Build to Win

Jonathan Weinberg & John Kolbaska
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Management
  • Biweekly

Tools and tech for the smart contractor that save time, win more jobs, and boost their profits. Do you feel like your home improvement business is stuck? Are constant delays and unexpected challenges creating chaos in your day-to-day? Some say it’s just part of the business. We know there’s a better way. Welcome to Build to Win—the podcast where industry veterans Jonathan Weinberg and John Kolbaska share expert insights to help you thrive. Here, you’ll learn how to unlock new levels of efficiency, streamline operations, generate high-quality leads, and improve the quality of your work. Everything you need to create a trail of happy customers as you grow your business and drive higher profits. Make sure to follow us wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a new episode.

  1. 4d ago

    AI Agents Are Changing How Homeowners Find Contractors

    Right now, most of your leads start with a homeowner typing a question into Google. That is already changing. Google answers before anyone clicks, and more homeowners are starting with ChatGPT instead. Soon their AI agent will do the searching and book the appointments for them, without a single phone call. In this episode, Builder Prime's Jonathan Weinberg and co-host John Kolbaska work through what that shift means for specialty and replacement contractors. They get into how AI Overviews and answer engines decide who gets recommended, and why recent reviews and clear pricing on your site matter more than ever. They also lay out a new way to think about your audience that goes past your ideal customer profile. Both hosts are upfront that nobody has this fully figured out yet. The point is to think a step or two ahead while most of your competitors are still focused on using AI only inside their own business. Here is what you will get from this episode: Why AI Overviews and answer engines are replacing the old list of search resultsHow always-on agents will find and book contractors for homeownersWhat to put on your website so an agent has enough to recommend youThe shift from your ideal customer profile (ICP) to your ideal agent profile (IAP)How to start marketing to agents and the people behind them If you run a $10M+ specialty contracting business and you want to be one of the companies agents actually surface, this one is worth your time. Key Takeaways:  0:00 Intro 00:28 AI and Home Improvement 04:08 Google AI Overviews, AEO, and GEO 05:20 Always-On Agents That Book for You 07:42 What Is a Meat Proxy? 09:22 Marketing to Agents, Not People 10:42 Let Agents Book the Appointment 12:28 Reviews, Reddit, and Price Info 15:40 Do Agents Respond to Emotion and Offers? 19:46 ICP vs. IAP: Ideal Agent Profile 24:56 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

  2. Oct 16

    He Fired His Two Best Reps and Sales Went Up

    John's two best sales reps brought in 40% of his revenue. He let them both go, and the next month was his biggest of the year. In this episode of Build to Win, Jonathan and John talk through why John stepped back into his own sales department after a rough year of sporadic close rates and missed goals. He explains what he calls his "talented terrorists," the top producers whose mindset was costing him the rest of the team, and what shifted once they were gone. From there, John gets into the move from discount selling to real value, and the close-rate numbers that climbed once his message and his pricing finally matched. He now teaches every rep an "earn the right" selling principle, and he gets honest about his own marketing and sales falling out of alignment as the company grew past the early stages. If your close rate has been flat and you suspect the problem is your culture more than your leads, this one is worth your time. Key Takeaways:  00:00 Intro 01:00 Sales Struggles and Stepping Back In 02:18 Talented Terrorists: Exiting the Top Two Reps 05:06 Biggest Sales Month After the Exit 07:24 Repeat Referral vs. New Opportunity Close Rate 09:44 Premium Brand, Discount Sales: The Misalignment 13:06 Teaching Reps to Sell Value 16:58 Marketing and Sales Out of Alignment 20:44 Checklist Selling vs. Earn the Right 28:18 Build Belief. Step Back Out. 31:16 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    #BuildToWinPodcast #ContractorPodcast #SalesManagement #SalesCulture #ContractorBusiness #HomeImprovement

  3. Oct 2

    Stop Comparing Your Close Rate to Other Contractors

    Your appointment set rate is 36%. Someone at your last mastermind said theirs is 45%. Now you are up at night wondering what you are doing wrong. In this episode of Build to Win, Jonathan Weinberg and John Kolbaska explain why that comparison is the wrong thing to lose sleep over. The same business at a different size, with a different lead mix, produces completely different numbers. A 45% set rate built on referrals is a different animal than a 36% set rate that includes canvassing, shows, and lead aggregators. John opens up his own Builder Prime numbers and walks through what changed as he scaled from 1.9 million to 5 million in a single year. His appointment set rate dropped from 54% to 37%. His gross close rate fell. That same year he made more money than he ever had and hit his first million. Then they get practical: the KPIs every owner should actually track, why your numbers are worthless if nobody checks them for accuracy, and how to use those numbers to forecast next year instead of guessing at it. Because the only scorecard that counts is what the business made. Key Takeaways:  00:00 Intro 01:50 Conversion Rate KPIs 03:40 Why Numbers Look Different at Every Company 05:48 Appointment Set Rate Explained 07:06 Jonathan's Numbers: 2020 vs. 2026 13:30 Gross vs. Net Close Rate 17:26 NSLI: The Number That Should Always Go Up 19:36 Know Your Numbers 31:06 How Lead Sources Affect Your Set Rate 38:28 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

