How to Sell on Value Instead of Price | Ep. 445
The Construction Leading Edge Podcast
Release Date: 05/26/2026
How to Turn Customer & Employee Excuses Into Action | Ep. 461
The Construction Leading Edge Podcast
Every construction business owner hears the same objections: now isn't a good time, this will take too long, and it's too big to tackle. In this episode, Todd Dawalt breaks down the three excuses that keep customers and employees from taking action, and the calibrated questions that get them to move. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: 👉 If you run a construction company, you already know the moment. A prospect tells you now just isn't a good time, and the job stalls out and dies. Or you ask an employee to take on a new process and they say they...
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Why Starting Projects Too Soon Is Killing Your Profit | Ep. 460
The Construction Leading Edge Podcast
Todd Dawalt explains why starting construction projects before they're fully ready creates "dead days," the hidden overhead that bleeds profit out of your business. This episode breaks down the "just enough to start" trap and how a complete pre-construction handoff and buyout protect your schedule and margins. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: 👉 Most construction companies are rewarded for movement. Everybody wants to see sawdust and smell diesel, so jobs kick off the moment there's "just enough to start." Todd Dawalt calls this the just enough...
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How to Design Your Construction Business for Growth, Profit, and Freedom with Tom Raisanen | Ep. 459
The Construction Leading Edge Podcast
Designing a construction business with the right systems and processes from day one is how you build for lasting profit and freedom. New Hampshire home builder Tom Raisanen shares how he set up pre-construction, project handoffs, a CEO schedule, and his first hire so the company can eventually run without him. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: 👉 Here's how to build a construction business that runs without you, starting with the systems most owners wait too long to put in place. After 15 years in his family's construction business, Tom...
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What To Do When Your Construction Business Finally Runs Without You | Ep. 458
The Construction Leading Edge Podcast
You systematized your construction business and now it runs without you, so what do you actually do next? Todd Dawalt and CEO Alliance coach Monish Khadye break down the operator-to-owner shift and how to build a construction business that supports the life you want. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: 👉 Most construction business owners spend years chasing the same goal: a company that runs without them. But what happens once you actually get there? In this episode, Todd Dawalt sits down with Monish Khadye, a coach who leads the CEO Alliance...
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The Skywalk Collapse & The 5 Decision Questions Every Construction Leader Must Train Their Team On | Ep. 457
The Construction Leading Edge Podcast
The 1981 Kansas City Hyatt skywalk collapse came down to one unchecked decision, and it holds a hard lesson for every construction business owner. In this episode of the Construction Leading Edge podcast, Todd Dawalt shares a decision-making framework of five questions and four tips to train your team to make better calls in the field and in pre-construction. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: 👉Your team makes dozens of decisions a day, and most were never trained on how. In this episode I break down the five questions and four tips that help...
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How To Hold Employees Accountable: The Big 5 System | Ep. 456
The Construction Leading Edge Podcast
Todd Dawalt breaks down how to hold employees accountable in your construction business using the Big 5 Accountability System. It's a simple, repeatable way to build ownership across your team without micromanaging or hovering all day. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: 👉If you're constantly repeating yourself and correcting the same mistakes, this episode hands you a five-step system to hold your team accountable without chasing everyone down. Hit play to build accountability into your business instead of carrying it on your shoulders. If...
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How Builder CEOs Get Sh*t Done (Without More Willpower or Fixing Your ADHD Brain) | Ep. 455
The Construction Leading Edge Podcast
If you stay busy all day but the work that actually grows your construction business keeps getting pushed to tomorrow, the problem probably isn't your willpower or your ADHD brain. In this episode, Todd Dawalt breaks down the deep work system builder CEOs use to cut interruptions, protect their time, and get the important work done. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: 👉 You start the week knowing exactly what you need to work on, then somehow reach Friday having answered every email and put out every fire while the work that actually moves your...
