The Contractor Fight with Tom Reber

Train your salespeople to turn more opportunities into profitable jobs with The Command: https://bit.ly/Command_yeb1

Your salespeople are running appointments, sending estimates, and telling you how busy they are.

But when Friday comes and you look at what they actually sold, the numbers aren't adding up.

You're paying for leads. You're paying salespeople. Your team is staying busy.

So why aren't your sales numbers growing?

Before you spend another dollar generating more leads or decide you hired the wrong people, there's something you need to look at.

Are you actually training your salespeople to sell?

Too many contractors hire salespeople, hand them a company shirt and a login, and expect them to figure out how to close deals on their own.

Then they wonder why their close rates are low, their margins are disappearing, and they're still getting called in to rescue difficult sales conversations.

In this episode, Tom Reber explains why busy salespeople don't necessarily produce profitable sales, how to identify where your team is losing opportunities, and what contractors need to do to develop a sales team that can perform without the owner stepping in to close every deal.

Tom walks through how to evaluate your salespeople's performance by looking at qualified appointments, closed jobs, selling prices, gross profit margins, and discounts.

He also demonstrates a practical role-playing exercise for handling price objections, including what to do when a homeowner says your estimate is $5,000 higher than a competitor's.

You'll learn why sales training needs to cover the entire customer relationship, from prequalification and the initial appointment to follow-up, repeat business, and referrals.

And most importantly, Tom explains why consistent practice, coaching, and accountability are essential if you want your salespeople to improve.

In this episode:

• Why busy estimators aren't necessarily producing more sales or profit
• Why contractors need to evaluate their leadership before blaming their salespeople
• How to measure qualified appointments, close rates, selling prices, and margins
• How to use role-playing to train your team to handle price objections without immediately discounting
• Why constantly rescuing salespeople from difficult conversations keeps them dependent on you
• How Command the Gate helps your team qualify prospects before wasting time on appointments
• How Command the Meeting prepares salespeople to lead better customer conversations
• Why Command the Follow-Up can recover opportunities that appeared lost
• How Command the Lifetime Value of the Client creates opportunities for repeat business and referrals
• Why weekly sales training, practice, and accountability produce better results than simply reviewing sales targets

Chapters:

00:00 — Why busy salespeople aren't producing more sales

00:54 — Are you leading and training your salespeople?

01:33 — How to evaluate your sales team's actual performance

02:58 — Role-play: Handling a $5,000 price objection

04:23 — Stop rescuing your salespeople from every difficult deal

05:05 — Building a complete contractor sales system

06:35 — Command the Follow-Up: Recovering lost opportunities

07:18 — Command the Lifetime Value of the Client

08:42 — Sales is a skill that requires practice and accountability

09:24 — The Command: Live sales training and role-playing

Your challenge:

Before you spend more money on leads or start looking for new salespeople, find out where your current team needs training.

Pull your last few weeks of sales appointments and review each salesperson's performance.

• Review their numbers: How many qualified appointments did they run? How many became jobs? What did they sell for? What margins did they produce? Did they discount to get the signature?
• Investigate a lost opportunity: Choose a job that didn't close and ask your salesperson to walk you through the conversation. What did the homeowner want? Why did they want it? What was their budget? What happened when the price came up?
• Role-play a difficult objection: Play the homeowner and tell your salesperson, "We really like you guys, but you're $5,000 higher than the other estimate." Watch how they respond. Do they ask questions, defend the company, or immediately offer a discount?
• Coach the weak spot: If they struggle, practice that exact moment. Have them ask better questions, listen to the customer's response, and work through the conversation without immediately sacrificing margin.
• Make training a weekly commitment: Put sales practice on the calendar. Bring real customer situations into the room, role-play them, provide feedback, and review what happens when your salespeople apply what they've learned.

Don't just ask your salespeople what they expect to close this week.

Find out whether they have the skills to close those opportunities profitably.

And don't confuse activity with performance.

A salesperson can run appointments all week, send dozens of estimates, and still fail to produce the results your business needs.

You also can't measure success by signed contracts alone.

If your salesperson closes a job by giving away the margin your company needs, that sale may be creating another problem.

The goal is to build a team that knows how to qualify opportunities, lead customer conversations, handle objections, follow up consistently, and maintain relationships after the job is complete.

But that doesn't happen by accident.

Sales is a skill. And skills require practice.

You wouldn't expect your field employees to perform their jobs without training. Your salespeople shouldn't be any different.

You can build a sales training system inside your own company. Document your process, schedule weekly practice, review actual sales conversations, and hold your people accountable for applying what they learn.

But if you want help building those skills and developing a team that sells with confidence, that's exactly why we created The Command.

The Command is a sales gym for contractors and their salespeople.

Every Wednesday, members participate in live sales training.

Every Friday, they practice through role-playing, work through real objections, receive coaching, and develop the skills they need to perform in actual customer conversations.

It's not just about watching more sales videos.

It's about doing the reps.

If you're ready to invest in getting yourself and your sales team better, join The Command.

You can also book a call through the page if you have questions about enrolling your salespeople.

https://bit.ly/Command_yeb1

Your salespeople don't need more opportunities to practice on unsuspecting customers. They need the training and confidence to make the most of the opportunities they're already getting.

Stop confusing busy with productive. Train your people, protect your margins, and build a sales team that can perform without you rescuing every deal.

#ContractorSales #SalesTraining #ContractorBusiness

Find out what's costing your contracting business jobs and profit: https://bit.ly/ContractorFightScorecard_mvm1

Are you adding 50% markup to your jobs and assuming you're making 50% gross profit?

You might be making a lot less than you think.

Most contractors know they need to charge more than a job costs to produce. They calculate their labor, add materials, apply a markup, and assume the difference is their profit.

But there's a problem.

Markup and gross profit margin are NOT the same thing.

If a job costs $1,000 and you add a 50% markup, your selling price is $1,500. That doesn't give you a 50% gross profit margin. It gives you approximately 33%.

And when you're making that mistake on every job, you can stay busy, grow your revenue, and still wonder where all your money went.

