Contractors Toolbox

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...

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...

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 ho...

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 r...

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 so...

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...

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 G...

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 Bus...

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 job...

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 an...

In this episode, Gary talks with Carlos Rodriguez, owner of Mr. Roofing, based in San Francisco, CA. Carlos talks about how he and his parents immigrated to the U.S. and his father started his own roofing company. Carlos took over the business in the late 1990s and has grown Mr. Roofing into an extraordinarily successful roofing company. Carlos talks about how he received his undergraduate degree...

In this episode, Gary talks with Brett Cohen, owner of Kitchen Saver, based in Owings Mills, MD.  Brett talks about the steps he took to transform a small and unprofitable business that he acquired from his father-in-law, into a thriving business with rapidly growing revenues and profits. Two key areas Brett focused on were his people and his performance metrics. Brett is a strong believer in care...

In this episode, Gary talks with Lynette Rogers, owner of Homescapes of New England. Lynette talks about 3 advantages she had in starting her business back in 2010: 1. She grew up around family members in the contracting business;  2. She had an undergraduate business degree that helped her understand business principles; and  3. She spent several years working for James Hardie and amassed a great...

In this episode, Gary talks with Drew Barto, Director of Home Improvement at Pro Remodeler. Drew shares his story about entering our industry 14 years ago as the Director of Marketing for long-time CCN member, Energy Swing Windows, owned by Steve Rennekamp. After 13 years at Energy Swing, Drew talks about why he joined Pro Remodeler and his strong motivation for positively impacting contractors by...

In this episode, Gary talks with CCN's Production Mastery Trainer, Troy Timmer. In this 2nd episode of our 2-part series, Troy discusses the importance of Schedule Management. There is a lot more to Schedule Management than just scheduling the job itself. Troy talks about all that this encompasses for delivering a fantastic job and a world class experience for the customer. Troy also discusses the...

In this episode, Gary talks with CCN's Production Mastery Trainer, Troy Timmer. In this 1st episode of our 2-part series, Troy discusses the importance of a detailed firewall process and the importance of preconstruction meetings. Production is an expense for a contractor and the goal is to keep expenses down while also delivering a world class customer experience. This is not an easy feat, yet it...

In this episode, Gary talks about the importance of embracing change management leadership. We are living in turbulent times and businesses need to adjust to changes happening around us. Technology and competition play a big role in the speed of change, and it is critical for every company leader to adopt a change management process. Gary explains the 8-Step Change Management Framework that helps...

In this episode, Gary talks about the importance of a written marketing plan. Years ago, marketing plans were long and comprehensive documents that were a laborious process, resulting in not enough companies taking the time to create one. Times have changed with technology and external forces at play that can make creating such a plan even more difficult today. Gary talks about the creation of a 1...

In this episode, Gary talks about adopting best prac tices in Sales Management.  It starts with understanding the 3 keys at the core of effective sales management: Beliefs, Behaviors and Skills.  It is critically important for the sales manager to ensure that sales reps understand the importance of these three areas.  Gary then discusses the 12 habits of highly successful sales managers.  This is...

In this episode, Gary speaks with John Bowser, President and CEO of Target Media.  John talks about the importance of embracing newer forms of media to drive down cost per lead and specifically reaching your ideal target audience.  John talks about the new frontier in media advertising with both audio and video streaming services and the up-and-coming opportunity for targeting the gaming industry,...

In this episode, Gary speaks with Sebastian Jimenez, Founder and CEO of Rilla Voice. Rilla uses artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver speech analytics to sales managers to help them coach their sales reps, with the goal of a significantly increased conversion rate. By analyzing thousands of face-to-face conversations that reps have with homeowners in the field, sales reps can fine tune their del...

In this episode, Gary speaks with Bart Coors, Founder and CEO of Coors Remodeling Company. Bart talks about starting his roofing and siding company and all the years he struggled to keep the business afloat. He contemplated bankruptcy and even quitting. He learned about CCN, joined in 2001 and talks about how he made more money in the year after he joined than he had ever seen before. Bart also sh...

In this episode, Gary speaks with Tim Carrington, CEO of Vantige, Inc., a professional HR services firm. Every employer does HR work; the problem is, most aren't good at it. Employers are good at what they do, with little time for other things. Professional HR helps employers increase the value of their employees. For most employers, employee costs make up the largest expense category. Every emplo...

In this episode, Gary speaks with Randy Hann, Founder & CEO of Contract Exteriors. Randy talks about how he got into the business and shares some of the struggles he experienced in his journey to becoming an extraordinarily successful home improvement contractor. He also talks about how he joined CCN, has been diligent about attending CCN's training, applying best practices and processes in every...

In this episode, Gary speaks with Pete Ingram, CEO of Mirage Screen Systems. Pete talks about how so many exterior contractors are adding retractable screens as an additional product line. There is increasing demand for retractable screens, it is an easy installation that can be done quickly and is an easy add-on to other exterior work a contractor is doing at home. Pete goes into detail about the...