Show 3: Neil Parsons of Design Build Pros

Interviews with Today’s Top Remodeling Entrepreneurs http://www.remodelersontherise.com

Show 3: Neil Parsons with Design Build Pros reveals some powerful ideas for building systems and having the right mindset

Kyle: Welcome to Remodelers on the Rise. I’m your host, Kyle Hunt. And alongside me is my co-host Ryan Paul Adams. Hi, Ryan! Ryan: Hi Kyle! What’s up? Kyle: Not much. So this is Remodelers on the Rise Podcast #3. I am going to get started just by introducing our guest very briefly. I’m going to let him take care of most of the introduction. We’re with Neil Parsons of Design Built Pros. Today, he’s in Toms River, New Jersey. We were just talking before we started the recording that --- What was it you are going to be in the 50 yard-line of Super Bowl? We’re recording this just before Super Bowl Sunday. You’re such a successful design build remodeler, you’ve got so much to share. I guarantee you have those tickets on the 50 yard-lines, eh? Neil: I wish! But if I had, I’d probably give away to one of my favorite clients so I can watch it in my recliner, on my big screen high-def TV – where it’s nice, warm and cozy. Ryan: I hear you. I don’t want to be out there either. Kyle: Neil, why don’t you go ahead and introduce yourself? Share to us a little bit about you and your business. Neil: Thank you Kyle. Thank you, Ryan. My company Design Build Pros is a unique business model. And I will simplify it broadly. We do three general things. We provide project design and development, directly for homeowners planning a remodeling project. The package that we provide for them consists of designs, scope of work, breakdown, itemized budget, plus or minus options, a timeline-schedule for production.


And we work with them on this – to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. And then help them find or figure out how the job is going to be built whether it’s going to be with a remodeler that I’m going to refer, one of their remodelers or whether they DIY, or GC it themselves. Then, secondly, we also provide the same service on behalf of a qualified remodeler who will use us as a remote design development team instead of having a designer or an architect on staff. They’ll have us come in as Design Built Pros and prepare the same package for the client, for them. And then, thirdly, we work directly with remodelers helping them organize their business, grow their business, become better remodelers at what they do. Also, providing them systems, teaching them how to sell more, faster and with greater profit. Kyle: So that’s why I let you handle the introduction because I don’t think I could have done it any better. Ryan: Very cool business model. I love it. Kyle: Neil, why don’t you share about yourself outside of work a little bit? Who you are and what your interests are outside of that? Neil: I’m a regular guy – a family man, close to be an empty nester as my son’s in college. I’m a dog lover, with 2 dogs at home (Slugger and Buddy – have to give them a plug). If anybody follows me on Facebook, they’ll see that they’re up there quite often. Kyle: Maybe they’ll be ticked off if you didn’t give them a shout out. Neil: Without a doubt. Sports fan! I enjoy the occasional glass of red wine, cooking, grilling, TV and movies. Kyle: Sounds like you’re emotional with the empty-nester theme. You guys can start over again with a brand new one. Neil: Yeah, a brand new dog. Kyle: Ryan, why don’t you get started with the first question? Ryan: Yeah. Neil, is there any success quote or mantra that you kind of live by and an example of how you might apply this to your life and your business?


Neil: One of friends-slash-mentor one time gave me the quote, “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” And that’s definitely my business mantra. I show up everyday. I work hard. And the breaks that come usually come through attrition. That hardwork and effort ultimately pay off. Kyle: Not to take it to the negative here, Neil. But share a story of a time in your business or your journey that you encountered some failure. If you could take us to that time in your life, tell us that story. Maybe share a few lessons learned from that. Neil: Okay! Well, my overall background is, I’m a carpenter by trade, vinyl window installer, siding installer, kitchen carpenter and additions through the 80’s after high school. In the early 90’s, I tried to create and grow a business too quick, too fast. I made two very bad hires in key positions. And I tried to create a large business from a small concept without having systems, plans, business models and goals set up. And it didn’t work very well. Ryan: Tough to do, yeah. Kyle: So you’re kind of flying by seize your plans more so than being structured, which is interesting. Because when I think of you Neil, we’ve known each other a bit in the last several years, something I can see very, very clearly is that you are very process-driven, systematic-driven. You need to have systems for everything. So was that kind of the impetus for doing it well? The pain that you experience by not having that in place. Neil: Without a doubt there Kyle. I really feel that all of us, the sum of what everyone is today is the life lessons that they’ve learned in the past. Ryan: And most of that comes from making mistakes, right? Neil: That’s right. The first thing I tell any new hire is that “You’ve got to make mistakes.”