In this episode, Tom Reber breaks down the difference between markup and margin, why confusing the two can seriously underprice your contracting jobs, and how to build a pricing system that produces the gross profit your business actually needs.

Tom walks through real pricing examples to show why achieving a 50% gross profit margin requires a 100% markup on your direct job costs.

He also explains how your gross profit margin directly affects how much revenue you need to generate, how many jobs you need to sell, and how many leads your business needs just to break even.

And even when your pricing formula is correct, inaccurate labor, material, and subcontractor costs can destroy the margin you thought you were protecting.

You'll learn how to calculate your actual gross profit, build target margins into your estimating process, stop negotiating against your own numbers, and identify where your pricing might be costing your business money.

In this episode:

• Why a 50% markup only produces approximately 33% gross profit margin
• The difference between markup and margin when pricing contracting jobs
• How incorrect markup calculations can leave contractors busy but unprofitable
• Why achieving 50% gross profit requires a 100% markup on direct job costs
• How gross profit margin affects your break-even revenue
• Why lower margins mean you need more jobs and leads to cover the same overhead
• How inaccurate job costing can turn an expected 50% margin into 35%
• Why your estimating system should use actual costs and target margins instead of guesswork
• How discounting your price can destroy the margin your business needs
• How to audit your last five completed jobs to identify pricing and profitability problems

Chapters:

00:00 — Why 50% markup doesn't mean 50% gross profit

01:01 — The difference between markup and margin

02:06 — What else is costing your contracting business money?

02:35 — Why markup and gross profit margin aren't interchangeable

03:06 — How bad pricing math keeps contractors busy and broke

04:12 — How to price jobs at 50% gross profit

05:02 — How gross profit affects your break-even revenue

06:46 — Why inaccurate job costs destroy your margins

07:57 — Building your target margin into your estimating system

08:47 — Why you need to hold your price

09:36 — Your fight: Audit your last five completed jobs

11:10 — Find out what's holding your contracting business back

Your challenge:

Pull your last five completed jobs and find out how much gross profit you actually made.

For each job:

• Find your selling price: What did you actually charge the customer?
• Calculate your actual job costs: Include the real labor, materials, subcontractors, and every other direct cost required to produce the job.
• Calculate your gross profit margin: Subtract your actual job costs from your selling price, then divide that difference by your selling price.
• Compare your results: Did you produce the margin you originally intended, or did the job finish at a much lower percentage?
• Identify the problem: Were your estimated costs inaccurate? Did production take longer than expected? Was your markup formula wrong? Did you discount the price without adjusting your costs?

If you're pricing jobs expecting a 50% gross profit margin but your completed jobs are consistently producing 23%, 31%, or 37%, something needs to change.

The goal isn't just to find out that your numbers are wrong.

It's to understand WHY they're wrong so you can fix the actual problem.

Remember: If a job costs $1,000 to produce and you want a 50% gross profit margin, you need to sell it for $2,000.

That's a 100% markup, not 50%.

And if your job actually costs more than you estimated, your gross profit margin drops even further.

But getting your pricing right is only part of building a profitable contracting business.

Your gross profit still needs to cover company overhead before your business produces net profit. And pricing might not even be the biggest problem holding your business back.

If you're working harder, selling more jobs, and growing revenue without seeing the profit you expected, it's time to stop guessing about what's going wrong.

Take the free Contractor Fight Scorecard to identify your biggest business leak, get a clearer picture of what's holding your contracting business back, and find out what deserves your attention first.

It takes about three minutes.

https://bit.ly/ContractorFightScorecard_mvm1

Staying busy isn't the goal. Building a business that actually keeps enough of what it earns is. Know your costs, protect your margins, and stop letting bad pricing math determine your profitability.

#ContractorPricing #GrossProfit #ContractorBusiness

Find out what's costing your contracting business jobs and profit: https://bit.ly/ContractorFightScorecard_fgp1

Are you bidding jobs at 50% gross profit but still wondering where all your money goes?

Most contractors think they know what a job costs. They estimate labor, add materials, calculate their price, and assume there's enough margin left to make money.

But what about the drive time, material runs, unexpected delays, cleanup, and all the work that happens before and after the actual production?

Those costs don't disappear just because you forgot to include them in your estimate.

In this episode, Tom Reber breaks down how to bid jobs at 50% gross profit using a simple three-phase system he's relied on for over 20 years: Prep, Build, and Finish.

Tom explains why accurate estimating starts with understanding your actual production costs, not guessing how long a job should take or copying what other contractors charge.

He also shares how a $50 million contracting company was losing $12,000 every week simply because it wasn't accounting for crew drive time.

You'll learn how to track production rates, account for overlooked job costs, and use real numbers to build estimates that protect your margins.

And if you've ever thought customers won't pay what you actually need to charge, Tom explains why the problem might not be your price. It could be your production efficiency, your sales process, or the customers your business is attracting.

In this episode:

• Why contractors lose money before a job even begins
• The three-phase estimating system: Prep, Build, and Finish
• How one $50 million company was losing $12,000 a week in unaccounted drive time
• Why tracking actual production rates leads to more accurate estimates
• The difference between the art and science of estimating
• How overlooked cleanup and finishing costs eat into your margins
• How to calculate a selling price at 50% gross profit
• Why a 50% markup is NOT the same as a 50% gross profit margin
• What to do when customers won't pay the price your business needs
• How comparing estimated and actual job costs improves future bids

Chapters:

00:00 — Why contractors struggle to hit 50% gross profit

00:44 — Phase 1: Prep and the hidden costs before production

01:58 — Phase 2: Build and tracking actual production rates

04:25 — The art and science of estimating

05:36 — Phase 3: Finish and the hidden cost of cleanup

06:43 — How to calculate a 50% gross profit selling price

08:22 — Why 50% markup isn't 50% gross profit

09:26 — Why customers might not pay your price

11:40 — How to improve estimates using actual job costs

12:42 — Your fight: Find out what you're giving away

Your challenge:

Take one recently completed job and break it into three phases:

• Prep: What did it cost to get the job ready? Include material runs, drive time, setup, and everything that happened before production.
• Build: How long did the actual work take compared to your estimate? Account for your real labor, materials, and equipment costs.
• Finish: How much time and money went into cleanup, walkthroughs, punch lists, and completing the job?

