Show 8 with Jason Gettum

Interviews with Today’s Top Remodeling Entrepreneurs http://www.remodelersontherise.com

Show 8: Jason Gettum with Gettum Associates reviews the importance of honesty, integrity, and building confidence into your remodeling sales process

Kyle: Welcome to Remodelers on the Rise! I am your host, Kyle Hunt. And as always, I’m joined by my co-host Ryan Paul Adams. Hello there, Ryan! Ryan: Hi Kyle! What’s going on? Kyle: Nothing much. Actually, I’m recording a podcast right now, what are you up to? Ryan: Not much. Just sitting here, sleeping… Kyle: You asked. So I had to give a smart aleck response. I can’t help myself. So this is Remodelers on the Rise Podcast #8. And let’s get started by introducing today’s guest, Jason Gettum, who is the Vice President of Gettum Associates out of Greenwood, Indiana. Jason is a Certified Graduate Remodeler. Selected in 2012 as a 40 Under 40 Award Recipient by Professional Remodeling Magazine. And he is also active and in the Board of Remodeling Council for his HSBA down in the great Indianapolis area. So, Jason, welcome! Jason: Thank you guys! Thanks for having me on. Ryan: Welcome Jason. Kyle: So the focus of this show is really about you, your business and your experience. You’ve mentioned to us, some of the things you’ve said to us off-air, you feel like you learned a lot starting from the bottom and working your way up in the business. Can you please tell us a little bit more about that? Your career and share about you personally.


Jason: So, I have been in just every kind of situation there is. I started by following my dad around the job sites. He would say, “While I’m here looking things over, clean up this mess. Clean this. Clean that.” That was fun for me as a kid. When I got out of high school, I picked up part time work with him. Then, full time on the summer all the way through college. Basically, I started as a general laborer – hauling lumber, digging dirt, shoveling gravel. Stuff like that. Ryan: So, really, from the bottom up. Jason: Absolutely! I was thankful to have a Lead Carpenter over me who’s worked my butt off. My dad worked my butt off. My hands got dirty. They got calloused. It has been kind of a journey from there on the way up. From that, I graduated college in 1999 and had an opportunity to come into the office. I took off my tool belt and learned the business aspect and that kind of thing. And they had a need for an estimator. The sales person at that time was doing all of that. And you know, business was such that, we needed somebody full time and I was lucky enough to get that opportunity. And just to share a funny story, my dad really wasn’t hit on the idea at that time. It was more at the direction of the Sales Manager. He was like, “Look, if I’m going to bring him in, I’m going to teach him. You are going to leave him alone.” And that’s how it all kind of got started. So I had some really, really good teachers and mentors along the way. Both my Sales Manager and my father from time to time – when he wasn’t poking and prying me. That’s how it all came to be, really. My role just keeps expanding a little bit. Kyle: And if you’d summarize your role today? Jason: Well, like a lot of us, I wear a lot of hats.


I am an acting Vice President. However, I still do 90% of the job costing. I’m typically the first one to talk to a client when they call in. All those responsibilities as well as what’s important for our business – marketing to potential clients. And I pretty much have taken that all in on myself. I pretty much handle all the responsibilities as well. Kyle: I got you. Anything you care to share personally, like hobbies or whatever so that everyone gets to know what makes you tick outside the office. Jason: Yeah! Well, I know Ryan, you are from the Northeast and you might not like it. I am a huge Colts fan. I really enjoyed playing ice hockey. I grew up playing ice hockey. I played all the way through high school. And in the past years, I’ve been lucky enough to convince my father, as well as my brothers and my stepdad. We all play hockey on Tuesday nights. We have a blast! Other than that, I like summertime. I like spending it with the kids. And we all like to camp a lot. That’s about it, in a nutshell. Kyle: So flashback to 2011 or 2012, even today, would you rather have Peyton Manning as your quarterback or Andrew Luck? Jason: As sad as that whole situation was, I think, the Colts as an organization made the right choice. It is good for Peyton and it was good for us. We’ve been so fortunate to have two outstanding people leading the team. There are not so many organizations that can say that they have a back to back person like a Peyton Manning and an Andrew Luck on their team. Ryan: What would you do with Irsay? Let’s go down that road. Jason: From a human standpoint, the addiction is just a terrible, terrible thing. But as an organization, we are used to trying to stay out of the limelight. Unfortunately, there has been some bad publicity with all these. I guess that goes with the territory. For the most part, he will be fine. He is a billionaire. Somebody will pick him out of the ground and dust him off a bit. That’s all about what I can say with that. I just can’t believe it’s gotten to that point but it did. Kyle: All right, segue us Ryan.


