Listening

Are you listening to your remodeling clients?

A recent experience got me thinking about how companies all-too-often fall back on financial incentives when dealing with an unhappy customer, yet totally miss the point and fail...
May 10, 2012
Bunch

Lead paint lessons from The Brady Bunch

The Brady Bunch is a font of life lessons from the importance of compromise to why you should never lie to your parents to ... uh ... never walk out in the backyard without keeping...
May 2, 2012

Does your social media policy violate labor laws?

For the last couple of years I've been speaking to groups of remodelers about crafting a social media strategy for their firms and one of the things I always say to do is to create...
April 23, 2012
Cover

Book Review: 100 Best Kitchens & Dining Rooms

The 100 Best Kitchens & Dining Rooms This new book from Beta-Plus is a nice collection of design ideas, but definitely more of the coffee table variety than for the pro. That...
April 16, 2012
House 2

Watchdog: Government's 'Hardest Hit' Housing Program Falling Short

Excuse me if you've heard this before ... In what we can't exactly call a surprise, another government program aimed at helping underwater homeowners is falling well short of ...
April 12, 2012

Success through collaboration

When you look at your trade contractors, your suppliers, product distributors, what do you see? Are they a line item, an expense, a necessary evil or are they true partners? It...
April 5, 2012

Is this the year employees walk?

Employers have had it pretty good the last few years when it comes to managing employee turnover and keeping workers happy. The state of the economy has made it difficult for ...
Feb. 15, 2012

IBS Pre-Show Thoughts and Observations

Having arrived in Orlando for the International Builders Show and NAHB Winter Boards, a few quick updates and observations: Still no word on NAHB's lawsuit against the EPA to ...
Feb. 7, 2012