Table of Contents June 2005

FEATURES

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  Coaching the team to better performance

  Managers who provide fair compensation and involve their field staff in the company score home runs in efficiency, quality, and employee loyalty.

   

• Back It Up

  It is a critical moment in the evolution of a remodeling company, a delicate decision, one that can help your company thrive and prosper for years to come — deciding how many jobs you can handle at a time and how to manage people waiting for your services. In other words: building and managing your...

   
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  Mentoring to build the remodeling industry

  Eric Hoff was confused and, frankly, a little nervous. Moments before, the young owner of E.R. Hoff Remodeling, Boise, Idaho, had been cruising along when the driver of a silver Ford extended-cab truck honked the horn and pulled him over.

   

• Clients learning on the job

  Whoever coined the expression “What you don't know won't hurt you” obviously never had a kitchen or bathroom remodeled. Yet even proactive clients who have done their research don't know everything that they will face.

   

Before and After

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  Cottage remodeling down to the details

  Remodeler Alon Toker's system was a perfect fit for clients Mike and Alice Sloan. Mike Sloan is an accountant who was more interested than most clients in the down-to-the penny cost of each item installed in their small cottage remodel. “It's tough to spend money,” Mike says. “You want a contractor...

   

Reader Panel

• Fielding Your Crew

   

VIEW POINT

FIRST WORD

• Customers judge quality by personal interaction

  Our Remodeling Leadership Conference, held annually in May, features the Big50 awards banquet sandwiched between two days of business presentations delivered mainly by professional speakers and trainers from fields other than construction. This year's theme, “All Business Is Show Business,” was...

   

IN PERSON

• Remodeling show in Baltimore

  This year, the Remodeling Show returns to one of its most popular venues — the Baltimore Convention Center, located on the revitalized Inner Harbor.

   

MARKET WATCH

• Figure This

  16.7 months is the average length of time consumers spend thinking about buying a home before actually making the purchase.

   

• Signals to watch in local economy

  Los Altos, Calif., remodeler Kacey Fitzpatrick uses information she gets from local realtors to help her forecast the immediate future.

   
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  Remodeling index shows sustained growth

  The remodeling industry enjoyed another outstanding quarter according to the latest edition of the Remodeling Activity Indicator (RAI).

   

COMMENTARY

GUEST COLUMNIST

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  Replacing the bidding system

  If you had a dollar for every hour you have spent preparing bids over the years, would you be a millionaire yet? Well, maybe not a millionaire. But, if you consider the opportunity cost for the hours that bid preparation takes away from other more profitable activities, cranking out numbers in the...

   

LINDA CASE

• Teams thrive on trust

  Two years ago I checked in with the local community foundation to see if it needed volunteers. Before I knew it, I was part of one of the very best teams I have ever worked with — a committee tasked with developing three new awards, giving them to worthy recipients, and celebrating those recipients...

   

MARK RICHARDSON

• Similar But Different

  In one of the talks I give regularly to groups of remodelers, I set the stage with a series of questions designed to get audience members thinking about how their company is perceived by potential customers. I start by saying, “Raise your hand if you think your company does top-quality work.” As...

   

WALT STOEPPELWERTH

• Shifting Landscape

   

YOUR BUSINESS

Sales and Marketing

• Selling the design/build brand

  Several years ago, Audi hired the Gallup Organization to figure out what distinguishes Audi drivers from those of competitors' cars.

   

• Reaching new clients

  Although it's easy enough to ask a satisfied client to refer your services to neighbors and friends, it's nearly impossible to get the timing right. Here's a solution.

   

• Designs on Realtors

  When it comes to meeting new owners of old homes, who better to introduce you than their real estate agent? Having guided the homeowners through the purchasing process, their agent should have a strong sense of their remodeling dreams and budget.

   

BOTTOM LINE

• Warranty Payment

  Remodeler Phil Branstetter not only adds 1% of the total estimate to the final budget to cover warranty work, he also marks it up as part of the budget. The owner of R.L. Rider Remodeling in Lansing, Mich., considers this part of the cost of taking care of his clients — something that is very...

   

• Offering supplemental insurance

  When David Crane brought in a representative from Aflac to speak to his employees about supplemental insurance coverage, 75% of them signed up for at least one type of coverage. However, during the past few years, many of his employees have cancelled their coverage.

   

BY DESIGN

• Separate But Equal

  After a year in business, Rob Adler, a licensed architect, wanted more control over his designs. He opened a new construction company and subbed out work. He worked so often with one particular firm, Socha Builders, that the two owners decided to merge.

   

• Gable Enabled

  The challenge was how to update and put an addition on a 1920s storybook house while acknowledging and respecting the architecture.

   

FIELD NOTES

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  Starting off right with a pre-construction conference

   

• Dual Vision

  Last fall, the Ardmore, Pa.-based Certified Contractors NetWork hosted a bilingual version of its popular Blue Collar Management Boot Camp. The program is a four-day class that provides management and customer service training to carpenters.

