Besides green building seminars, ISH North America also features educational sessions focused on business strategies for achieving success in the plumbing, commercial/industrial piping, valves & fittings, HVAC, and kitchen & bath markets.

Sessions feature marketing, operations, product and strategy instruction by some of the top names in the industry. Rooms are TBD, but all seminars will take place in the Georgia World Congress Center. We’ll have room numbers in other editions of the Show Dailies or go to www.ish-na.com/seminars.htm for the latest updates.

Here are details on these business seminars:

Wednesday, Oct. 1

9-10:30 a.m.

• How To Put High Performance Plumbing Marketing In Your Company Instantly
  Do you know an 18-cent marketing tool that can keep your customers form ever opening the phone book again? Adams Hudson, president of Hudson, Ink, Corp., will discuss other marketing tips that help cut ad and still drive business. Hudson Ink is a PHCC Preferred Service provider.
  
  
• Buying Companies – Not Just A Big Company Opportunity
  Ellen Rohr, president and founder of Bare Bones Biz, will discuss how to value a company – yours and others with simple valuation formulas and creative ways to structure a win-win deal.
  
  
• Performance-Based Pay Compensation Plans For Field Personnel
  Dr. Ron Collier, president of Collier Consulting Group, will show attendees how pay plans should move from the normal, hourly pay to performance-based systems designed to reward productive techs.
  
  
• 7 Marketing Secrets Every Designer And Contractor Must Know
  Melissa Galt, an interior designer, author and national speaker to the design and home building trade, will reveal the secrets that can shape a successful business plan. Here’s one: Learn to define and target your ideal client.

3-4:30 p.m.

• Recession-Proofing Your Business: Strategies For Success
  Kirk Alter, associate professor in Purdue University’s Department of Building Construction Management and president of Fast Management, Inc., will tell attendees how to make the right moves in tough times. Get the tools you need to correctly analyze your place in the market and better position yourself.
  
  
• Everything You Wanted To Know About Countertop Materials … But Were Afraid To Ask
  While there are plenty of new surfaces on the market, kitchen and bath dealer Sean Jacobs, JP Kitchen Design Studio, will discuss the features and benefits of the four mainstream products that continually dominate surfacing sales.

Thursday, Oct. 2

9-10:30 a.m.

• Adding Value For You And Your Customer – Ramping Up Your Preconstruction Services
  Kirk Alter, associate professor in Purdue University’s Department of Building Construction Management and president of Fast Management, Inc., will discuss how to effectively sell preconstruction services in order to differentiate your company from the rest.
  
  
• Is There A Cash Flaw In Your Cash Flow?
  It’s not sales, but cash flow that keeps us in business. Dr. Ron Collier, president of Collier Consulting Group, will teach attendees how to collect they’re owed and effectively use cash and credit to keep cash flowing.
  
  
• Selling To The Residential Market
  Kitchen and bath dealer Sean Jacobs, JP Kitchen Design Studio, will discuss ways to work with kitchen and bath dealers and designers while competing with the Big Box stores.

3-4:30 p.m.

• How To Put High Performance Plumbing Marketing In Your Company Instantly
  (Repeat Session)
  
  
• Residential Sprinklers
  Julius Ballanco, P.E., president of JB Engineering and Code Consulting, P.C., will provide an understanding of design, layout and hydraulic calculations of residential sprinklers.
  
  
• Selling Companies – Creating Wealth And A Way Out
  Do you have a way out of the business – a way that won’t enslave your children or make your employees start up competing firms? Ellen Rohr, president and founder of Bare Bones Biz, will discuss the ins and outs of getting out when you want to.
  
  
• Designing Kitchens That ‘Multi-Task’
  Kitchens aren’t just for cooking anymore. Melissa Galt, an interior designer, author and national speaker to the design and home building trade, will show how to design kitchens to do more.