November 26, 2008

SMA would like to announce our upcoming educational offerings for 2009.

March 5-6 CFO Conference & Sales Managers Conference

April 8-9 Purchasing & Estimating Conference

April 10 Estimating Workshop

May 6-7 Production Management Conference

May 8 Superintendent Training

October 1, 2008

This month’s webinar "Top Three Strategies to Surviving Any Market” will be presented live at 12:00PM EST instead of our usual time of 2:30PM EST. For all those attending please update your calendars accordingly. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you.

September 9, 2008

SMA would like to announce our second annual Cost Control and Profit Gain Conference, on November 11 & 12! For more information on this confrence please see the links below.

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August 6, 2008

SMA's very own Mike Benshoof was quoted in the July 2008 issue of "Custom Builder" magazine! Click below to see the article.

See Article

July 29, 2008

First impressions are everything. SMA Consulting now offers digital rendering solutions that will separate you from the pack. To see samples of SMA's Digital Rendering Solutions please follow the link below.

See Digital Rendering Solutions Samples

July 22, 2008

Special Management Message

Would you believe me if I told you it's possible to learn much of someone's life story in just a few minutes? I hope you said yes.

I just got back from a week-long ski vacation and since I can't help myself, I decided to play a game. (I'll tell you about the game later in this management message.) 

You see, since the slow down in the market I've been doing quite a bit more sales training with clients and the Builders' Training Group (our sister company) sales training workshops have been packed. I'm happy to see that people are getting serious about sales training again but a decade of complacency has brought up some interesting questions from the untrained sales people I've been meeting.

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July 14, 2008

Special Management Message

SMA has recently taken to getting some professional advice - some consulting of our own if you will. It's part of our continuing effort to improve the operations of our consulting company and to be a better and more valuable resource to our clients.

One of our key advisors is author and generic business consultant Dan Sullivan and his organization The Strategic Coach. In Dan's book "How the Best Get Better", he asserts that the best marketing strategy in the world is to be Referable. Being referable means that your existing clients and customers believe in you so strongly that they want to tell others about you.

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July 9, 2008

Special Management Message

The Five Keys to Business Success . . .

Last week, we started our conversation about the 'ten components of job cost control', and we'll continue with that in the very near future. But after the week we had last week at SMA, I need to take a detour to address an increasingly common set of issues threatening the success of our clients (and lots of other builders we encounter)

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June 30, 2008

Special Management Message: Written in September 2006

As I travel the country working with builders to streamline their design studio operations and increase option sales, I often overhear this conversation:

The salesperson says "... no, that's not how we sell that option"

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June 23, 2008

Special Management Message: Written in April 2006

The message this week takes the form of a Q and A. The question came in several weeks ago after one of our live conferences from an SMA Advisory Board client, the response is from SMA Partner Joe Stoddard who used to deal with these production issues hands-on. The client name(s) have been changed to protect the innocent (and mostly because I didn’t have time to get the client’s permission to print his and his company’s name).

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June 18, 2008

Special Management Message: Written in February 2006

In the seminar “Time Management for Home Builders”, I talk about personal and organizational efficiencies, and the keys to getting more done in less time. In the 1980’s, when I first started conducting time management programs for industry professionals, we saw the great opportunity that the emerging technology of cell phones (we called them “car or truck phones” at the time) would have for the future.

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June 10, 2008

Special Management Message: Written in June 2006

We at SMA Consulting believe that "best practices" homebuilders have several basic traits in common, and one of the most important is the discipline to build each home at least seven times on paper (and in their heads) prior to actually starting construction on the jobsite.

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May 6, 2008

Special Management Message

I hope everyone is working hard and having a good week. I felt many of you would be interested in hearing about what is going on these days at the United States capitol. The government is just as aware of the strained housing market in America as builders are, and is taking steps toward some big changes in the coming months - for both builders and consumers. Continue to full article...

