Working with Consultants

Most remodelers are not skilled in every aspect of the business world — and they don't need to be. Part of learning how to thrive and grow in a competitive market means seeking outside help, and there are consultants who can help you become more effective in just about every business area. Many times, these consultants can help identify solutions to problems you didn't even know you had.

“In the past, this was an industry of tradesmen, not businesspeople,” says Lee Odess, vice president and general manager of CB Services in Washington, D.C., a business management company that provides consulting on issues that include insurance, scheduling, and project management. “But today, home building and remodeling are big businesses, so you have to be smarter to survive, and many homeowners expect a certain level of professionalism from their builder or remodeler.”

The trick for most remodelers is to know when they need help dealing with a challenge so their business stays healthy or is able to transition to the next level. “A lot of contractors don't know they have a problem until it's a crisis,” Odess says. But the early warning signs of trouble are often fairly obvious: Business may be down for you but not for your competitors; customers may not be as happy as they used to be; costs may have increased; or there may be trouble getting trades and vendors to provide for you. Paying attention to these challenges can alert you to problems before going to work turns into a trial by fire.

Consultants say that their relationship with every remodeling company is different. What follows are five case studies in which remodelers used consultants in various ways.

Business challenges are often bigger than they seem. Melanie Hodgdon is a Bristol, Maine–based QuickBooks adviser, but she says that her business is “not all about QuickBooks.” Remodelers usually call on her to help them learn the software, but once she's on the job, Hodgdon often finds more profound problems and ends up sticking around to provide help with general business and organizational issues.

A case in point is Goode Enterprises in Damariscott, Maine. When owners Paula and Stuart Goode hired Hodgdon to set up QuickBooks this February, they had already been in business 10 years and had picked up a few bad habits during that time. After an initial four-hour consultation, the Goodes understood that they needed to rethink many of their business practices. For instance, they had worried that raising prices would drive customers away, but Hodgdon showed them that they would have to bring in more revenue if they wanted to be profitable. This came as a shock at first. “It was like I doused them with cold water,” Hodgdon says.

But they didn't drown. To help justify the cost increase to customers, Hodgdon recommended using more detailed contracts for all jobs, regardless of size. It worked. “This has put customers at ease about how we do things,” says Paula Goode. “We were struggling, and Melanie truly helped turn our business around. She showed us that if you present yourself in a professional manner and show your work confidently, you can get what you deserve.”

When Jim Pitcher, president of Castle Rock Construction in Suisun City, Calif., decided that he needed a more professional image and atmosphere for his growing business, he turned to Stephen Wilson of Biz-comm, a marketing consulting company in Fairview, N.C. Although business was growing, Pitcher decided that he wanted to go after bigger, more expensive jobs but didn't know how to make the transition.

One problem was that Pitcher was still spending some time in the field, so Wilson immediately told him to refocus his attention on business and to leave the hands-on work to his employees. That's typical. The first question Wilson asks any potential client is, “Have you hung up your toolbelt yet?” He says that any remodeler who wants to implement an effective marketing plan has to be totally focused on the big picture. When Wilson goes to work with a new client, he starts with an initial interview and follows up with a 50-question survey that touches on all areas of the business, including questions about the remodeling company owner, the competition, and the market area. The questionnaire not only helps Wilson understand where problems might lie, but also helps him weed out consulting relationships that won't work. “Consulting relationships go sour when the owners don't know what they're looking for,” he says. “Until you can articulate where you want to be, we can't work with you.”

Pitcher knew that he wanted to create a presence and a brand for his business, and Biz-comm ended up writing a 50-page report telling him how to get there. Some of the marketing initiatives that the consultant outlined included a newsletter, a redesign of Castle Rock's Web site, and a series of postcard mailings to everyone within a half-mile radius of ongoing jobs.

These efforts seem to be paying off. After more than two years working with Biz-comm, Pitcher has seen sales from his 12-year-old remodeling business grow from $1.2 million to $2.3 million per year. And he's getting better jobs. For instance, Wilson wrote a business initiative report for the remodeler, in which he suggested that Pitcher seek work from some of the 400 wineries and vineyards in the area. Early this summer, Pitcher finished his first wine-tasting room.

