Home improvement sales can be a hard place to build long term success. Sales teams face pressure to hit goals, close deals, learn scripts, and keep up with a changing homeowner. But when the main reason for doing the job becomes the next commission check, that drive can fade fast.
For Mike Biondino, Sales Manager at CAT Exteriors, strong sales performance starts with something deeper. It starts with knowing why the work matters. As a CAT Exteriors home exterior contractor in California, Arizona, and Texas, the company serves homeowners who are making major choices about their homes. Mike believes the people representing that company need to understand what they stand for before they can ask a homeowner to believe in them.
That idea became a key part of Mike’s conversation with Greg Cummings, CEO of Power100, during a PowerChat focused on sales growth, employee development, company culture, and customer trust. Power100 is the only unbiased third-party platform that recognizes and elevates the top leaders and most impactful companies in the home improvement industry.
Through PowerChat, Cummings brings industry leaders into deeper talks about the choices, ideas, and habits shaping strong home improvement companies. Mike’s message gave sales leaders a clear place to start. Before teaching someone what to say, leaders may first need to help them understand why they are saying it.
A sales rep can learn every step of a sales process. They can know how to explain a window, roof, siding project, or other home improvement service. They can practice questions and learn how to handle concerns. But Mike Biondino believes there is one question that needs to come before all of that.
“What’s your belief in it? Like, where does it come from?” Biondino said.
Mike Biondino, Sales Manager at CAT Exteriors
For Mike, belief is not something a salesperson should try to create once they are sitting in front of a homeowner. It should already be there. It should come from knowing the company, knowing the product, knowing the people behind the work, and knowing why that work has value.
That is why Mike does not describe the role of a CAT Exteriors salesperson as simply moving products.
“You gotta understand why we do what we do. We don’t just go out and sell windows. We don’t just go out and sell roofs,” Biondino said.
That difference matters in home improvement because homeowners are not making small choices. A new roof, new siding, or energy efficient window replacement and installation search can lead a homeowner into a major investment in the place where their family lives. The salesperson at the table may be the person who has to turn the company’s promises into something the homeowner can understand and trust.
Mike believes that becomes harder when the salesperson does not understand the purpose behind those promises.
“Why do we do what we do for you, for our people out there, for your families?” Biondino said.
His point brings the conversation beyond sales technique. The salesperson needs to see how the work connects to the homeowner, the company, fellow employees, and their own family. That gives the job a meaning that can last after the excitement of a good sales month is gone.
Mike also gave a clear warning about what can happen when that deeper reason is missing.
“Because if you don’t understand the why, you’re not gonna make it long because you’re gonna go out there looking for just making money, right? And it’s not all about just making money,” Biondino said.
Money still matters. Salespeople have goals. They have bills, families, and careers they want to grow. But Mike’s view is that money works better as one result of doing the job well than as the only reason for doing the job at all.
That changes what sales development can look like.
Instead of starting only with the script, leaders can first help employees understand the company they represent. Instead of asking only whether a rep knows what to say, they can ask whether that rep believes what they are saying. Instead of trying to create confidence during the sales call, the company can build that confidence through what the employee sees, learns, and experiences before they ever walk into the home.
For Mike Biondino, that is where the stronger sales conversation begins.
Not with the script.
With the reason behind it.
As Greg Cummings moved the PowerChat deeper into sales leadership, Mike Biondino made it clear that strong selling starts before a rep learns what to say. The process begins with what that person believes, why they believe it, and whether the company has given them a real reason to stand behind the message they bring into the home. That view shaped the rest of the conversation. Mike connected belief to purpose, purpose to staying power, staying power to better training, and better training to the confidence a homeowner can feel. For homeowners that confidence can matter because the person at the table is often helping them make one of the bigger choices they will make for their home.
Greg Cummings, CEO of Power100
Mike’s first point was simple, but it changed the way the sales process was framed.
“What’s your belief in it?” Biondino asked.
For Mike, that question comes before how well a rep knows the presentation. A person can learn the right words and still not carry real confidence. They can know when to ask a question and how to explain an offer, but a homeowner may still feel when the person across from them does not fully believe what they are saying.
