Photos from the Summit

While these pictures should have been posted a long time ago - - its certainly better late than never right?

Our goal for the next program is to have a professional photographer come and take some shots so that the pictures are much clearer. Nevertheless, we hope you can get an idea of how a Dave Yoho Associates program is run if you have never attended one before.

We cannot wait for the next one in the Spring - - stay tuned!

Review from the Summit: Lead Safe Work Practices

Continuing on with the summary from the Home Improvement Economic Summit in Indianapolis, Paul Toub reviewed the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and its impact on the remodeling industry.

As Marketing Director of Anthony Home Improvements, Inc. and Housecrafters (installers for 58 of The Home Depot stores), his understanding of TSCA and Lead Safe Work Practices is unmatched within the industry. As a result he was an integral force behind the foundation of Kachina Contractor Solutions, which assists remodelers in conforming to these ever changing laws.

Some of the highlights from his presentation included:

• The April 2008 amendment to the Act and the impact that it has had on the industry
• A sample of an old Lead Safe Work Practices pamphlet versus the new one highlighting the differences of what is required
• Examples of penalties which have occurred over the last year to companies that did not conform to these standards (violations ranging up to $37,500 per day)
• The types of work that are covered under the act
  
• The possible exclusions under the act (which should not be relied upon)
• A revision to the act which will occur in April of 2010, making the guidelines much more stringent for remodelers. The only exclusions will be for newer construction homes and lead-free certified job-sites. While at the moment there is a provision in place for owners to "opt-out", The Sierra Club is pressuring the EPA to eliminate this option.
• The EPA-certification process and how to become a certified renovator
  

The primary take away from this segment was that there is a huge degree of uncertainty in regards to how these laws will be interpreted in 2010 so you should do everything in your power to err on the side of caution.

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.

Review from the Summit: Industry Cautions

Day 1 of the Summit continued with a breakdown of some of the cautions and concerns that the home improvement industry is currently facing.

Brian Smith began with an overview of the issues and concerns which included:

• Traditional advertising sources are producing less leads per dollar invested
• Changes in lead sources require modification of the sales model
• Effective marketers reduce costs by implementing more creative lead distribution and instituting revised sales models
• Increased marketing costs are a major contribution to lower profitability
• A key ingredient in a successful home improvement marketing/sales plan is: The quality and quantity of leads generated measured against the quality and quantity of the salespeople who are issued the leads which were generated
• The cost of a lead is increased (or reduced) by the efficiency and sales ability of the person to whom it is issued

He then proceeded to demonstrate the efficiency of a sales organization in this economy who made some slight changes to increase revenue by over $2 million while decreasing marketing costs by over 4% (for more information on this case study e-mail brad@daveyoho.com).

David Alan Yoho then touched on the conditions in the marketplace that are having a direct impact on the failure of some companies including:

• Failure to understand the customer’s decision making process
• Misunderstanding between coaching and training
• Hiring the wrong people
• Confusing management and leadership
• Improper compensation

In the next posting the Lead Paint Regulations presentation will be reviewed.

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!