Ryan: Before we go down into our typical segments here. Family business, I came from the same situation as you – working with Dad. Just talk about the advantages and disadvantages of working in a family business and having Dad looking over your shoulder. Just touch on that a little bit, if you would. Jason: Obviously, I think my father Phil would definitely agree that it’s definitely a challenge. You tend to butt heads more with somebody who’s a family member versus somebody else. I’d be the first to admit that there’s been stuff said just in anger and haste that I would have never said to somebody else. But you have to keep that line in mind. It gets straddled occasionally but you don’t ever want to cross it. I joke to a lot of people, “Here’s my last name.” They’d say, “Oh, you are Phil’s son.” I’d say, “But don’t let that bother you. Between 8 to 5, my name might as well be Mike Smith.” That is how I’m trained. Ryan: That’s great! My wife once in a while would be, “Who were you just in the phone with?” And I’d be like, “Why?” And she’d say, “Well, you weren’t really nice.” I’d reply, “I was just talking to my dad, talking about business. That’s how we talk. We get very animated and he doesn’t take offense in that. He talks to me in the same way. It’s just a different way to talk.” I’d never talk to somebody else like that. It’s just that we know that we both can take it. We don’t take it personally. But, it’s probably isn’t the best way either. Jason: No. I will say this, I think it gives us the ability to hold each other accountable, and push each other.


We feel comfortable calling each other out if we have to. And that’s important. It is very satisfying and rewarding. At the same time, it can be very, very cumbersome sometimes. Ryan: It can be a challenge for sure. So let’s talk a little bit about a success quote that you live by. And really try and break it down to us as how you might apply that to your life and to your remodeling business. Jason: I have always, especially in the past 5 to 6 years lived by the motto, “Work smarter not harder.” And you know, it’s a very cliché saying but it’s very true. You could chase people all day long for business. But if you don’t know what you are looking for, you’re missing the mark. It’s very true as far as your systems go. A perfect example, years ago, somebody would call and we would set an appointment. We would mail them a confirmation letter. It took somebody typing it up. Somebody to slap postage on it, take it to the post office. And who knows if it even got there or if it even got read. Now we are collecting email addresses. Within 5 minutes, there are people set up for confirmation. It gets sent to their email inbox. It’s stuff like that. It’s about systems. It’s being ready and organized. Kyle: Not shooting from the hip? Jason: Exactly. Ryan: Doing the same things over and over again definitely creates economies of scale. Jason: Absolutely! Kyle: Excellent! Tell us a story about a time in your journey where you encountered failure. If you could take us to that time in your life and tell us that story and perhaps share some lessons you learned from it? Jason: I lived in Charlotte, North Carolina for two years. I left and moved in a time in the business when things weren’t very good.


I left not knowing what’s going to happen. I felt so helpless. I felt almost responsible because I’ve taken on such a big role in the company. I felt really bad about it. But I learned a lot of lessons. I learned that thankfully, with remote technology, I could continue to do exactly what I was doing. And also have the time to focus on much needed marketing. So I learned a lot of things. I learned to turn something bad into something good. And tried to right the wrong. And to be able to do that 800 to 900 miles away really thought me so much – to persevere and to keep going. Ryan: Sometimes, you have to take a step back or approach things from a different angle to get re-energized in the business or to maybe consider doing something else. It is not always the worst thing in the world. Jason: Absolutely! It happened, I was able to stay on and work remotely for a while. Nobody really knew any different. To share a little secret with everybody, phone calls got forwarded to me. I logged in remotely to our server. It was pretty much business as usual. Ryan: Interesting! That’s great. Talk to us a little bit about maybe a big breakthrough – an AHA! moment in your life that changed your remodeling business. Jason: Well, for me personally, a big AHA! moment was finally gaining confidence in my abilities to deal with people when it became me who was the first to answer the phone. Not only had I heard it through other people who have spoken to my father, “Hey, I talked to Jason, so and so.” When they were sharing to me, “Hey! We really appreciate the advice you gave me, the knowledge.” This, a lot of times, came from potential clients who really weren’t a good fit for us and we weren’t a good fit for them. But the people appreciated the upfront honesty and just the help in general to steer them in the right direction.