  4. Sep 18

    How This Contractor Went From $300K to $1 Million a Month

    Every contractor wants a million-dollar sales month. Almost none are ready for what it does to their backlog. Stephen Pisulak just booked his first million-dollar month at Lehigh Gap Exteriors, up from around $300,000 a month back in March. In this episode of Build to Win, Jonathan and John dig into how he turned it around, from the daily sales training that reset his team to the new sales manager he hired and trains two tasks at a time. They also get into the part nobody warns you about. Sell a million and install $700,000, and you just handed yourself a $300,000 backlog that can choke your cash flow. Stephen and John walk through how to keep sales and production close enough to stay out of trouble. If your sales have been flat and you want a real look at how one exterior contractor is scaling toward $10 million, this one is worth your time. Key Takeaways:  00:00 Intro 01:18 First Million-Dollar Sales Month 02:08 Mindset, Training, No Commiserating 04:00 Weekly Training Schedule and Siro 08:14 Assigning Appointments Like a Baseball Lineup 10:26 Repair Leads That Turn Into Replacements 16:36 Production Has to Match Sales 21:36 Top Three Lead Sources 35:34 The Rep Only Rents the Lead 43:18 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      #BuildToWinPodcast #ContractorPodcast #HomeImprovement #ContractorSales #OneCallClose #ScalingUp

  5. Sep 4

    RERUN: Speed to Lead Wins More Jobs

    Wait three minutes to call a new lead and you're 70% less likely to reach them. Your competitors already dialed. By the time you get to it, you're the fifth call, and the customer is gone. We pulled the highlights from our speed-to-lead conversation, the parts that help you turn more leads into booked jobs. In this episode of Build to Win, Jonathan and John walk through automated follow-ups across the whole sales and marketing funnel. They get into speed to lead, the text messages that actually get a reply, confirming appointments without any manual work, and what to do when a demo does not close. You will hear real numbers from John's own business. You will also see how the follow-up runs in the background so nothing gets missed. Here is what you will get from this episode: Why the first 60 seconds after a lead comes in decide whether you reach themThe text templates that get replies, including the one that opens "I don't want to be a bother"The Builder Prime lead statuses that keep your team on the right message at the right timeHow a demo-no-sale follow-up pulls customers back in with a survey or a fresh repThe $100K to $150K a month John credits to his follow-up systemGive it a listen. Key Takeaways:  00:00 Intro 00:54 Speed to Lead: Why the First Minute Matters 02:26 70% Less Chance After Three Minutes 03:08 HomeAdvisor Days: A Lesson in Speed to Lead 04:46 How the Lead Sequence Works in Builder Prime 06:28 Text Message Templates: Short, Sweet, and Convert 08:10 Why Automated Follow-Up Beats Manual Every Time 10:20 Speed to Lead Stats: 391% Conversion Increase 12:46 Confirming the Appointment Before the Rep Goes Out 15:00 Warming Up the Customer Before the Demo 19:14 After the Proposal: Keeping Sold Jobs in the Loop 22:12 Demo No-Sell: Automated Rehash Sequences 25:28 Feedback Surveys and Inside Sales Follow-Up 28:00 Final Thoughts Additional Resources: 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

  6. Aug 21

    Most Contractors Are Down. He's on Pace for $7M w/ Stephen Pisulak

    Home improvement contractors are having a down year, but Stephen Pisulak is growing. He took his exterior contracting business from $4.2 million to a projected $7 million by fixing his production capacity and tightening his sales margins. When Stephen first joined the show a year ago, he was the answer to every question in the building. He is back as the first returning guest, and his team now handles the day without him. Stephen walks Jonathan and John through the changes one at a time. He stopped being the bottleneck and handed real ownership to his managers. He gave his production team a daily install number to schedule against, so revenue stopped riding on how the crews felt that morning. He found nearly $700,000 he was giving away in discounts and missed line items, then built checks to protect it. He rebuilt his call center for speed to lead and watched his best month climb to $796,000 on the same marketing spend. If you are busy but not making the money you should, this one shows you where the profit is probably hiding. Listen now to hear how Stephen turned a good business into an efficient one. Key Takeaways:  00:00 Intro 00:16 Steven Returns: $4.2M to $7.1M 02:18 Replacing Yourself 04:00 Call Center Rep to Production Coordinator 09:52 Revenue Per Crew Per Day 13:54 Before the KPI 20:04 Accountability Cleaned Out the C Players 23:10 Over-Discounting and Underselling 32:08 The Measure Tech Position 38:14 Remote Call Center and Speed to Lead 48:00 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

