Building Savvy May 2020 by TKCommunications

SITTERLE HOMES

CAPTIVE INSURANCE RISKS AND REWARDS

WHEN IT ALL COMES CRASHING DOWN

San Antonio | May 2020

JEFF BUELL and FRANK SITTERLE, JR. PROGRESSIVE BUILDERS LEADING THE WAY

A Homebuilding Industry Publication

Building Savvy

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Building Savvy

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DISCLAIMER: Any articles included in this publication and/or opinions expressed therein do not necessarily re ect the views of N2 Publishing but remain solely those of the author(s). The paid advertisements contained within the Building Savvy magazine are not endorsed or recommended by N2 Publishing or the publisher. Therefore, neither N2 Publishing nor the publisher may be held liable or responsible for business practices of these companies. NOTE: When community events take place, photographers may be present to take photos for that event

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and they may be used in this publication.

Building Savvy

[from the publisher]

The Quest for Perfection Requires

Willpower and the Right Team As our Energy Efficiency Focus Section this month suggests, you can use great products, but without experts who understand the building science and oversight to make sure everything is installed correctly, things can go awry. Our Savvy Special Report explores some of the most common construction deficiencies, and seconds the need for consulting with experts and engineers upfront as well as securing inspections after the work is done.

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Savvy builders, remodelers, architects, developers and designers put continuous training high on their priority lists and are not afraid to challenge the norm. Frank Sitterle, Jr. reminds us what his father instilled in him and upheld in the family business: Just do the right thing. I’ll predict more awards on the horizon for what the Sitterle team proposes to be a “whole new model of housing for San Antonio.” They’ll once again be in the leadership position that has kept them at the front of the pack for more than 50 years now.

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I hope that all of you are surviving okay during these trying times in our world and will emerge wiser with renewed energy, using the down time to learn, grow, prepare and open your minds to new opportunities.

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The Greater San Antonio Builders Association is a not-for-profit trade association established to represent builders, developers, remodelers and affiliated industry members in cooperation to benefit and promote home-ownership.

There are several ways and opportunities to get involved with the association. One of the most important committees GSABA has is the Government Affairs Committee, which works in conjunction with the association staff to address issues that impact the home building industry at the city, county, state, and federal level. One of the primary goals is to protect the industry from onerous regulations that could raise the cost of housing in the Greater San Antonio area. To learn more about the benefits of membership, or if you need help getting started, contact GSABA Membership Director Feliz Morin at (210) 696-3800.

GSABA members include but are not limited to: homebuilders, developers, remodelers, architects, suppliers, general contractors, mortgage lenders, interior designers, title companies, banks, service providers, tile and masonry, and many more trade contractors and home-building categories.

Building Savvy

[industry news]

ARE WE IN FOR A

2008-LIKE RECESSION? A By Jim Leonard

As our housing market moved into 2020, we were coming off a year that saw new home starts rise to levels we had not seen since 2006-2007, or prior to the mortgage meltdown that followed. All signs pointed to 2020 being even better than the past year was.

city, but for the most part, we went about our normal routines as if there was nothing to worry about.

Fast forward to late March, and San Antonio and the world are in a full-blown pandemic with exposure to the Covid-19 virus growing by the day, and many people have died from being exposed. Long lines have been the norm for food staples and paper products such as toilet paper and paper towels, disinfectant wipes, and diapers. Hoarding took place with grocery store shelves being cleaned out within minutes of being stocked. This not only happened locally, but across the world.

In January we began hearing about people in China getting sick from a virus. People were quarantined on a cruise ship for weeks. Eventually many of those on the ship were brought to San Antonio and quarantined at Lackland Air Force Base. At that time, most of us were a little concerned about what that meant for the health and safety of our

use of mobile notaries. I have noticed some buyers pulling back for now, some because they have compromised immune systems and just want to wait it out.

of checks being sent to American adults. I saw an interview with a Federal Reserve executive and he said there was no limit to the amount of funds that could be available to help people get back on their feet.

