Author name: Rokket Developer

Beyond the Fence Line: Contractor Marketing Strategies from Tacoma’s Nathan Hagberg Nathan Hagberg of Secoma Fence shares his incredible journey in the contractor world. Starting as a laborer, he rose through the ranks to eventually own the company. Nathan emphasizes the importance of relationships and strategic acquisitions in building a successful business. His story highlights the power of organic growth and sustainable practices. He stresses that finding good employees and customers go hand-in-hand. Hagberg also notes the importance of adapting to market changes and the need for marketing, even for established businesses. “Opportunities come to business owners just through networking, through talking, and through relationships.”- Nathan Hagberg Nathan’s insights provide valuable lessons for contractors looking to scale their operations. He underscores the significance of making informed decisions and owning the outcomes. Ultimately, his journey exemplifies the power of hard work, strategic thinking, and genuine connection in the contractor industry. Topics Transcript Topics Discussed The Power of Relationships: Building strong relationships with previous owners and the community paved the way for Nathan’s acquisition and continued success. Strategic Acquisitions: Acquiring a powder coating business allowed Secoma Fence to control quality and customization, setting them apart from competitors. Sustainable Growth: Nathan emphasizes the importance of manageable, organic growth over rapid expansion, ensuring stability and quality. Adaptability: Recognizing when to invest in marketing, even after years of referral-based growth, demonstrates adaptability to changing market conditions. The Value of Self-Performance: By primarily self-performing work, Secoma Fence maintains control over project quality and timelines. Decision-Making & Ownership: Nathan stresses the importance of making decisions and taking full responsibility for the results, fostering a proactive approach. Industry Involvement: Being involved with industry associations is a great way to leverage your company as a preferred contractor. Audio Transcription Mark Lamberth: Hello, welcome to another episode of the Contractor Grow Show. My name is Mark, I’m your host, and today I’m talking with Nathan Hagberg at Tacoma Fence in Tacoma, Washington. Nathan, thank you so much for being on the show today. Nathan Hagberg: Thank you for having me. I am in Tacoma, Washington, but it is C Coma Fence. I don’t know if I heard correctly. So Mark Lamberth: Se coma Fence. Okay. Right. S-E-C-O-M-A Nathan Hagberg: Fence. Mark Lamberth: Yeah. Okay, great. Great. And yeah, Nathan, I’ve taken a look at the business, what you guys are up to, looks like all kinds of interesting stuff. You guys got some great fencing solutions, they’re in Tacoma. Maybe you could tell us just about the history of the business and where you guys are at today. Nathan Hagberg: So back in 1978, sorry, that was the second order back in 68. The company was founded, I think it was owned by two gentlemen for about a year and a half. And then they sold out to a man named Ross Jennings. Ross Jennings was a pretty big founder in the fencing industry for, he was really known to be involved with the different fencing, industry associations. I did the National Associations and I think he even did an international association’s offense, so not really certain what that was. I don’t have a lot of understanding of the international offense industry if it’s even existence today, but he was kind of a pioneer in the idea that he wanted to be a part of that and it put our name on the map. It also created a lot of windows and opportunities as you go and you present your company to the different industries that need our services. I think he was good at using and leveraging his associations as why we should be preferred as a contractor. And then we moved on about 20 years after him owning the business. He sold to a gentleman and his wife there, Arlan and George Scarce. Arlan Is still with us and George is not unfortunately, but they owned the company for about 25 years, I believe. I started working with George and Ireland when I was about 21. I was just a guy that moved out of California and migrated north up to here at Washington State and found an opportunity to work for them. Mark Lamberth: Wow. And how long ago was that, Nathan? Nathan Hagberg: 21. Yeah, I’m 21, 23. I was either 22 or 23 when I probably started working for them and I’m 48 now, so that was a while ago. I worked as a laborer. I learned the industry, grew up in construction with my father who built homes, custom homes, and did remodel, just kind of a one man show and he had five sons and a daughter. And we all kind of learned how to just be able to put our hands into construction and learn the basics. But some of us, my siblings have gone on to have other occupations. I’m probably, me and one other brother who’s a commercial plumber is stuck in state into the construction industries. But that being said, was able to come and work as just a laborer, just doing the hard stuff and physical work. And I liked it and I enjoyed it. And prior to that I worked in the restaurant business and I had opportunities to manage people and to just be that you use that skill that you learn to communicate and to be able to be a good communicator and director at a restaurant and you translate that over to sales or possibly how you could utilize it just to engage customers and people. So I took those skills and they saw that I had a little bit of understanding of the market, so they offered me a sales position. I was able to work directly with them in sales and kind of help grow the company and was able to find a little niche that worked for me, left for about five years in the middle, maintained a great relationship with that family, just kind of stayed tight and close and when they had an unfortunate circumstance