Make them quickly. Make them one time. Never make them again. And move on. The quicker you make them, the better you will be. Kyle: This may come up later but I just want to make sure we cover this a little bit. Talk to our listeners about processes, systems and the importance of that in the remodeling business. Neil: I can’t speak of that enough – systems for tracking things that you have done, to look back historically to see what was profitable, what worked, what didn’t work. Having records because we want to build database of clients and projects, which is going to give us not only contact information for those clients but historical data on actual and real jobs. Too many remodelers rely on national database, estimating programs. But for me, nothing works better than the history of actual jobs that you produce in your own local market, through your own company. And systems help you evaluate and understand the members better and apply them going forward. Kyle: But Neil, “I’m too busy to analyze things like that. I’m too busy doing this. How am I supposed to be able to do that?” Neil: Here’s another good quote I’ve gotten along the way, “A busy man can always find the time.” Ryan: You got it! Now, let’s take it to that moment in your life where you had a breakthrough – an AHA moment! Is there anything you can share with us there? That you turned that into a big success. Neil: Yes Ryan. Probably, 4 to 5 years ago my career has taken me to different paths – business owner/carpenter/sales manager/sales director. My brother and I always work together in some venue. My brother is actually almost to the day 15 years younger than me. What we saw, years in the business, is all the inherent problems.


Problems that either remodelers have made or mistakes that homeowners have made. And through our life experience, we have the answers on how to prevent or correct almost all of those problems. And working for remodelers in the past, sharing those thoughts and ideas, not every one of them was open into saying, “Ok. We’ll change the ways to do certain things, to make those better.” And I didn’t like being a part of that. So what we decided to do is to create this business model that we have today. And put all those things in place saying, “Ok. These are the things that work.” Share them with other people. So we sit down and talk with the homeowners, we actually give them the under-the-hood, behind-the-curtain information about the remodeling industry. And we want to educate them to help them not to make mistakes that people have done in the past. And conversely, set up a project and introduce the remodeler where all the parameters have been set so they had no choice but to follow the good guidelines that we’ve created. Ryan: It is safe to say, you’ve pretty much seen it all when it comes to remodeling homes at this point? Neil: Well, I would never say never but I often tell people, I make a fairly good living now but when I retire and write my book on everything that I’ve seen, I’ll make a fortune. Ryan: Is there anything in your business right now that’s really exciting you? Neil: Well, the thing that excites us – my brother and I, is that we have a clean slate. There’s no other company that we’re aware of that does exactly what we do anywhere in the country. So, we are laying the foundation and constantly working on our SOP’s (standard operating procedures) to make sure that what we have works, makes sense, creates a professional, pleasant experience for the home owners, remodelers and the vendors. And, then, our ultimate goal is to franchise and create affiliate programs across the country.


Ryan: There you go. That makes a lot of sense. Kyle: When is that going to happen, Neil? What’s taking you so long? Neil: 2020! Again, slow and steady wins the race. So 2020, that will be in place and I’ll be retired. Kyle: Before we get into the lightning round questions, I want to interject one other question that came up. What I see as a real key to success in the remodeling industry is our ability to give the clients not just an OK, a decent experience but a truly wonderful remodeling experience. Can you speak about that a little bit? What do you guys do or what should remodelers be doing to really put that experience for the clients over the top? You can answer it either way. Neil: There are many things that go to that. And yes, a lot of remodelers seek to make customers happy. Making a customer happy is a low-order mark. Because anything below that is red line – failures, problems and issues. We want to exceed their expectations. And we know everybody says that under promise, over deliver but it’s got to be real applications. It’s got to be commitment to guaranteed time completion. It’s got to be a commitment to clear transparency in information and pricing. It’s got to be a commitment to constant communication and awareness. It’s got to be a commitment to offering only the best remodeling practices and applications. Kyle: It’s demanding excellence from start to finish, that’s what you’re saying? Neil: Correct! And don’t seek to the level of the client’s expectation. Because we do meet clients with lowered expectations. That’s not good for us. We’ve got to bring them up to our level of expectation or they’re not going to be our clients.