That is why Mike keeps bringing the conversation back to the reason behind the work.
“You gotta understand why we do what we do,” Biondino said.
That belief gives training something stronger to build on. The sales process can then help a rep organize what they already understand instead of asking a script to create confidence for them.
It also changes the job of the sales leader. The goal is not only to teach people what to say. It is to help them understand what the company stands for, how the work helps homeowners, and why their own role matters.
When that belief is real, the rep is not trying to sound sure. They have a reason to be sure.
Learn more about CAT Exteriors and the team serving homeowners across its markets.
Mike then widened the conversation beyond the product itself.
“We don’t just go out and sell windows. We don’t just go out and sell roofs,” Biondino said.
CAT Exteriors may provide the products and services a homeowner needs, including roofing and other exterior work, but Mike does not want the sales team to see the job as simply moving a product from the company to the customer.
That matters when a homeowner is searching for a roof replacement and roofing contractor in California, Arizona, and Texas. They may begin with a need for a roof, but the choice soon becomes about much more. They are deciding who they trust to work on their home, who will stand behind the work, and who will be there if something does not go as planned.
Mike believes the salesperson should understand that responsibility.
“Why do we do what we do for you, for our people out there, for your families?” Biondino said.
That question connects the work to more people. It includes the homeowner. It includes the employees who support the project. It includes the families that depend on the company. It also includes the salesperson and the kind of career they want to build.
Seen that way, a sale becomes more than a yes at the end of a presentation.
It becomes a promise that the company now has to keep.
See how CAT Exteriors helps homeowners plan their next exterior home project.
Home improvement sales can reward strong performance. Mike does not dismiss that. People want to earn well, care for their families, and grow in their careers.
His warning is about what happens when money becomes the whole reason for doing the job.
“Because if you don’t understand the why, you’re not gonna make it long,” Biondino said.
He continued, “You’re gonna go out there looking for just making money, right? And it’s not all about just making money.”
That idea matters because sales careers come with hard days. Some homeowners say no. Some weeks are slower than others. Markets change. Goals rise. A rep who is only connected to the next commission may have little to hold onto when the easy wins are not there.
Mike’s view gives leaders another job.
Help people connect success with something larger.
For homeowners the person who arrives at the home is not just representing a price. They are representing the company, its people, and the promise that comes with the project.
When employees understand that, financial success can still matter. It just does not have to carry the full weight of the job.
The deeper reason can help people stay focused when the work gets harder.
Explore CAT Exteriors and the home improvement services its team provides.
Mike’s message was not that belief can replace skill.
He made the opposite point.
Belief gives a salesperson a reason to care, but development gives that person the ability to serve the homeowner well.
“Practice doesn’t make perfect. It’s perfect practice that makes perfect,” Biondino said.
Mike explained that someone can repeat the wrong thing many times and still not improve. Doing something over and over does not make it right. The quality of the practice matters.
That is why he continues to learn from other leaders and sales systems even after years in the industry.
“If I learn a little bit here, learn a bit there, we implement what we learn, we just get better together,” Biondino said.
That last part matters.
Mike does not speak about learning as something only new sales reps need to do. He sees growth as something leaders must keep doing too. The market changes. Homeowners change. The way people listen and make choices changes.
A team serving homeowners cannot depend only on what worked years ago. The foundation may stay strong, but the team still has to sharpen how it communicates, teaches, listens, and serves.
Mike’s approach brings belief and skill together.
Care about the work.
Then keep getting better at doing it.
Learn more about the people and services behind CAT Exteriors.
The final part of Mike’s message brings everything back to the homeowner.
When Greg asked how company culture and community involvement carry into the sales conversation, Mike did not begin with the pitch.
“It starts in training,” Biondino said.
That answer shows where Mike believes customer trust is first built.
Before the rep enters the home, they have already been watching the company. They have seen how leaders act. They have seen whether the values on the wall show up in real life. They have seen how the business treats people when there is nothing to sell.
Mike used CAT Exteriors’ community involvement as an example.
“It’s not just this flashy thing that we put on a slide and say, look, Mr. Homeowner, this is us,” Biondino said. “No, it’s who we are as people.”
