Estimate Rocket Radio

On this episode of Estimate Rocket we are joined by Lisa Moon and Stacia Newton from Paper Moon Painting. Lisa and Stacia are recognized in the Estimate Rocket community and beyond for their creative marketing and communication strategies that win more business. They discuss with us their communication schedule and collateral design that provide a seamless, delightful experience for their customers from their proposal design to their highly structured and strategic follow-up campaigns. No...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Tom Droste joins us to talk about his recent workshop, "What If: Fast Formulas for Profit Forecasting." Tom discusses why every business leader needs to have certain numbers available for fast-crunching to be able to run brief hypotheticals that impact your bottom line. You should be able to quickly ballpark when to hire, when to reduce or expand overhead, how far to schedule backlog, when to raise prices, etc. Don't wait for your accountant to sit...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we are joined by Nick May of Walls By Design in Denver, Colorado. Nick is a successful painting contractor, business educator, and host of the Pro Painter Podcast. Over the years Nick has watched new businesses come and go, and he has learned a couple things about the type of business owners that ultimately succeed: 1) they learn from pain, and 2) they build systems. Nick talks with us about how business owners can break the stress-to-stress cycle in...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Morgan Ray of MKV Consulting joins us to talk about determining the worth of your business and beefing up its market value in a changing economy. Morgan draws from her experience in accounting and business consulting to look into the future of the trades industries and help businesses owners see where their business value is headed given their current revenue size. We discuss mergers and acquisitions, finding good business coaches, and what you can...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, we are joined by Estimate Rocket founder and CEO, Tom Droste. Tom talks with us about how to build the best kind of sales teams. From determining when you are ready for your first sales person, to training your team on the best process and tools to get their job done, there's a lot that can factor into making your sales team excel in generating leads and closing sales. Does your sales team know how to improve every year and set high, realistic goals...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we are joined by Torlando Hakes, Chief Marketing Officer at Folia and the host of the Painting Contractors Association's (PCA) Paint ED Podcast. We talk with Torlando about the competitive paradigm Match-Leap-Brand, in which competitors match each others product and services, leapfrog each other in the features race, and ultimately attempt to out-brand each other in making connections with customers in the marketplace. Torlando walks us through a...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Tom Droste joins us to talk about how strategically building a backlog of accepted work is the secret to hiring and growth. Backlog is sometimes viewed as a casualty of the failure to raise prices, or it is used to build padding into business finances and cash flow, but Tom offers a new unique of backlog that has largely remained unarticulated in much of business growth education. In this podcast, Tom makes very clear the very direct and proportional...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket we are joined by Bard Caldwell of Caldwell Painting, and we discuss the type of mindset that gets your business to the millions. Bart explains how viewing crises as opportunities helped him develop business strategy that kept his company growing past expectations. He also helps us understand how technology can get companies past growth plateaus, how prioritizing employees over customers can create a 'trickle-down' customer care, and how social media...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, our Customer Success lead, Fred Kulik, joins us to talk about what we are hearing from businesses about project management. We discuss the best times to hire project managers, tools every project manager needs, and time-saving, process solutions for project managers. Learn more about how to become a stronger marketplace RIVAL along with other Estimate Rocket users here.

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Jessica Galloway of Visionary Home Solutions joins us to talk about how she learned early on in her business that there is a very real and tiring "hamster wheel" of busy-ness that, once boarded, is very hard to exit safely. Learning how to get your head above water as a new business owner is difficult, but it is necessary if you want to feel in control of your life and if you want to profitably grow your business. Jessica explains how vulnerability...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Emily Howard from APC Magazine joins us to talk about how the painting industry is evolving and how contractors can continue to adapt and be profitable. It may be tempting as a business owner to fear economic changes that challenge their accustomed way of doing business, but Emily reminds us that staying ahead of change by implementing new technology and making future plans is the best way to maximize the power you already have to lead your company...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we welcome the leadership team at Estimate Rocket and business coach at Transcend Growth, Corwin Smith, to discuss 90-day cycles for leadership priorities in a company. We talk about meeting rhythm and format, the importance of disciplined people and rigorous debate, and the impact of company goals on individual teams. Learn how we discipline our strategy at Estimate Rocket so we can continue to evolve to meet the demands of a changing economy and...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, we visit with Kristen Ford-Hernandez of Premiere Pros Kitchens and Design and discuss ways to keep good customers, and ways to disconnect quickly from the bad ones. Kristen says that Premiere Pros rarely spends a lot on marketing because her customers keep coming back, and that is a shining if rare example in the trades. The key to good repeat business is knowing that there are exceptions to the phrase, "the customer is always right," even if the...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, we talk with CEO Tom Droste about Office Managers. Tom discusses the best time to hire office managers, how to train them, and what tools help them do their job most efficiently. It might help to remember that if you don't have an office manager...you ARE the office manager! And Tom introduces a topic you'll be hearing more about at Estimate Rocket in the coming year: backlog as the key indicator and mechanism for hiring. Learn more about RIVAL For...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Bevin Hernandez, Product and Marketing Director at Estimate Rocket, joins us to talk about the process company's need to use to vet, select and implement new technology in their company. As Bevin reminds us, software projects are people projects, and developing a thoughtful and team-lead approach to introduce and train your people on new technology is important so that you minimize risk and waste, and increase employee buy-in. Bevin will be leading...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Tom Droste, Founder and CEO of Estimate Rocket and its parent company Logical Engine, joins us to talk about the pros and cons of integrating technology in small shops. Estimate Rocket was designed to support and motivate companies to keep growing, but that doesn't mean small shops don't need to think very seriously about incorporating new technology. Tom discusses with us the liberating and profit-bearing qualities of adding the right technology to...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we talk with Phil Cline of Tama Painting and Specialty Coatings and Fred Kulik of Estimate Rocket about how pricing works in a painting company. Fred walks us through the practical steps in the estimating and pricing process, while Phil gives us a glimpse into the field of practical application in business management to see how pricing adapts to mountain-peak successes in business as well as the challenges of rising costs in material and labor. The...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Jason Phillips joins us from Phillips Home Improvements to talk about the foundation for trust in every leadership team and business: credibility. Often leadership takes a leap when expecting trust in a team without having taken the time and put the work into building the type of credibility that allows people to step out securely in trust. As Jason puts, credibility is past facts, while trust if future faith. If you want to be believed and trusted,...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we are joined by department heads in Estimate Rocket to talk about how the company is evolving to provide more of what customers need to get more money and keep more money! Tom Droste (CEO), Bevin Hernandez (Development and Marketing), Fred Kulik (Customer Success), Kathy Droste (Sales), and Chris Shank (Education) discuss how Estimate Rocket is changing and growing to meet growing market demands, and how we plan on remaining in first place among the...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Aaron Moore from PPD joins us to share how his company planned big leaps in growth, moving from residential to commercial work and breaking through barriers in small business growth in a very short time. Aaron reminds us that cash and credit management is imperative to planned growth, and leadership from one growth phase to the next requires a different mindset for each phase, and the support of superior leadership team members that are committed to...