21 Things You Can Do TODAY to Improve Your Remodeling Business

Running a successful remodeling company isn’t easy. And trying to build one that can run without your day-to-day involvement is even harder.

If you want to take your company to the upper levels of success, you must first acknowledge that it’s a long road. There’s no magic elixir.

It takes time. It takes commitment.

That being said, there are certain things you can do right now–today–that can make an impact in the short-term. I’ve compiled a list of 21 ( plus a bonus at the end).

1. If it ain’t broke, break it! Sustainable success comes from continually looking for ways to improve your operations—one small step at a time.
2. Start your day by saying, “This is what I will accomplish today,” and do it. Whether it takes 15 minutes or 6 hours.
3. Focus on the moment. Stay 100 percent mentally focused on what you’re doing. Multitasking is your enemy.
4. Map out the specific tasks you need to do to reach your daily goals and plot your progress throughout the day. Most contact-management systems allow for tracking and tallying daily performance.
5. Know how to handle the rejection embedded in the no’s you collect, every day.
6. Keep your mind off yourself and on your revenue-generating goals.
7. Turn to your support group. Don’t face business challenges alone. And whenever you can, share your lessons with others in the safe environment of a support group of your peers.
8. Keep a journal. It’s not enough merely to track daily performance in a contact management system. Record lessons learned, shortcuts, attitude assessment, and interpersonal behavior.
9. Create a process that forces you to systematically perform the grunt work aspect of sales and make sure it covers generating referrals and working leads already generated.
10. Have a system of selling. If you don’t, you’ll be a prisoner of the buyer’s system—one designed to keep you coughing up your expertise for free.
11. Standard Operating Procedures minimize growing pains. From the way you prefer a cornice return to be built to the way a customer is contacted after the job, everything should have an SOP.
12. Divide the anticipated gross profit for your backlog (work under contract but not yet produced) by your monthly overhead to determine how much overhead is “in stock” – it’s your safety net. Shoot for no less than 4 months.
13. You—and your employees—need the security of backlog. Don’t destroy your backlog security by adding crews whenever work begins to build up.
14. Don’t count a job as backlog until it is under construction contract.
15. Consider outsourcing office tasks. Hire a “virtual assistant” and benefit from getting more done without the additional payroll and worker’s compensation taxes.
16. A Gatekeeper will yield more sales. S/he will be the first point of contact with prospects, pre-qualify them, and maintain contact after they sign contracts. You will save valuable time formerly spent on low-quality leads.
17. Ask your employees for ideas about ways to improve the company, simplify procedures, and increase productivity. Give a $50 reward for ideas that will be implemented.
18. You MUST challenge employees. Give them as much responsibility as they are ready for and allow them to fail as well as succeed.
19. Praise is the number one employee motivator. Don’t forget to do it. An employee that feels appreciated is an employee for life.
20. Purchase the best business and industry books for a “company library” and encourage employees to read and consult them.
21. To have a superstar team, hire people who know more about their specialty than you do. This is how a company grows!

 BONUS!

Take assessments frequently. They allow you to benchmark your business objectively. The detailed insights gained help you to reflect on the current state of your business and discover action steps you need to take.

• This article was originally posted on Remodelers Advantage
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