The Contractor Fight with Tom Reber

How Contractors Leak $183,000 in Profit Every Year

August 31, 2026·15 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

How Contractors Leak $183,000 in Profit Every YearMost 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 respondsUsing 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 processYou 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 processFind your biggest sales leak with the free Sales Leak Scorecard:https://thecontractorfight.com/leakStop guessing. Find the leak. Fix the leak. Command your sales.

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