At Destination Motivation’s Annual Planning Summit at The Georgian Hotel in Santa Monica, California, the team spent the day learning how communication, trust, and better understanding can help people work together with more care. The event gave team members time to look beyond first impressions and see how different communication styles can shape the way they serve clients. For a company known for vacation voucher sales incentives for home improvement companies, that kind of internal connection matters because the people behind the program help shape the client experience.
Greg Cummings, CEO of Power100, spoke with team members throughout the day to hear what stood out from the sessions and what lessons they would carry forward. Power100 is the only unbiased third-party platform that recognizes and elevates the top leaders and most impactful companies in the home improvement industry.
One of the clearest moments came during Greg’s rapid fire conversation with Eric Nelson, Client Success Manager, and Katrina Pool, Revenue Operations Manager at Destination Motivation, after the afternoon DISC session.
When Greg Cummings asked Eric Nelson what stood out from the afternoon session, Eric gave an answer that showed why the DISC work mattered.
Destination Motivation team
“It was super impactful,” Eric said. “I was actually surprised that Eric was more of a C along with me. I thought he was a little bit more of an S, so that surprised me a lot. But learning everybody’s DISC profiles was pretty fascinating.”
That answer gave the moment real value. Eric was honest about the fact that he had made a first read on a teammate. Then the DISC session gave him a clearer view.
That matters because teams often make quiet guesses about each other. Someone may seem steady, direct, careful, or quiet. But those first reads do not always show the full person. The session helped the team pause, look again, and understand each other with more care.
For a company offering vacation voucher sales incentives for home improvement companies, that kind of lesson matters. The team behind the program has to listen well, support clients clearly, and avoid quick judgment. Better understanding inside the team can help create better support outside the team.
Eric’s surprise made the session more useful because it showed that the day was not only confirming what people already knew. It was helping them learn something new about people they work with.
Eric did not describe the DISC session as light or surface level. He called it “super impactful.” That word showed that the afternoon work gave the team something useful to carry back into the business.
Learning everyone’s DISC profiles gave the team a shared language. It gave people a simple way to talk about how they work, how they respond, and how they may need to be approached.
That kind of language can help a growing team avoid taking everything too personally. Instead of thinking a teammate is being difficult, people can start to ask better questions. How does this person process information? How do they respond to pressure? What helps them hear a message more clearly?
That is valuable for a home improvement for contractors and home service businesses because the client experience depends on clear people behind the tool. Contractors need support that feels steady, simple, and easy to understand.
A shared language helps the inside team move with less friction. It also helps people speak about differences without blame. That can make daily work smoother and client support stronger.
The session may have been fun, but it also gave the team a better way to work.
Katrina Pool added a personal layer to the conversation. She shared that she had taken the DISC test before, ten years earlier, and her results had changed.
Katrina Pool, Revenue Operations Manager at Destination Motivation
“I was actually surprised, too, when I took the test, because I took it 10 years ago and my lowest number ended up flip flopping,” Katrina said. “So I was a high D, and then I was a low C, and that completely changed to now where I’m a C.”
That answer made the discussion feel deeper. It showed that people are not fixed in one style forever. Life changes people. Work changes people. Family changes people. Time changes how people think, lead, listen, and respond.
Katrina pointed to that when she talked about how experience, family, and kids can change someone’s perspective. That was an important reminder for the team. A person may not communicate the same way they did years ago. They may have grown into a new style, a new pace, or a new way of seeing the work.
For sales consulting and training for home improvement companies, that lesson matters. Strong support requires patience. It requires the ability to see where a person or team is now, not where someone assumes they should be.
Katrina’s story showed that DISC should not be used to lock people into a box. It should help people understand where they are today and how to work with them better.
When Greg asked Katrina to describe the day in one word, she chose the word that carried the full meaning of the session.
“I would say connection,” Katrina said. “We’re connecting with each other and getting to see behind the curtain, so to speak. So I think that really helps us to see each other from a different perspective, and that’s super helpful.”
That quote gave the conversation its heart. The day was not only about learning profile letters. It was about seeing the person behind the role.
In daily work, people often see each other through tasks, messages, meetings, and results. The DISC session gave the team a chance to see more. It helped them understand how people think, what has changed in them, and how they may need to be supported.
That kind of connection can build trust. When people see each other with more care, they can speak with more patience. They can ask better questions. They can give each other more room to grow.
For contractors using a vacation incentive program that helps increase leads and reduce cancellations, this kind of internal trust can matter. Clients may not see every team session, but they can feel the result when support is more clear, calm, and human.
Katrina’s words made the day simple to understand. Connection was the point. Seeing behind the curtain made the team stronger.
Eric also brought a lighter note to the conversation when Greg asked him to describe the day in one word.
Eric Nelson, Client Success Managers at Destination Motivation
“Crazy fun,” Eric said.
That answer gave the day a warm and honest feel. The lessons were real, but the room did not feel heavy. The team was learning, but they were also enjoying each other.
That balance matters. People are often more open when they feel safe enough to laugh. A fun room can help people lower their guard, take part, and hear feedback without feeling judged.
