WELCOME TO YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE ON THE BUSINESS OF CONTRACTING

This is the Contractor Evolution Podcast. We unpack the systems, tactics, and skills you need to take your fast-growing contracting business to the next level. If you’re here to learn what it takes to scale up, work less, and increase profits, you’ve come to the right place.

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Master Class: Ultimate Hiring Funnel Series

So look - it is no secret that hiring is hard. Like really hard. Especially in our construction and trade industries. Labor shortages are a real thing, and yes, perhaps Millennials and Gen Z’ers aren't as gritty as older Generations may have been. And also yes, the government has paid a bunch of people to stay at home for over a year-and-a-half leading to a super lethargic Workforce. We get it. But look, it is what it is and can’t do much about the above factors. What you can do though is build the best hiring funnel in your market. Over a 6-part series, we explain in plain English how you can think like a marketer and start building an Employer Brand that attracts top talent. Whether you are a seasoned pro or just starting your business if you want to build your dream team, this series is for you.

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Categories

Episode 109 52 min
FINANCIALS, INTERNAL SYSTEMS

Driving Alignment: The Power of Performance Pay - Shane Bannerman

One of the most common questions we get is: how should I pay my people? This makes sense when you think about how influential your compensation plans are to the success of your business and the people inside it.

One of the most common questions we get is: how should I pay my people?

This makes sense when you think about how influential your compensation plans are to the success of your business and the people inside it.

  • Is what I’m offering compelling enough to attract the talent I need?  
  • Am I using incentives and bonuses effectively to get staff focused on the right things?  
  • Is dolling out cash at the end of the year out of the goodness of my heart the right way of going about it?

 

The value in answering these questions can’t be overstated, and yet, you don’t hear people having money conversations like this all that often – at least not openly.

“Performance Pay” is one of the best ways to align the goals of the individual with the goals of the organization – share the gain, share the pain.  

Shane Bannerman, one of our incredible Breakthrough Academy coaches,  is here today to explain how to set up performance pay for the archetypal roles most contracting businesses have: production managers, field staff, salespeople, and administrators.  Shane coaches over 40 different BTA companies.  He’s seen firsthand the comp plans that drive results and those that FLOP!

Watch this episode for deep dive into performance pay for contractors!

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Episode 108 59 min
SALES & MARKETING

Selling Through A Downturn - Marcus Sheridan

Our guest on the show today is globally renowned speaker and consultant: Marcus Sheridan.  Author of They Ask, You Answer and The Visual Sale. Marcus is the go-to guy for content marketing and inbound sales (especially for contractors and home services). His philosophy is simple but powerful:  If your customers are asking about it, you should be creating content around it.  

Our guest on the show today is globally renowned speaker and consultant: Marcus Sheridan.  Author of They Ask, You Answer and The Visual Sale.

Marcus is the go-to guy for content marketing and inbound sales (especially for contractors and home services). His philosophy is simple but powerful:  If your customers are asking about it, you should be creating content around it.  

Getting out in front of the concerns and questions of your potential buyers is the easiest way to build authority and elevate your company from “one in a sea of options” to “the only one” they want to do business with.  

Expect to Learn:

  • How to build trust and transparency through your website’s content using “The Big 5” framework – turning visitors into buyers while exponentially increasing site traffic
  • Just how educated the modern buyer truly is and why relying on uninformed clients is no longer a viable marketing strategy (if it ever was)
  • Marcus’ insights on navigating through a changing market, having carefully steered River Pools through the 08 financial crisis and into one of the most successful pool franchises in the US

Making great content doesn’t have to be hard, you just have to know where to start.

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Episode 107 15 min
INTERNAL SYSTEMS, TRAINING & ONBOARDING

Skill Up New Crews Faster With DORAGI - Benji Carlson

Don’t know if you’ve noticed… but new employees often come with more skill gaps than advertised.  How many times have you hired someone you thought had certain skills only to find out on-site that they, in fact, do not have said skills?  The reality is when it comes to the talent pool, almost no one is truly “plug and play.”

Don’t know if you’ve noticed… but new employees often come with more skill gaps than advertised.  

