Contractors Toolbox

In this episode, CCN Director of Member & Partner Experience Drew Barto is joined by Roofing and More Marketing Manager Sawyer Guinn to discuss the impact a CCN Membership has had on him and to learn how Roofing and More is using AI in its business.   Sawyer reveals a troubling decrease in set rate at the beginning of 2025 and what actions he took to address the issue. You'll learn who Roofing and...

In this episode, CCN Director of Member & Partner Experience Drew Barto is joined by Cilio Technologies CEO & President Rick Olejnik. Rick defines workflow management and identifies inefficiencies he sees among most contractors in this area. You'll learn how poor workflow management directly impacts your bottom line, customer satisfaction, and your company's reputation, and the steps you can take...

Marcus Sheridan, author of "They Ask, You Answer" and "Endless Customers" joins CCN Director of Member & Partner Experience Drew Barto for this information-rich episode of the Contractors Toolbox Podcast. Marcus will be the keynote speaker at CCN's Spring Conference in Miami from April 24-27, 2025 in Miami.    As a world-renowned communication expert, author, and keynote speaker, Marcus helps bran...

In this episode, CCN Director of Member & Partner Experience Drew Barto is joined by Structurely Co-Founder & Chief Innovation Officer Nate Joens. This is Nate's second time on the program. Nate shares whether AI can be used to build a call center for a company of your size, when the time is right to begin building a call center, the best balance between human call center reps and AI reps, how you...

In this episode, CCN Director of Member & Partner Experience Drew Barto talks with Celebration Marketing Founder & Owner David Michaelson. David has been in the direct mail advertising industry for more than 30 years and has extensive experience helping home improvement companies generate leads and close more sales. You'll learn about the benefits of several personalized targeted direct mail progr...

In this episode, CCN Director of Member & Partner Experience Drew Barto talks with Revin AI Head of Revenue Daniel DeMatteo. Daniel shares his insights on how home improvement and home services companies can best deploy AI in their businesses and what it could look like over the next 24 months. You'll learn about the increasing role of AI in call centers and which elements of a call center should...

In this episode, CCN Director of Member & Partner Experience Drew Barto talks with the creator of Ultimate Rainmaker Lead Generation Services & Rehash Program, Alan Michael. Alan has been in the home improvement industry for 40-plus years and has helped contractors accumulate more than $150 million in additional sales. You'll learn how contractors can add 10-20% in revenue without paying more for...

In this episode, CCN Director of Member & Partner Experience Drew Barto talks with SMA Support Services Director of Ideas & Revenue Chris Diroll. Chris reveals some of the biggest challenges contractors face when it comes to communicating effectively and efficiently with clients. You'll learn how to improve workflows and discover the key metrics contractors should track to ensure their customer ex...

In this episode, CCN Director of Member & Partner Experience Drew Barto is joined by CCN VP Gary Cohen for a discussion on the importance of building a community or network of peers in the home improvement industry. Being a business owner can feel like a lonely existence. Gary and Drew talk about ways in which Certified Contractors Network fosters community and collaboration among business owners...

In this episode, CCN Director of Member & Partner Experience Drew Barto is joined by Ken Kelly. Ken took over his family business—Kelly Roofing—in 1993 and grew it to $50 million in annual revenue and 300+ employees. He sold the business in 2020 and retired at the age of 47. Ken shares his expert insight on how to properly grow a contracting business, including tips on what businesses at different...

As of January 2025, new FCC lead generation laws will require contractors to have explicit 1:1 consent to call or text leads, impacting how companies can engage with their potential customers. Home improvement companies have until the end of 2024 to freely contact existing leads, making it crucial to ramp up outreach efforts before the laws take effect and then to comply with the rules after that....

In this episode, CCN Director of Member & Partner Experience Drew Barto is joined by Opal Enterprises Co-Owner and long-time CCN member Tara Dawn. Tara shares how she's doing more with what she has and how she uses a mix of traditional and modern marketing vehicles with an ever-growing tech stack to improve sales processes and increase lead flow. Drew and Tara discuss what's working today and whic...

In this episode, CCN Director of Member & Partner Experience Drew Barto talks with MicroMeshGutterGuards.com (MMGG) President & CEO Karen Sager. Karen unveils the benefits of adding low-ticket, high-margin product lines that can be installed quickly to inject consistent cash into any contractor's business. You'll learn details of her fast-to-cash concept and how to take advantage of this approach,...

In this episode, CCN Director of Member & Partner Experience Drew Barto talks with Renoworks Contractor Channel Partner Manager Jenni McMorran. The discussion is centered around employing effective email campaigns that result in booking more appointments and closing more sales. You will learn best practices for capturing email addresses, creating unique email messages for leads at different stages...

In this episode, Gary talks with CCN's new Director of Member and Partner Experience. The discussion will address many of the new initiatives at CCN, including some changes to our Contractors Toolbox podcast. Other topics will be strategic partnerships, The new L&D branding of CCN University, and changes coming to our financing program, all of which will continuously improve our member experience...

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 pro...

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....

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...

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 s...

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 w...

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 h...

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 continu...

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 con...

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 th -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 o...

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 rec...