Best in Class Winners

Professional Remodeler's 2006 Best in Class Survey asked top remodelers in the residential and commercial sectors to rate the qualities that attract them and keep them with a manufacturer and their products.

Though most of the respondents named products from top manufacturers, our survey showed that the appeal's not all in the name. Our survey found quality (43.4 percent) was overwhelmingly named as most important with remodelers when it came to choosing a product. Second on the list: customer service (17 percent). The category includes product support and knowledgeable sales people. Excellent product selections came in a close third, with 15.6 percent of the responses. Rounding out the top five are all related to elements of customer service, such as product availability (14.2 percent) and, at number five, prices (12.5 percent).

Our survey also revealed some interesting regional differences about the remodeling industry. The Northeast, for example, installs slightly more skylights than in the sun-drenched Western states or in the South. However, less than half of the remodelers (44.6 precent) surveyed in the chilly Northeast report installing fireplaces. And the survey showed remodelers in the Midwest are more likely to work on small-scale jobs than any other region in the country.

Remodelers surveyed ran the gamut of company sizes and specialties. We used their responses to compile a list of the products most often mentioned, and out of that list emerged the winners of the 2006 Best in Class Survey.

Fireplace installation is much lower in the Northeast compared to other regions, as just 44.6 percent of remodelers in this area of the country claim to use them.   Best in Class Statistics — Professional Remodeler We asked remodelers to rate the qualities that make manufacturers Best overall. Here's how they ranked the top 20 attributes: Rank Quality % Response 1. Quality Products 43.4% 2. Customer Service 17.0% 3. Wide/Great Selection/Product Line 15.6% 4. Product Availability 14.2% 5. Great/Good Prices 12.5% 6. Great Product Support 8.7% 7. Good Advertising 7.3% 8. Excellent Warranty Service 7.3% 9. Good Service 6.2% 10. No Problems 5.9% 11. Consistency 5.9% 12. Dependable/Reliable 4.9% 13. Name Recognition 4.9% 14. Well Built Products 4.5% 15. Timely Shipping/Delivery 4.5% 16. Appearance 4.2% 17. Good Literature 3.8% 18. Durable/Long Lasting 3.5% 19. Great Follow-Up 3.1% 20. Easy To Install Products 3.1% Firms install vinyl windows more often in the Northeast (71.1 percent) than any other region of the country, followed by the West (67.1 percent), South (58.1 percent) and Midwest (54.5 percent). Remodelers sell decking more often in the Northeast than any other region (74.7 percent), followed by the Midwest (67 percent), West (65.8 percent) and South (57.4 percent). Skylights are most popular in the Northeast, with 72.3 percent of firms installing them regularly compared with 69.7 percent in the West, 64.3 percent in the Midwest and just 49.6 percent in the South. Remodeling firms in the Midwest claimed the smallest job sizes on average. Only 16 percent of Midwest remodelers' projects checked in at more than $100,000. Firms in the South led the nation with 35.7 percent of their jobs over $100,000. Manufactured stone products have caught on more quickly in the West (53.9 percent) than any other region. The South has been slowest to accept this product category; just 34.1 percent of firms use these products. More remodelers install vinyl siding in the Northeast (60.2 percent) and Midwest (58.9 percent) than in the South (41.1 percent) and West (30.0 percent). Twenty-five percent of remodeling firms with annual revenue of more than $5 million said they do only commercial work. Nearly 60 percent of firms who do less than $1 million annually focus solely on residential jobs.

Professional Remodeler's Best in Class Winners Say Quality is No. 1