And that to me was a big AHA! moment because I felt more confident. Not only about me but the business going forward. Ryan: And I don’t know about you Jason but do you tend to learn more from the mistakes you make and the bad clients you get versus the things that go smoothly? What do you really learn from that? What are your thoughts? Jason: Absolutely! If you are in business for a while, you are going to have a share of bad clients or projects that don’t go right for whatever reason. And you learn more about yourself and business than nay job gone right really. I don’t think back on the 10, 15 to 20 projects that went well last year. The ones that stick out inside my head are a couple that kind of went south. Kyle: What I took from your AHA! moment there Jason is the importance of gaining confidence. When you started hearing, “Wait! These people are giving me feedback.” That was really helpful and that confidence just starts rolling and rolling and getting bigger and bigger. And I think, sometimes, that is overlooked. What’s the difference between this company that is kicking butts and taking names and my company? And a lot of times, it comes down to that confidence. When you are confident in your sales process and your ability to deliver a wonderful job, project and experience, that shines through. I’ve seen it often with remodelers who go from always just competing on price, not getting this and that to now getting the margins they need, being confident. “Swagger” isn’t the right word for it. But your ability to carry yourself, people notice that, right? Ryan: “Swagger” is a good word for it. Jason: I agree! “Swagger” is a good word. Kyle: Okay! Thank you for that encouragement there. Jason: I don’t think that it should be taken in a cocky fashion. I think “swagger” is a very good term.


When you realize who you are, what you do, what you do well, it keeps you from taking on things that is not a good fit for you. We all know what we do well at, what we excel at and honestly, there were many years that we’d go meet with as many people as we could just to get in front of them. Well, you know it’s good for name recognition but it doest equate into more sales. Ryan: Right! Kyle: It does equate to more stress though, right? It isn’t usually a recipe for success. Jason: It does. It’s like trying to shoot fish in a barrel. It’s not a good approach. You want to pick clients who you are going to work well for and with. And I think the clients feel the same way. If you are not a good fit, then you are not a good fit. The whole issue on price is if you’ve been in the business for a long time, you have a good reputation, then the worst thing you could do is start playing with your pricing just to get jobs. It is a recipe for disaster. You’re going to go out of business. And you are going to go out of business so slowly that you don’t even see it. Ryan: It’s a good point. Jason, talk to us a little bit about something that’s really exciting you in your business right now. Jason: I tell you, the last few years as things have gotten a little bit better in the economy or at least stabilized somewhat. I think it’s exciting to see people wanting to stay in their homes longer. They are modifying, remodeling, renovating – whatever term you want to use for it. They are making their homes to match their current lifestyle. Whereas before, I think, people looked to move or build a new home because the opportunities were right. Depending on the community you are in, there may not be great lots still available. It maybe in the middle of a cornfield as such as around here.


When people like their neighborhood, like their school, like their neighbors and they see that it’s possible for them to modify their house, avoid the stress of moving and make it fit what they need. I think it’s a pretty exciting thing to do. And we’ve talked to a lot of families who say that, “Look I just don’t know if I should build a new house or move. But Johnny really likes his school…” And my advice to them is go out in the market, see what’s available. Talk to your real estate agent. 9 times out 10, moving to a new home to fit your needs is going to be more expensive than modifying what you already have. It just fits. To me, it is so exciting. People are much more educated to, seeing what they see on the Internet, they can visualize the possibilities. Ryan: As a consultant, you’d obviously love to get that job. So you are not afraid to be a consultant in that situation and tell them to go look and go search for other things. You might lose that job by giving that advice. Why do you feel that that’s important to do? Jason: Well, we feel as a company that we have that responsibility. We meet with people in the past who are in a starter neighborhood and look, it doesn’t make sense to put an addition on their homes. The value of their homes would out-value any other house in there. It is not going to be good for resale. Some of those people are ready to move up into houses so they are going to look for something different. We are not afraid to tell people that. I think it is part of being a trusting, honest person to give people that advice. It isn’t only the right thing to do but let’s face it, if they knew somebody who is going to be in the market for a remodel project, hopefully, you’ve done them well and you are going to get a referral. Kyle: Long term view versus short term view there. Jason: Yeah, correct. Kyle: Excellent. So before we get into the lightning round Jason, I want to ask one more question.