The goal was not only to teach profiles. The goal was to help people connect. Fun helped make that possible. It gave the team space to learn in a way that felt shared and alive.
That kind of energy can support a stronger contractor sales growth system for leads, because strong systems still depend on people. A team that enjoys learning together can often keep improving together.
Eric’s words showed that serious growth work does not have to feel stiff. It can feel open, useful, and full of life.
By the end of the conversation, the lesson was clear. Eric learned that his first view of a teammate’s style was not complete. Katrina learned that her own style had changed over time. Both moments pointed to the same idea.
People need to look again.
That habit can make a team stronger. It teaches people not to settle for quick assumptions. It reminds them that teammates may have more depth than what shows up in daily work. It also helps people listen with more care before they respond.
When a team sees each other more clearly, it can work with less tension and more trust. Ideas can move faster. Problems can be handled with more patience. Client needs can be met with better focus.
This is why the DISC session mattered beyond the room. It helped the team build the kind of awareness that can shape better service.
Clients may not know every profile or every internal lesson, but they can feel the result of a team that understands each other better. They can feel it in clearer support, steadier answers, and a more human experience.
The larger message from Eric Nelson and Katrina Pool was simple. Stronger service starts when teams learn to see each other differently.
As Greg Cummings’ conversation with Eric Nelson and Katrina Pool came to a close, the message was clear. Better teamwork begins when people stop assuming they already know each other.
Destination Motivation’s Annual Planning Summit
Eric’s surprise during the DISC session showed that first impressions can miss important details. A teammate may seem one way in daily work, but there can be more to how that person thinks, listens, and responds. When a team takes time to look closer, it can understand each other with more care.
Katrina’s story added another layer. Her DISC results had changed over time, which showed that people are not fixed in one place. Life, work, family, and experience can shape how people communicate and how they see the world.
Together, their answers showed that communication can grow. It can improve when people are willing to listen again, look again, and see each other from a different point of view.
Katrina’s word for the day was connection. That gave the conversation its strongest meaning. The team was not only learning profile labels. They were getting to see behind the curtain and understand the people behind the work.
Eric’s phrase, crazy fun, showed that the day carried energy as well as insight. The session helped the team learn while still feeling open, light, and real.
The lasting lesson from Eric Nelson and Katrina Pool’s conversation with Greg is simple. A team becomes stronger when people see each other with more care. And when a team understands each other better inside, it can serve clients with more trust, clarity, and connection outside.
Power100 looks at the people, habits, and culture behind strong performance. Team connection matters because it can shape how a company serves clients when pressure rises. In this press release, Eric Nelson and Katrina Pool showed that better understanding inside the team can lead to clearer support outside the team.
Power100’s view is not only about size or sales. It also looks at how companies build trust, culture, and long term value. That makes this conversation important because DISC insight helped the team challenge assumptions, build connections, and understand how people work. Those habits can support a stronger home improvement closing tool for contractors and home service businesses.
Eric Nelson’s answer showed why guessing is not enough. He was surprised by a teammate’s DISC profile because his first impression was not fully right. That matters because quick reads can lead to weak communication. DISC gave the team a better way to understand each other before making assumptions.
Yes. Katrina Pool said her results had changed since she took the test ten years earlier. That showed that people grow as life, work, family, and experience shape them. For teams supporting vacation voucher sales incentives for home improvement companies, this lesson matters because better service starts with seeing people as they are now, not as someone assumes they are.
Yes. Katrina described the day in one word as a connection. She said the team was getting to see behind the curtain and see each other from a different point of view. When a team understands each other better, it can communicate with more care, solve problems faster, and give clients a more steady experience.
It can be when the fun helps people learn. Eric described the day as crazy fun, but he also called the session super impactful. That balance matters for sales consulting and training for home improvement companies because teams often learn better when the room feels open, safe, and useful.
Contractors should care because assumptions can slow down service. A team that questions first impressions can listen better, ask better questions, and adjust faster. That can help contractors using a vacation incentive program that helps increase leads and reduce cancellations get clearer support from the people behind the program.
The main lesson is that stronger service starts when people see each other with more care. Eric learned that first impressions can miss important details. Katrina showed that people can change over time. For any contractor sales growth system for leads, referrals, close rates, and profits, better client results can begin with a team that understands itself better first.
Power100 is the only unbiased third-party platform that recognizes and elevates the top leaders and most impactful companies in the home improvement industry. Led by CEO Greg Cummings, Power100 gives CEOs, contractors, strategic partners, and industry leaders a trusted place to share the ideas, stories, systems, and standards helping the industry move forward. Through national rankings, PowerChat conversations, event coverage, and partner features, Power100 helps strong companies gain the recognition they deserve while helping contractors find trusted leaders, stronger teams, and better ideas that support growth, culture, client success, and lasting customer trust.
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Power100 is the nation's premier CEO ranking and media platform for the home improvement industry. Using a proprietary 5-layer evaluation system, Power100 identifies and celebrates the top CEOs, companies, and strategic partners driving innovation, customer satisfaction, and leadership excellence across the country.