Ryan: It only takes one or two bad experiences with clients where it can ruin the business. It really can! And doing the things you just mentioned is crucially important. Kyle: I have a hunch that you’re ready for the lightning round here, Neil. Are you ready? Neil: Possibly. Kyle: We’ll rapid fire through some questions here. Ryan, why don’t you start with one? Ryan: Let’s start off with what is the best business advice you’ve ever received? Neil: Another mentor told me one time, listen and absorb information and advice from colleagues and mentors. But never change who you are and what your business is. Therefore, take the information in and take out the parts that you think will work for you. Don’t wholesale change and become something you are not. Ryan: I think that’s important. I made that mistake a lot of times. I try to take someone’s idea and information and integrate that right into what I’m doing but not really adjusting for the other things that I already have in place. That’s huge! Kyle: It’s the third or fourth time you’ve mentioned mentors, Neil. Talk to us about the importance of mentors. Shine a little light, a little visibility on who those people are – not necessarily by name, but maybe where they come from. Neil: Mentors. We say mentors and everyone has the picture of an old retiree who sits on tops of a mountain. Sometimes it’s a contemporary. Sometimes it’s someone younger than you. Sometimes it’s somebody who hasn’t realized that he is a mentor. But you see how they act, how they talk, how they carry themselves and you’ll get info from them. You’ll absorb it from them. But, again, it’s a two-way street. I think, you are going to receive more good information openly from people if you yourself are willing to share information that you have.


Life and business-wise, I believe in karma. Therefore, you get back what you put out. Kyle: Pretty good. Can you share one of your personal habits that you believe attribute to your success? Neil: I’ve mentioned earlier. And without a doubt, it’s hardwork. Hardwork and organization. Again, I’m at my desk 7 days a week, 5 o’clock in the morning. I’m available to my staff, colleagues, clients, remodelers and homeowners 7 days a week. And I’m not saying that in a complaining manner or a burdened manner. I enjoy what I do. Again, the old saying is that, “When you find something you love to do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Ryan: I have a quick question. Have you read the book 4-hour Work Week? Neil: No, I have not. Ryan: Do you think it’s possible, just in my experience, if you really want to achieve great in your life, it’s going to take quite a bit of time and effort to that point. I feel that book is great. And I’ve learned a lot. But I don’t know if it’s necessarily possible in lots of industries that I see. Neil: Let’s answer that in a couple of different ways Ryan. First, I have not read a book in 20 years. My attention span, like that of my clients, diminishes year upon year. Therefore, my reading is limited to small blogs, things I see on websites, any email that Kyle puts out. Another shameless plug. But I’ve not read that book. I am aware of it. But to me, efficiencies. For me, it’s not the time you put in. It’s what you put into the time. So if people are not organized and don’t have the system, that attention to detail, they may put in 12-hour day and not get much accomplished. Kyle: When you mentioned to us 7 days a week, being available. Talk to us about balance a little bit. How do you keep that balance in your life? Being a family man and all.


Neil: It’s tough. My family would like me to work less. But just like I have commitment to my family, I have a commitment to those I work for and with. To be available to them, to not drop the ball like many of the people in the industry do. Kyle: This question’s going to stink for you because you’re not that much of a reader, but what book or in your case, what pages in a book would you recommend to Remodelers on the Rise listeners? Neil: The last book that I read which was related to business was from the early 90’s that I probably read in the mid-90’s. It’s called the Sales Magic by Kerry Johnson. I still have it in my book shelf. It is about NLP: Neuro-linguistic Programming. Body language. Reading people. Because when we talk about selling, selling is understanding who you’re interacting with. Now, I’ll take a step back with systems. If you don’t have proper systems in place and you don’t understand or know your systems, you would never be able to pay attention to somebody’s body language. You need to know these systems like the back of your hand. Like a professional athlete stepping into a batter’s box or going into the football field, then you can pay attention to what people are saying, how they are reacting to what you are saying. So therefore, to me, I’m sure there are many books since then, on NLP. But that’s definitely a fairly easy read. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Kyle: Excellent! Ryan: We talked a lot about systems Neil throughout this conversation. Is there any resource or something that you could share with our listeners that might help them develop a better system? Neil: A couple of things Ryan. I have plenty of that available. Kyle can attest to that. I’m more than glad to share with people. Many of the stuff that I have free of charge – my time, all the information that I have.


