Contractors Toolbox

In this episode, Gary talks with Neal Christensen, Assistant Vice President and Relationship Manager at Enerbank. Neal discusses the benefits of financing and various payment options. He talks about the impact it has on cash flow, the financing process, how it increases viable leads for contractors, the positive impact on close rates, and more. He also explains the PreQualify and application process, and considerations when choosing a lender. The vast majority of your jobs should be financed because of all of the benefits Neal discusses, so this podcast is one every contractor should listen to and gain benefits for their business.

In this episode, Gary talks with Brad Finck, Senior Vice President at Renoworks Software. Renoworks is a market leader in providing various visualization tools for a more professional and sophisticated demo in the customer’s home. Brad talks about how these visualization tools can also be utilized on your website, in social media marketing, home shows, and in other marketing and sales activities. This is a great episode to learn how to raise the bar in your sales and marketing with visualization tools.

In this episode, Gary talks with Isaac Barlow, the Founder of BusyBusy. BusyBusy is a technology solution that raises the bar on field labor management and job costing. Isaac talks about how he created the BusyBusy solution for his own contracting company and the results were so strong after 4 years that they began offering the solution to the industry. Isaac also talks about the positive impact the software has on field labor management and job costing, enabling the team to focus on revenue and profits. He also discussed joining forces with another great tech solution company, ToolWatch, and is on the Board of Directors of the combined company. There will be a joint webinar between BusyBusy and CCN on February 15, 2024 that is focused on job costing and here is the link to register. This is a great episode for any contractor who wants to improve efficiency and accuracy in the field.

In this episode, Gary talks with Pete Scudder, owner of Scudder Roofing in Marino, CA. Pete talks about how he got his start in the industry at 18 years old and launched his own company at 24. With a family to feed, Pete talks about what it took to get his business off the ground, how he learned to become a strong business leader, and how he successfully scaled his business to a $29M roofing and solar business. Pete has some great advice for listeners and his messages will be powerful for all of those who listen to this episode.

In this episode, Gary talks with Jon Qualls, President and Co-Owner of Bo Lacey Construction. Jon talks about how he forged a close friendship with his business partner, Kevin Lacey, after they played football together in college. He talks about how their first 3 years in business were focused on storms and they came close to going out of business in 2015. Jon explains how they learned about CCN while attending a CertainTeed event and they became members. By 2018 they became more active in CCN by attending trainings, roundtables, and masterminds, and this helped them discover and embrace the systems and processes they needed to put in place across their business. From there they continued to grow and expect to exceed $15M in Revenue with a 14.5% net profit this year. This is an incredible success story that will be inspiring to all contractors who listen to this episode.

In this episode, Gary talks with Steve Rennekamp, founder and CEO of Energy Swing Windows and Doors. Steve has a fascinating background. He talks about how he earned an Engineering degree and was recruited right out of school to work for Alcoa. He spent 33 years at the company in various roles and truly learned many functional areas of business during those Alcoa years. He talks about how he and his son, Donny, started Energy Swing from nothing and how they struggled for a while until the business finally turned the corner and started growing profitably. Steve talks quite a bit about the importance of hiring the right people and how this became a game-changer for Energy Swing. This is a fantastic conversation with an industry veteran.

In this episode, Gary talks with Jeff Nunham, Owner and CEO of Precision Roofing Services. Jeff talks about how he started his roofing company in 2001 and it took him 14 years to surpass $1 million in revenue in 2015. As he sharpened his business skills and surrounded himself with the right talent, he was able to 11X his revenue in 8 years. Jeff now has his sights on $20M in revenue, while continuing to generate strong net profits. It is interesting to hear Jeff talking about his thirst for knowledge and learning to be better with each year. He offers fantastic advice to small contractors who aspire to grow their companies profitably, and he has been able to do this with humility. If you are a contractor who wants to grow your business, this is a great episode for you.

In this episode, Gary talks with Jaron Rice, founder and CEO of Magothy Payments. Jaron talks about how he got into the payments industry specifically focusing on home improvement and home services contractors. He then gets into “effective rates” and how to properly calculate them. Jaron discusses funding delays and the ways to avoid them. The conversation then moves to chargebacks, how long a contractor is liable, some things contractors can do to prevent a chargeback from happening in the first place, and what a contractor merchant can do to increase their likelihood of winning if they do happen. Finally, Jaron talks about the workarounds when a contractor merchant’s CRM has their own processing or an exclusive partnership with a merchant services provider. This is a great episode for all contractors who accept credit cards.

