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 ef…

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. D…

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 c…

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 u…

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 whic…

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 …

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 sh…

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 indu…

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 succes…

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 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 dur…

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 no…

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 conv…

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 8th-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. Anso…

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 …

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 cha…

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 …

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 o…

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 s…

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, h…

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 expan…

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 …

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 t…

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 homeow…

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,…

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 tal…

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 perfor…

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 ye…

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 …

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 ex…

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 cus…

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 …

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 dif…

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…

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-comin…

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 homeowner…

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…

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…

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 trainin…

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…

In this episode, Gary speaks with Paul and Mitchell Sutherland about their business, Rosewood Paint and Remodel, headquartered in Layton, UT. Paul started the business in the late 1980s and his sons, Steve and Mitchell, joined the company over the last several years. Paul and Mitchell talk about the dynamics of a family contracting business and how…

In this episode, Gary speaks with Andrew Henke, Managing Partner of Brix Recruiting, a recruiting firm that specializes in the home improvement contracting space. Andrew talks about the importance of going beyond just job postings to attract new talent. Most contractors are not embracing many of his tactics that could prove to be highly effective f…

In this episode, Gary talks with Aaron Adams, Vice President of Partnerships at Hatch, about the best way to communicate with leads for optimum results. Aaron talks about the importance of outreach using a combination of phone, email and text messaging and the sequencing and timeline for outreach. He shared amazing research that came out of MIT tha…

In this episode, Gary talks with Doug Schatz, VP of Partnerships for Socius Marketing, about what home improvement contractors should be thinking about when it comes to their marketing. This includes the reduction in lead flow post-pandemic, what contractors should be looking for in a marketing partner, and the importance of data-driven processes t…

In this episode, Gary talks about planning for your business in the new year. Do you have written plans in place for the year? A written marketing plan, sales plan, a financial pro forma? Have you created written goals for the new year that are supported by strategies, objectives and tactics? This episode helps contractors understand the steps they…

In this episode, Gary speaks with Guy Kopperud, Director of Content Marketing for One-Click Contractor, about embracing technology to scale revenue and profits. He talks about tools for improving efficiency and accuracy during the sales process. Guy also discusses growing a contracting business and utilizing technology for executing business proces…

In this episode, Gary speaks with the co-founder and CEO of MazumaGo. MazumaGo is a Financial Technology (FinTech) firm that has created a payment system specifically for contractors where homeowner payments are available to you instantaneously. There is no waiting for checks to clear and no payment of credit card fees. This service is free for con…

In this episode, Gary speaks with Tom Basch, Channel Director for Leap about improving efficiency by streamlining the sales process and improving the customer experience through an automated, digital solution. Tom talks about how this automated solution will help protect and improve margins, improve customer satisfaction and help sales reps close m…

In this episode, Scott and Gary talk about the importance of embracing a proven sales process that will dramatically improve close rates and the success of your contracting business. This discussion uncovers the myth that you need to be a “natural-born salesperson” to be successful. This is not the case at all. People with any behavioral style can …

In this episode, Gary talks with CCN owner and CEO, Scott Siegal, about the importance of putting together a plan for the New Year. Many contractors do not put together a formal and written business plan and it is safe to say that without a formal plan, the odds are high for a business that is underperforming. This plan must address the functional …