We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful David Wandell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with David below.

Hi David , thanks for joining us today. Early in your career, how did you think through the decision of whether to start your own firm or join an established firm?

When I began my contracting journey, I had joined a professional exterior service company called XL Contracting. It took me two years to really jump into the industry because it was a 100% commission based pay scale but the Owner Bryan Becker took me under his wing and did not take failure as an option and continues to help me grow into the business professional I am today.

I joined XL contracting because it was a small family based company that has a mission to help our community one house at a time. I would do it all over again because I love what I do, I love helping homeowners to rejuvenate their homes.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

How I started my professional journey, I was a young 20 year old kid who just got done playing hockey trying to make it to the next level and did not make it so I decided to stop and give back to the community who helped mold me into who I am today. All the years of hockey taught me Grit, discipline and a Competetive nature to Win. I was coaching hockey 9-11 year old hockey players and one day after my first parent/ coach meeting the owner of XL Contracting walked up to me and said” hey one day your going to work for me” as a young kid I thought to my self… yeah right who is this guy!? I ended up taking the position as a salesmen and have worked my way up to the General manager of XL Contracting. There have been a lot of challenges and hurdles to learning the industry and trying to be the best that I can be for the company and for myself. Being an exterior contractor is a rewarding but challenging job. It involves working on various projects, from roofing and siding to repair work, often exposed to the elements. Each project brings the satisfaction of transforming and protecting homes, enhancing both their appearance and durability. The role requires a blend of technical skills, problem-solving, and attention to detail, as well as strong communication with homeowners to understand their needs. Despite the physical demands, the ability to see the immediate impact on a home and contribute to the community makes the work fulfilling.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

As talked about earlier about the sales job at XL contracting was a Comission based job meaning what you kill is what you eat type of industry it was very scary to jump in the ocean with all these sharks “other companies”

My story starts off with working 6 months at 12 hours a day knocking doors and talking to homeowners trying to help them with their exterior needs whether it be a storm related or insurance claim all the way to a retail job. During that time I had to be resilient and strong to keep pushing forward because in todays culture it “ for every hour you work is how much you should be paid” and in business that is the incorrect plan to be successful. After all of these days and hours spent I was always told the Magic your looking for is hiding behind the the work your unwilling to do and that really hit me. So, you’re telling me that if I just work the hardest out of anyone that I would be successful and make it? I pushed forward as much as I could and eventually met one guy by the name of Russell Caldwell and that man had changed my life. When I got done with the work on his home he was so excited about the transformation and my services for him he had referred me to 30 other homeowners that ended up being worth 2 million dollars of business. Funny thing about this is I was working for 12 hours that day, tired, sweaty and just beat up from all the objections from other homeowners before him. I wanted to quit that day and something inside just told me ONE MORE DOOR so I did walked up to Mr Caldwells home knocked, gave my pitch and got a YES and that’s all it took. I did the job he loved it and that is what really started me off in the industry. Right as I had my back against the wall my body is telling me no but just to push through that adversity and be Great like all of my sports career taught me.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest take away from what I had to unlearn would be this. I was a person who always thought the more you talk the better it’ll be and that is not the case. Most times my talking would lose me the sale. It sounded great I didn’t understand what was the issue I’m saying everything I needed to, to get into the door. What I ended up finding out from when I lost jobs to other contractors was to call and have that humility to ask why they chose someone else not to be nosy I just wanted to know to help myself get better. I learned that what I needed to do was what’s called “ leap”
Listen
Empathize
Ask
Perform
I could go on for days on how this changed my prospective but sitting back and listening to your customer really helped me get to where I am today. When you let the homeowner talk and not interrupt usually they will tell you what they want and how they want it and then now it’s my job to deliver. Living by this has allowed my business to grow 10x what it was and I am very grateful and blessed to have the support and guidance that I have.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.xl-contracting.com/roscoe/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100025179614231&mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Other: You can post to Facebook and my webpage would be fantastic.

Image Credits

XL Contracting
David Wandell