Compare what you estimated against what actually happened.

Where were you accurate? Where did you underestimate? What costs did you completely overlook?

Use what you learn to improve your next estimate.

Remember: If a job costs $5,000 to produce, you need to sell it for $10,000 to achieve a 50% gross profit margin.

And don't confuse that with a 50% markup. They're not the same thing, and mixing them up can seriously underprice your work.

But even the right gross profit margin doesn't automatically guarantee your business is profitable. Your jobs still need to generate enough revenue to cover company overhead and produce a net profit.

If you're doing plenty of work but still struggling to make money, inaccurate job estimates might be just one part of a bigger problem.

Take the free Contractor Fight Scorecard to identify what's holding your contracting business back, uncover where your biggest opportunities are, and figure out what deserves your attention first.

It takes about three minutes.

https://bit.ly/ContractorFightScorecard_fgp1

The math behind 50% gross profit is simple. The hard part is knowing what your jobs actually cost. Stop guessing, start tracking, and build your prices around the numbers your business needs.

#ContractorPricing #GrossProfit #ContractorBusiness

See if you've built a business worth having: https://bit.ly/BuildABusinessWorthHaving_itf1

Craig and Naomi spent years running an electrical contracting business that kept them busy but left them with little profit and almost no freedom.

Craig was doing everything in the field. Naomi was handling the office. They were bringing in revenue, but the money was disappearing as quickly as it came in.

Then a serious car accident exposed just how dependent the business was on Craig.

They were faced with a decision. Change how they ran their business or potentially walk away from everything they'd built.

In this episode of Inside The Fight, Tim and Derek sit down with Craig and Naomi, owners of Titan Electric LLC in Northeast Ohio.

They share how they went from struggling to make a profit and questioning the future of their business to building a growing electrical company that's giving them more financial stability and freedom with their family.

After generating $300,000 in revenue last year, they're now projecting approximately $750,000 for 2026.

But the biggest change isn't how much money they're bringing in.

It's that they're finally building a business that doesn't require them to sacrifice their family to keep it running.

Check out Craig and Naomi's electrical contracting business, Titan Electric Services: https://www.titanelectricservices.com/

They break down:

• How a serious car accident exposed the danger of building a contracting business that depends entirely on its owner

• Why working nonstop and generating revenue wasn't translating into actual profit

• How changing their pricing and implementing 50% gross profit principles helped them build a more financially stable business

• Why pre-qualifying customers stopped Craig from wasting time chasing estimates and underpriced jobs

• How they went from running everything themselves to hiring employees, adding service vans, and moving into a shop

• Why raising their prices felt like a huge risk and what actually happened when they did it

• How knowing their daily operating costs and tracking their numbers gave them financial peace of mind

• Why learning to delegate responsibilities is essential to building a business that can grow without consuming its owners

• How they started reclaiming time with their three daughters and measuring success by more than revenue

Chapters

00:00 From Owner-Operator to Building a Real Business

02:31 Changing the Mindset That Keeps Contractors Stuck

05:29 Why Being Busy Doesn't Mean You're Profitable

06:51 Stop Chasing Customers Who Aren't Right for Your Business

14:34 When Your Contracting Business Puts Your Family at Risk

18:27 From $300K to a Projected $750K in Revenue

23:17 How Knowing Your Numbers Creates Financial Security

30:27 Why You Can't Keep Doing Everything Yourself

37:24 What Actually Happened When They Raised Their Prices

40:11 Measuring Success by the Freedom Your Business Gives You

Craig and Naomi's story isn't just about growing revenue.

It's about learning to charge what their work is worth, building a team they can depend on, and creating a business that no longer requires them to do everything themselves.

Because a successful contracting business shouldn't leave you exhausted, financially stressed, and missing the moments that matter most.

The goal isn't just to build a bigger business.

It's to build a business worth having.

Tom Reber is the founder of The Contractor Fight. He is the host of Contractor Fight TV, an entrepreneur, speaker, podcaster, and former HGTV host.

For over 20 years, Tom has helped hundreds of thousands of contractors build businesses worth having by helping them become the kind of people capable of building them.

On this channel, you'll find straight-talk training on sales, pricing, profit, leadership, and mindset for contractors who want to build a Strong You, a Strong Home, and a Strong Business.

The first fight is always with yourself.

Join The Fight. 👊

See what needs your attention in your contracting business: https://bit.ly/BuildABusinessWorthHaving_cto

Do you know what it actually costs to operate your contracting business for one hour?

Most contractors know what they charge customers. They know what they pay their employees. But they don't know what one billable hour actually costs their business.

And that difference could be costing them thousands of dollars in profit.

In this episode, Tom Reber breaks down how to calculate your true hourly operating cost so you can stop guessing and start understanding what your contracting business needs to produce.

Using an example with four field employees, Tom walks through how to calculate realistic billable hours, allocate company overhead, and account for the true cost of field labor.

The result? A business paying an employee $30 an hour could actually be spending $92 per billable hour before making a single dollar in profit.

Understanding this number doesn't tell you what to charge. It tells you what your business actually costs to operate so you can make better decisions about your jobs, your crews, and your profitability.

In this episode:

• Why paid hours and billable hours aren't the same thing
• How to calculate your team's realistic annual billable capacity
• How overhead and labor burden determine your true hourly operating cost
• Why a $30-per-hour employee could cost your business $92 per billable hour
• The difference between operating cost and what you should charge customers
• How wasted time and inaccurate estimates affect your profitability

Chapters:

00:00 — What does one billable hour actually cost your business?

00:31 — The difference between paid hours and billable hours

01:32 — Calculating your team's realistic billable capacity

02:44 — Calculating overhead cost per billable hour

03:59 — Calculating your true field labor cost

04:45 — The $92-per-hour operating cost example

05:58 — The difference between operating cost and selling price

06:42 — Your fight this week: Calculate your number

Your challenge:

Pull your numbers from the last 12 months and figure out three things:

• What does it actually cost to keep your contracting business running?
• How many billable hours can your team realistically produce?
• What does your field labor actually cost after accounting for labor burden?