You are doing a lot of good things with creating content, with blogging, with email marketing. Talk to us a little bit about why you do that, how you can find the time to do that and maybe some of the results from it. Jason: I am kind of a self-teacher when it comes to this stuff. I immersed myself into this for a couple of years. My role’s changed and I kind of had to do all the marketing. I knew where marketing, in general, was heading. I invested a lot of my own time outside of work learning some of this stuff and reading about it. I think providing good content is about not selling something. You are not trying to sell something. Half of our job as remodel contractors is to educate clients. Providing them information – whether it’s how to unstop a toilet or replace a faucet. That’s not going to break into my sales. That’s just good advice that people can use. Like what I say, we are not trying to sell typically when we are sending out emails or posting on Facebook or writing blog topics or any of that stuff. It is generally about putting out information, good content, good advice. We try to educate the client. Like, “When you are looking for a contractor, here are some things to be aware of.” You are not trying to scare the consumer. But let’s face it, there are a lot of bad stories out there and I think it brings credibility to our business. It is useful advice that most people can use. Kyle: The definition I have for marketing is getting someone who has a need (in this case, someone who has a kitchen remodeling need) to know, like and trust you. That’s where it all comes down to. I think that’s what I’m gathering from you. It is just about building know, like and trust. It is not necessarily about closing them or converting every one of them. But when I build know, like and trust, that’s going to come back to me. It might not come back to me this month, next month. It might be a year from now, right? Jason: Exactly! My father, when we first started into blogging, online marketing and throwing out content, he was like, “How are you spending so much time creating this


and why? We should be focused on the last person who called and getting them signed up.” That was my point. He now understands the importance of it. It may not be today. It may not be tomorrow. It may not be next year. But in two years from now, when that client has read some of your good content, they are going to think of you. Kyle: What is your approach with how often you are trying to put it out or how often you try to email folks? Jason: I try to make it different. Obviously, I segment who I send to. And people receive different content based upon the cycle that they are in, sales-wise. Generally, no more than a couple of times a month. I don’t purposely try to spam people. I think the people who want the content will read it. Those who don’t will unsubscribe. Thankfully, we don’t have a very high unsubscribe rate. I don’t want to be a nuisance but I want to say, “Hey! This content’s out there.” Or, “Hey! Here we are if you need our help.” Kyle: And lastly, just to follow up on it. How many folks do you have in your email list? And are you seeing people who may have come to you a year ago then all of a sudden they pop up? All of a sudden they are ready to rock and roll now. They want to reach out to you. Is that part of who you are seeing? Jason: Yeah. I don’t know an exact number right now. I think we have a total list count of maybe 1000 to 1200. Somewhere around there. Ryan: That’s awesome! Jason: Like I said, I try to segment out. Not everybody gets the same content. So it is kind of a little hard to say.


That being said, I find that what’s been very useful for us with whom we met 6 months to a year ago who at that time didn’t work out for them or us, come back to us. Kyle: And you’ve seen that? Jason: Yeah! Ryan: It is huge. Jason: And our newsletter is a great way to stay in touch with past clients. We are very, very fortunate that, still, the bulk of our business comes from repeat customers and referrals from those repeat customers. And that’s a great way to stay in touch. It provides light hearted content for them. It says, “Hey look! We are still around. What can we help you with?” That kind of thing. I think that’s the feeling they get, too. Kyle: Good! I appreciate you sharing some of that. It is a topic that most remodelers and everybody listening to this knows – “I need to be staying in touch with my previous clients or prospects, with people who we meet here, there and everywhere. We always need to be focused on building up our database, our list of people who can know, like and trust us.” I see that you’ve put a priority to it. I am glad to hear it. it is proving profitable. Not just good old warm and fuzzy. We educate people but it’s profitable. That’s the emphasis there. So lightning round. We are going to rapid fire some questions at you. Ryan start us off. Jason: I’ll try my best. Ryan: Talk about the best business advice you’ve ever received. Jason: I touched on it earlier. Be who you are and try to target people, the clients who you know should be your clients. Know who you are going after. Ryan: Excellent! Kyle: There you go! That’s how you do a rapid fire!


Let’s try another one here. Can you share one of your personal habits that you believe attributes to your success? Jason: Absolutely! Perseverance. I’ve kind of always been that way. I don’t get discouraged easily. It has helped me out with a lot of business and personal struggles. The ability to persevere is a great trait that I believe I got from my father. But, I don’t quit. I don’t give up easily. I fight through it. I figure out a way to make it happen. Ryan: You have to be resilient, right? In this industry especially. I mean, you just can’t be up and down, and all over the place. Kyle: Is it just an attitude? You wake up and say, “I am going to be persistent, resilient?” Jason: Yeah! I don’t even know I wake up that way. It just kind of happens. It’s kind of got a consciousness of its own, I guess. Kyle: There you go. Good! What book would you recommend to Remodelers on the Rise listeners? Jason: Oh, funny enough. Not really a book because I got it on tape. The audio version of the e-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. I promise I haven’t heard the whole entire thing. But what I did hear, I took a lot of. Kyle: Excellent! Ryan: Every time I read that or read a chapter, I get re-energized. Like, I know this. I should be doing this. It’s like, “Gah!” It’s just a great book. We’ve recommended it a couple of times in the show. It really is. Audio version is a good idea though. Pop it in your car, on your way to work, way to a job – whatever.