  7. Aug 7

    How to Stay Profitable When Leads Dry Up

    New leads are harder to come by, and the ones you do get cost more. Close rates are down five to six points from where they were. If business has felt tougher these past few months, you are not imagining it. In this episode of Build to Win, Jonathan and John talk through the summer slowdown hitting home improvement right now and what it means for specialty contractors doing $10M and up. Material costs jumped close to 10% this year. John's own close rate slid from around 32% to 27%. The market is cooling, and nobody knows yet if a real recession is coming. Here is the good news. The contractors who know their numbers and work the database they already have will come out the other side stronger, with less competition. John lays out the exact moves his company is making right now, from mining old leads that never bought to launching a repair division that feeds future replacements. If your leads have slowed and you want to stay profitable while the market sorts itself out, this one is for you. Key Takeaways:  00:00 Intro 00:20 Summer Slowdown: What They're Seeing 01:10 COVID Boom Is Over 02:04 This Year vs. Last Year 03:26 Closing Rates Down and Costs Up 05:52 The Market Needs a Cleanse 07:30 How to Recession-Proof Your Business 09:00 Rehash: Mine Your Database 11:38 Adding a Repair Division 14:22 Repair Leads That Turn Into Replacements 17:50 Getting Back in the House 21:16 Market, Media, Message 24:16 Know Your Numbers 26:26 What If the Internet Went Away Tomorrow 28:34 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

  8. Jul 24

    The Automated Emails That Keep Sold Jobs From Going Cold

    You closed the job. The customer is excited. Then they hear nothing for weeks while the order sits with the manufacturer, and that cold stretch is where jobs cancel and referrals dry up. In part two of their email and SMS series, Jonathan and John pull up John's live Men With Tools account inside Builder Prime and walk through every automated message it sends. You will see the exact emails and texts that fire from the moment a job is sold, through order updates, install day, the final walkthrough, and a one-year anniversary check-in. John explains why the system pays off. Lead times run two to six weeks, so the account keeps customers informed at every step instead of leaving them guessing. It recovers canceled jobs and books installs faster. And it turns happy homeowners into repeat and referred clients, which now drive 30 to 40% of new opportunities. Here is what you will learn: The "happy email" that goes out 24 hours after a job sells, and why early expectations prevent problems laterHow John recovers canceled jobs, and why he wants cancellations sitting at 8 to 10%The order-status emails that keep customers calm during a two to six week lead timeWhat to tell customers before install day so there are no surprises about prep or paymentThe post-install walkthrough and one-year inspection that bring customers back for more workWhy repeat and referral clients close at over 70% and cost almost nothing to reachIf your install calendar goes cold after the sale and your referrals feel like luck, this episode gives you the follow-up system that fixes both. Key Takeaways:  00:00 Intro 00:16 Part Two: Inside John's Builder Prime Account 01:26 The Happy Email: Setting Expectations After the Sale 03:00 Embedding Video in Emails: The Workaround 04:06 Internal SMS Notifications and Team Reminders 04:42 Sold Job Canceled: Rehash Emails and Recovery Texts 06:02 Canceled Job Recovery Rate: 8–10% Benchmark 07:48 Order Submitted and Acknowledged: The Communication Cadence 10:24 Order Shipped and Product Received at the Warehouse 13:08 Schedule Install: Email and Text Reminders 15:06 Keeping the Warehouse Empty to Drive Install Revenue 16:02 Job Scheduled Email: Scope, Payment, and Day-of Prep 19:00 Afternoon Install Email: Managing Arrival Windows 20:40 Install Complete and Walkthrough Scheduling 22:06 Warranty Registration and Manufacturer Coverage 23:22 One-Year Anniversary Inspection and 30–40% Repeat and Referral 25:40 Referral Program: 90-Day Email Cadence 28:00 Google Reviews, Bagels, and the Customer Experience 30:28 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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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Tools and tech for the smart contractor that save time, win more jobs, and boost their profits. Do you feel like your home improvement business is stuck? Are constant delays and unexpected challenges creating chaos in your day-to-day? Some say it’s just part of the business. We know there’s a better way. Welcome to Build to Win—the podcast where industry veterans Jonathan Weinberg and John Kolbaska share expert insights to help you thrive. Here, you’ll learn how to unlock new levels of efficiency, streamline operations, generate high-quality leads, and improve the quality of your work. Everything you need to create a trail of happy customers as you grow your business and drive higher profits. Make sure to follow us wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a new episode.

Information

  • Creator
    Jonathan Weinberg & John Kolbaska
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    44
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Build to Win 2025
  • Show Website
    Build to Win

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