Milieu Landscape Consulting: Mastering Contractor Advertising and Personalized Design in Vancouver Alex Lerner, founder of Milieu Landscape Consulting (formerly AL Landscape Design), shares his journey from working as a landscape architect to building a thriving business. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the context of each project, tailoring solutions to the client’s specific needs and challenges. This personalized approach sets Milieu Landscape Consulting apart in the competitive Vancouver market. Lerner recounts how the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly fueled growth in the landscape design industry as homeowners invested in their outdoor spaces. He also reveals his unique strategy for acquiring initial clients: cold calling contractors. This unconventional approach helped him establish strong partnerships and build a solid foundation for his business. “It’s all about understanding the context—the context of the site, the context of the client, of what they might need, listening and understanding those needs.”- Alex Lerner Lerner highlights the significance of actively listening to clients to uncover their true needs and challenges, rather than simply implementing their initial ideas. By understanding the underlying issues, Milieu Landscape Consulting can provide innovative and customized landscape designs. The company’s focus on personalized care and context-driven design ensures client satisfaction and sets them apart from competitors. Topics Transcript Topics Discussed Rebranding: Adam Lerner explains the company’s recent name change to Milieu Landscape Consulting to reflect its growth and expanded scope. Unexpected Growth: Lerner details how the pandemic led to a surge in residential landscape design projects. Context-Driven Design: Milieu Landscape Consulting focuses on understanding the client’s needs and site context to create tailored solutions. The Importance of Listening: Lerner emphasizes the need to uncover the underlying problems and needs of clients to create effective designs. Cold Calling Success: Lerner shares his unconventional approach of cold calling contractors to generate initial business. Building Partnerships: Establishing strong relationships with contractors has been crucial to Milieu Landscape Consulting’s growth. Personalized Care: Milieu Landscape Consulting differentiates itself by providing highly personalized service and designs. Audio Transcription Mark Lamberth: Hello, welcome to another episode of The Contractor Grow Show. My name is Mark, I’m your host, we are a contractor marketing agency and today I have the honor of speaking with Alex Lerner at Alex Lerner Landscaping Design in Landscape Design in Vancouver, British Columbia. Alex, thanks for being with us today. Adam Lerner: Yes, thank you for inviting me, mark. I’m excited to be here. Mark Lamberth: Fantastic. So I’m taking a look at your site. You guys do absolutely stunning work. And I’ll say just in a nutshell, I mean, I’m going to talk more about the site, but you guys have really got your marketing just dialed in. It’s beautiful. And I would even say, guys, if you’re listening to this show, just head on over to al landscape.com, like alex lerner al landscape.com to take a look at an example of a beautiful site that really portrays someone’s work very well. So I just want to take that to open up here, Alex. Great job on that. Maybe you could just tell us a little bit about the history of the business, where you guys are at today, and what’s going on with Al Landscape Design. Adam Lerner: Yes. I guess I should maybe start with the fact that we are, as of probably this last week, we’re no longer Al Landscape Design we’re landscape, is that right? Okay. Yeah. So we changed our name and that’s maybe the story of the business. We kind of grew and incorporated, and so it’s no longer, I felt like it doesn’t represent what we do, just going by my own name as we’re expanding as a team and we’re taking on not just the single family residential projects, were going a little bit more on the commercial and multifamily and sometimes even industrial. And so I thought a new name, new branding would be appropriate. And so now we’re called Milieu Landscape Consulting. Mark Lamberth: Okay, great. I love it. How do I spell that? M-I-L-I-M-I-L? Adam Lerner: Yes. M-I-L-I-E-U. Landscape Consulting. Mark Lamberth: Yeah, Adam Lerner: The website is still the same though. Mark Lamberth: Okay, Adam Lerner: Great. Yeah. If you’re a landscape designer in Canada, checkout this association. Mark Lamberth: Okay, fantastic. So that’s probably been a little bit of a project for you guys, so the team’s expanding, and then maybe you could tell me about the history of the business. You guys have been around for a while, it looks like since 2018, and they’ve got a really prolific portfolio for being around, really for the last short 60 years. How about the history of the business? How has it started and how has it grown? Adam Lerner: Yeah, that’s a good question. So it’s interesting because I kind of came to the residential sector maybe through an unexpected backdoor. So I graduated, I did my studies of landscape architecture back in home in Israel, and then I moved to Canada in 2016 and I quickly needed to find a job as a landscape architect. It was a little bit more complicated because there’s all these steps you need to go through the portfolio and all these. And so I thought, okay, maybe I’ll just start with the landscaping business and I’ll just do some hands-on work, which would be valuable for just my experience, but also some connections. And I started working with a contractor that was great. They were a great employer and they primarily worked in the residential sphere. And that’s how I kind of got hooked on that idea of working residential, because when you’re doing landscape architecture, typically it’s public domain on the city scale, bigger things. And after working with them for a few years, I started working in a landscape architecture firm here in Vancouver and on the side and already told them that. I said, well, you know what? I do have some of my own projects, some of my own clients that come in, so I want to preserve