Take your annual operating costs and divide them by your realistic annual billable hours. Then add your burdened field labor cost.

That's your estimated cost per billable hour before profit.

If you've been setting prices based on what competitors charge or what you pay your employees, it's time to understand what your own business actually costs.

And if this exercise revealed that you're guessing at important numbers, there may be other areas of your business that need attention.

Take the free Build a Business Worth Having Scorecard to uncover what's holding your contracting business back and identify where to focus first.

It takes about three minutes.

https://bit.ly/BuildABusinessWorthHaving_cto

Knowing what an hour costs your business isn't the same as knowing what to charge for it. But you can't make smart pricing decisions until you understand your costs.

#ContractorPricing #ContractorProfit #ContractorBusiness

See what needs your attention in your contracting business:

https://bit.ly/BuildABusinessWorthHaving_cf1

Contractor finances are about more than revenue.

You can run a $2 million, $5 million, or even $10 million contracting business and still not know if you’re actually making money.

Revenue tells you how big your business is. It doesn’t tell you how healthy it is.

In this episode, Tom Reber breaks down the 6 numbers every contractor needs to know to understand the financial health of their business: revenue, gross profit, overhead, net profit, cash flow, and owner’s compensation.

These numbers show you what your work is actually producing, what it costs to run the company, how much profit is left, whether you have enough cash to cover what’s due, and what the business is ultimately producing for you.

If you want to get control of your contractor finances, you don’t need to become an accountant. You need to understand your numbers well enough to make better decisions.

In this episode:

• The 6 financial numbers every contractor should know
• Why revenue alone doesn’t tell you whether your contracting business is healthy
• How gross profit shows what your jobs are actually producing
• Why Tom pushes contractors to bid at a minimum 50% gross profit
• How overhead affects what your business needs to produce every day
• Why more revenue doesn’t automatically mean more profit
• The difference between net profit and cash flow
• How accounts receivable can leave a profitable contracting business short on cash
• Why owner’s compensation matters when measuring what the business actually produces for you

Chapters:

00:00 — Contractor finances: Is your business healthy?

00:43 — #1: Revenue

01:36 — #2: Gross profit

02:44 — Build a Business Worth Having Scorecard

03:09 — #3: Overhead

04:00 — #4: Net profit

05:18 — #5: Cash flow

06:04 — #6: Owner’s compensation

06:56 — How the 6 financial numbers work together

07:44 — Find the number you don’t know

Your challenge:

Pull your P&L and your receivables and find all six numbers:

Revenue. Gross profit. Overhead. Net profit. Cash flow. Owner’s compensation.

If there’s one you can’t answer, start there.

You can’t make good decisions with numbers you don’t know. Getting control of your contractor finances doesn’t mean becoming an accountant. It means understanding your company well enough to know what the business is actually producing for you.

Take the free Build a Business Worth Having Scorecard to see where your business needs your attention right now:

https://bit.ly/BuildABusinessWorthHaving_cf1

The goal isn’t just to build a bigger contracting business. It’s to build one that’s actually worth having.

#ContractorFinances #ContractorFinance #ContractorProfit

See if you've built a business worth having: https://bit.ly/BuildABusinessWorthHaving_itf1

Jarrod was working sunup to sundown at least six days a week.

He had moved to Colorado with his wife to build a new life, but instead of having the freedom to enjoy it, most of his time was consumed by work.

Today, that's starting to look very different.

In this episode of Inside The Fight, Tim and Derek sit down with Jarrod, owner of Alpine Design and Remodeling, to talk about how he went from grinding six days a week, not knowing his numbers, and struggling to step away from work to building a contracting business he can actually be proud to own.

They break down:

• Why working sunup to sundown six days a week was costing Jarrod more than just his time

• How learning his numbers changed the way he thought about growing and scaling his business

• Why moving from Minnesota to Colorado forced him to get uncomfortable and make major changes in his life

• How coaching helped Jarrod build confidence, communicate better, and change the way he saw himself

• Why head trash can limit what contractors believe they can accomplish and what they're willing to charge

• How Jarrod went from feeling like he couldn't afford to take a day off to stepping away from the field without worrying about it

Chapters

00:00 Jarrod's Move to Colorado and Starting Over

02:58 Building a Business Worth Owning

05:56 What Wasn't Working Before The Fight

08:32 How the Grind Was Affecting His Home Life

10:35 Realizing There Was a Better Way

14:32 The Coaching Moment That Changed His Identity

19:23 The Change Jarrod Resisted the Most

23:21 Learning to Track the Numbers That Matter

25:21 What His Business Allows Him to Do Now

33:42 The Head Trash Holding Contractors Back

Jarrod didn't just need a better business strategy.

He needed to change the way he thought about his business, his time, and what was actually possible for his life.

Because building a successful contracting business isn't just about working harder or generating more revenue.

It's about building something worth owning.

Tom Reber is the founder of The Contractor Fight. He is the host of Contractor Fight TV, an entrepreneur, a speaker, a podcaster, and a former HGTV host.

For over 20 years, Tom has helped hundreds of thousands of contractors build businesses worth having.

He does this by helping them become the kind of people capable of building them.

On this channel you will find straight-talk training for your business.

We cover sales, pricing, profit, leadership, and mindset.

Our goal is to build a Strong You, a Strong Home, and a Strong Business.

The first fight is always with yourself.

Join The Fight. 👊

https://bit.ly/BuildABusinessWorthHaving_tob

Successful, Miserable, Trapped

You got the trucks, the crew, and the revenue number you used to dream about.

From the outside, it looks like you’ve made it. But you can’t take a week off. Every important decision comes back to you. And somewhere along the way, you stopped thinking about what the business could become and started focusing on getting through the day.

In this episode, Tom Reber explains how a contractor can build a successful business and still feel miserable and trapped inside it.

The usual scoreboard measures revenue, trucks, and head count. It doesn’t tell you whether the business pays you well for the roles you’re filling, gives you a life outside of work, or can function when you step away.