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How Cody Scaled His Custom Home Business to Increase Profit and Win Back His Life | Ep. 454
The Construction Leading Edge Podcast
Custom home builder Cody Reimer went from a burned-out two-man crew to running a 12-person company that operates without him in the day-to-day. Todd Dawalt breaks down the construction business systems and the paid pre-construction process that moved Cody out of the field and into a real CEO role. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: 👉When Cody Reimer reached out to Todd Dawalt, he was close to hanging up the belt. He had a two-man operation and a crew that had left one guy at a time. Worse, he was starting to see that he was the bottleneck. As...
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Why Waffle House Is More Systematized Than Your Construction Business | Ep. 453
The Construction Leading Edge Podcast
If you're a contractor working 60 to 80-hour weeks and still putting out fires, here's an uncomfortable truth: Waffle House is probably more systematized than your construction business. Todd Dawalt sat at the counter during a lunch rush and walked out with four systems lessons that show exactly where your company is bleeding time and profit. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: 👉 It started with a cook's shirt that read "$2 Million Club." That sent Todd down a rabbit hole into how Waffle House runs its line with no iPads, no kitchen displays, and...
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The 5-Step Hire Right System: How Construction Business Owners Can Hire Better with Justin Landry | Ep. 452
The Construction Leading Edge Podcast
Hiring for your construction business shouldn't feel like an emergency every time you do it. In this episode, Todd Dawalt sits down with JL Talent Solutions founder Justin Landry to break down a five-step system for hiring better construction employees without leaning on gut feel. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: 👉 Most construction owners only start hiring when someone quits or the team is already stretched past its limit. Justin Landry calls this the reactive hiring trap, and it's why so many builders end up hiring for skills when the thing...
info_outlineIf your prospects are ghosting you, dragging their feet, or making the final decision based on whoever has the lowest number, the problem probably isn’t your price. It’s that you’re selling the plunger.
In this episode, Todd Dawalt breaks down why most contractors spend too much time talking about their company and not enough time talking about what the client actually wants. He shares a four-step sales framework for getting prospects to make faster decisions, stop hiding their budget, and see you as the obvious choice. Todd walks through how to uncover the desired end result, identify the risks and obstacles standing in the way, position yourself as the path of least resistance, and introduce the investment only after the value is fully established.
If you’ve been winging the sales process and wondering why deals keep stalling out, this episode gives you a repeatable framework you can put to work right away.
👉 If you’re tired of putting in the work only to get ghosted at the finish line, tune in.
Most contractors think they lose deals on price. Todd makes the case that the real problem is leading with the wrong thing. When you talk about your company history, your core values, and your fleet of trucks, you turn yourself into a commodity. Clients aren’t buying a plunger. They’re buying a result, and the contractor who figures out what that result actually is will win the job every time.
Todd walks through four steps for shifting from commodity to trusted advisor. It starts with asking the right questions to identify what the client truly wants, then uncovering the risks and landmines they may not have considered. This is where you separate yourself from the competition, not by pitching harder, but by listening better and showing them you understand their project at a level nobody else has.
The framework closes by helping you create urgency without pressure. Todd shares how to get clients to articulate the cost of doing nothing, why price should always come last, and how positioning yourself as the path of least resistance changes the entire dynamic of the sales conversation.
Key Takeaways:
00:00 Why Prospects Ghost You and Deals Fall Apart at the Finish Line
03:00 Your Business Is Like a Toilet Plunger
05:00 Selling the Plunger vs. Selling the Result
08:10 The Four-Step Sales Framework Overview
09:00 Step 1: Identify the Desired End Result
12:00 Future Pacing and Flipping to the Back of the Book
14:00 Step 2: Uncover the Pitfalls, Risks, and Obstacles
17:30 How to Create Urgency by Pointing Out the Cost of Inaction
20:15 Step 3: Position Yourself as the Path of Least Resistance
22:10 People Buy on Emotion and Back It Up With Logic
24:05 Step 4: Introduce the Investment After the Value Is Established
26:20 What Your Pipeline Looks Like When You Stop Competing on Price
Additional Resources:
⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: HERE
⚡ Free Training “How to Build a Sales System That Fills Your Pipeline with High-Margin Work” HERE
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⚡Visit The Construction Leading Edge for more information: HERE
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The Construction Leading Edge Podcast helps construction business owners maximize their revenue, eliminate chaos, systematize their work, and win back their time.