The medical experts are saying the number of people who will be exposed will rise significantly over the next 3-4 weeks. Will we still be working if that happens? It seems that the mayor or governor may be forced to widen the quarantine and keep more people at home.

But make no mistake, for a small business when they run out of cash they are done. Many businesses that we are familiar with will not weather this, not when there is no guarantee of how long this will last. I drove through downtown San Antonio this morning and the only people on the street were homeless people. The entire city is doing what they should be doing – staying at home.

The overall feeling is that the economy will come roaring back but looking at what happened a decade ago, we may be digging out of a deep hole for years to come. Here is hoping everyone stays safe and gets through this and we are all still in business at year end. We will be relying on our elected officials now more than ever and that help is available to those who need it the most.

Realtors are still listing and selling, loans are being originated and closed, but we have all had to learn to do business in a different manner – more video conferencing, more text and email,

As Mayor Nirenberg and County Judge Nelson Wolff began to shut down the city and force all non-essential workers to remain at home, companies with no income stream began to lay off workers and send unemployment numbers to record highs. For the time being, the residential construction industry is considered essential, but if more and more cases of exposure become reported, will we still be able to work? And when can we expect the economy to spring back to life. We can look back 10 years to the mortgage meltdown and stock market crash. When the stock market reached its low in December 2007, it took until May of 2015 for it to reach November 2007 levels. Unemployment numbers reached a high of 10% and took over five years to come back down to pre-crash numbers. Are we in for another prolonged period of weak economic data? One major difference today and one that several people have said was a mistake back then, is that federal money is being flooded into the market. The fed has lowered it’s benchmark rate to banks to zero. The government will begin issuing checks to every adult in the country as a backstop to help them pay rent, or buy food, and pay bills. Disaster relief for small businesses is available to help with payroll expenses, rent, and utilities. Depending on how long the pandemic lasts, you can expect to see another round

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Building Savvy

[focus section] By Beverly Smirnis

ENERGY EFFICIENCY: The Perfect Puzzle Pieces We can use programmable thermostats, high-efficiency HVAC systems, and LED light bulbs, but lack of knowledge and lax standards in building airtight wall and roof structures remain the number one enemy of energy efficiency. Energy efficiency can’t be an afterthought. All components of a structure’s envelope must be engineered to fit together like puzzle pieces, with special attention paid to properly sealed penetrations and thermal protection. And it’s not just air we’re fighting to keep out; just like air, water will also find any way it can to get into a home. Once penetrated, air and water consume energy, compromise air quality and personal comfort, and threaten the entire structural integrity of the home.

on the exterior to minimize the entry of outside water vapor. The recommended wall assembly is a continuous barrier with unfaced insulation in the wall cavity, backed by sealed foam sheathing or low-perm housewrap between it and the wood sheathing. In attics, proper ridge soffit ventilation ushers moisture out and reduces ceiling temperatures. Adding a radiant barrier, such as LP® TechShield® Radiant Barrier Sheathing, will dramatically reduce radiant heat transfer from the underside of the roof to the attic. Patented VaporVents™ technology with post-lamination incising allows TechShield® panels to dry quickly from moisture that may accumulate during construction and promotes continued moisture evaporation after installation. But some energy experts argue it’s better to seal and insulate our attics in this climate, making them part of the conditioned space. The IRC code now permits unvented roof assemblies if there’s no vapor retarder between the attic and the home’s living space; air-impermeable insulation is installed between the rafters.

Our industry’s knowledge and understanding of building science, combined with powerful energy modeling software and continuous innovation, arm us with better solutions than ever before, yet the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reports the average U.S. home still has a half-mile of gaps and cracks! One major culprit is that in a typical code-built home, insulation is only placed between the studs — meaning one-quarter of the wall is left uninsulated.

