Today’s world wants input in their output. A license plate isn’t good enough anymore – it needs to be a vanity plate with some insight into the driver’s soul. A cell phone needs to have that one-of-a-kind ringtone. Applesauce isn’t good enough anymore – it needs to be organic, made in America, and hold the corn syrup please. Said another way, a solitary focus on the “what” is not enough in today’s society. In today’s society, people have an equal passion for the “how.”

The good news is that’s exactly what our clients are doing when they remodel their homes. But have you translated this trend within your own team? We can come up with lists and lists of great ideas on “what” we should be doing, “what” the future might hold and “what” we did in the past. But the real test comes when someone starts asking “how.” How will we get input from our team, how will our team implement these ideas, how will our clients react to these ideas, how will we monitor the implementation?

Think back to wonderful ideas, systems and processes you have had over the years that were not implemented by your team. I’ll bet the lack of implementation was rooted more in the “how” than in the “what.” Employees want to have a say. Then they want to understand the path that was chosen and why (even if it doesn’t agree with their input). This puts some extra pressure on all of us to work through a process rather than demanding something from “on high.” But think about it – Employees that don’t want these two things, a say and feedback, shouldn’t be on your team.

Be sure to let your clients know about a federal home improvement tax credit available to them in 2009.

Beginning January 1, 2009 there are up to $500 in federal tax credits for homeowners making improvements to insulation, replacement windows, non-solar water heaters, and certain high efficiency heating and cooling equipment. For more details and forms needed go to http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits.

At Case, we have several “themes” we look to for guidance. The theme that is most appropriate for this time of year is You Have to Invest Time to Improve. We learned many years ago that if we were going to be successful as an organization, training and self improvement would have to become part of our culture.

For many years this was all directed internally, within the company. As we have grown and become more involved with other organizations we have realized a real thirst for this information outside our doors. But for a long time we just did not have a means to transfer this knowledge.

The Case Institute of Remodeling is our vehicle to help spread our culture of training to others. An example of this is the Sales, Marketing and Production Summit coming up in February in Washington, DC. This used to be a Case only event but this year we have decided to open it up to a limited number of individuals. Our focus this year is on responding to the changing homeowner. Maybe your clients are different, but we have seen a change in client behavior. As a result we have made substantial changes in our marketing, sales and production strategies to respond to this new environment.

The start of a new year is a good time to take inventory of yourself personally and your organization as a whole. How are you adapting your strategies for a changing marketplace? Where do you go for ideas, guidance or the reassurance that you’re making the right moves? I would suggest that you consider attending the Summit. I can’t promise you that we will have all of the answers, but I will promise it to be time and money well spent. We’re a little different than other sources of education. We are not consultants or professional trainers. We are remodelers- designing, selling and producing projects. We Do It Everyday.

So my daughter is 5 (5 and 1/2 as she would be proud to tell you)…A couple of weekends ago we were walking up the steps to our home when she stopped dead in her tracks, looked down at the partially dead catnip plant sitting on our step and proclaimed that it was a very “hearty” plant. It made me stop dead in my tracks too – partly because I don’t think I had ever stopped and actually paid any attention to the plant, but more because of her choice of words – “hearty” hit me as a good, solid word. Hearty makes me think of comfort food. Food that has depth, warmth and bits of steam tumbling off the top. Food eaten best with family in a cozy atmosphere.

The plant is hearty to live (at least partially) through the cold stretch…but it also has heart. Not that different than the balance we all strive for in the current environment. We need to be hearty to live through the “cold stretch” but we also need to have heart. We need to remember each and every second that we are dealing with people’s lives – the lives of our employees, the lives of our clients, the lives of our subcontractors. The good news is that we aren’t truly in the line of fire such as those in our armed forces, firemen, policemen and other heroic endeavors. But we need to find the right balance of being “hearty” while also having “heart.”

On second thought, maybe the two are one in the same?