Things That Have Never Been

Aside from the weather, January is one of my favorite months. I love the feeling of the new year spread out in front of me like a perfect, snowy field marked with nothing but potential. 

There’s a quote from Rainer Maria Rilke, the great German poet, that sums it up really well. He wrote, “And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.”

Along those lines, the new year is also the time when businesses—including this one—begin to execute the initiatives they planned during the prior 12 months. In that spirit, I’d like to share some of the new editorial offerings Pro Remodeler is introducing in 2018. 

First off is our new columnist, Chip Doyle. Chip is an accomplished author, business consultant, and trainer in the Sandler sales methodology. I was first exposed to his expertise about a year ago during an informal visit to a remodeler’s office in Dallas. The remodeler happened to be in a phone meeting with Chip when I arrived, and he invited me to sit in on their chat. During the conversation, I was struck by Chip’s keen insights and the clarity of his communication style as he provided highly specific, actionable advice. Chip will be writing for us six times a year, starting with this issue. (You can find his column on page 18.) 

Next up is more of a change in the topics we emphasize. In 2017, the editorial team spent a lot of time looking at what most engages readers, and we found that it’s a mixture of construction and business best practices. For the past year, we’ve been publishing a section on building science and jobsite know-how, and now that lens will be widened to include the operational side of the remodeling business. (A perfect example was our cover story last month that discussed how to write detailed specs.) 

This in-depth reporting on topics such as estimating, project management, and the workflow between sales, design, and production is the sort of content you’ll see taking front and center stage more often in the coming months. Sal Alfano will be the point person on these stories, and I’m eagerly anticipating continuing our work together creating great content. 

Finally, Pro Remodeler is taking on an ambitious project this year with the goal of benefiting the entire industry. We’re going to conduct a large-scale salary survey focusing on seven job titles. Data will be broken down by market so that remodelers can track the salaries of key positions in their area. We’re also planning to cover how bonuses are structured, since that’s an important part of many employees’ compensation packages.

We’re excited about these initiatives and are looking forward to hearing
your thoughts. 

Happy New Year!