PowerTips Unscripted

Remodelers Advantage
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PowerTips Unscripted Podcast

Industry leaders Victoria Downing and Mark Harari of Remodelers Advantage host this weekly podcast to bring you, the professional remodeler, tips, tactics and techniques to build a strong, profitable remodeling company. Every week we'll bring you in-depth interviews with leading business experts, best-selling authors, and owners of multi-million dollar remodeling companies from across the US and Canada. Oh, and there's a British lady, too.

  1. SEP 12

    What Healthcare Can Teach Remodeling about LEAN with Liz Moisan – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

    Toyota pioneered the LEAN manufacturing system, and we know — houses aren’t cars. But neither are people, and the LEAN concept of continuous improvement is used by hospitals too.  So even if remodeling isn’t brain surgery, we can learn a lot from how LEAN has been applied in healthcare. You can get some of the best help with your business by looking at how other industries use continuous improvement. In this episode, Liz Moisan talks to Victoria and Mark about using LEAN principles in healthcare and how it can be applied to remodeling. She says Kaizen or LEAN principles give you a common language for things we already know, creating a foundation to move forward. Liz is a product innovation specialist at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, and has been a practitioner of the Virginia Mason Production System since 2008. She teaches, facilitates, and works to continually evolve how Kaizen is applied in a health-care setting. She’s married to R/A Roundtables member Matt Moisan. The hospital employs daily Kaizen, so even the smallest roadblock can be eliminated, as well as  higher-level applications. She shares some real-world examples, including cutting down on waiting times for patients (yay!), working with vendors to get what the hospital needs when it needs it, The Five Ss, and how to look at a particular process to improve it, including: * Where to start * Staying true to the tools * Identifying and eliminating waste in processes * The evolution of continuous improvement * Breaking the status quo and getting buy-in * Understanding supply and demand for materials * Onboarding new employees in LEAN principles * Training at the management level * Finding the “rock in your shoe” * When and why to get help * And more … Here are those two books Liz recommends for getting started understanding the Kaizen principles: * The Toyota Way * Transforming Healthcare: Virginia Mason Medical Center’s Pursuit of the Perfect Patient Experience

    29 min

  2. SEP 5

    Building Meaningful Customer Personas with Aimee Pagano – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

    The concept behind developing a customer persona is pretty simple – get to know your audience better so that you can build a more meaningful relationship with them, both as a client and a prospect. The output of that analysis is inevitable company growth and client retention. So how do firms, of all sizes, build meaningful personas to shape the way they go to market? In this episode, Aimee Pagano talks with Victoria and Mark about the process of building these vital tools and what a remodeling firm can do with them. Aimee is the Director of Programming at HighRoad Solutions, a smartech data integration company for associations. She has 20 years of marketing and communications experience and her specialties include persona development, content strategy and generation, lead gen, and website development / optimization. Victoria, Mark and Aimee talk more about: * What a customer persona is and how remodeling firms would use it. * What the building blocks are for customer persona development. * Working without data. * What you do with the customer personas once you’ve developed them. * Who should be involved when going through a customer persona exercise. * And more…

    28 min

  3. AUG 29

    Creating Great Compensation Programs that Help Grow Your Company with Tom Miller – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

    For many, determining the compensation for an employee is nothing more than doing a quick Google search, or in our members case, maybe asking their peers what they pay for a particular position.  But Tom Miller doesn’t really agree with that methodology.  Instead, his company helps businesses apply the best compensation strategies that help recruit great talent. Tom is the founder and president of The VisionLink Advisory Group, a compensation design firm that services private businesses across North America. Tom and his firm have served over 600 companies across all industries.  In this episode, Tom discusses how to help small businesses apply the best practice compensation strategies that help recruit great talent, encourage the execution of the business plan, and growing a company. Victoria, Mark and Tom talk more about: * The starting point for building a great compensation plan in small company. * The most common mistakes employers make relative to compensation. * How to build an effective incentive plan in a private business. * The best way to handle employees who want stock in the company. * Setting and managing salaries for different employees. * And more…this

    35 min

  4. AUG 22

    Gauging Your Designers’ Workload Effectively With Jeff Talmadge – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

    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…

    23 min

  5. AUG 15

    How to Successfully Use Cost-Plus Pricing with Josh Baker – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

