Blog Archives




 

  • Work Spaces of QR: The Office
    By Rob Heselbarth - Monday May 13, 2013
    I have an office with floor-to-ceiling walls and a door -- not a cubicle -- and I’m very grateful for it. However, I’m an extrovert and I enjoy talking with people, so keeping my door open is a necessity for me to function properly. Anyone walking past my door is fair game for a quick greeting or friendly harassment. My door is closed only when I’m hosting webinars or having personnel-related meetings or phone calls. My open door sometimes can be a challenge, too. An open door is inviting, so naturally people wander into my office throughout the day. This can interrupt my train of thought and distract me from the work at hand, but I’d rather be occasionally distracted than cut off from interaction with my colleagues. My...

  • New videos on FRP.com
    - Tuesday May 7, 2013
    This month, we've asked manufacturers to send us their latest and greatest, and the result has been a glut of new products, updated information and brand new video for our media center. Among the first new pieces of content 

  • Your Most Important Number, Part II
    By Rich Harshaw - Monday May 6, 2013
    Last Week: Finding your ‘Most Important Number’ This Week: How to get the marketing budget to make it happen, and how to spend the budget   Last blog posting I challenged you to set a goal using my “Most Important Number” method. In a nutshell, your Most Important Number is the number of sales per month you need to get in your bread & butter product category that would get you where you want to be, financially speaking. So if you’re currently selling an average of 8 window jobs a month (assuming windows is your “main” product), would 20 jobs per month get you where you want to be? What about 25? Or 50? Whatever that number is, that’s your Most Important Number. Go back and read the posting again to...

  • Throw a Month-long Party for National Remodeling Month
    By Kacey Larsen - Friday May 3, 2013
    This is my first time celebrating National Remodeling Month (you’ll have to imagine me blowing a noise maker).  And while I wish I have a really insightful answer to the question of how to celebrate, I’m instead going to defer to the industry associations, who have thrown many more National Remodeling Month parties than I have. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) each have promoted a variety of tips that will help you and your business spread the word. I’ve picked out a few of my favorite tips to include here for your consideration. Embrace both the new and the old: Social media can help you and your business reach a whole new audience, while yard signs...

  • Building a Company Culture that Inspires Stellar Customer Service
    By Asher Raphael - Wednesday May 1, 2013
    Every business owner, no matter the industry, can agree that good customer service is an essential element to success. Treating customers with respect and learning how to anticipate their wants and needs are basic principles that should be at the core of every business. In the home remodeling industry, especially, our customers put a high value on customer service – for good reason. Homeowners are often planning remodeling projects during their increasingly limited free time, and therefore demonstrate less patience for miscommunication and poor service than they might when dealing with a service professional in another industry. In addition, since a home is most likely the largest purchase he or she may ever make, emotions often run...

  • How We Spent Our KBIS Vacation
    - Sunday April 28, 2013

  • Your Most Important Number: The Missing Link Between Where You Are Now and Where You Want To Be
    By Rich Harshaw - Friday April 26, 2013
    Let’s talk about goal setting for a minute. If I ask 100 remodeling contractor business owners to tell me their goals for their business, 100 of them will respond in terms of an annual dollar figure: $1 million in sales. $3 million in sales. $10 million in sales. Whatever their number is. While these goals are commendable, they’re also big, vague, and hard to wrap your brain around. If you’re currently doing $1 million in sales and you’d like to get to $2 million, it’s nearly impossible to see how to get from point A to point B. These kinds of goals are stillborn; they lack power to motivate because they’re too hard to conceptualize. Which is why I encourage remodelers to figure out their MOST IMPORTANT NUMBER...

  • Make Tax Season Your Season
    By Kacey Larsen - Tuesday April 9, 2013
    Tax season will soon come to an end, so many people are just itching to spend their refund checks. Well, how about if those people spend their refund checks with you? Here are five ways to reinvest a tax refund into a home Landscape and yard work –A home’s value can increase by up to 11 percent when it has good landscaping, according to a study by Clemson University and Michigan University (more information about that study can be found here). Mowing, watering, feeding and weeding can be tedious tasks for homeowners, but that important first impression made by a lawn may be worth them seeking out landscaping services. Maybe offering a special on services for people putting their homes on the market would bring in some new business...

  • Kitchen Remodeling Helps Contractors Boost Revenue Year-round
    By Gerry Henley - Monday April 8, 2013
    One of the biggest challenges general contractors face is the intermittent nature of remodeling work. Weather is one challenge. Rain can scuttle and delay jobs and wreak havoc on schedules, and when winter rolls around, jobs can vanish completely for months at a time. Managing your sales pipeline is another challenge. How do you avoid a boom and bust cycle of job-job-job-job-job, followed by nothing-nothing-nothing-nothing? How do you develop a year-round business so that you don’t cycle through feast and famine? There are two ways: Diversify. General contractors can grow their companies by adding a reliable indoor specialty to their repertoire. If you specialize in window installation, fences and decks, exterior siding or...

  • Indoor Pool Daydreams
    By Kacey Larsen - Tuesday April 2, 2013
    As I look out the window here in Wisconsin and still see snow, it’s easy to get caught up in daydreams of lying somewhere warm, poolside with a drink in hand. Since outdoor pools are currently still buried under snow for most of us here in the Midwest, I’m transferring my daydreams to lying somewhere by an indoor pool with a drink in hand. I found some inspiration for my indoor pool daydreams, which I’ve posted on the ForResidentialPros Pinterest page for your viewing pleasure and can be found here . The inspiration board features stunning pools that blend the characteristics and style of the home with often family-friendly nature of indoor pools. The extra details, like mosaics, lighting and murals on the walls or ceilings...

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