Contractors Toolbox

In this episode, Gary talks with Jim Mallers, Vice President of Sales and Partnerships the EverCommerce Marketing Technology Solutions Group.

Jim talks about the differences between lead generation firms and how contractors should evaluate lead generation partners as they grow their businesses. He also explains how contractors should go about expanding and contracting their various lead generation sources and supporting contractors in pulling together the best marketing mix for their business.

Jim also talks about why EverConnect and its umbrella company, EverCommerce, chose to forge a partnership with Certified Contractors Network (CCN). This is a great episode at a time when so many contractors are seeing fewer inbound leads.

In this episode, Gary talks with CCN's Melissa Nicholson, who is responsible for our learning and development programs at CCN.

The conversation covers the return of in-person bootcamp, the addition of several self-paced courses on CCN's new Learning Management System (LMS), and the addition of several mini-courses on specific topics that will also be self-paced and housed in the LMS.

Melissa and Gary also discuss the addition of Assurance of Learning initiatives to raise the bar on the retention of best practices and improved execution in participants' roles with their companies.

This is a great episode for those interested in learning about new and improved training.

In this episode, Gary talks with James Henriques, owner of Pinnacle Exteriors, based in Allentown, PA.

James talks about his humble beginnings, his willingness to take risks and to never fear failure. He talks about the importance of working hard and learning from others. James also discussed the impact that CCN had on his business, and he refers to CCN's Business Planning Bootcamp (now called Business Roadmap to Success) as a game-changer for his business.

This is an excellent success story and episode.

In this episode, Gary talks with Nick Brouillette, head of business development for CompanyCam.

Nick talks about the importance of excellent documentation for contractors. He explains how internally it helps keep teams organized and on the same page day to day. Nick also explains why this documentation is so important when communicating with homeowners during the sales process to help win more jobs, but also how excellent documentation will improve communication throughout the production process, improving quality and customer satisfaction.

Every contractor can benefit from learning how to do a better job with documentation from delivering a demo all the way through completing a project and delivering a world-class customer experience.

Heidi Ellsworth is the CEO of Roofers Coffee Shop.

She discusses the launch of Metal Coffee Shop last summer and everything it now has to offer to the overall industry. Metal Coffee Shop is breaking new ground in digital marketing for all things metal in the construction industry.

Metal Coffee Shop offers a one-of-a-kind educational, informational, and community experience for metal contractors and the metal industry. This new Coffee Shop delivers the same industry-leading content wholly focused on metal construction while creating a unique online community for metal professionals overall.

Metal is growing in popularity and you will want to check out Metal Coffee Shop in this episode.

In this episode, Gary talks with Carlos Rodriguez, owner of Mr. Roofing, based in San Francisco, CA.

Carlos talks about how he and his parents immigrated to the U.S. and his father started his own roofing company. Carlos took over the business in the late 1990s and has grown Mr. Roofing into an extraordinarily successful roofing company. Carlos talks about how he received his undergraduate degree from the University of California Berkeley and entered Corporate America.

He quickly realized that this was not for him and went to work with his father. This is a phenomenal and heart-warming success story about a family from humble beginnings that came to America with a desire to work hard and build a better life. Contractors will enjoy listening to this story.

In this episode, Gary talks with Brett Cohen, owner of Kitchen Saver, based in Owings Mills, MD.

Brett talks about the steps he took to transform a small and unprofitable business that he acquired from his father-in-law, into a thriving business with rapidly growing revenues and profits. Two key areas Brett focused on were his people and his performance metrics.

Brett is a strong believer in carefully selecting the people who best fit into the culture he has built at Kitchen Saver and taking good care of them. His line is, "Treat your employees like gold and they will treat your customers like diamonds." He also talked about how focused he is on managing his business by the numbers, tracking performance metrics from the time new leads enter the top of his sales funnel to delivering a world-class experience at the bottom of the funnel.

This is a great episode for any owner who is looking to build a growing and highly profitable contracting business.

In this episode, Gary talks with Lynette Rogers, owner of Homescapes of New England.

Lynette talks about 3 advantages she had in starting her business back in 2010:

1. She grew up around family members in the contracting business;

2. She had an undergraduate business degree that helped her understand business principles; and

3. She spent several years working for James Hardie and amassed a great deal of knowledge and established important relationships.

Lynette goes on to talk about how she has focused on being a highly profitable company, but not too large a company, as she wanted a healthy work-life balance. She also talks about elements of her unique value proposition and a focus on the personal touch, as well as what it was like starting and building this business in a male-dominated industry.

In this episode, Gary talks with Drew Barto, Director of Home Improvement at Pro Remodeler.

Drew shares his story about entering our industry 14 years ago as the Director of Marketing for long-time CCN member, Energy Swing Windows, owned by Steve Rennekamp. After 13 years at Energy Swing, Drew talks about why he joined Pro Remodeler and his strong motivation for positively impacting contractors by the thousands.

The discussion also moves into forms of marketing and the way to deal with a reduction in inbound leads. This was a great conversation and would be great for anyone in our industry.

In this episode, Gary talks with CCN's Production Mastery Trainer, Troy Timmer.

In this 2nd episode of our 2-part series, Troy discusses the importance of Schedule Management. There is a lot more to Schedule Management than just scheduling the job itself. Troy talks about all that this encompasses for delivering a fantastic job and a world class experience for the customer. Troy also discusses the importance of dispute resolution and the best approach to deliver a favorable outcome.

This episode is excellent for anyone in the contracting trade, no matter the department you are in at your company.