too.

In this episode, Jonathan and John break down what bad CRM data is actually costing you. John found that 64 of his 300 zip codes drove 90% of his business. He also cut his speed to lead from 44 minutes to under a minute — and his appointment set rate doubled.

If you're flying blind on your numbers, this episode will show you what to track and how to get it right.

Key Takeaways:

00:00 Intro

00:42 Garbage in, garbage out

03:23 Leads stuck in the wrong funnel stage

07:00 Hiring a data scientist

12:38 The zip code discovery

18:30 Speed to lead: 44 minutes to 40 seconds

21:33 Speed to issue and the 36-hour sweet spot

25:13 Booking rate and sales capacity

40:30 Bolt Insights overview

Additional Links & Resources:

🔥 Watch our **FREE** on-demand webinar: https://www.builderprime.com/webinars/on-demand-webinar-drive-20-net-profit-with-systems-processes?utm_source=RedCircle&utm_medium=Audio&utm_campaign=28

⚡ Learn more about us: https://www.builderprime.com/ 

📱 Connect with us on social media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/builderprime/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/builderprime/ 
• Jonathan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweinberg/ 
• John’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-kolbaska-a271a757/ 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/builderprimecrm/ 

—

Build to Win is a podcast for contractors where we give you the tools to grow your home improvement business. Follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts!

Some builders scale to millions fast while others stay stuck for years. The difference is not luck.

In this episode of Build to Win, Jonathan and John share the biggest lessons from Accelerate LIVE! 2026 and reveal why certain contractors grow from zero to five million and beyond in just a few years while others never break through.

They break down the real playbook top operators use including profit first thinking, hiring great people before obsessing over process, and implementing what most attendees never do after events.

If you have ever wondered why some companies explode with growth while others stay busy but small, this episode will show you what actually separates them.

Key Takeaways:

00:00 Accelerate LIVE! Recap  

05:16 Only 2% Will Implement These Lessons 

09:29 From 0 to $5M

17:58 The Three P Framework for Scaling

29:55 Building Generational Wealth

38:41 Outro

Additional Links & Resources:

🔥 Watch our **FREE** on-demand webinar: https://www.builderprime.com/webinars/on-demand-webinar-drive-20-net-profit-with-systems-processes?utm_source=RedCircle&utm_medium=Audio&utm_campaign=27

⚡ Learn more about us: https://www.builderprime.com/ 

📱 Connect with us on social media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/builderprime/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/builderprime/ 
• Jonathan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweinberg/ 
• John’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-kolbaska-a271a757/ 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/builderprimecrm/ 

—

Build to Win is a podcast for contractors where we give you the tools to grow your home improvement business. Follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts!

Most home improvement businesses are missing out on what AI can actually do for them.

In this episode of Build to Win, Jonathan and John break down how contractors can use AI the right way to save time, close more leads, and run a smarter business.

From using AI for content, emails, and texts, to designing lead follow-up sequences and analyzing your data, this episode shows how to treat AI like a junior-level employee instead of expecting magic.

If you’re just copying and pasting AI content or relying on it blindly, this conversation will change how you think about AI in your business.

Key Takeaways:

00:00 Intro 

00:45 Moltbook drama

02:35 LLMs and their uses

08:31 Context windows and AI hallucinations

14:45 The proliferation of AI slop

25:04 The social network for AI agents

28:03 How home improvement companies can leverage AI

32:00 Builder Prime’s AI features

41:53 Outro

Additional Links & Resources:

🔥 Watch our **FREE** on-demand webinar: https://www.builderprime.com/webinars/on-demand-webinar-drive-20-net-profit-with-systems-processes?utm_source=RedCircle&utm_medium=Audio&utm_campaign=26

⚡ Learn more about us: https://www.builderprime.com/ 

📱 Connect with us on social media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/builderprime/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/builderprime/ 
• Jonathan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweinberg/ 
• John’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-kolbaska-a271a757/ 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/builderprimecrm/ 

—

Build to Win is a podcast for contractors where we give you the tools to grow your home improvement business. Follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts!

Most business owners are already behind on their 2026 plan, even if they don’t realize it yet.

In this high-value snippet of Build to Win, John walks through exactly how he builds a data-backed business plan for the year ahead, using real CRM numbers instead of gut instinct.

From forecasting revenue, to planning marketing spend and headcount, this episode breaks down how to reverse-engineer a 2026 plan that actually holds up under pressure.

If you’re still dividing your revenue goal evenly across 12 months or waiting until Q4 to get serious about planning, this conversation will challenge how you think about growth in 2026.

Key Takeaways: 

Intro (00:00)

The $5M Planning Moment (01:14)

Building a Data-Driven Forecast (02:19)

Using AI to Identify True Seasonality (02:59)

Why Even Monthly Budgets Break Forecasting (05:05)

Demos Are the KPI That Matters Most (06:51)

Headcount Planning for Sales & Production (09:11)

When to Build Your Business Plan (10:19)

Additional Links & Resources:

🔥 Watch our **FREE** on-demand webinar and learn how to drive 20% net profit with systems and processes: https://www.builderprime.com/webinars/on-demand-webinar-drive-20-net-profit-with-systems-processes?utm_source=RedCircle&utm_medium=Audio&utm_campaign=23

⚡ Learn more about us: https://www.builderprime.com/ 

📱 Connect with us on social media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/builderprime/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/builderprime/ 
• Jonathan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweinberg/ 
• John’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-kolbaska-a271a757/ 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/builderprimecrm/ 

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Build to Win is a podcast for contractors where we give you the tools to grow your home improvement business. Follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts!