The Construction Leading Edge Podcast

Jennifer Lanzetti: Survivor contestant and virtual construction business owner Click here to join The Construction Leading Edge Nation In this episode of The Construction Leading Edge podcast I interview Jennifer Lanzetti, Survivor Season 32 contestant (that's right...the TV show), virtual construction business owner and survivor of some real life adversity. Here are some of the topics we cover: Was the "all girl alliance" she tried on Survivor a mistake? The business lessons she learned from being on Survivor. Did she learn any lessons in leadership from being on the show? The personal adversity she faced long before she was on a reality show, and how that adversity has shaped her. What NOT to do when you are in a crisis. (Hint: Avoid anything that provides INSTANT relief.) Jennifer's career path, what led her to start her own business two years ago. The connection between the economic crash of 2008 and Building Information Modeling (BIM.) The internal and external resistance she faced when starting her business. The benefits of being direct and how that shows up in her business and life. Jennifer's daily routines. Lots of other goodness.... Resources mentioned in this episode : Dr. Wayne Dyer's Blog War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Battles by Steven Pressfield Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath The Go Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink How to connect with Jennifer: Her company website - www.cn3dconstruction.com Email - jennifer(at)cn3dconstruction.com Facebook LinkedIn Twitter

Construction Business Startup Advice and Coaching Click here to join The Construction Leading Edge Nation In this episode of The Construction Leading Edge podcast I talk with David King, founder of RollTheLex Painting about how he started the business in mid 2015, learn about his story and then offer him some coaching advice. You can get involved with the conversation too! Click here to go the the CLE Facebook page and share your advice (or questions) with David. Here are some of the topics we cover: How and why he decided to go with a construction business startup The niche market that David focuses on, and why. How he uses Facebook to grow his business...check out the RollTheLex Facebook page here. How his beard may or may not be the #1 reason for his success.... The tough lessons he has learned in his first year in business Resources mentioned in this episode: Daniel Lapin's unique perspective on making money - click here to read more 41 Mistakes to avoid when dealing with conflict at work Do you want to use Facebook to grow your business? Send me an email at todd(at)constructionleadingedge.com and let me know....I may put together some resources if enough people are interested. Until next time, Todd

Randy Hall is President & CEO of Batson Cook Company, #148 on the 2015 ENR Top 400 Contractors list. Click here to join The Construction Leading Edge Nation In this episode of The Construction Leading Edge podcast I talk with Randy Hall of Batson-Cook Company, one of the largest contractors in the southeast, about a variety of topics including the following: Which is more important, watching people grow or watching buildings grow? Why you need to develop your presentation and communication skills. Emotional Intelligence and why you need to understand it (Check out Episode 16 with Brent Darnell) Valuing people over process Randy's leadership influences The biggest challenge that the construction industry faces Randy's advice to business owners and aspiring leaders Resources mentioned in this episode The Leadership Pipeline: How to Build the Leadership Powered Company - Ram Charan How you can connect with Randy Twitter LinkedIn

Guy Sanders of DPR Construction, one of the largest contractors in the US, shares strategies you can use to grow your team and grow your business by building relationships with large contractors like DPR. DPR Construction is #21 on the 2015 ENR Top 400 Contractors list with $2.9 billion annual revenue and 2,600 employees. Guy Sanders is one of DPR's leaders and talent managers, and we discuss topics including the following: How to know when you have the wrong people on the bus, and you need to make a change. DPR's philosophy, "Who we build is as important as what we build." How company culture affects people growth. How subcontractors can build relationships with large contractors like DPR Construction. Mistakes subcontractors make when trying to build relationships. How to connect with Guy: Guy Sanders on LinkedIn Guy's email address - Guys(at)dpr.com Resources: Click here to go to my Resources page for free downloads and resources Click here to join the Construction Leading Edge Nation

Listen as Greg Howell tells the origin story of Lean Construction Welcome to episode #42 of The Construction Leading Edge Podcast from www.constructionleadingedge.com, which is a great interview with Greg Howell, a founding father of Lean Construction. In this interview Greg shares some amazing insights and stories on the following topics: How the Lean Construction movement got started. Greg's experience as a Navy SeaBee, and how that influenced Lean. The impact of one commanding officer's leadership style, and how it changed Greg's approach to leadership. The books he recommends that you read A few paradigm shifts that construction leaders need to make. The difference between an order and a promise. One unexpected benefit of Lean principles that he can't quite explain yet. Why he only gave a few orders as a commanding officer in Vietnam...and one of them involved a monkey. Resources mentioned in this episode: Power To The Edge - Command and Control In The Information Age Team of Teams - McChrystal, Collins, Silverman and Chris Fussell. (Click here to listen to my interview with Chris Fussell) Turn The Ship Around - David Marquet Normal Accidents: Living With High Risk Technologies - Charles Perrow 41 Mistakes To Avoid When Dealing With Conflict At Work Archisnapper - An app for creating good looking project reports and punchlists

Ken Stowe has been in the construction industry for over 25 years, working for companies including Disney, Pizzagalli and Macomber Builders, and now helps AEC firms across the globe leverage the power of BIM (Building Information Modeling) in their businesses. Listen to this interview to listen to Ken discuss the following topics: How to accelerate your project schedule 7% - 12%. What you should and should not be prefabricating. How modeling your projects during the bidding process can make you more profitable. Key lessons Ken learned while working at Disney. The "Dominoes of Waste." The 19 Benefits of BIM (Building Information Modeling). Why 2D blueprints are not good for communication. Resources mentioned in this episode: 41 Mistakes to Avoid When Dealing With Conflict Ken's video workshop "ROI of BIM for Construction." A Brief History Of The Concept of Waste In Production by Lauri Koskela, Rafel Sacks and John Rooke The Effects of Building Information Modeling on Construction Site Productivity by Douglas Chelson How you can connect with Ken Stowe: LinkedIn Email - Ken.Stowe(at)autodesk.com

How to get started with Lean Construction, even if you have no idea where to start... David Umstot is the President of Umstot Project and Facilities Solutions, LLC. He is a California-registered Professional Civil Engineer with 29 years of leadership experience in private sector and public agency construction program management and facilities management. He has delivered more than $2 Billion in construction projects, and he is an expert in project delivery methods, specifically lean construction. We cover topics including: - Lean construction techniques that will help your foremen nearly double their success rate at meeting schedule and production commitments. - How Lean Construction methods can help you speed up your projects and make more money. - The fundamental mindset shifts you need to make to be more successful. - A better way to plan your projects, and how you can never issue meeting minutes again. - What is the Last Planner system? - How to get started with Lean, even if you have no idea where to start. -Why being a successful "firefighter" on a project can be a bad thing. - The psychology of motivation that Lean planning taps into. How to connect with David Umstot: Company website - www.umstotsolutions.com David's LinkedIn page (which also has some interesting articles and videos) Email - david.umstot (at)umstotsolutions.com Resources mentioned in this episode: Archisnapper - A great way to create good looking reports to keep your clients informed on projects. 41 Mistakes to Avoid When Dealing With Conflict At Work - Download the entire list and see which ones you are guilty of.

Tony Booth has worked for one of the biggest contractors in the world, has run a family owned small contracting business and is now a consultant for contractors and runs The Contractors Coachcast podcast as well as www.contractingcoach.com Click here to learn how to move your Lean planning into the digital world with LeanPlanner During this interview we talk about how contractors can provide high level customer service and get repeat business. Tony also shares a few of his "6 Tips for Choosing the Right Construction Projects." Listen to Tony's podcast on Stitcher (click here) or on iTunes (click here) How to connect with Tony Booth Contracting Coach website - www.contractingcoach.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boothtony Twitter: http://twitter.com/anthonybooth Facebook: http://facebook.com/ContractingCoach Resources discussed in this episode: LeanPlanner from Newforma Archisnapper app for preparing good looking jobsite reports with pictures...and less headaches. Click here to watch a quick demo video of Archisnapper and learn how to get a 20% discount.