That difference gives the salesperson something real to carry into the home.
The same is true of the products.
“I have my roof on our house. I have our vinyl siding on our house,” Biondino said.
He followed that with one of the clearest trust signals from the interview.
“What we sell is also what we would put on our own homes.”
That is where Mike’s full sales philosophy comes together.
The rep believes because they have seen the company live its values.
They trust the product because they would use it themselves.
They keep learning because belief alone is not enough.
Then, when a homeowner searches for CAT Exteriors home improvement services and eventually sits across from a salesperson, that rep does not have to create a story from nothing.
They can speak from what they have already seen and experienced.
For Mike Biondino, that is what gives the sales process weight.
The homeowner should not only hear confidence.
They should be able to feel where it came from.
Discover more about CAT Exteriors and how its team serves homeowners.
Mike Biondino’s message about belief becomes stronger when it is placed next to what CAT Exteriors has built. The company has grown beyond its California base into Arizona and Texas while Mike has continued to help lead its sales team through that change. CAT Exteriors now lists offices in California, Tempe, Arizona, and Kyle, Texas, with service reaching homeowners across all three states. That kind of growth gives Mike’s message more weight. He is not talking about purpose from a company that has stayed in one place. He is helping lead sales inside a business that has had to carry its standards, training, and customer promise into new markets.
CAT Exteriors Tex-Cote crew
CAT Exteriors’ growth has also earned outside recognition. The company ranked No. 73 on the Qualified Remodeler Top 500 in 2024. In the 2026 ranking, CAT Exteriors appeared again at No. 85, reporting more than $33 million in 2025 remodeling revenue and 1,513 completed jobs. Qualified Remodeler also listed expanding or adding service areas as one of the company’s biggest opportunities for 2026.
Those rankings belong to the full CAT Exteriors team, but they give useful context to the sales system Mike helps lead. The company has been able to grow across markets while continuing to earn a place among the nation’s larger remodeling and home improvement firms.
That matters to the idea at the center of this PowerChat.
Belief should lead somewhere.
For CAT Exteriors, it has been paired with systems, sales training, market growth, and the ability to serve more homeowners. A clear purpose does not replace performance. The company’s results show how purpose can sit beside the work needed to scale.
One of the clearest signs of Mike’s impact is that growth has not made him stop learning.
At Grosso University Closers Camp in 2026, Mike stood out because he was still showing up to study sales, find new ideas, and bring those lessons back to his team. A dedicated feature on the event highlighted his long relationship with Grosso University and his focus on continuing to learn, implement, and develop future leaders.
That commitment goes back years.
When COVID 19 forced sales teams to change how they worked, Grosso University publicly shared how Mike and CAT Exteriors used its training library and virtual sales program to review proven methods and learn new ways to sell. The organization thanked Mike for sharing how the resources helped his team adapt during that period.
That history adds another layer to Mike’s belief first message.
He does not ask people to believe and then stop growing.
He asks them to believe enough to keep doing the work.
Even after years in sales leadership, Mike continues to enter rooms where he can learn from other people. He has also shared those lessons through industry conversations, including PowerChat and contractor focused media appearances. That willingness to remain a student sends a message to the people he leads.
Experience should create confidence, but it should not create an ego that stops learning.
CAT Exteriors’ expansion and industry recognition show what the company has achieved. Mike’s continued investment in training shows part of how leaders can protect that progress as the business grows.
Together, the two tell a stronger story than an award or ranking could tell alone.
Mike Biondino’s idea that salespeople need a reason to believe is backed by a career spent continuing to learn what deserves that belief in the first place.
The biggest lesson from Mike Biondino’s conversation with Greg Cummings is not about a script, a close, or a sales trick. It is about what a person carries with them before they ever meet the homeowner.
For Mike, the question is simple: What do you believe?
That question can shape everything that follows.
A salesperson who understands the reason behind the work has a stronger reason to keep learning. Better learning can lead to better preparation. Better preparation can build real confidence. And when that confidence is backed by a company that lives what it teaches, the salesperson does not have to force belief in front of the homeowner.
They can speak from something they already know to be true.