May 2, 2008

FREEBIE ALERT: Under our "Links" page we are now offering some previously published articles and some video clips on cost control. You may also view them from here:

Articles Videos

April 28, 2008

SMA enters the blog-o-sphere at http://buildfortomorrow.blogspot.com/ as Alex combs the web and posts articles of interest to homebuilders. A permanent link to our new blog can be found by clicking on “Links” off the SMA home page.

April 11, 2008

Wall Street Journal Reports Supply of Homes for Sale has risen by 12% in March 2008 from March of 2007.

The accompanying graph shows the rises in three major markets across the country in resale and speculative inventories. The three markets are Southeast Florida (Orange), Chicago (Yellow) and Los Angeles (blue). The study included results from 8 eastern cities, 5 central state cities and 11 western US metro areas... [Continue to full article] 

February 21, 2008

SMA will be hosting several events at the 1st annual Socal Builder Expo this year. To view the list of our events please click here to visit our Socal conferences page, or follow the link in the banner above to be taken to the official Socal Builder Expo website.

February 19, 2008

SMA would like to welcome the newest member of our team Patrick Miller! Growing up in Monaca, Pennsylvania, Patrick says he always had a bit of homebuilding love in him. He has been drawing houses since he was a kid. In 3rd grade he was sketching houses, and by 10th grade he was designing them for a living from vocational school. Patrick further put this passion to use at his internship and later part time job, drafting public schools for Foreman & Bashford. He graduated from Kent State with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Interior Space Planning with a focus on Architectural History... [Continued]

January 16, 2008

Mike will be racking up the frequent flyer miles today as he makes the treck up to Toronto for the "Ontario Forum 2008", where he will be a fetured speaker. He will be covering cost control strategies at this event.

Also, just a reminder, here is the list of events that we will be holding at IBS.

2/13/08 (1:00-2:30pm) “Developing a Product Line that Works: From Plan Pitfalls to Profit” presented by Russel Neumann in South 320 A-D. Learn how to better design, select, and price the right plans for any project. 

2/14/08 (10:30am-12:00pm) “Lessons Learned from America’s Best Builders” a panel discussion led by Steve Maltzman and featuring past winners of the America’s Best Builder Award in West 307. Panelists will include both a small volume and large production builder’s perspective.

2/15/08 (10:30am-12:00pm) “The Ultimate Budgeting Tool” presented by Bob Whitten in South 320 E-H. Easily produce your annual operating budget with Excel.

2/15/08 (1:00-2:30pm) “Financial Management Made Simple” presented by Mike Benshoof in West 304 E-H. You can’t run an effective business without understanding the basics of accounting and financial management.

January 2, 2008

With the new year upon us, SMA is already off to a busy start. Steve will now be hosting a Financial Management for Small Volume and Custom Builders Workshop on February 13, in addition to our CFO & Controller Conference and Sales Management Conference.

Also, our DVD recording of Cost Control Strategies for a Profitable 2008 and Beyond is now available in our online store.

Be sure to check back often for more new products and offerings!

December 21, 2007

SMA Consultants are scheduled to speak at the International Builders’ Show once again. This year’s lineup includes:

2/13/08 (1:00-2:30pm) “Developing a Product Line that Works: From Plan Pitfalls to Profit” presented by Russel Neumann in South 320 A-D. Learn how to better design, select, and price the right plans for any project. 

2/14/08 (10:30am-12:00pm) “Lessons Learned from America’s Best Builders” a panel discussion led by Steve Maltzman and featuring past winners of the America’s Best Builder Award in West 307. Panelists will include both a small volume and large production builder’s perspective.

2/15/08 (10:30am-12:00pm) “The Ultimate Budgeting Tool” presented by Bob Whitten in South 320 E-H. Easily produce your annual operating budget with Excel.

2/15/08 (1:00-2:30pm) “Financial Management Made Simple” presented by Mike Benshoof in West 304 E-H. You can’t run an effective business without understanding the basics of accounting and financial management.