Putting the right people in the right jobs is something that all successful companies aim to do. Joe Zanola, president of Zanola Co. in St. Louis, specializes in helping them do so. He says he helps remodelers become more efficient by evaluating key employees and making recommendations for internal shifts in responsibility.

Amie Riggs of St. Louis–based Riggs Construction has been working with Zanola for three years. Amie, who says she had “no formal training in anything,” was working in a number of roles within the family-owned business that she runs with her father, president Tom Riggs. When Amie and Tom determined that they needed to hire a salesperson, they called on Zanola to help with the selection process.

One tool he suggested was a computerized assessment program. As it turned out, the test identified Amie as a strong candidate, and she is now sales manager. Others who did well were her brother Bill, and a kitchen and bath designer whom they had contracted with in the past. Both are now full-time salespeople with the company.

Zanola has also worked with Mosby Building Arts in Kirkwood, Mo. Upon Zanola's recommendation, Mosby developed a new division to focus on smaller jobs and used his assessment tools to help identify the company's production manager, Rich Layton, as a top candidate for the director of sales position. The new Total Home division brings in about $2 million in annual business. Layton also credits Zanola with helping the 59-year-old business reach the $6.2 million it is at today. He says the company's annual growth has been at 33% in the four years it has been working with Zanola.

Theresa Gale is co-owner of Transform Inc., an executive coaching company in Laurel, Md. Her forte is leadership training, while her partner, Mary Ann Wampler, functions mainly as a sales and general management coach.

Transform has worked with Sun Design Remodeling Specialists in Burke, Va., for about 10 years, and has helped the company grow its volume from $422,000 in 1995 to approximately $7 million today, according to Joe Gorman, Sun Design's controller.

Wampler attends the company's monthly sales and design meetings in the capacity of sales coach, while Gale hosts a series of nine one-hour management leadership sessions for groups of employees on an as-needed basis. Transform also periodically assesses Sun Design's employees, a job that includes going out in the field to observe what's working and what's not.

Employees are often uncomfortable with consultants looking over their shoulders, but, as Bob Gallagher, one of the company's owners, points out, “People need to understand that different personalities bring different strengths as well as different weaknesses.” He says the assessments help the company make best use of the talents of its 50 employees.

Gale says that in some companies that Transform works with, employees have learned to use the consultants to get messages to management that they're reluctant to bring up directly. For example, the production manager may worry that the owner is not bringing in enough sales, but needs help communicating that in a constructive way. She feels that a consultant who has earned employees' trust and confidence can help do that.

“Asking for help from the right people at the right time in the evolution of your business is critical,” Gale says. “So many people think they can figure it out for themselves, but someone else can help you get to where you want to go and do it faster.”

George Black is president of Intigro, a consulting firm in San Antonio. He describes what he does as “integrated business engineering.” Black, whose background is in finance, started out in the consulting business as an outsource CFO. One of his clients was Scott Barr, owner and general manager of San Antonio's Southwest Exteriors, a company that specializes in siding and replacement windows. Barr's business was deep in debt when he called Black for help in 1996, but within three months Black was able to help him create a plan to get out of debt. That plan included consolidating some of the company's debt, raising prices, and putting job cost controls in place. Barr says the business is financially doing better than ever.

Experiences like this helped Black realize that a company's finances are only one piece of the puzzle and can't be separated from the other parts of the business. For instance, he has worked with companies that are quite profitable on paper, but where the owner works 100-hour weeks. In that case, his goal may be to make the company more efficient and keep the owner from burning out. To do so, he assesses business owners to determine their strengths and passions, so they can focus on what they do best and bring in help where needed. “To me, everything is owner-centric,” he says. “If you can get some relief so that you can pursue your passion more and more, you can succeed.”

Charlie Wardell is a freelance writer in Vineyard Haven, Mass.