In this episode:

• Three signs you may be trapped in the business you built
• Why a business that can’t run for a week without you has a serious problem
• How you can be the highest paid employee and the lowest paid owner
• Why being great at your trade can lead to years of reacting instead of building
• How to define what you need the business to pay you and how much time you’re willing to give it
• Which roles to start moving off your plate
• Why healthy margins give you room to make those changes

Chapters:

00:00 — You hit the goal, so why do you feel trapped?

01:56 — Sign #1: The business can’t run a week without you

02:47 — Sign #2: You’re the highest paid employee and lowest paid owner

03:40 — Sign #3: You stopped imagining what’s next

04:14 — How you became the person who solves everything

05:35 — Successful, miserable, trapped

06:03 — Decide what the business is for

06:24 — Decide which roles you’ll leave

06:47 — Fix the margins that make change possible

08:40 — Your business doesn’t have to be a life sentence

Your challenge:

Write down two things: what you need this business to put in your pocket and how many hours you’re willing to work.

Then look at the roles you’re filling right now. Which one makes the best use of your time? Which ones need someone else in the seat, and when will you make that happen?

A bigger business won’t automatically give you a better life. You have to decide what worth having means to you and build toward it.

Take the free Build a Business Worth Having Scorecard to see which problems are costing you the most:

https://bit.ly/BuildABusinessWorthHaving_tob

The business you have today doesn’t have to be the business you’re stuck with forever.

https://bit.ly/BuildABusinessWorthHaving_rbo

Why More Revenue Won't Fix Your Burnout

You’re doing $1 million, maybe $2 million a year.

You’ve got a crew. Your trucks are wrapped. People in town know your name.

And somehow, you’re more exhausted than when you were running the business solo.

In this episode, Tom breaks down why contractor burnout isn’t always the result of working too hard.

It’s what happens when you keep working hard without making real progress.

More revenue. More employees. More leads. More responsibility.

But you’re still selling the jobs, solving customer problems, making every important decision and putting out fires every week.

On paper, the business has grown.

In reality, it still depends on you.

Taking a vacation doesn’t fix that. Hustling harder doesn’t fix it either.

The solution is building a business that can operate without everything running through you.

In this episode:

• Why hard work alone isn’t what burns contractors out

• How more revenue can still leave you running in place

• Why your business should depend less on you as it grows

• How constantly saving the day keeps the business from progressing

• Why taking time off doesn’t fix the underlying problem

• The importance of building a sales process that doesn’t live in your head

• Why your crew needs standards they can execute without you

• How training people to make decisions gives you back your time

• Why better visibility into your numbers matters

• Why a growing business should eventually become easier to run

Your challenge:

Look at your business and identify where it still depends on you like it did in year one.

Sales.

Production.

Customer problems.

Money.

Day-to-day decisions.

If everything still has to go through you, more revenue isn’t going to solve the problem.

You have to build a business that needs less of you in the right places.

Take the free Build a Business Worth Having Scorecard to see what needs your attention and identify the bottlenecks keeping you from getting ahead:

https://bit.ly/BuildABusinessWorthHaving_rbo

You’ve already proven you can hustle.

The next level isn’t more of you.

It’s building a business that can grow without everything depending on you.

See if you've built a business worth having: https://bit.ly/BuildABusinessWorthHaving_itf1

Most contractors build a business that depends on them being there every day.

Taylor built one that allowed him to move to another state.

After years of working nonstop, struggling to trust his team, and feeling like he always had to be the one to come to the rescue, Taylor made a massive change. He moved from Arizona to Idaho while his contracting business stayed in Arizona — and continued to grow.

In this episode of Inside The Fight, Tim and Derek sit down with Taylor Payne, owner of Total Precision Builders in Casa Grande, AZ, to talk about how he went from being a workaholic who couldn't step away from the business to running a $2.7 million contracting company from another state.

They break down:

• How Taylor built a contracting business he could run from another state

• Why learning to trust his team was one of the biggest hurdles to gaining freedom

• How knowing his numbers, job costing, and understanding his margins changed the way he runs his business

• Why charging more and targeting a 50% gross profit forced him to rethink his pricing

• How pride kept him from admitting what wasn't working and implementing what he already knew

• Why Taylor put his first Mile High Profit Summit trip on a credit card when he felt like he couldn't afford to go

• How failing to implement kept him stuck even when he had the tools to move forward

• Why building the right team means no longer tolerating people who aren't aligned with your standards

• How Taylor went from making money the priority to valuing his freedom, family, and time

Chapters

00:00 How Taylor Runs a $2.7M Business From Another State

03:20 Moving to Idaho While the Business Stayed in Arizona

06:53 The Real Reason Taylor Needed More Freedom

10:35 What The Fight Changed in His Business

14:18 Discovering the 50% Gross Profit Mindset

18:45 Why His Old Business Couldn't Continue

22:06 Learning to Track the Numbers

27:32 The Coaching Moment That Changed His Sales

31:26 Pride, Failure & Starting Over

36:53 Taylor's Biggest Implementation Mistake

46:08 Why He Refuses to Go Back

50:15 What Contractors Need to Stop Tolerating

A successful contracting business shouldn't require you to be physically present every day just to keep it running.

When you know your numbers, build the right team, implement proven systems, and stop making yourself the answer to every problem, you create something bigger than revenue.

You create freedom.

Tom Reber is the founder of The Contractor Fight. He is the host of Contractor Fight TV, an entrepreneur, a speaker, a podcaster, and a former HGTV host.

For over 20 years, Tom has helped hundreds of thousands of contractors build businesses worth having.

He does this by helping them become the kind of people capable of building them.

On this channel you will find straight-talk training for your business.

We cover sales, pricing, profit, leadership, and mindset.

Our goal is to build a Strong You, a Strong Home, and a Strong Business.

The first fight is always with yourself.

Join The Fight. 👊

https://thecontractorfight.com/leak

Why The Best Salespeople Disqualify More Than They Sell

The best salespeople don’t try to close everyone.

They identify the wrong prospects early so they can spend their time on the right ones.

