Making money is all about maximizing performance — using your tools, people and materials as efficiently as is practical. This month we look at annualized sales per field employee, office employee, sales employee and total employees. Are we being more efficient in garnering sales or producing projects with our present staff than last year, or last summer? Or perhaps with the lead carpente...

There once was a time when you thought that if you built the best room addition, remodeled the best bathroom, installed the best windows you would be guaranteed success. But little by little, job by job, you began to realize that it's difficult to get your clients to pay the kind of money you need to have for the quality of work that you do.

Bob DuBree, CR, president of Creative Contracting in North Wales, Pa., and his company have been named Professional Remodeler's 2004 Remodeler of the Year. ,

Brick: It exudes warmth, character, staying power. Brick often commands a higher resale value and naturally provides thermal mass, which offers some insulation. Under normal weather conditions, it could see a century or more of use, according to Brick Industry Association estimates. But for all its durability, brick is vulnerable to external factors that can decrease the lifespan of a brick hom...

How many remodelers does it take to change a light bulb? At David and Ellyn Robbins's Highland Park, Ill., house it takes one — a multi-skilled carpenter, namely Bob Stone, CLC, who has 32 years of remodeling experience. Why? For one thing, the ceiling in the Robbins's entry is 20 feet high, and climbing a stepladder to change the bulb up there is beyond what the Robbinses are comfortable...

With "indoor air quality" and "energy efficiency" becoming household terms for many homeowners, it pays even for remodelers outside of environmentally conscious markets to understand what green remodeling is and how to do it. In their new book, Green Remodeling: Changing the World, One Room at a Time (New Society Publishers), authors David Johnston and Kim Master explain the basics of building ...

Earlier this year, NARI released the results of its Homeowner Remodeling Survey, based on phone interviews with 602 homeowners who had hired a remodeler or done their own remodeling in the last five years. Highlights follow. Why they remodel: Updating the home to their taste was very important to more than 70 percent of respondents, while fitting the needs of their family was cited by more than...

Superior customer service is the number one way remodelers can (and should) differentiate themselves from inferior competition. In the ongoing battle for customers' trust and — ultimately — referrals, remodelers must distinguish themselves in everything from quality of materials and workmanship to the professionalism of sales personnel and work crews.

"Whatever it takes." That's the mantra that Kevin Franklin, co-owner of Consolidated Construction Group, and his employees repeat time and again. How does the St.Louis-based company make customers happy? How do they complete projects on time? How do they keep job sites spotless? Simple. They do whatever it takes.

Though Boardwalk Builders works mostly on second homes in the resort town of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, the company makes their customers' happiness first priority. As proof, the company ranked above benchmark averages in the 2004 NRS Homeowner Satisfaction Awards. Number of walk-through items identified for correction: When asked how Boardwalk limited the number of punch list items, president P...