How you should think differently about construction estimating Some new strategies you need to embrace and some systems you can use to become an entrepreneurial estimator. Offering "Free Estimates" is like a car dealership offering free test drives. It's time to stop thinking of it as "estimating," and start calling it selling, business development or revenue generation. Common frustrations from construction estimators and business owners: "I send out a lot of estimates, but they don't go anywhere." "I want to get more private and negotiated work, but I don't get invited to bid." "I waste so much time doing budgeting and design work for people who either don't have the budget or they're just kicking tires." "I have a business to run, and I can't spend all my time doing estimates." You need to think about construction estimating differently: If your value proposition is to offer a quote, you're not standing out from the crowd. Advertising "Free Estimates" is like a car dealership offering "Free Test Drives." More about that later. Let's stop calling it "estimating," and call it selling, business development or revenue generation. Realize that everyone who comes in contact with a customer is in business development, not just your sales and estimating folks. Just like good sales people don't sit and wait for the phone to ring, like an "order taker," if you are responsible for estimating, you need to realize that you can and should be strategic. Strategies: 1. The focus must be on the needs of the CLIENT, not on YOUR needs or capabilities. Remember the Toby Keith song, "I wanna talk about me," from several years ago? It was a popular song, but it is a lousy marketing strategy. If you look at a lot of contractors' websites (probably yours too), you will be given the opportunity to learn about where their office is, how long they've been in business, how many employees they have, the charities they support, pictures of the last 5k their CEO ran in, their certifications, acronyms of all the trade organizations they are part of, a detailed listing of their cranes, dump trucks and trackhoes complete with model numbers (my favorite), and maybe a bunch of technical jargon. Guess what? Your prospects don't give a flip how many 185 cfm air compressors you have or the maximum digging depth of your biggest trackhoe , or even where your CEO went to college! Here's what they want to know: "Can this company solve my problem?" Think about it. If you needed to hire a CPA, would you care what model of laptop she built spreadsheets on? Probably not. Instead of talking about yourself and your company, you need to be focused on your prospect. Start by answering these questions: What kind of external problems do they experience that you can help with? They need to expand their plant, have a blocked drain, deteriorated driveway, need to remodel their office, etc. What are the internal problems they may be dealing with? They might be afraid of paying too much, nervous about having someone in their house, feel bad because their house is run down, or concerned about the future of their job if they don't manage the office remodel properly. How you can you help them with the external problems, and how can you address their internal problems or concerns. In a nutshell, talk about your prospect and their needs a lot more than you talk about you, your company and your equipment. 2. Shift the focus away from PRICE, which is a commodity, and focus on building relationships and trust. Back to "Call for a free estimate." First off, have you EVER heard of someone who actually charges for an estimate? Secondly, do you really want to compete strictly on price? "Call for a free estimate" is code for, "I am a commodity and the only value I can provide you is a number, so you can shop around and compare my price to all the other guys who think of themselves as commodities too." The purpose of the construction estimating and sales process is to create opportunities for people to get to KNOW, LIKE and TRUST you. When people know you, like you and trust you, they are very likely to do business with you. So here's what you should do. Take the "Call for a free estimate button" off your website. Today. "If I stop offering estimates, how do I engage with my prospects?" Figure out something that will be of value to your ideal prospect and give it away on your website. Set up a simple opt in form on your site so people enter their email address to receive that something valuable. Then you can follow up with them periodically. What should you give away? Here are a few examples: - For all contractors: Free Checklist for Project Owners/Homeowners: Top Ten Things To Remember When Hiring a Contractor.- General Contractor - Checklist for vetting out contractors, a case study on lien laws or a comparison of the different contract delivery methods available, e.g. design-build vs. traditional design-bid-build. - Deck builders: Put together a document with a bunch of different deck planning ideas, ideally consisting of pictures of your work.- Concrete finishers: Checklist of things to consider when replacing your driveway or patio.- HVAC installers: List of any rebates available from local utility companies for replacing air handling units, condensing units, furnaces, etc.- Electricians: Case study on how much money could be saved, and rebates that could be realized, by upgrading light fixtures in a commercial building. When you give away something valuable to your prospect, you are positioned as an authority on the subject and they feel like you are on their side. It also taps into one of the tools of influence that Robert Cialdini wrote about in his book, "Influence," which is reciprocity. 3. Be generous. Add value every opportunity you get. (Listen to Episode 16 with Brent Darnell) 4. Understand their problems and pain instead of just giving an estimate on what they ask for. Give your clients what they NEED, even if that's different than what they ASK for. 5. Qualify your prospects and get to level of commitment with the optimal amount of effort. Remember the Three D's: Dollars, Dirt and Desire. 6. Follow up. Follow up. Follow up. Tactics and systems 1. Set up a CRM database to keep track of contacts, opportunities, calls, emails, and set reminders, etc. There are plenty of low cost options out there, and they are worth the money. Check out my buddy Rob McKinney's site at www.conappguru.com for some recommendations. 2. Identify the ideal clients (developers, general contractors, property owners, etc.) you would like to work with. Do an 80/20 analysis (Listen to Episode 31) 3. Network your way into making connections with people on your target list (LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) 4. Keep your eyes open for articles or resources that would be valuable to your target prospects, and every month or two, send them an email with valuable information. Consider setting up a blog to post articles written by you or others. 5. Call your prospects about once a month and ask if there is anything they need help with. Sometimes it is all about timing. 6. Call your subcontractors and vendors and ask them to make introductions to people on your target list. 7. Call architects engineers, that work in your area or industry and offer to provide free budget work if they need help. Add them to the target list and contact them regularly. This will help you learn of upcoming projects, and help get your name on the bid invitation list. 8. Hand written notes: It sounds old school, but after your first phone call with someone on your target list, send them a hand written thank you note on some nice stationary. It has a surprising effect. Joe Girard, the #1 car salesman in the country for twelve years, sent out 13,000 cards per month that said, "I like you. Happy (Insert holiday of the month.)" What should you do next? Listen to Episode 16 with Brent Darnell and Episode 31 on how to do an 80/20 analysis. Print out these show notes. Follow the advice of my old college professor, "Turn the crank." Set up your system and begin to work through the strategies and tactics If there's something you need help with or have questions about, email me - todd(at)constructionleadingedge.com. Join the Construction Leading Edge Nation to get insider access to the resources I am working on.