So, what are the right puzzle pieces, you ask? Well, for the unfaced insulation recommended by LSU, you might consider that today’s fiberglass can achieve R-values ranging from R-11 to R-38, with many products now completely formaldehyde-free. Cellulose can attain similar R-values and is a very environmentally friendly material made from recycled paper. Blown-in fiberglass or cellulose can address the gap issue, used like low-density, open-cell, spray-applied polyurethane foam insulation (SPF) to effectively fill hard-to-reach cavities and corners. Its ability to expand after application makes open-cell foam an excellent gap-filler, and the foam

Continuous exterior insulation can reduce energy loss by providing a solid layer of insulation for the entire wall, including the wood framing. In hot, humid climates where moisture flows from outside to inside most of the year, energy analysts contend that mild, short winters generally do not cause enough moisture flow to cause problems. LSU’s AgCenter says the ideal frame-wall assembly for a hot, humid environment should keep the interior side fully permeable and implement both an air barrier and water vapor retarder

works as its own air barrier, qualifying it for use in unvented attics; however, open-cell foam is ineffective against penetration by water vapor, so it would still need to be paired with a vapor retarder. Medium-density, closed-cell foam acts as an air barrier and as its own Class II vapor retarder, making it an all-in-one choice.

insulation panels applied in a factory setting to the back of OSB, concrete, and other cladding systems. Entekra™ offers a fully integrated off-site solution, or FIOSS™. Wall panels, floor panels, roof trusses, and all relevant materials are manufactured under factory-controlled conditions. Structural elements are then offloaded and assembled by framers with crane assistance for efficiency and safety. The structural shell can be assembled and made weather-tight in an average of three to four days. Ecocor panels are factory-built to the Passive House Standard using 100% mineral, borate-treated, fiberized cellulose insulation, and then air-sealed with advanced, European, zero-VOC membranes, tapes, and adhesives.

Rather than piecing together the best solution themselves, most builders rely on industry giants to provide comprehensive insulating solutions. DuPont Performance Building Solutions (PBS) has announced a new 10-year product and labor warranty for the combined use of its products. One can use DuPont™ Styrofoam™ Brand XPS rigid foam insulation or WEATHERMATE™ housewrap installed over sheathing, with WEATHERMATE™ construction tape used to seal the blue board seams for added protection against air infiltration and moisture intrusion. WEATHERMATE™ flashing and sill pans will mitigate water intrusion around window and door openings.

We work in an environment where fewer skilled tradesmen and tighter build schedules often lead to overlooked quality checks, not to mention that job sites are subject to weather conditions. Could this mean that field installations become a rarity, with factory-built wall and roof assemblies becoming the norm? Specialty companies that produce a complete product under factory-controlled conditions are providing better-quality products. Considering time savings and risk mitigation, they may soon come at a lower cost too.

The ZIP System® is comprised of a structural sheathing panel made of engineered wood, creating a rigid air barrier; it also has a built-in, vapor-permeable, water-resistive barrier. Assembly at the job site is as easy as installing the panels and taping the seams with ZIP System® flashing tape, which has a specially engineered high performance acrylic adhesive specifically made to bond with ZIP System® panels for a permanent protective seal.

Beverly Smirnis is the co-founder of Building SAVVY magazine and publishes its flagship Dallas/Fort Worth edition. She and her business partner and husband, Steve Smirnis, have served as judges for the International Builders’ Show Best of IBS Awards, the Greater Houston Builders Association PRISM Awards, the Greater Orlando Builders Association Parade of Homes, and the Building Industry Association of Okaloosa-Walton Counties’ Parade of Homes.

Even when using exceptional products, oversight is still required for achieving superior performance. Building enclosure components are trending toward modular construction, with high-performance

Building Savvy

[savvy builder]

