Twin Cities Siding Professionals Knowledge Center

Hello! I have not posted anything in quite some time. It has been a busy year with TCSP. We have had a great year. Of course, nothing comes easy in 2009. But as my algebra teacher in eighth grade used to say, “The cream always rises to the top.”

We were nominated for the Better Business Bureau Integrity Award last winter from a past client. We went to a class at the BBB regarding the award. There we, among about 20 other companies, were told what we needed to prepare to be considered to be a finalist. We found that the BBB looks for how Integrity permeates an individual company. This runs from marketing to sales to production to how our customers and vendors are treated. We spent approximately 100 hours researching and interviewing employees, vendors and customers and submitted the application in July.

We found out we were finalists in early September and were understandably excited. The BBB’s annual awards banquet was October 25 and we invited a number of our employees to come along with my parents and my wife’s parents.

We were thrilled later that evening to find that we were honored with the Integrity Award for 2009! It was almost like winning the World Series. Kristen and I have worked very hard on our business since opening up in 1995. We know that doing business the right way is the only way to be truly successful. (You know, doing things the opposite of guys like Tom Petters and Bernie Madoff.) We clearly couldn’t have done it without our valuable employees. And not just the current employees but people from years ago who have done the right job for our customers.

So, here is a shout out to all of our current and past employees. Thank you for keeping our customers first, going the extra mile, and doing the right job.

We recently finished a retirement community in Bloomington, MN.  Josh Lynch, one of our crew chiefs wrote a great article for our company newsletter that, once I figure out how to do it, I will submit for this blog.  It is very well-written and speaks to the core of what our company is all about.

Last weekend, we hosted our first showroom event on Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18.  It was a great success and a lot of fun.  We held demonstrations on installation techniques, had experts from various manufacturers present and had a lot of people come.

We even had past clients like the Steeles from Lake Elmo come in and say hi.  One of the things I am most proud of is how many people stop by our home show booths and say how happy they are that they chose us as their remodeling contractor.  They know many people that have had such negative experiences with their contractor of choice.  Improving the lives of our customers is one of our core missions.  This is obviously not possible if we are doing poor work on their homes.

Other homeowners that were considering us came in to see our operation and made the decision to hire us.  I highly recommend to all people who are considering a contractor to visit the contractor’s place of business before they make their decision.  If a contractor has no place of business, that should raise a red flag.  Or, if their business place is less than professional, that is indicative of the type of work they will perform.

I look forward to submitting Josh’s newsletter article soon.

Our party started early so that we could have a private buffet dinner before the polka band arrived.  The food was excellent and the service was great.  The relaxed atmosphere is perfect for our company.

We gave out a lot of recognition to our employees on the production side of our business.  Mike Burgess was awarded as the installation specialist that most exemplifies what our company is all about.  Congratulations to Mike.  We also recognized Mark Zeck for his outstanding customer satisfaction skills and Bill Gardner for his work ethic.

What stood out the most to me, however, was the gratitude that was communicated to me throughout the evening.  So many of our team came up to me to thank me for providing a job that offers a living wage with benefits.  In this economy  and especially in our industry they realize they are very fortunate. 

My wife and I take our responsibility very seriously.  We have 35 employees with wives and children that are counting on us to help them thrive in the worst economy any of us have ever experienced in our adult lives.

When all of our competitors sub out 100% of their work, we are gainfully employing the best of  the best and they are able to raise families.  We know that we offer the best work to our customers because they are getting their remodeling done by workers who are not incented solely on getting the job done as fast as they can with the cheapest materials as possible.

Our customers understand when they hire us that we are promising a bigger and better job than any of our competitors.  Those words would be mere noise if not for the amazing job done by our crews.  Congrats to my entire production team!

Starting in 2006, we noticed a quantum shift in their focus on the sector of the market we work in: remodeling of existing homes. We were assigned a new rep, Eric Bohner, who took an active interest in our company. His advice and developing interest in our company was very helpful. Eric is very familiar with our core values, future projections, and short-term goals. He has given us great marketing advice and motivated us to grow our business at a higher rate than we had originally planned.

Eric obviously reports to his superiors at James Hardie and they were interested in how we have achieved our success. They flew in to visit us in 2008 to check out our operations. We had good conversations with them as it was a mutual learning experience.

The gentlemen that came were John Dypske, Paul Jentzel and Martin Whitehead. They told us that they were developing a program to better attend to what they term as the R & R (repair and remodel) segment of Hardie’s business. They let us know that they were going to ask approximately eight contractors from across the nation to be a part of an advisory council.

We were thrilled to accept. The proper installation of Hardie products (like all other construction products) is critical to its long-term perfrormance. Twin Cities Siding Professionals has been recognized for years as the market leader in volume, but more importantly, quality of installation, in the Twin Cities market. Our competition is merely content with putting it on as fast as they can and getting their checks so they can move on to the next job. In contrast, we aim to provide the best project for our customers, not just a project.

Anyway, membership in James Hardie’s Inaugural National Advisory Council is a great honor. Only the best companies that have earned Hardie’s trust and confidence were invited to come to Chicago in November. While there, we were able to share our ideas and learn from other market leaders from around the country. It was a great education. Too often contractors are in their own little cocoon and learn only one way: through trial and error. And that happens at the homeowner’s expense!

That honor, along with being awarded the very first “Qualified Installer of Artisan” by James Hardie in May made for quite a year for our company. It is nice to be recognized for being the industry leader for quality from such a large manufacturer. We have worked hard for a lot of years compiling an employee team of the best, most consistent installers of HardiPlank in the country. We have also worked hard educating homeowners on the need for properly vetting contractors to make sure they are installing products the right way – not the fastest way. It has been worth it.