In this episode, Tom explains why chasing every lead isn’t commitment, hustle or good salesmanship. It’s a qualification problem.

Wrong budget. Wrong timeline. Multiple decision-makers who aren’t involved. Homeowners collecting estimates with no intention of buying.

No closing technique can fix a bad fit.

When you push every lead toward a meeting and proposal, you waste hours on opportunities that were dead from the beginning. That wasted effort eventually damages your confidence, creates desperation and pressures you to offer discounts you never needed to give.

The solution is to command the gate.

Ask the real questions before you get in the truck and require every lead to earn the meeting.

In this episode:

• Why great salespeople disqualify more prospects

• How chasing every lead damages your confidence and pricing

• Why closing techniques can’t overcome a bad fit

• How five bad leads per month can waste more than 90 hours a year

• The purpose of the Shin-Fu prequalification process

• How to uncover the prospect’s true motive

• Why vague answers are valuable information

• How to discuss money before scheduling the appointment

• Why every decision-maker needs to be identified

• What Command the Gate is designed to protect

Your challenge:

Before scheduling meetings with your next 10 leads, dig into three things on the phone:

• Their motive

• Their budget

• Every person involved in the decision

If their answers are vague, evasive or reveal that the project isn’t a fit, believe the information.

Disqualifying a prospect isn’t losing a sale. It’s protecting the time you need for the sales you can actually win.

Find the biggest leak in your sales process with the free Sales Leak Scorecard:

https://thecontractorfight.com/leak

You don’t win by closing everyone.

You win by knowing who is worth trying to close.

www.thecontractorfight.com/leak

Stop Trying to Build Rapport

Your prospects don’t need another contractor pretending to care about their dog, boat or favorite football team.

They need to trust that you can solve their problem.

In this episode, Tom challenges one of the oldest beliefs in sales: people buy from people they like.

Likability matters, but it doesn’t close the job by itself. Contractors lose sales every day after having friendly conversations with homeowners who genuinely liked them.

The missing ingredient is competence.

Manufactured small talk can actually work against you. It wastes time, signals that you’re running a sales technique and delays the conversation the homeowner actually wants to have.

Instead of trying to become their buddy, take command of the meeting. Explain the process, ask better questions, understand what they want and show them exactly how you’ll deliver it.

Competence is the rapport.

In this episode:

• Why being liked isn’t enough to close the job

• The difference between being friendly and manufacturing rapport

• How forced small talk can damage trust

• What homeowners are really thinking while you talk about their boat

• Why your sales process should begin before you arrive

• How explaining the meeting builds immediate credibility

• Why diagnosing the problem positions you as the expert

• The two things that actually build trust during the meeting

• Tom’s three-meeting challenge for eliminating fake rapport

Your challenge:

For your next three sales meetings, eliminate the manufactured small talk.

Explain your process within the first 60 seconds. Get directly into what the homeowner wants, why it matters and what has changed since the qualification call.

You don’t need to be liked.

You need to be trusted.

Find out where your sales process is leaking with the free Sales Leak Scorecard:

https://thecontractorfight.com/leak

Stop guessing. Find the leak. Fix the leak. Command your sales.

Have you built a business worth having: https://bit.ly/BuildABusinessWorthHaving_itf1

Most contractors believe the only way to build a successful business is to work 80 hours a week and sacrifice everything at home.

Roberto Diaz thought the exact same thing. He was working non-stop, hiding empty bank accounts from his family, and putting thousands of dollars on credit cards just to survive.

Then he hit a breaking point: "Strong Home, Strong Business."

In this episode of Into The Fight, Tim and Derek sit down with general contractor Roberto Diaz (owner of Building by Giving in Denver, CO) to talk about how he stopped overworking, started tracking his numbers with job costing, and built a business that lets him be home by 5 PM with his wife and kids.

They break down:

• Why overworking and sacrificing family time won't save your contracting business

• How to transition from doing everything yourself to implementing real business systems

• The exact breaking point that forces contractors to stop hiding from their numbers

• Why tracking job costing reveals the painful truth about your margins

• How to build standards around subs, culture, and hospitality in construction

• The power of reaching out to realtors, designers, and local partners to stay busy

• Why asking hard questions and practicing active listening saves marriages and businesses

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to Into The Fight: Roberto Diaz

00:58 Donating 3% to 5% of Every Project

03:36 The Breaking Point: Strong Home, Strong Business

04:55 Empty Bank Accounts & Taking the Risk

07:27 Deciding to Be a Present Father

12:33 Facing the Truth with Job Costing

15:15 Working with Family and Uncomfortable Conversations

18:34 Scaling with a Subcontractor Model & High Standards

26:28 Becoming a Better Husband & Communicator

32:45 The Question Every Contractor Needs to Ask

Running a contracting business should never force you to sacrifice your home life.

When you implement job costing and track your actual numbers, you build a company that runs smoothly. That clarity gives you the freedom to be fully present as a husband and father.

Tom Reber is the founder of The Contractor Fight. He is the host of Contractor Fight TV, an entrepreneur, a speaker, a podcaster, and a former HGTV host.

For over 20 years, Tom has helped hundreds of thousands of contractors build businesses worth having.

He does this by helping them become the kind of people capable of building them.

On this channel you will find straight-talk training for your business.

We cover sales, pricing, profit, leadership, and mindset.

Our goal is to build a Strong You, a Strong Home, and a Strong Business.

The first fight is always with yourself.

Join The Fight. 👊

How Contractors Leak $183,000 in Profit Every Year

Most contractors think they need more leads.

They don’t.

They need to stop wasting the opportunities already coming into the business.

In this episode, Tom breaks down how an $800,000 contractor could be leaking more than $183,000 in gross profit every year without seeing a single expense on the P&L.

The money disappears through four common sales leaks:

• The Gate: Failing to qualify leads before wasting time on an estimate

• The Meeting: Showing up, measuring and quoting without running a proven sales process

• The Money: Discounting because the price conversation gets uncomfortable

• The Follow-Up: Sending a proposal and hoping the customer eventually responds

Using a $12,000 average job, a 30% close rate and a 40% gross profit margin, Tom shows how small improvements could produce:

• 84 hours of owner or estimator time recovered through better qualification

• $52,800 in additional gross profit from improving the close rate by five points

• $20,400 kept by eliminating unnecessary discounts

• Approximately $110,000 in additional gross profit from a structured follow-up process

You don’t need more water poured into a leaking bucket.