SITTERLE HOMES HAS BEEN WINNING AWARDS FOR 50-PLUS YEARS By Beverly Smirnis

Forward-Thinking Design Concepts Assure There Are More To Come When Frank Sitterle, Sr. bought the land that is now the Roseheart neighborhood back in 2003, the original land development plan was a tight grid design that worked against the natural topography of the land. The site was basically rock, and Sitterle wanted to save all the trees he could. Richard Harrison, owner of Rick Harrison Site Design, designed an alternative plan that was fluid – flowing with, not against, the topography and requiring very little earthwork. The design implemented a geometric model called “coving.” By increasing, rather than decreasing, the regulatory setback, the desired density could still be maintained while the length of infrastructure needed to service the lots was significantly decreased. The totally new concept required little or no changes to existing zoning or regulations. The design changed the economic model, increasing developer profits by reducing infrastructure costs, while allowing consumers to enjoy larger lots in a more attractive neighborhood than the cookie-cutter ones just down the street from it. “I sent the plan to Frank and had not heard anything back for several weeks, so I called and asked what was happening. He said my plan was far too expensive to build, according to the engineers,” Harrison recounted. “But I showed Frank that we had 27-percent less street length and hardly any earthwork compared to the original ‘grid’ site plan that would require blasting rock.” Harrison demanded that the engineers prove that it would more expensive with actual take-off sheets showing the costs. When the data proved the new

design to be less expensive to build and more profitable in the end, the decision was made to build Roseheart using Harrison’s site plan. It has subsequently become one of the most beautiful development settings in the region. To explain why the design was so revolutionary for the area when it was built, Harrison talks Land Development 101: “Since the beginning of land development, the economics of growth have all been about density; the idea was to jam as many units on a tract of land as possible to maximize the developer’s profits. In a typical grid plan with the smallest possible lot sizes, you’re gaining density but also at increasing infrastructure costs, because to reach that minuscule lot requires more streets, walkways and utility mains.

while, city taxes are raised to pay for the street maintenance. Historically, gaining density has meant smaller lots, less desirable livability and increased infrastructure costs.”

“A street in Texas with walkways and utilities costs about $600 per foot to construct. Now consider that for every 100 feet of street that is 50 feet wide for right-of-way, you’re giving up about the same amount of space as a lot – the land dedicated for the street consumes the land for homes. That means the developer sacrifices land that they give to the city, while he or she also pays to build the street. All the associated costs are passed onto the cost of lots, and ultimately homes, in the neighborhood. Mean-

So, why has coving, obviously a better solution, not caught on like wildfire? “Over the decades, the entire industry has become lazy, complacent, and far too reliant on automation to do the thinking for them. This unfortunately also includes the professors teaching the next generation,” Harrison says, adding that a cookie-cutter plan designed using a CAD program can be designed literally in minutes, whereas in a freeform design, nothing is constant, and every home is uniquely placed on its lot. There is no “button press” like in the CAD process to do the thinking for the engineer.

Building Savvy

“Furthermore, the business model for engineers and architects has traditionally been based upon getting paid a percentage (usually about 7 percent) of construction costs. When construction costs go down, so does their profit! So they’re simply not interested in saving costs!” Harrison emphasizes. “Every job was a war with the engineering firm during that first decade; nothing was easy. It was a little easier in some other states where engineers have a ‘per lot’ charge or where topography demands designs that are more intricate.”

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Coving would lead to scores of more discoveries on how to develop several design land and build more methodologies and valuable homes. Haranalyzed how to rison spearheaded the incorporate those concepts of Connective Neighborhood Design, principles within Pedestrian Oriented the streets and open Development, Architecspaces in order to tural Blending, Architecenhance the overall tural Shaping, Sculpted Driveway Design, lifestyle of the Aysemmetric Townhocommunity.” mes, BayHomes, and Home-Business Zoning. Harrison has named his collection of these methods “Perferbia” and offers a book by the same title.