    The Cost-Plus Pricing model seems to go completely against common sense, but it’s a concept that we’re getting more questions about from our membership. One contributing factor is that consumers increasingly demand transparency when purchasing products and services — and homeowners are coming to expect it when undertaking a remodeling project. But so many remodelers don’t understand it. Can Cost Plus be your new pricing model? Josh Baker, co-founder of BOWA Builders, has been using Cost-Plus Pricing for more than 20 years. In this episode, he talks to Victoria and Mark about its pros and cons, and why it’s a cornerstone of his company’s success. Josh founded BOWA Builders in McLean, VA, with college friend Larry Weinberg in 1988, serving the Washington, DC, metro market. As the leader of BOWA’s sales and marketing team, Josh helped to quickly grow the company’s revenues from $250,000 to nearly $40 million in just 20 years. As chief revenue officer, Josh’s focus is on growth and managing an energetic, productive sales team. Recognized nationally as an expert in the industry, Josh is quoted regularly in publications, including The Washington Post, Better Homes & Gardens, and Remodeling, and is a frequent speaker at local and national industry meetings. Cost-Plus Pricing can be a differentiator, but it can also frighten some remodeling business owners — as well as some clients. Josh explains how to present the concept to clients, and what it will take to implement it profitably, as well as: * What jobs are suited to the Cost-Plus Model * Weighing the risks and rewards * The necessity of pinpoint accuracy in estimating * Why not to apologize for your costs * The time it takes to do well * Why you need a sophisticated, expert sales staff to make it work * And a whole lot more…

    26 min

  6. AUG 8

    Selling to Design, Not Designing to Sell with Jan Neiges – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

    In this episode, we take a closer look at the sales process. We are always looking for fresh ideas and concepts that apply specifically to remodelers and those in the building community. Our guest Jan Neiges is adamant that you should be selling to design, NOT designing to sell, and she shares how you can improve your closing ratio, gain more control of the sales cycle and earn a design fee within two hours. Jan Neiges is a National Kitchen and Bath certified Kitchen Designer and on the nine-member board for NKBA. Jan brings her 20 years of experience as a kitchen and bath designer and her 40 years of sales experience to share the selling process that she has developed. Victoria, Mark and Jan talk more about: * Background on how Jan began working on this process. * Why this process is so important for remodelers to consider. * What some of the issues are within the industry faces that drives the need for using this process. * And more…

    27 min

  7. AUG 1

    How to Hit Healthy Net Profits in any Economic Climate with Mike Medford Sr. – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

    One of our core principles is that remodeling companies should make a good net profit, after paying the owners an above-average salary. When the economy’s booming, you can get away with a lot and still hit those goals, sometimes by accident. But the goal is to get those healthy net profits consistently, year after year, even in a downturn. In this episode, Mike Medford Sr. talks to Victoria and Mark about how to do just that. Before seeing the metrics of the Top Ten Roundtables members a few years ago, Mike says his financials were always in flux. But then he took those figures and made them hard targets. Mike Medford Sr. has been a home remodeling contractor for over 40 years. In 2007, he partnered with his son, Mike Jr. to form what is now Medford Design Build, with offices in Colleyville and Arlington, TX. Mike Sr. is the former president of Medford Design Build and is currently retired.  Mike challenged himself and his team to hit the new fixed targets. He refined their processes and challenged his team to hit those targets. By the next quarterly meeting, the company’s profits were rising. He talks about how he and his team made it happen, including: * Creating a profit-centric culture * How net profits will help you beat the labor shortage * Focusing your staff on gross profit * The importance of open books to the process * Setting up a bonus structure * Building time in to plan * And more… Mike also talks about getting back to the art of contracting and how important that is to your margins.

    35 min

  8. JUL 25

    The Deadly Sins that Designers & Production Teams Commit with Jeff Borovitz – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

    How can designers and production staff improve their success in the remodeling industry?  Guest Jeff Borovitz joins Victoria and Mark to talk about the deadly sins that get in the way of reaching your full potential.   Jeff has worked and trained with many members of the Remodelers Advantage Roundtables community and brings that experience in talking about patterns and trends to continue, and avoid. Since 1991, Jeff has worked with businesses across the globe, helping thousands improve their sales organizations and sales culture.  Jeff is now the owner of Sandler Training, a sales and leadership training company that helps business owners increase revenue, shorten sales cycles, and hire better-performing sales teams.   Victoria, Mark and Jeff talk more about: * The deadly sins to avoid * The one sin that costs remodelers the most * The difference between “like” and “trust” * QSTEP * Learning how to avoid the deadly sins * And more…

    29 min
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About

Industry leaders Victoria Downing and Mark Harari of Remodelers Advantage host this weekly podcast to bring you, the professional remodeler, tips, tactics and techniques to build a strong, profitable remodeling company. Every week we'll bring you in-depth interviews with leading business experts, best-selling authors, and owners of multi-million dollar remodeling companies from across the US and Canada. Oh, and there's a British lady, too.

Information

  • Creator
    Remodelers Advantage
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2024
  • Episodes
    241
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    PowerTips Unscripted

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