Question of the Day: WOW! Did you see the January Advertiser? Stan Sias If you are anything like me, you were delighted with the new format and content of the January issue. Congratulations to Anna and Thom on producing a first rate resource periodical. I was delighted to see new articles by Carl Schoening at Eagle Metal Products, Sean Hubbard at Square 1 Design and... Read More February 2016 Issue #09199 Page 4
Advertiser Forum: Fighting the Good Fight Anna Stamm In January, I had the privilege of once again attending SBCA Chapter meetings. Having participated in meetings for many years as WTCA/SBCA staff, it was funny to think I was now calling in as an SBCA member. In the past, I spent 13 years working to support members, and now I was a member too!... Read More February 2016 Issue #09199 Page 10
What Happened to the Fun? Carl Schoening So, here I sit with plenty of work that needs to be done. I began thinking of when I first started in the industry, then becoming involved in the national association, then becoming the western distributor of involved. The one constant in all of that “doing” was that as a group we... Read More February 2016 Issue #09199 Page 14
Solving the Information Breakdowns in Your Company Todd Drummond Do you think that some of your competition has a competitive advantage because their sales teams are processing projects via the Web on tablets? If they are able to start and/or update any project information, find the current stage of any task and also review any project’s schedule, all... Read More February 2016 Issue #09199 Page 20
Advertiser Forum: Valuing Relationships in Business Anna Stamm Obviously, we all make decisions based on value. Cost vs. benefit. Risk vs. reward. But too often, we are all encouraged to think of value only in terms of dollars and cents. Too be sure, money plays a big part, but it’s not always simple and straightforward. Building... Read More January 2016 Issue #09198 Page 10
Overcoming Obstacles and Profiting with a New Perspective Todd Drummond Industry’s averages for net-profits-to-sales ratio: Below average – 0% to 9% Average – 10% to 12% Common to see – 13% to 19% High return more common than most know– Greater than 20% (No B.S.) Do you know how well your company did in comparison to... Read More January 2016 Issue #09198 Page 20
2016……Wait….What?!?! Carl Schoening That was my reaction when I realized last week that 2016 was right around the corner. Well, actually I hit a stark realization around the middle of December when I had a birthday and could not figure out how I got here. You know, to this place in time. It seems like yesterday that I was a hairy... Read More January 2016 Issue #09198 Page 30
The Last Word: Enriching Our Work From a Distance Joe Kannapell This time of year, when most job changes occur, we need to especially engage our remote employees. We must nurture, retain and recruit more of these people who don’t have an office, but have become the backbone of many companies. Truss designers, bookkeepers, and IT people increasingly... Read More January 2016 Issue #09198 Page 45
Advertiser Forum: It’s Good to be Back with Friends Anna Stamm When I left Wisconsin for Oklahoma, I was looking forward to new surroundings. (If you can overlook the tornado risk, the weather is fantastic.) The hard part though was leaving an industry I’d called home for thirteen years. I missed going to work and doing my best to provide as much... Read More December 2015 Issue #08197 Page 10