“We have taken

Locally owned Sitterle Homes recently celebrated its gold anniversary and is now led by Frank Sitterle, Jr. and Jeff Buell. Frank, Jr., says that many of this father’s early decisions about “doing things the right way” are key to today’s continued growth. Sitterle earned the prestigious Avid Award for Best Customer Service in North America and has claimed more than 50 Summit Awards from the Greater San Antonio Builders Association, numerous Grand Awards from the Texas Association of Builders and several Energy Star Awards, including a Leadership in Housing Award and an Outstanding Achievement Award. In addition to San Antonio, Sitterle Homes builds in Austin and Houston. Expect the awards to continue! Sitterle Homes is currently working with Cary Kipp of Kipp Flores Architects and Rick Harrison Site Design on designing an entirely new model of housing for San Antonio. “We have taken several design methodologies and analyzed how to incorporate those

2017 & 2018

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Original design

Modified, coved design

principles within the streets and open spaces in order to enhance the overall lifestyle of the community,” says Frank, Jr. When the time comes to present the concepts to the city, Harrison will bring along his friend and collaborator Skip Preble of LandMentor. They’ll use VR headsets and interactive 3D implementing video-gaming technology to help eliminate the learning curve and bring city presentations into the 21st century. The technology, developed by Preble, allows city council members to judge a project by “feeling” how that new development is going to be. No more looking at a black and white plat and wondering! Sitterle, Buell, Kipp and Harrison and cities that they work with place priority in serving the end user – the residents who will dwell on the property – over their own priorities. In the end, it comes down to “doing things the right way.” And with that as the constant driving force, all vested interests are always satisfied in the end.

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Building Savvy

STAND OUT, SELL MORE, STRESS LESS

[savvy finance]

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By Steven Bankler, CPA

But not everyone plays by the rules. “That’s all fine and good if the micro-captive insurer is being set up to cover a real risk and payout based on legitimate claims. But it becomes a problem if those micro-captive arrangements lack the attributes of genuine insurance or, worse, pay claims based on falsified valuations,” Shaun Hunley of Thomson Reuters recently pointed out in Accounting Today.

But forming a captive insurance company to fund one’s own risk is becoming a practice that’s so abused, it’s been named one of the IRS’s dirty dozen tax scams.

Liz Knight

Regional Sales Manager

an exempt organization or to exclude limited amounts of annual net premiums from income. With these elections, the captive insurer pays tax on investment income only. It can be a win-win for builders and construction companies who need supplemental coverage that’s notoriously difficult to secure.

Captive insurance companies have been used for 70 years to help small businesses cover risks in areas like underwriting, operations, and investments. For that reason, the practice can be particularly beneficial for builders and construction companies. It can also come with significant tax benefits.

Regional Sales Manager

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Tax law generally allows business owners to create their own captive insurance companies to insure against risks. As the IRS describes it, “the insured business claims deductions for premiums paid for insurance policies. Those amounts are paid, either as insurance premiums or reinsurance premiums, to a captive insurance company owned by the insured or related parties and are used to fund losses incurred by the insured business. Traditional captive insurance typically allows a taxpayer to reduce the total cost of insurance and loss events.”

An increasing amount of micro-captives are doing just that, and the IRS is taking notice. The agency has devoted substantial resources to fight what it calls abusive micro-captive insurance tax shelters. Following wins in three recent U.S. Tax Court cases, the IRS sent hundreds of offer settlements to taxpayers currently under exam and new notices to additional taxpayers. Strict reporting requirements are now in place to spot red flags, and those who fail to report arrangements that qualify as captive insurance companies may be slapped with significant penalties. Captive insurance can be a great way to mitigate risk while receiving tax benefits. But it’s a complicated structure to administer — one that requires professional help, both for insurance guidance as well as tax guidance. Seek out that help to cover risk, and reduce taxes the right way.

Commercial insurers aren’t known to be cost-friendly for builders and construction companies due to their unique risks. Self-funding coverage in a way that’s custom-made to fit those special layers of risk can make a lot of sense.

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Steven Bankler has more than 43 years of experience in the accounting industry. Steven’s expertise lies in consulting, planning, tax, and asset protection as well as exit strategy services for closely held businesses. He also provides litigation support (both as a testifying expert witness and a consulting expert), business negotiations and estate planning. Visit www.bankler. com for additional tax strategy tips and to learn more about Steven Bankler, CPA, Ltd.

