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When Jim D'Alessio, president of James P. D'Alessio, Inc., in Brentwood, N.H., lost his battle with esophageal cancer earlier this year, his employees were heartbroken. They felt sorrow for the loss of a wonderful person and a top business owner, and a profound sadness for his family.
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I have been given the opportunity to take on a high-profile remodel, but I am concerned about my ability to get along with this potential client. Is there anything extra I should do to ensure that the job goes smoothly?
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Everyone wants to know what the client is thinking before, during, and after the project. Often, post-project responses are slow in coming or, worse, customer satisfaction surveys are never even mailed out.
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The Federal Trade Commission's national Do Not Call Registry went into effect October 2003 (and many states have their own registries). Anyone soliciting by phone should be aware of the rules.
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Just 3 of the Fisher Group's 16 employees were on the company's Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance plan. “Nobody participated except the older people in the company because rates were so high,” says Eileen Cross, office manager at the Annandale, Va., design/build firm.
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Jeff Winn has a simple time- and money-saving strategy for recruiting and retaining field staff: he lets his bilingual lead carpenter, Steve Heredia, do the hiring. It's a logical fit, notes Winn, president of Big Sky Construction, San Jose, Calif. “Steve works in the field directly with these people, he's hands-on, he can see if they have any deficiencies or bad habits to turn around.”
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Hurricane Katrina displaced some 1 million people from their jobs in New Orleans, coastal Mississippi, and Alabama. The devastation was worst in areas populated by a workforce serving largely local economies — including remodeling — that, for the time being, no longer exist. As REMODELING goes to press, a growing number of Web sites and organizations are retooling their services to help match the newly unemployed with prospective employers hundreds or thousands of miles away.
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Teamwork is a big part of the culture at Mark IV Builders. It's everyone's responsibility to work together and participate in company operations, even when doing so extends beyond normal job descriptions.
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Eren Design & Construction values its loyal trade contractors and wants to value them even more. Last year, the Tucson, Ariz., company implemented a formal rating system for its plumbers, electricians, painters, granite contractors, and other subcontractors.
In a recent Survey.com/eBay study of 1,000 women who have remodeled, almost half (45%) said that they found staying within budget to be the most difficult part of the home remodeling process — even harder than finding the right contractor (10%).
When a salesperson from Tarzana, Calif.-based One Week Bath visits potential clients, they lay out the choices — 4 styles of cabinets, 10 finishes, several solid surfaces — as well as the parameters — no structural work, no moving of plumbing or electrical. Such a tight program helps in two ways: it is less confusing for clients who are generally overwhelmed with unlimited choices, and it helps eliminate variables that can cause delays in remodeling, which would be disastrous for a company that guarantees a new bathroom in one week.
The book features 250 color images that include before and after photographs of kitchen transformations. It also shows storage tricks and innovative designs, along with essential steps to help homeowners focus their design preferences. Special sections about appliances, cabinets, countertops, and storage educate homeowners about choosing materials.
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According to “The Kitchen & Bath Consumer Speaks Out” report from the Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI) commissioned by the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA), a majority of homeowners who remodeled their kitchen or bathroom say they were satisfied with the entire process — including the installation phase.
When William J. Patrick renovated a 100-year-old building to create new office space for his Lancaster, Pa., remodeling company, he had the future in mind. Not only was the office going to house his company's day-to-day operations, Patrick also wanted it to be a showplace of craftsmanship and a real estate investment that would grow through the years.