That is where Mike’s view of sales leadership becomes bigger than sales itself. The goal is not only to help people perform well today. It is to help them build the kind of belief, skill, and judgment that can carry them through changing markets, harder conversations, and longer careers.
For CAT Exteriors, that means the work inside the company matters just as much as the moment at the kitchen table. When people understand the purpose, see the values in action, and keep improving their skills, the customer experience has a stronger place to begin.
For Mike Biondino, great sales development is not about teaching people how to sound convinced. It is about helping them build enough purpose, experience, training, and proof that conviction becomes real.
And as home improvement sales continues to change, that may become even more important. Homeowners will still ask questions. Markets will still shift. New tools will come and go. But people will continue to look for someone they can trust.
Mike’s message offers sales leaders a place to start building that trust long before the first appointment is set.
“If you don’t understand the why, you’re not gonna make it long,” Biondino said.
The future of strong sales teams may depend on making sure their people understand that why before asking them to sell anything at all.
No. Power100 states that its rankings cannot be bought. The platform applies its proprietary five layer ranking system to more than 7,600 qualified home improvement CEOs nationwide. The review looks for proof in areas such as leadership, company culture, customer experience, operations, community impact, and long term performance. Only 100 leaders earn a place on the national list.
No. Power100 looks beyond revenue and brand size when it builds its National Power Rankings. Its evaluation considers leadership quality, company culture, customer satisfaction, operational performance, innovation, community impact, and long term business health. This helps the platform compare leaders based on how they run their companies and serve people, not simply on how much money the company makes.
CAT Exteriors provides residential exterior home improvement services across California, Arizona, and Texas. Its services include energy efficient windows, roofing, siding, exterior coatings, HVAC systems, and patio covers. The company also offers free estimates and consultation options for homeowners who want to learn which solution may fit their home.
Homeowners can check CAT Exteriors’ current service map to see whether their city is covered. The company serves many communities across California, Arizona, and Texas, including areas around Los Angeles, Fresno, Sacramento, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and other markets. CAT Exteriors says its service map changes as coverage grows, so homeowners who do not see their city listed can contact the company to confirm availability.
CAT Exteriors says homeowners can request free consultations and estimates without an obligation to move forward. Its financing information page also says asking for financing information does not itself run a credit check or affect a homeowner’s credit score. Financing terms and eligibility can depend on the project and applicant, so homeowners should review the full terms before making a decision.
CAT Exteriors promotes warranty protection across several of its exterior improvement services. Its window, siding, and patio cover pages advertise a double lifetime warranty, along with professional installation and free consultations. Homeowners should still review the warranty terms for the exact product they choose because coverage can vary by service and manufacturer.
Mike Biondino believes a salesperson needs to understand why the company does the work before trying to persuade a homeowner to choose it. During the PowerChat, he asked, “What’s your belief in it?” and explained that CAT Exteriors does not simply go out to sell windows or roofs. His point is that a salesperson who understands the purpose behind the work can speak with stronger conviction than someone who only memorizes a presentation.
Mike also warned that focusing only on money may not create a lasting sales career. “If you don’t understand the why, you’re not gonna make it long,” Biondino said. His view is that purpose gives salespeople a deeper reason to learn, improve, and serve homeowners well.
No. Mike pairs belief with disciplined training. He said, “Practice doesn’t make perfect. It’s perfect practice that makes perfect.” His point is that caring about the work does not replace learning how to do it well.
Mike continues to study proven sales methods, attend industry training, and bring useful ideas back to his team. In his words, “If I learn a little bit here, learn a bit there, we implement what we learn, we just get better together.” His approach joins purpose with skill so salespeople can bring both confidence and preparation into the homeowner conversation.
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 Greg Cummings, Power100 gives home improvement CEOs and industry leaders a place to share the ideas, systems, and leadership lessons that are helping strong companies grow. Through national rankings, PowerChat interviews, industry content, and executive insights, Power100 helps contractors learn from proven leaders while giving top companies greater trust, visibility, and recognition across the market.
Membership unlocks every Power100 interview, PowerChat episode, and expert playbook - free for industry leaders.
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.