   
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  Promoting excellence with uniforms

  Employees of Jay-Cue Construction in North Bergen, N.J., have a closet full of clothing from the company. President John Quaregna provides his staff with a full work uniform that includes T-shirts, five pairs of pants, sweaters, sweatshirts, three-season jackets, windbreakers, and boots.

   

GOOD FORM

• Measuring Up

   

Tech at Work

• Upgrading to Small Business Server 2003

  If it's just you with a desktop and a laptop, a simple peer-to-peer network to share files is probably OK, but as soon as you put another user or two in the mix, you should be thinking about a real Windows server to control traffic and secure your data.

   
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  Tightening up on passwords

  Many people use the same password for their computers, e-mail accounts, to backups, or online bank accounts. And many companies give every employee the same password to log on to their computers.

   

Ways + Means

• Reading up on business management

  Craig Deimler, vice president of Deimler & Sons Construction in Harrisburg, Pa., is a true believer in ongoing education . . . especially when it comes to running his business.

   

BIG50

CLOSE UP

• Profile: Dale Brenke

  Last fall, Dale Brenke (Big50 2004) ran a series of television advertisements featuring his company's employees. The series of five commercials showed different employees — a production manager, a salesperson, and installers — at work. In the commercials, each employee looks at the camera and...

   

FACE OFF

• Face Off

  Should you do jobs for friends and family?

   

Live + Learn

• Recommended reading

   

SECOND LOOK

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  Interview with Kerry Bramon

  Fifteen years ago, Kerry Bramon could not produce projects on time or on budget. He realized he had 12 field employees who were not capable of meeting his deadlines and goals. By the time he became Big50 in 1993, he had a plan in place to replace those employees.

   

SOLUTIONS

• Guidelines for employee-client interaction

   

KITCHEN AND BATH

DESIGN CLINIC

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  Working through obstacles to deliver universal design bath

  Remodelers Robin Burrill and Rob Mathews of Curb Appeal Renovations in Haltom City, Texas, were asked to remodel a couple's master bathroom to accommodate the husband's disability.

   

• Hole in One

   
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  Hiding away the trash

  Designer Leslie Roosevelt of Gilday Renovations says most customers want trash bins hidden behind cabinet doors in their kitchens. If a customer claims they don't want that, Roosevelt says she tries to convince them.

   

SPEC BOOK

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  New appliance products

  Sleek styling complements the latest high-tech advances in appliances. Glass and stainless steel are at the top of the hot list, but there's still room for touches of tradition.

   

REPLACEMENT

DECKS

• Preparing to deliver the pitch

  Salespeople, you have a decision to make. Should you just show up, or should you slow down and prepare? And how should you prepare?

   

• Hidden Deck Fasteners

  A remodeler who specializes in one-of-a-kind custom decks has found a niche in the replacement market tearing off pressure-treated decking and replacing it with premium woods.

   

SIDING

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  Siding displays versatility

  In the last decade, a range of new trim has overtaken the exteriors market. Trim stock is now available in plywood, OSB, MDO, hardboard, low-density fiber-cement, cellular PVC, and polyurethane. The variety is staggering, and, as you might suspect, so is the range of performance.

   

PRODUCTS

FIRST LOOK

• First Look

   

IN FOCUS

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  New skylight products

   
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  New decking products

  The all-vinyl Presidio Deck and Dock system features 1 ½-inch-thick by 12-inch-wide deck board with a slip-resistant embossed wood grained surface.

   

• Room Enclosures

  As the weather gets warmer, a homeowner's fancy often turns to the outdoors. Sunrooms, screened porches, and other room enclosures can be an easy sell to clients looking to bring the outdoors in. A comfortable transition from indoors to out is what homeowners are after, says Mike Smith, brand...

   

READERS CHOICE

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  Value in KraftMaid cabinets

  The majority of work James Benoit does is high end, but when it comes to cabinetry he often makes a surprising choice: KraftMaid.

   
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  Cordless nailer from DeWalt

  James McGuyrt of Sigmon Construction was browsing through his local home improvement store when he saw that DeWalt was handing out demo videos for its new 18-volt cordless finish nailer. He took a video home and soon returned to purchase the nailer.

   

TRENDS

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  Products to appeal to children

  Everyone knows that children are a lucrative consumer market. Clothes, toys, even cell phones for kids are big business. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that quite a few home product manufacturers are turning their eye to the tot who has everything.

   

• Lit-Up Landscape

  Outdoor living is the “lifestyle trend” du jour. Whether it's for entertaining friends and family or for relaxing and enjoying temperate weather, American homeowners are spending more time outside and more money spiffing up their landscapes.

   
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  Upgrading bathroom vanities

  As bathrooms get more luxurious, bathroom furniture is getting more elaborate. Options in cabinetry and vanities abound for high-end upgrade projects.

   

LAST WORD

Bench Mark

• Matching budget to revenue goals

  Benchmarks help remodelers evaluate their company's performance. Some benchmarks are averages, some represent reasonable targets, still others set thresholds. The danger, however, is that a benchmark that is meaningful for most companies may not be appropriate for some.