Will Hodges is President of Cadence McShane Construction Company, a general contractor in Dallas, Houston and Austin Texas with around 135 employees and an annual revenue of about $260 million. During this interview we talk about how he made the transition from project management and operations into executive leadership, the importance of company culture, workforce development and how to be strategic with your business and your career. A lot of people run their construction business like a project. What are the problems with this approach? [Will Hodges] A construction project is linear, one dimensional, has a set of plans and specs, etc. You're going to build the project over 18, 24 or 30 months, get a certificate of occupancy and move on to the next project. People have come up through the ranks with that perspective as field engineer, project manager, senior PM, VP, etc. Businesses are multi-faceted with a lot things to consider; techonology, banks, HR, surety, etc. It is must more strategic and not as linear as running a project. If you run your business like a project, you get out of a strategic mindset and get into a tactical mindset, and you can get lost in the weeds. How can someone make the transition from a linear project based mindset to a strategic mindset? [Will Hodges] Some people's strengths are in very tactical things, and some people's strength is in more strategic things. It's just how they are hard wired. There are things you can do and processes you can use to stretch you into a more strategic mindset and think a little more globally. One of the things we talk about is where we want to be in three, four or five years, understand where we are today and all the pieces that will help us get where we want to be. Listen to the rest of the interview to hear Will's answers to a few other questions like: How important is the culture of an organization, and how does it impact the bottom line? How is the construction industry guilty of having a "herd" mentality? You shared an equation, "Performance + Behavior = Results." What does that mean? If you had an audience with a group of construction business owners and could give them one piece of advice, what would it be? How to connect with Will Hodges www.cadencemcshane.com Will's email address - whodges(at)cadencemcshane.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willhodgescmc Twitter: https://twitter.com/WillHodgesCMC