VP of Sales and Pre-Construction
Allen Construction
Santa Barbara, Calif.
What started as a love of building has evolved into a career of consultative sales, team building, and business management. I came up through the carpentry path, but I immediately was interested in understanding the business side of things.
Best innovation: The typical bid-build model is a bit archaic. Plans progress until permits, then homeowners ask for bids—that’s a horrible model that forces contractors to be vague to increase their chances. The typical design-build process is a better deliverable, but we’re not that as a company. What I have done is heavily try to mimic a design-build process and use our architectural community as partners. That allows us to sell for each other. It’s no longer bidding for free and seeing what happens.
Business book recommendation:
How to Be a Great Boss
