I’ve been with Remodelers Advantage now for roughly a year and a half and as we head into 2019, I continue to work with Steve Wheeler, our Business Development leader, on finding and bringing in new members to our Roundtables groups.

One of the big questions Steve and I discuss often, when looking at ways to grow the Roundtables community, is “What are some of the characteristics of existing Roundtables members and what makes them successful remodelers and business owners?”

There are many that we come up with; entrepreneurial, driven, smart, hard-working, detail oriented and successful… but these can likely describe many business owners out there.

What Makes Our Members Different?

What makes our members seek out counsel from others? Meet with their peers in-person and communicate throughout the year? What makes them stay with the Roundtables community for three, five, ten, fifteen years or longer? And more importantly, what makes them some of the most successful leaders in the industry?

In my time here with R/A I’ve compiled an ever-growing list of some of these characteristics and I’ve labeled them as the “X-Factor”… I know, too many Marvel movies over the holidays… and in many instances identifying these personality traits has come from meeting our members face-to-face, whether at Summit, JumpStart or one of our other events.

What is the X Factor?

Hungry: It goes beyond being driven and trying to make as much money as possible… our most successful members are hungry for knowledge – they seek out ways to improve their lives and businesses by constantly seeking out and consuming educational and networking opportunities. They are voracious readers, listen to podcasts and attend networking/educational events. We have members that, when on vacation, will seek out an R/A member in that area, just to grab a cup of coffee and learn more about their business.

Creative: These members are always looking for new and better ways to not only build and deliver remodeling projects, but to market their businesses as well. Looking through our members websites, videos, marketing materials, portfolios, etc. we see cutting edge ideas and firms who are always willing to try something new. Drones, 3D-walkthroughs, Niche events and social media engagement to name a few.

Altruistic: An inherited part of the Roundtables experience is the process of providing feedback and helping other businesses in your group. It’s not a surprise that many of our most successful members are leaders in their respective groups, actively providing feedback, taking the time to review financial data and offering suggestions on ways their group members can improve.

Going further, we see these same members very active in giving back to their communities, whether it is through their church, chamber of commerce or various charities and organizations.

Client-facing: As our members grow their respective businesses they are typically very passionate about their client’s satisfaction and ability to provide a positive reference; the “lifeblood” for a remodeler as our own Mark Harari would say. That focus on client satisfaction never goes away and becomes the foundation many of our members will base their success on.

Quality-focused: Going hand-in-hand with client satisfaction above, the focus on quality craftsmanship and overall project experience for the client is a very common trait among the most successful members and firms. A main aspect of providing quality is a focus on building a solid production department, typically led by a Production Manager and a team of project managers, carpenters, etc. Many of our members have worked with our production “Guru” Tim Faller or enrolled their Production Manager into a tactical Roundtables Group.

Do you have the X-Factor?

Hopefully by giving you a glimpse into the process we use to find Roundtables Members and the characteristics we see among our members we have helped you identify areas in your business that can be developed further or focused on in 2019 and beyond.

If you would like to learn more about Remodelers Advantage and becoming a member of our Roundtables community, please contact Steve Wheeler.