But one thing that I suggest to any one, any remodeler listening or any homeowner is my free eBook is called “Improving the Remodeling Estimate” And it’s written about what I feel, should happen in that initial homeowner-remodeler meeting, from both sides of the table. What the homeowner should do and expect. What the remodeler should do and expect. Then not only is that a good guideline but within there, there are other free available things. It just popped in my inbox, a remodeler asking for my handout entitled, “What is Really Important for You with this Project?” And then, I have another called “12 Steps to a Professional Remodeling Sale.” It’s an outline of what we should think would happen – again a metronome of what a remodeler should do once they get into the house. Ryan: That sounds excellent. Any of that would be immensely helpful. And as a reminder to our audience, this show along with the full transcription and detailed show notes would be available on RemodelersontheRise.com/show3. Kyle: That eBook would also be on the resource page. I do have a final question for you, Neil. It’s a little bit of deucey. It’s a tough one, you’re ready? Neil: Fire away! Kyle: Ok! Fire away! So imagine, you woke up tomorrow morning, you were in the same exact business, you knew no one, had no sales, had only $500 of start-up money and your life depended on you selling something in the next 7 days. You still have all the experience and knowledge you currently have. Your food and shelter is taken cared of. But all you have is a laptop and $500. What would you do in the next 7 days to survive and generate new business? Remember, your life depends on it. Neil: Ah! I love pressure. First of all, the first day, the first morning, with that laptop, I’d send out an email blast to my database and again being organized and a systems person, I have 10,000 emails in my database so I’d send that out. I would update all my social media with a message to all my friends, family, colleagues, previous clients about what I need and what I’m looking for.


And then, with my $500, I would probably allocate a $100 for gasoline, for travel. Then, I would set up appointments and I’d go see every previous client that I could in that 1-week period. And with the remaining $400, on my way to each client, I’d pick up a modest gift – maybe some fresh-cut flowers, small certificates, maybe a pizza depending on who the client is. Sit down, meet with the client. Look for future business that client and/or referrals. Kyle: Boom! Ryan: That’s excellent! It’s interesting. We’ve asked that question a few times and no one mentioned going to all their previous clients and visiting them physically which I think would be one of the first things that could be huge. Neil: Ryan, I get remodelers who ask me commonly say, “What Internet lead generation source should I use?” And I say, “I wouldn’t even validate that with an answer until you can show me that you’ve tapped in every resource – your database, your previous clients, your job sites, your SEO and your website. Once you’ve done all those things, when you’ve maximized those, then we can talk about third party lead generation. Ryan: Right on! Kyle: Get the fundamentals in place. I was up speaking in Traverse City last week and what do you think of Facebook fanpage? And I said, I did a remodeling project with you two years ago. I haven’t heard from you since then. Her answer was “No.” I said, I hate Facebook fanpages for you. Don’t even sniff it. Don’t even think about. Ryan: Neil, is there a place where people can find you, get a hold of you. Is there anything else that you wanted to share today with the audience? Neil: First Ryan, I pride myself with being omnipresent. The first place that anyone should go for is, my brother and I would be in a website, which is www.designbuildpros.com.

http://www.designbuildpros.com/


A lot of resources out there that would give you all the avenues to our social media, a lot of content, a lot of resource. There’s a free eBook for download. Also, what we have on there which is popular with both homeowners and remodelers is we have an application in there where somebody can go in and schedule a 15 minute phone conversation with my brother and I. So, convenient to their schedule and our availability, they’ll make an appointment and we’re going to call them at that time. And we can discuss the next project they’re going to do. If it’s a remodeler, we can talk about their business and the industry. That leads back to our organization. And the fact that in the e-world, a lot of people have gotten away from phone calls and I’ll admit that it’s tough with the other stuff that we do but again if I have 15 minutes blocked out of my calendar to make a phone call to a homeowner or a remodeler, I’d gladly do. Kyle: Thank you very much. We really appreciate the insight and the knowledge, the wonderful information you’ve shared. And this is just a friendly reminder to all our listeners, you can check us out at RemodelersontheRise.com. And if you could take 2 minutes to review and rate our show in iTunes, the more reviews and ratings we get on there, the better chance other people like yourself can find the show. Appreciate you all tuning in. Thank you so much Neil for being on the show today. Thanks to my co-host Ryan. And we’ll talk to you next time. Thanks gents! Ryan: Thank you, Neil. Thank you, Kyle. Neil: Thank you guys!

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Show 3: Neil Parsons of Design Build Pros