Fix the bucket first.

In this episode:

• The five steps of the Shin-Fu qualification process

• Why 80% of the sale happens during the motive conversation

• The seven-part structure of a strong sales meeting

• How discounting comes directly off your bottom line

• The five-touch follow-up sequence every contractor should use

• Why profit is the scoreboard

• How to find the biggest leak in your sales process

Find your biggest sales leak with the free Sales Leak Scorecard:

https://thecontractorfight.com/leak

Stop guessing. Find the leak. Fix the leak. Command your sales.

Take the Sales Leak Scorecard Here

Episode Description

"What's the going rate for a project like this?" Wrong question. In this episode, Tom breaks down why pricing off the going rate is the fastest way to price yourself into the gutter and what to ask instead. It's not about what everyone else charges. It's about your production rate, your real costs, and your number. If you're still shaving your price to "stay competitive," this one's for you.

What You'll Learn

• Why "going rate" pricing means you're averaging other contractors' blind spots into your own bid
• The one question to ask instead of "what's the going rate"
• The three numbers you need to know cold before you price any job
• The blind-spot costs that never show up in a "going rate" conversation
• Why revenue hides stupidity — and how a broken pricing model gets worse the more you scale it

Episode Breakdown

• Open — The question that started this episode, and why it's the wrong one to ask
• The Going Rate Problem — Why market-average pricing means pricing off other people's guesswork
• The Better Question — Production rate vs. going rate, and why one is math and the other is a rumor
• The Cost of Guessing — How "going rate" pricing quietly scales a broken business
• How to Build Your Number — The three things to track: actual time, real costs, target margin
• The Blind Spots — Access issues, waste, permits, travel — the stuff the going rate never accounts for
• The Standard — What strong contractors do differently
• The Fight This Week — Pull your last five jobs and build your real number

Key Quote

"The going rate is the kiss of death for a contractor. It keeps you tied to the average. And average is not where you want to live."

This Week's Fight

Pull your last five jobs like the one you're about to bid. Look at actual hours, actual costs, actual outcome. Build your production rate... not the going rate.

oduction rate — not your going rate.

Links & Resources

• Sales Leak Scorecard
• The Contractor Fight Website: https://thecontractorfight.com

Get Your Sales Leak Score: https://thecontractorfight.com/leak

You just found out that "small" discount is costing you way more than 10%. In this episode, Tom breaks down the actual math behind discounting a job, and why giving away 10% off your price can wipe out 20% (or more) of your profit. If you've ever caved on price because a customer pushed back, this one's for you.

What you'll learn:

• Why your costs don't move when your price does
• The real math behind a "harmless" 10% discount
• How much additional work you have to sell just to break even on a discount
• Why the math gets uglier the thinner your margins already are
• The difference between a strategic discount and a fear-based one

Timestamps

• 00:00 – The problem: contractors negotiating against themselves the moment a customer pushes back
• 00:40 – The example: a $10K job at 50% gross margin
• 01:00 – What actually happens when you cave and knock off 10%
• 01:40 – Your costs don't drop just because your price did
• 02:00 – The real hit: a 10% price discount = a 20% gross profit hit
• 02:20 – Mid-show break: the Sales Leak Scorecard — find out where your sales process is actually breaking down
• 03:20 – Back to the numbers: what it costs to earn that profit back
• 03:40 – How much additional revenue you have to go sell just to replace what you gave away
• 04:20 – The math gets worse at lower margins (30% example)
• 05:20 – When discounting is okay — legit strategic reasons vs. reacting out of fear
• 06:00 – The close: know your numbers, hold your price, protect your profit

Get Your Sales Leak Score: https://thecontractorfight.com/leak

Follow Tom on IG

The Contractor Fight Website

Book a call with the team: https://thecontractorfight.com/battleground

Grab Tom's book FREE: https://thecontractorfight.com/book/

Your business is making more money than ever, but you still hate the damn thing. You’ve got the trucks, the branded wraps, the team, and a schedule that's packed tight. From the outside, it looks like you’re flying high. But you can’t take a single day off without something going sideways. You’re answering every question, putting out every fire, and your margins have anorexia. That business wasn't supposed to be a high-paying prison...it was supposed to give you freedom.

In this video, Tom Reber breaks down why top-line revenue is a bullshit metric, why scaling a broken business just helps you lose money faster, and how to stop being the ultimate bottleneck in your own company.

You’ll learn:

• Why revenue is loud, but profit is what gives you options

• Why growth doesn't fix a weak business...it just exposes it

• Why you are the biggest bottleneck holding your team back

• The 5-part order: Strong You, Strong Home, Strong Business

• What a real Business Operating System (Fight OS) actually looks like

• How to rate your business from 1 to 10 across the 6 key operational pillars

Revenue matters, but if your business owns your ass and runs entirely on your personal energy, you don't own a business...you own a personality cult with trucks and logos. It’s time to stop scaling a turd and start building a business worth having.

Chapters

0:00 - The High-Paying Prison

1:40 - Revenue Isn't The Goal

3:04 - Growth Doesn't Fix A Weak Business

4:26 - You Are Your Biggest Problem

6:04 - Real Businesses Need Real Systems

8:01 - A Business Worth Having Doesn't Mean Easy

9:29 - I Challenge You...

11:20 - Installing The Fight Operating System

Tom Reber is the founder of The Contractor Fight, host of Contractor Fight TV, entrepreneur, speaker, podcaster, and former HGTV host. For over 20 years, Tom has helped hundreds of thousands of contractors build businesses worth having by becoming the kind of people capable of building them.

On this channel you'll find straight-talk training on sales, pricing, profit, leadership, marketing, mindset, and what it really takes to build a Strong You, Strong Home, and Strong Business.

The first fight is always with yourself. Join The Fight. 👊

Check out The Fight: www.thecontractorfight.com

Is Your Contracting Business Actually Worth Having?