And when a business owner starts or joins a small pool of people to create a small, qualified captive insurance company – often called a micro-captive – they can elect for it to be treated as 17

Building Savvy

[savvy special report]

The Most Common Construction Deficiencies LJP Construction Services undertook a four-year venture researching and analyzing more than 2,000 projects throughout the United States, ranging from single-family homes to residential high-rises and commercial construction. The goals were to discover the most common causes of construction defects and compare metrics from state to state for different building types. LJP embarked on this research after studying more than a million assemblies and locating and verifying the correction of nearly 50,000 errors. Using the power of digital production and communication to conduct detailed construction inspections, LJP has assisted builders of more than 100,000 homes throughout the U.S. in correcting deficiencies and errors prior to project completion. The company’s proprietary software transmits project images and associated narratives in real time to real estate developers, general contractors, and insurance carriers. For single-family homes, LJP’s investigation found that the average deficiency rate is 3% nationally and ranges from 1.6% in California and 1.7% in

Nevada to 5% in Florida and 6% in Texas. The most significant deficiency types in residential construction were exterior weather barriers; structural (wood) framing; mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems; and window/ door installations, including preliminary weatherproofing assemblies. Weaknesses in field workmanship, misinterpretation of plan details, and deviations from manufacturers’ recommendations were identified as the primary reasons for defects. “In our opinion, builders should provide more training for their field supervisors and trade partners because the surveys show many defects stem from a lack of well-trained trade contractors,” said Don Neff, president of LJP Construction Services.

In its home state of California, LJP attributes the deficiency rate of only 1.6% to a 20-year history of builders working together to raise quality standards, instigating legislative reforms, providing building science training opportunities to teams and the workforce, and implementing comprehensive quality assurance programs. On average, in the LJP client data set for California, 98.4% of the observed assemblies were constructed correctly.

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Almost all of the most common construction defects, Neff noted, can be prevented by consulting with experts and engineers upfront, paying more for good work and better materials, and securing proper inspections.

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Building Savvy

[trevor’s take]

4. Cut your expenses. We have to accept the possibility that the economy could struggle for a year or more. Builders have been living pretty high on the hog for the past couple of years, with record-breaking home prices and contracts closed. If you were around in 2008, you knew that this wasn’t going to last forever.

When It All Comes

CRASHING DOWN

Now is the time to cut the unlimited data cell-phone plans for non-essential personnel. Put off buying that new F250 for your superintendent. Maybe dial back your marketing budgets in the more expensive channels. While it may seem counter-intuitive, your customers are going to be waiting out this crisis too, and your marketing dollars now will likely be spent on passive onlookers who aren’t going to convert to buyers any time soon. If at all possible, avoid layoffs of veteran personnel – a little bit of loyalty now can go a long way when the industry comes back to life. Ask for continuances on large bills – see if you can forgo loan payments for three months, and tack them onto the end of your loan. Get creative, and stay afloat.

Bulletproof Your Business in Tumultuous Times

By Trevor Whitney

While I wish I could be the bearer of good news, reality informs us that the panic over the COVID-19 virus will kill many American businesses. Yours could very easily be one that doesn’t make it. The lasting economic impact may be greater than the 2008 mortgage crisis, which resulted in massive job losses and a global recession. But you don’t need to take my word for it – flip on the TV, and it’s 24/7 doom and gloom.

1. Install a succession plan. Many construction firms are small and family-owned. While times are good, no one thinks about replacing key employees (who may be family members). However, as many small businesses know, each employee wears multiple hats. Lose one of them to illness or death, and your business is on its knees. What you can do today is set up contingency plans for succession in case the CEO/owner is incapacitated.

A simple phone call to check in on the progress of your order can provide a lot of detail in how your vendors are managing their own day-to-day business. For example, if your lumber vendor is under a quarantine order, you are likely to have to wait for your 2-by-4’s a little bit more than usual. You can’t know how your vendors’ business is being impacted without reaching out. Plus, building bridges during hard times will leave a lasting impression on your vendors. See if you can delay or modify payments. It’s all about person-to-person connections.

