Review from the Summit: State of the Industry

Over the next few weeks I am going to be giving a brief summary of the content from the Home Improvement Economic Summit for those who were not able to attend.

Keep in mind that you can contact us at (703) 591-2490 with any questions - - and if you have not already ordered it, we are offering the recording from our first summit on our website.

Day 1 of the Summit began with my presentation on the state of the industry. Some of the topics of discussion included:

• The common errors made by most home improvement companies
• How the industry recovered after the last major economic setback in 1982
• Relevant case studies from our clients, including a company that utilizes 50 lead sources, and another that is on pace to achieve a 42% increase in net revenue

The primary goal of this part of the summit was to reinforce the point that there are numerous success stories out there and what they have in common is that they all follow a sales system, but in regards to marketing they think outside of the box.

The next posting will cover the industry cautions and concerns for the year 2010.

The Summit Was A Huge Success!

I would like to extend a warm thank you to everyone who participated and attended the Economic Summit in Indianapolis.

We had over 25 presenters and 130 attendees who helped to make it our most successful program to date.

Keep an eye out on our blog and social networks over the next week as we plan to post pictures, videos and content from the event.

Agenda for the Home Improvement Economic Summit

The Home Improvement Economic Summit is less than two weeks away and we have had many requests from both attendees and those wishing to attend to publish the agenda for the program online.

Unfortunately we cannot accommodate this request as the schedule of events will frequently change (even up to the day before the program). What we can do however is provide a list of the topics we will be covering as well as some of the panelists who will participate on October 27th and 28th.

The topics we will cover include:

• The state of the home improvement industry heading into 2010
• Trends and projections relating to the economy
  
• Legal issues that have arisen in the past year (and those that are on the horizon)
• The Lead Paint Act
• The fallacies relating to most canvassing programs
• An updated sales training program
• Whether to acquire another company (or be acquired?)
• S.F.I. programs
• Business diversification
  
• Marketing at shows and events
• Internet marketing strategies

Some of the presenters include:

• Rick Strachan, Executive Director of Hanley Wood Magazine which consists of 12 business publications and is one of the top 10 media firms in the U.S.
• D.S. Berenson, Partner of Johanson Berenson LLP who was honored in the 2005 Forbes magazine, "Special Tribute to America's Best Lawyers"
• Murray Gross, CEO and Chairman of the Board of U.S. Home Systems, a publicly traded company that is the largest manufacturer of cabinet refacing in the United States
  
• George Faerber, Co-owner of Faerber's Bee Windows a 26 year old home improvement company and Owner of a brand new venture called Bring Me My Leads.
• Dr. Robert Genetski, one of the nation's premier interest rate forecasters and investment advisors

Please listen to the complimentary mp3 from this April's summit and if you have any further questions let us know.

Also don't forget to support our business partner Hanley-Wood by attending The Remodeling Show!

Our New Website

After many revisions and a lot of back and forth between myself and our webmaster, our new site is finally live!

One of the primary focuses of the site is to provide access to as much free information as possible to our clients and customers and as you navigate through the website I think you will see this.

However, the website is still a work in progress and we need your suggestions.

Please e-mail me at brad@daveyoho.com or comment on this blog with your feedback.

We appreciate your interaction with Dave Yoho Associates!

New Lead Paint Regulations

As many of you within the industry are already well aware, the stiff lead paint regulations have had a tremendous impact on the way that businesses our run.

While we at Dave Yoho Associates certainly are outraged by the negligent practices that have caused illnesses and deaths as a result of lead paint infractions, it is our view that the government is taking extreme precautions that are making it difficult for "the 99% of home improvement contractors who run their business by the letter of the law".

Now, there are rumblings of stronger regulations and fiercer penalties being proposed by Congress.

At our next Home Improvement Economic Summit renowned industry legal expert D.S. Berenson will present pertinent issues that you as an owner of a successful home improvement company need to be aware of as we move towards 2010.

Also, one of our business partners, Kachina Contractor Solutions, is on top of all the latest developments that our occurring and we advise you to contact them should you have any further questions.

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel

We are currently in the process of uploading clips from many of our powerful videos onto YouTube.

The first video that was uploaded, The Four Dimensions of a Powerful and Memorable Speech has received nearly 1000 views in the short time it has been up online.

We have posted videos on many other topics including:

• Selling skills
• How to hire salespeople
• Why replacing your windows is of vital concern
• Other motivational speeches by Dave

I encourage you to view all of our videos - and - regardless of your background you will find useful and powerful ideas that you will take away from each.

The easiest way to view our videos is to go to our channel on YouTube and subscribe, so that every time a new video is posted you will be notified.

Also, if you have any requests for other videos you would like us to post, please send me an e-mail at brad@daveyoho.com - or - simply comment on this blog posting.

Danger Between the Lines

Recently I was asked to participate in a local documentary produced by the Hunter Mill Defense League entitled, "Danger Between the Lines".

It tells the story of one of the most active areas during the Civil War conflict (the Hunter Mill corridor).

The Hunter Mill corridor represented a gateway to southern Virginia, which was the capital of the confederacy and was connected by railway to the nation's capital, Washington DC.

The documentary was produced to educate the public and particularly those in the school systems about valuable Civil War data, some of which is not commonly known.

Because of its proximity to Washington DC, the area became a hotbed of controversy and split loyalties which often came to a boiling point with aggressive and antagonistic behavior. The Civil war lasted 4 years and took 620,000 lives and eventually created the circumstance which took the life of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln.

I am extremely proud to have been a part of this documentary and ask all my friends and colleagues who are interested to view it for yourself on Sunday September 6th at 3:00 PM EST on WETA - - or - - you can view it on Cox (726), Comcast (220), FIOS (526), Direct TV (26), and RCN (613).