Most contractors are chasing more revenue, more trucks, more employees, and more jobs.

Wrong scoreboard.

You can build a $3M company and still be broke, stressed, overweight, disconnected from your family, and chained to the business you created.

In this video, Tom Reber breaks down the real test:

Is your business actually worth having?

A business worth having should:

• Make real profit
• Give you more choices
• Function without you being the hero
• Make your life better—not consume it

Revenue matters. Growth matters. But if the business owns your ass, you’re not winning.

Strong You. Strong Home. Strong Business.

The first fight is always with yourself.

Chapters

0:00 Is Your Business Worth Having?

0:29 When “Successful” Contractors Are Miserable

1:16 Bigger Doesn’t Fix Broken

2:27 Test #1: Does It Make Real Money?

3:41 Test #2: Does It Give You Choices?

4:39 Test #3: Can It Run Without You?

5:35 The Biggest Test: Who Are You Becoming?

6:20 Strong You. Strong Home. Strong Business.

6:36 Ask Better Questions About Your Business

7:27 The Five-Year Gut Check

7:42 Start Fixing the Next Thing

8:05 Build a Business Worth Having

Tom Reber is the founder of The Contractor Fight, host of Contractor Fight TV, entrepreneur, speaker, podcaster, and former HGTV host.

For over 20 years, Tom has helped hundreds of thousands of contractors build businesses worth having by becoming the kind of people capable of building them.

On this channel you'll find straight-talk training on sales, pricing, profit, leadership, marketing, mindset, and what it really takes to build a Strong You, Strong Home, and Strong Business.

The first fight is always with yourself.

Join The Fight. 👊

Business training for Contractors: https://thecontractorfight.com/battleground

Contractors hear it every day: “Your price is too high.” But most of the time, price isn’t actually the problem. The problem is that you haven’t given the customer enough evidence to believe you’re worth more.

In this episode of Contractor Fight TV, Tom breaks down the 3 things that justify a higher price without defending it, apologizing for it, or trashing the cheaper contractor.

You’ll learn how to use:

• Communication to build trust before the sale

• Content to establish authority before you ever meet

• Customer experience to prove you’re worth the premium

You don’t get to SAY you’re worth more. You have to prove it. And if you’re constantly hearing that your prices are too high, it might be time to stop blaming cheap customers and start looking at the experience your company is creating.

CHAPTERS

00:00 — “Your Price Is Too High”

00:23 — Stop Defending Your Price

01:04 — What “Justifying Your Price” Actually Means

01:29 — #1: Your Communication Justifies Your Price

02:24 — Your Website Is Part of the Sale

03:02 — Bad Follow-Up Kills Trust

04:18 — Confidence vs. Arrogance

04:43 — Speed Is King

05:32 — Price Isn’t the Only Thing Customers Care About

06:12 — #2: Your Content Justifies Your Price

06:30 — Become the Best Educator in Your Market

07:19 — Stop Making Excuses and Create Content

08:17 — “It Takes What It Takes”

08:39 — What Contractors Should Create Content About

09:38 — #3: The Customer Experience Justifies Your Price

10:22 — Your Team Is Part of the Experience

11:18 — Make Your Company Easy to Work With

11:34 — How Pre-Planning Builds Trust

12:39 — Stop Leaving Customers Loose Ends

13:14 — Warranty Problems Are Opportunities

13:45 — Trust Is What Makes the Higher Price Make Sense

14:25 — “People Are Just Cheap” Is an Excuse

14:54 — The Real Reason You’re Getting Price Pushback

15:30 — Why Tom Gets So Fired Up About This

16:08 — Take the Next Step Ready to build a stronger, more profitable contracting business?

👉 https://thecontractorfight.com/battleground

Sales training for Contractors: https://thecontractorfight.com/command Grab Tom's book FREE: https://thecontractorfight.com/book/

Running a business with your spouse, kids, parents, or other family members can be incredible.It can also get messy fast.When nobody knows exactly what they're responsible for, business problems become family problems. Roles overlap. People start micromanaging each other. Work follows you home. And suddenly you're talking about customers and employees while lying in bed at night.

In this episode, Tim and Derek get into what they've learned from building businesses with family—and the mistakes they wish they'd avoided.They break down why clear roles matter, how to keep business out of your personal life, why every family member needs ownership and autonomy, and how a shared vision can get everyone rowing in the same direction.

Chapters

00:00 The Reality of Family Businesses

00:34 Why We Started Our Own Businesses

03:29 What Employees Don't See About Ownership

05:24 The Hidden Cost of Running a Business

07:35 What Your Employees Actually Need

09:32 Why Business Owners Need an Outlet

10:44 How Family Gets Pulled Into the Business

11:40 Family and Business Relationships Are Different

12:02 The Biggest Family Business Mistake

12:23 Define Everyone's Role

13:52 Communication Changes Everything

15:28 Keep the Business Out of the Bedroom

16:33 You Need a Life Outside the Business

17:59 Respect Each Other's Time

18:44 Get Clear on Responsibilities

18:50 Build a Shared Family Business Vision

19:40 Look in the Mirror First

20:01 Treat Family Members With Respect

21:16 Stop Assuming You Have All the Answers

23:12 Let Other People Solve the Problem

24:54 The Simple Advice for Family Businesses

Working with family doesn't have to destroy your relationships.Get clear about who's responsible for what. Give people ownership. Communicate like professionals. Build a shared vision. And create boundaries so the business doesn't consume the family you built it for in the first place.Subscribe to The Contractor Fight for straight-talk conversations about sales, leadership, profit, people, and building a contracting business worth owning.

Tom Reber is the founder of The Contractor Fight, host of Contractor Fight TV, entrepreneur, speaker, podcaster, and former HGTV host. For over 20 years, Tom has helped hundreds of thousands of contractors build businesses worth having by becoming the kind of people capable of building them. On this channel you'll find straight-talk training on sales, pricing, profit, leadership, marketing, mindset, and what it really takes to build a Strong You, Strong Home, and Strong Business. The first fight is always with yourself. Join The Fight. 👊