Do you have business-saving tips that you learned during the 2008 crash or other economic hard times? Share them on Building Savvy San Antonio’s Facebook page! We’re in this together.

Also, designate key employees so you can furlough non-essential employees to stop the spread of illness. For those key employees, have backups trained so they can fill those shoes if needed. Key employees would be accounting and purchasing people, land acquisition/legal team members, and possibly others. Know who has the keys to everything, and know how to replace them (if need be) in a hurry.

2. Refinance business debt. One the the most striking actions taken in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak was the Federal Reserve dropping interest rates to 0. This was a major signal that the economy is teetering. While you won’t get a zero-interest loan from your bank, rates in general will be lower. If you have buildings or equipment that were financed a few years ago, take a look at your terms. Now might be a great time to cut your interest payments, add some funds to cover lost revenue and daily expenses, or reduce your monthly outlays for debt service. It all depends on your business’s situation, but managing your expenses could be crucial in the next six to 18 months.

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China, in late December 2019, panic has spread worldwide. Before you knew it, the stock market had lost all of its miraculous growth since 2016, and federal, state and local officials stepped in to take action to protect the vulnerable from the virus, resulting in widespread shutdown of day-to-day life.

3. Call your vendors. You’ve got a ton of materials on order, multiple jobs in progress, and boom – the bottom falls out. Maybe you aren’t closing contracts as fast as you have been. Maybe your buyer interest has evaporated. With an economy as weak as ours right now, everyone is feeling the bite. However, don’t duck your suppliers and vendors. They are most likely to understand your situation, as you are not the only person they do business with.

While we cannot totally control the spread of the virus, business owners can take reasonable steps to ride out this storm.

Building Savvy

[sales savvy] By Paul Evans

A Guide to

Training Success I count myself lucky to have earned my living in the construction business for more than 40 years now. Most of my career has been spent on the sales side, as an inside sales rep (ISR), outside sales rep (OSR), or sales manager. I have enjoyed great professional success, but I also acknowledge there are people out there who are better than me at many things. I believe my desire to continue learning is the key to my success.

Though sometimes those of us in sales are viewed as a step above (or below!) a used car salesman, the truth is, everyone needs to be a salesperson every day in this industry, promoting ourselves and our business. And, in my opinion, we should never stop perfecting our sales skills, so I have always sought out training. I seek to discover not only what has made these trainers successful but also to learn from the mistakes they have made along the way, so I can possibly dodge some of those hard lessons. I have attended hundreds of training seminars in my 40 years, including speech, sales, behavioral, and any other type of training I thought would benefit me in my career and even my personal life. People often ask me what kind of training they should pursue. I answer that question with one or more of these questions: Why do you think you need training? What type of training are you looking for? Which training piques your interest? If they are a sales manager in charge of sales staff, I might also ask, “What do you think your team needs?” Once you’ve established what you need, you’ll find many training options out there. I truly believe a trainer who is part of our specific industry is the best choice for readers of this publication; no one has walked in your shoes 22

and experienced your unique opportunities and pitfalls more than an industry peer. If you’re investing in training for a group you manage, I encourage you to meet the trainer beforehand to judge how their personalities will click. No matter how good the subject matter may be, if the trainer is not engaging, your trainees will not be engaged. Many questions should be asked and answered before committing to any training. The most important consideration is whether you will use the training once you’ve completed it. Will you fully buy into what you learn, giving your best effort to implement it? Will you assess that effort to ensure it was worth the investment of your time and money? Make sure you follow the training up with action items; plan a review for a few months down the road to see how well the lessons learned are translating in the field. Remember, follow-through is just as important as the training itself. Paul Evans is a graduate of Lamar University’s School of Engineering and the national VP of millwork for BMC. His book, Life’s Lost Art, offers practical advice for how to turn satisfied customers into loyal customers by listening and responding to their needs. For more than 10 years, he has been an instructor for the NAHB, the University of Housing, and the Home Builders Institute, teaching customer service, negotiating, and sales.

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