http://www2.remodeling.hw.net/sales-and-marketing/sales/sales-benchmarks/sales-benchmarks.aspx?view=rss&id=Query_tcm1765125http://www2.remodeling.hw.net/benchmarks/2009-budget-planning.aspx?rssLink=2009+Budget+PlanningWhich expenses do you expect to change most from 2008, and how will you offset them?http://www2.remodeling.hw.net/facts-and-figures/business-benchmarks-survey/?rssLink=2007+Business+Benchmarking+SurveyHow do remodelers measure their companies' financial performance? A relative few belong to peer groups that allow them to compare their numbers to those of similarly situated companies around the country. Others have more informal relationships with colleagues who trade information over a phone call, lunch, or a beer at a local watering hole. But the great majority can only compare themselves to, well, themselves, evaluating current financial performance relative to performance in previous years.http://www2.remodeling.hw.net/benchmarks/sales-process-metrics.aspx?rssLink=Sales+Process+MetricsSales are the fuel of your company. Benchmarking your sales process can help you fine-tune your fuel efficiency. Sales process metrics are especially helpful for full-service remodeling companies because they have a unique sales process.http://www2.remodeling.hw.net/business/the-2007-big-50-measuring-up.aspx?rssLink=The+2007+Big+50%3a+Measuring+UpEvery year since 1986, we have devoted this issue to profiles of the Big50 -- owners of successful, growing remodeling companies of various sizes that are among the best in America. To select the Big50, we measure hundreds of candidates against an array of objective benchmarks, looking for those companies whose policies, performance, and best practices set the standards against which winning companies must compete. Meet the 2007 Big 50 inside...http://www2.remodeling.hw.net/sales/benchmark-refer-madness.aspx?rssLink=Benchmark%3a+Refer+MadnessWho is the better referral source, a client who sends you 18 leads of which 2 become sales or a customer who sends you 4 leads of which 1 is sold?http://www2.remodeling.hw.net/marketing/marketing-budget.aspx?rssLink=Marketing+BudgetBenchmarks help remodelers evaluate their company's performance. Some benchmarks are averages, some represent reasonable targets, still others set thresholds. The danger, however, is that a benchmark that is meaningful for most companies may not be appropriate for some.http://www2.remodeling.hw.net/remodeling/benchmark-beautiful-but.aspx?rssLink=Benchmark%3a+Beautiful%2c+But+...Back in January 2000, REMODELING set the benchmark for customer referrals at 95%. Even follow-up surveys that ask homeowners to rank performance too often ask the wrong question or draw the wrong conclusions from the answers.http://www2.remodeling.hw.net/benchmarks/benchmark-analyze-this.aspx?rssLink=Benchmark%3a+Analyze+ThisThe more often you measure performance, the easier it will be to make needed corrections before problems grow out of control.Compare historical with current lead counts to forecast sales for the next quarter.http://www2.remodeling.hw.net/compensation/risk-and-growth.aspx?rssLink=Risk+and+GrowthA recent Benchmark column prompted an e-mail response from Bob Hanbury, CGR, of House of Hanbury Builders in Newington, Ct. Hanbury points out that the relationship between risk and owner's compensation isn't static and is affected by any change in a company's normal course of business. More important, says Hanbury, risk increases with any change in volume, but especially with rapid growth.http://www2.remodeling.hw.net/marketing/a-marketing-formula-for-growth.aspx?rssLink=A+Marketing+Formula+For+GrowthHow do you determine what to spend on marketing when you need to boost sales efforts for growth?Joaquin Erazo Jr., marketing vice president at Case Design/Remodeling, Bethesda, Md., uses a formula that relies on history as an indicator of future performance. "The goal is to make sure you are not overspending or underspending," Erazo says.He recommends working through this process twice a year, once for planning, then once midyear.http://www2.remodeling.hw.net/compensation/benchmark-fair-compensation.aspx?rssLink=Benchmark%3a+Fair+CompensationIn the March 2001 issue, we set the benchmark for owner salary at 10% of gross revenue. Fortunately there are lots of other perfectly legal ways for company owners to compensate themselves.http://www2.remodeling.hw.net/remodeling/benchmarking-the-big-50.aspx?rssLink=Benchmarking+the+Big+50Membership in REMODELING's Big 50 now numbers more than 1,000 individuals. That's a large enough number to make for some interesting statistics.