In this episode, Gary talks with Anson Martin, the founder and CEO of Valley Roofing and Exteriors based in Harrisonburg, VA. Anson talks about how he only has an 8-grade education and started working for a builder when he was 17 years old. He was drawn to roofing and favored that trade over all other trades within the construction umbrella. Anson decided at 21 that he wanted to start his own roofing company; his focus from day one was servant leadership. He was 100% committed to pleasing his customers and taking good care of his employees. Everything Anson does in his business is based on prioritizing everything for the greater good. Listen to Anson talk about his success story and how he will reach $15M in revenue this year with a strong bottom line and is targeting $30M by 2030. This is a fantastic episode for all home improvement contractors, and you will see how Anson’s humility has been a driving force in his fantastic journey.

In this episode, Gary talks with Danielle Jones, General Manager of Hutcherson Construction in Michigan. Danielle shares the Hutcherson Construction story and speaks about their rapid growth over the past several years. She discusses the importance of implementing formal systems and processes and how that transformed their company. With a longtime background in Human Resources and specifically recruiting and retaining top people, Danielle wrote a book called, “Recruiting a Winning Team: Strategies for Building High-Performance Organizations.” The book is available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback formats. This is a great episode for those contractors who want to hear a success story about rapidly scaling a home improvement contracting business and learn more about recruiting and retaining top talent to help scale your contracting company.

In this episode, Gary talks with Derrik Shakespear, Chief Revenue Officer for BusyBusy, a technology company focused on improving profitability for home improvement contractors. Derrik talks about the company’s founder who owns 5 contracting companies and how his passion for technology, math, and data led him to start BusyBusy to solve job site challenges with payroll and job costing. He discusses the gaps in the areas of time-tracking and job costing on-site and how embracing technology to address these gaps will often lead to a well-run home improvement contracting company seeing significant improvements in their net profits. Derrik went on to share a few case studies of contractors who saw significant improvements in their bottom line and in employee relationships. This is an interesting episode for any home improvement contractor looking to improve their efficiencies at job sites.

In this episode, Gary talks with Greg Bloom, Vice President of National Strategic Accounts for Beacon Building Products. Greg talks about the state of the building material distribution industry, how it was impacted during the pandemic, and how it has fared post-pandemic. Greg also discusses the consolidation in the distribution space and his view of consolidation going forward. He also discusses the impact of Private Equity on distribution and contractors. Finally, Greg talks about the impact technology has had on distribution and the contracting/remodeling space in general. Greg’s 41 years in the business give him a unique perspective and all contractors will enjoy listening to Greg speak on these topics.

In this episode, Gary talks with Megan Beattie, an industry veteran who specializes in face-to-face marketing. Megan discusses the various ways contractors are effectively engaging in face-to-face marketing and she zeroes in on 4 of the common ways contractors can effectively engage in this type of marketing. Megan also talks about the importance of creating a lead mix from multiple sources and how face-to-face marketing offers a lead source where a contractor can exercise more control of their destiny. She used the example of today’s environment where inbound digital leads are down significantly from where they had been, and with a strong face-to-face marketing plan, contractors can still bring in the leads they need to keep sales reps busy with demos. This episode is great for contractors of all sizes and has some actionable takeaways that can be put in place immediately.

In this episode, Gary speaks with Peter Ingraham, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Ingage. Peter and Gary talk about the initiative Ingage and CCN have been building out together, by marrying CCN’s proprietary 5P Sales Process with Ingage’s proprietary presentation and analytics software. The result is a highly professional presentation that sales reps can learn and follow to drive up close rates and ticket value. The back-end analytics helps sales managers provide meaningful feedback to reps in the spirit of continuous improvement. This episode is for any home improvement contractor who would like to scale their revenue through higher close rates and ticket value. Don’t miss it.

In this episode, Gary talks with Jonathan Weinberg, the Founder and CEO of Builder Prime. Jonathan talks about how he was introduced to the home improvement contracting industry and how he initially set out to use his Computer Science degrees to create tech software that supported contractors with solutions for estimation and production, however, he ended up infusing that into a broad-based CRM solution with all-in-one capabilities that offer contractors an option for consolidating multiple tech solutions into their one comprehensive solution that is fully integrated for ease of use. Jonathan talks about his perspectives on the sales funnel that he calls, “The Happy Path.” This is a great discussion that should have takeaways for any contractor who listens to the episode.

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.