training

The Locus of Control with Jef Forward – [Best of the Tim Faller Show]

May 30, 2023 00:39:01

The Locus of Control is a concept that highlights one’s ability to control the outcomes and events in their lives. When applied in a business, The Locus of Control can increase productivity, and breed ownership and support.

The Tim Faller Show welcomes back guest Jef Forward, to share his experiences surrounding the locus of control in his remodeling business.

Jef is the founder and co-owner, with his wife, Monica, of Forward Design Build Remodel in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Over 23 years, the company has grown to a team of 30+ engaged, positive, and supportive employees, and their path towards continued success is heavily focused on team and leadership building.

Tim, Steve and Jef talk more about:

Background and overview of The Locus of Control
The five dysfunctions of a team
Building a trustworthy team
Reaching goals
And more…

How to Build Morale and Culture During a Transition with Jason Willet – [Best of The Tim Faller Show]

May 1, 2023 00:34:56

On a recent episode of The Tim Faller Show, Jason Willet, a partner and now vice president at Willet Construction, shared his experience on how he kept his team engaged during a company transition that ultimately led to growth for the company.

Willet Construction faced a challenging transition, but instead of letting it bring the team down, they came up with a creative solution called “Vision Day.” The main goal of this event was to get everyone on the same page regarding the transition’s how, what, when, where, and why.

Through this event, Willet Construction not only brought their team closer together, but they also raised morale and reinforced their company’s culture. By involving the team in the decision-making process and soliciting their opinions, the team felt valued and empowered.

Jason, Tim, and Steve delved deeper into the strategies that Willet Construction used to make Vision Day a success. They discussed the importance of creating a well-planned agenda, prioritizing goals, and utilizing team opinions.

As a partner at Willet Construction, Jason’s role involves estimating and design, as well as being an exterior consultant. With his experience and insights, he offers valuable advice on how to keep a team engaged and motivated during challenging times.

Overall, this episode offers practical advice and real-life examples of how to create a positive company culture and navigate challenging transitions. It’s a must-listen for anyone who wants to build a successful team and grow their company.

The Art of Teaching with Paul Cardis – [The Tim Faller Show] S4 E20

April 17, 2023 00:37:58

Today on the Tim Faller Show, Paul Cardis of ON3, joins the show to discuss the enormous challenge of proper staffing in the remodeling industry and how proper education, teaching, and coaching can expand the pool of qualified employees and help you retain current ones. Paul states that one of the most effective methods of “training” is to combine digital learning with live mentorship.AI technology allows for this by allowing for the creation of customized learning paths for individual employees.

Paul Cardis is the co-founder and acting CEO of ON3 in Madison, WI. Paul came up with the idea for On3 following the sale of his previous company Avid Ratings. His goal was to solve a pervasive problem within the industry – creating a mobile, AI-based source of truth for construction knowledge serving builders, remodelers, and trade contractors.

Paul, Tim, and Steve talk more about…

Fixing the staffing challenges with training and coaching
Using a combination of AI with personal mentorship for the most effective training, teaching, and coaching
How to apply learning science to training and coaching
And more…

The Client Experience Part 2 with Camille Jenkins – [The Tim Faller Show] S4 E16

March 13, 2023 00:40:19

Today on the Tim Faller Show, Camille Jenkins joins the show to discuss the importance of the client experience and how it differs from satisfaction. Simply put, customer satisfaction is how happy your customers are while using your company’s products and services and how well you are fulfilled their expectations. Customer experience refers to customers’ interactions with a brand’s products and services during all stages of their purchasing process.

Camille Jenkins is a results-oriented, customer experience consultant, keynote speaker, and realtor. With a decade’s worth of real estate industry experience and operational knowledge, Camille brings a real-world approach to setting and delivering on expectations. Camille served as the Vice President of National Customer Relations at Meritage Homes Corporation. During her tenure, the organization annually delivered upwards of nine thousand new homes, and customer satisfaction improved from 70% to 90%. Currently, Camille Jenkins is the owner of Camille’s Keys located in Goodyear, Arizona.

Camille, Tim, and Steve talk more about…

Surveys for clients post-project and how to use them to impact change
How communication and education work together in the client experience
And more…

Hitting a Schedule Every Time With April Bettinger – [Best of The Tim Faller Show]

February 27, 2023 00:35:55

Hitting a schedule every time in construction is possible if you pay proper attention to planning and have a purposeful attitude.

In this episode, April Bettinger joins Tim and Steve to talk about the best practices and the common pitfalls to avoid when creating and managing an on-time project that ends with delighted clients.