How many times have you hired someone you thought had certain skills only to find out on-site that they, in fact, do not have said skills?  The reality is when it comes to the talent pool, almost no one is truly “plug and play.”  

There are hundreds if not thousands of intricacies and nuances about how YOU do things, and that doesn’t always line up with how your new recruits have been trained via their previous employers, experience, or education.  

See… transferring skill is a SKILL in and of itself, and it’s one we see contractors struggle with.

Today’s episode is about DORAGI, a framework for skill transfer that dramatically compresses learning curves.  

If you want better-equipped crews in less time, click the links below to listen to the full episode!

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Episode 106 53 min
SALES & MARKETING

Is Wrapping Your Vehicles Worth It? - Dan Antonelli

If you’ve ever wondered whether wrapping your fleet of vehicles is worth the cost, this episode is a must-listen.  We’re suuuper lucky to have the “G.O.A.T.” of vehicle wraps, Dan Antonelli, on the show today.  

If you’ve ever wondered whether wrapping your fleet of vehicles is worth the cost, this episode is a must-listen.  We’re suuuper lucky to have the “G.O.A.T.” of vehicle wraps, Dan Antonelli, on the show today.  

His agency KickCharge Creative has built brands for some of the biggest home service companies in North America: A1 Garage, Goettl Air Conditioning, and Absolute Airflow, just to name a few.  

Today’s conversation is about outdoor advertising in general but, more specifically, the 5 rules that all contractors and home service business owners need to follow when designing a vehicle wrap that pops and drives results.  We also talk about his new book Branded, Not Blanded. It’s the best book I’ve ever read on branding for our niche. 

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Episode 106 53 min

Is Wrapping Your Vehicles Worth It? - Dan Antonelli

If you’ve ever wondered whether wrapping your fleet of vehicles is worth the cost, this episode is a must-listen.  We’re suuuper lucky to have the “G.O.A.T.” of vehicle wraps, Dan Antonelli, on the show today.  

If you’ve ever wondered whether wrapping your fleet of vehicles is worth the cost, this episode is a must-listen.  We’re suuuper lucky to have the “G.O.A.T.” of vehicle wraps, Dan Antonelli, on the show today.  

His agency KickCharge Creative has built brands for some of the biggest home service companies in North America: A1 Garage, Goettl Air Conditioning, and Absolute Airflow, just to name a few.  

Today’s conversation is about outdoor advertising in general but, more specifically, the 5 rules that all contractors and home service business owners need to follow when designing a vehicle wrap that pops and drives results.  We also talk about his new book Branded, Not Blanded. It’s the best book I’ve ever read on branding for our niche.  We’ll link it in the description.

Watch or Listen

IT’S TIME TO GET OUT OF THE DAY-TO-DAY

If you are a 7 figure contractor who has the vision to scale to 8 figures without adding more stress, then learn how to replace yourself with this proven management system. Take the 10-day ‘Evolved Contractor’ challenge and identify the methods that will scale your business.

MEET THE HOSTS

BENJI CARLSON

Benji gained insights into the trades as a 4-year franchisee with College Pro Painters, earning accolades for having the most productive staff in the franchise network. Since then, Benji has run in-depth business assessments with over 1000 contractors and now uses that information to represent the interests of contractors on the show 'Contractor Evolution’ whose goal is to arm smart contractors with the skills they need to grow.

IGOR TRNINIC

Igor has an impressive track record running trade businesses. He started by building up to a GM with College Pro Painters, running a $2.5MM business. He then co-started the franchise SHACK SHINE, which was acquired within 18 months. Igor is a co-founder of Breakthrough Academy, which coaches over 500 contractors (with a combined $1.6B in revenue) on how to systemize their businesses for growth.

HOW DOES A $20M CONTRACTING BUSINESS RUN? WOULD YOU LIKE TO FIND OUT?

Take the 10-day ‘Evolved Contractor’ challenge and identify the methods that will scale your business past 8-figures.

TAKE THE CHALLENGE

GET FREE TOOLS & RESOURCES

You don’t need to create everything yourself. Use our FREE tools and templates to crush everything from your hiring process to budgeting.