Kyle: In your cassette player? Ryan: Cassette player, MP3, iPhone. Jason: That’s where I was, a long drive from Charlotte, North Carolina. 900 miles and you can get a lot of audio in. Kyle: There you go. Even yesterday, I downloaded something interesting. I’ve been on this email list. And I downloaded this parenting audio and I listened to it all the way to Kalamazoo, Michigan, yesterday and back. And the first person I saw afterwards was one of my clients. At the tail-end of the trip and I must have said something and she responded with “Okay, Dad. Thanks.” It’s like you listen to things and sometimes, when you listen to the audio form, you get it inside you. So I’ve been listening to this Parenting Techniques for 3 hours yesterday. And I wanted to bring it up because I thought it might be funny. Ryan: Jason, talk to us about a business resource or something that you can share with the audience. Do you have anything that could be useful or meaningful? Jason: I will say that, who I really learned from the most is probably my father. He’s got over 30 years (probably more than that) of experience. As much as I don’t want to, because I like to figure things on my own, if I got what I plainly don’t know or if there’s a problem, my father’s a great resource. He’s a problem solver. He’s like me. He’s stubborn. He’ll work on it until he figures it out. He’s been a great resource for me. Ryan: That’s excellent! What about a process document or a marketing sample? Do you have anything that you are using that you might be able to share with the audience? Jason: Absolutely! I don’t mind sharing it because we share it with every potential client we have. It is an example of a remodeling contract. It’s a great document. It is 7 pages. It has all the necessities in it. It has sell price project payments based on milestones.


It describes all that in detail. What happens if a conflict arises as well as a right of rescission. Kyle: We like your Dad as a resource. But we like that even more. Jason: Okay, fair enough. Ryan: And as a reminder, we’ll make that available. Jason, thank you for sharing that. We’ll put it on RemodelersontheRise.com/show8. So you can download it for free there. Kyle: Awesome! Thank you very much. So the final question. It is a little bit of a tricky one, a tough one. Here it goes. So, Jason, imagine you woke up tomorrow morning. You are in the same exact business. But you know no one, had no sales and had only $500 of start up money. And your life depended on you selling something in the next 7 days. You still have all the experience and knowledge you currently have. Your food and shelter is taken cared of. But all you have is a laptop and $500. What would you do in the next 7 days to survive (because your life depends on it) and generate new business? Jason: Oh man! That’s a really, really tough one. Kyle: It’s a deucey right? Jason: Yeah, it is. Kyle: You want is to give you a couple of minutes? Jason: I’ve got this. Obviously, you’d want to do something quick. So you want to get yourself in front of as many people as you can. I think if I had a laptop and internet connection, first thing I’d do is put at least half of that money towards a Google AdWords campaign. And pop up as many people as I could, every opportunity. Ryan: Nice!


Kyle: And the other half of the money? Jason: Oh, I’ve got to keep it on reserved. You are going to need it. Ryan: You are going to need extra for gas money or something. Kyle: Very good. Ryan: Jason, finally, where can people get a hold of you? Is there anything else you want to share today? Jason: No, that’s about it. Check our website www.gettum.com. And that’s about it! Ryan: Excellent! Kyle: Awesome! Thank you Jason for coming to the show today. We really appreciate you sharing your story. Lots of great, great takeaways. And just a friendly reminder to all our listeners, please check us out at www.RemodelersontheRise.com. And if you could take 2 minutes to review and rate our show – have you done that yet Jason? Jason: I will be doing that today. Kyle: Atta boy! We want other people like yourself to be able to find the show. And the more reviews and ratings we get on there, the easier that would be. Thank you all for tuning in. Thank you again, Jason. Jason: Thank you. Ryan: Thank you, Jason. Kyle: We’ll talk to you all very soon. Thanks so much.

http://www.gettum.com/

http://www.remodelersontherise.com/

Show 8 with Jason Gettum

Education

Transcript of Show 8 with Jason Gettum