April is the founder and owner of Ni p Tuck Remodeling in Snohomish, WA. For more than 30 years, she’s carved out a respected niche in the construction industry. Her father was a custom homebuilder, so April grew up watching and learning about excellent customer service, and what it takes to complete a high-quality project. April has held key roles in finance, budgeting, customer service, team building, and sales management — preparing her to own and operate her own company. Nip Tuck Remodeling was founded in 2010, with a vision and determination to create a construction company with extraordinary craftsmanship and a focus on professionalism.

April and her estimator create the master schedule, then it’s turned over to the production manager, who is responsible for creating and managing the job schedules on BuilderTrend. One huge factor in staying on track once you’re in production is getting the schedules done and materials ordered a month before the project starts. She talks about why that works, and other aspects of keeping your jobs on schedule, including:

Why the project manager has to create and own the schedule
Setting pivotal goals for each week in the schedule
Using goals for client satisfaction
Helping everyone buy in to the system
Handling change orders in the schedule
Getting clients to think ahead during selections
Building in reasonable wiggle room
Handling design changes and heading them off
And more …

Click here to listen

How to Engage Your Staff to Help Train Each Other With Ned Trimming – [Best of The Tim Faller Show]

February 20, 2023 00:41:55

Training, training, training!

Business owners, general managers, and production managers often get caught wondering how to do it all.

So, we turned to a former guest and a member of our production manager roundtables, Ned Trimming, to share his efficient training process involving current and new employees.

Ned Trimming is the Production Manager at Crescent Builds in Seattle, WA. Ned and his team at Crescent are dedicated to building high-quality spaces for people to live and work in, while creating an employee review process that continues to morph into new training areas.

Tim, Steve, and Ned talk more about:

Active cross-training
Training opportunities within a company
Establishing lateral service goals
And more…

Client Experience: It’s what they feel not what we do! – [Tim Faller Show] S4 E15

February 13, 2023 00:38:52

On this episode of the Tim Faller Show, Tim and Steve discuss the client experience and how to turn clients into raving fans. The client experience is all about how the client feels and not what you do. Tim differentiates the customer service a company provides from how clients perceive that service. Not only do salespeople have a major role in the client experience, but the production team and lead carpenter do as well.

Tim and Steve talk more about…

Establishing a client experience vision statement
The importance of a pre-construction meeting in providing an excellent client experience
And more…

The Power of Peers With Victoria Downing – [Best of The Tim Faller Show]

February 6, 2023 00:32:16

Many business owners and certainly production managers feel alone in their business at times, and want and or need some kind of external input. So, where do they turn?

Trade associations provide some input but are typically limited to whatever the “topic of the evening” is. Remodelers Advantage President, Victoria Downing, saw this issue and took action through the creation of the Remodelers Advantage Roundtables Programs.

Through the roundtables, members share support and guidance to ultimately help business owners earn more, and work less.

In addition to being the president of Remodelers Advantage, Victoria is the co-host of PowerTips Unscripted, a podcast dedicated to helping remodelers build a strong, profitable company. She is an award-winning author and speaker and brings over 30 years of expertise in the remodeling industry to share how crucial peer groups are in order to successfully grow your business.

Victoria, Tim, and Steve talk more about:

What it really means to be in the remodeling industry
The importance of receiving feedback
How to actually utilize feedback
And more…

click here to listen

Building Teamwork with Trades with Daniel Carrero – [Best of The Tim Faller Show]

January 30, 2023 00:41:20

Do you struggle to maintain relationships with subcontractors and experience your projects not being handled with urgency or priority? If so, you haven’t built a team, you have built a contact list.

Guest Daniel Carrero joins Tim and Steve to talk about how he has built a solid team with little turnover and kept tradesmen that have been with him for over 15 years.

Daniel Carrero, President of House to Home Solutions in Rockville, Maryland, has been able to build a Sub-Contractor Team that prioritizes his jobs over any other contractor.

He shares his tips and tricks to how he has made a team that has stuck with him for years and are willing to take care of service issues without question.

Tim, Steve and Daniel talk more about:

Building relationships with subcontractors and trades.
How to stand out to subcontractors
Getting trades engaged
Prioritizing trades and subcontractors
And more…

Building a Team, Not a Family with Jef Forward – [Best of the Tim Faller Show]

January 23, 2023 00:40:45

While having a family-like culture is a well-intended premise, it is oftentimes impractical.

Companies may notice that one or two employees are intolerant of the family-like culture in place and leave the “family” dysfunctional.

Creating an environment where there is a structure that resembles a team, rather than a family, is a way to avoid intolerance, and grow as a company. In this episode, guest Jef Forward describes how he was able to achieve a team-like culture in his business, and why it has been successful.

Jef has a Masters Degree in Architecture from the University of Michigan and started Forward Design Build in 1997, focusing on a design and build method to ensure successful projects. He defines a successful project as a happy homeowner with a beautiful, functional home completed within ‘stated’ expectations of cost, service and schedule from the beginning of design to the end of construction.