One of the hardest parts of growing a home improvement company is entering a new market where homeowners do not know the name yet. A contractor can open a location, start running ads, buy leads, and send a sales team into homes very quickly. What takes longer is trust.
Direct Remodels has seen that difference firsthand as the company grows across Florida. In its stronger local markets, homeowners may already know the brand, recognize its Pelican, remember its advertising, or have seen the company involved in the community. That gives Direct Remodels a different starting point than it has in newer markets, even when the company brings the same products, service standards, and leadership. For a growing impact window replacement company in Florida, that gap shows why local trust can matter just as much as local reach.
That difference became a key part of a PowerChat conversation between Greg Cummings, CEO of Power100, and Todd Sigler, VP of Sales & Marketing at Direct Remodels. Greg pushed the conversation beyond advertising and asked what changes when a company becomes rooted in the community it serves. Todd’s answer was clear. “It is truly being a partner in the place that they live.”
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, conversations like this give contractors a closer look at how trust, community, brand, and growth connect in the real world.
Growing into a new market can look simple on paper.
Open the territory.
Turn on the advertising.
Start buying leads.
Send salespeople into homes.
But Todd Sigler explained that one important part cannot be turned on with a switch.
Trust takes time.
Todd Sigler, VP of Sales & Marketing at Direct Remodels
Direct Remodels can see that clearly by comparing its stronger markets near Pinellas County with newer areas on the other side of Florida.
“When we walk into a house here versus on the southeast coast, it is night and day as far as brand,” Todd said.
That difference starts before the salesperson introduces themselves.
In an established market, the homeowner may already know the company.
They may have seen the Pelican.
They may remember a commercial.
They may have heard about a local event.
They may have seen Direct Remodels involved with organizations in the area.
The appointment begins with some level of familiarity already in the room.
In a newer market, the company may bring the same experience and standards, but the homeowner does not yet have that same history with the brand.
Greg Cummings focused on that gap during the PowerChat.
He asked what changes when an employee or homeowner experiences Direct Remodels in a place where the company has deep community roots compared with a market where those roots are still being built. His question pointed to something larger than marketing.
What makes a company feel local?
Todd’s answer came back to presence.
Direct Remodels uses advertising and digital marketing, but he said brand strength cannot come only from filling every channel with another message.
The deeper goal is “truly being a partner in the place that they live.”
That changes the way expansion looks.
A new market does not become a home market just because a company starts selling there.
It becomes a home market when people begin to recognize the name, understand what the company stands for, and see that the business plans to be part of the community for the long run.
For Direct Remodels, that lesson is becoming more important as the company builds a wider Florida presence and serves homeowners looking for hurricane rated impact windows for Florida homes.
The products may open the door.
The marketing may create attention.
But long term growth becomes stronger when homeowners begin to feel that the company belongs there.
That is the difference between reaching a community and becoming part of one.
As Greg Cummings and Todd Sigler moved deeper into the conversation, the focus shifted from how far Direct Remodels can grow to what makes that growth feel real in each market. Todd explained that strong local trust affects much more than advertising. It changes what homeowners know before an appointment, how employees feel about the company they represent, and how quickly a new market begins to feel like home. For Direct Remodels, the next stage is not only about reaching more parts of Florida. It is about building the kind of local connection that makes people feel the company belongs there.
Greg Cummings, CEO of Power100
Todd can see the value of brand trust by comparing two different parts of the same company.
In Direct Remodels’ stronger markets, homeowners may already recognize the name before the salesperson arrives. They may know the Pelican. They may remember a television spot. They may have seen the company mentioned in local news or involved in an event nearby.
That changes the first few minutes inside the home.
“When we walk into a house here versus on the southeast coast, it is night and day as far as brand,” Todd said.
The salesperson no longer has to introduce a completely unknown company. Some of that work has already happened through repeated local presence.
For homeowners looking for window replacement in Tampa Bay, that familiarity can help a company feel less like an outside seller and more like a name they have seen around their own community.
Todd’s point is not that recognition closes the sale by itself.
The team still has to earn the homeowner’s confidence.
The product still has to fit the need.
The experience still has to be strong.
But trust starts from a different place when the homeowner already knows something about the company before the appointment begins.
That is why community presence can become part of the sales experience without ever feeling like a sales pitch.
Learn more about Direct Remodels and how the company serves homeowners across Florida.
Todd did not dismiss paid marketing.
Direct Remodels uses television, radio, digital campaigns, and other forms of advertising to reach homeowners.
But he drew a clear line between reaching a person and becoming meaningful to them.
Todd talked about all the ways a company can place messages in front of homeowners through programmatic marketing and digital targeting. Then he came back to something much more human.
“It is truly being a partner in the place that they live,” Todd said.
That idea changes the role of community involvement.
It is no longer something a company does only because it looks good.
It becomes part of the way trust is built over time.
A homeowner may forget an ad.
They are more likely to remember a company they continue to see supporting the places, causes, and people around them.
That difference matters even more as lead costs rise. Todd pointed to sharp increases in customer acquisition costs in the window category.
When every new customer costs more to reach, a brand that people already know can become more valuable.
For companies the lesson is simple. Paid media can create attention quickly. Community trust usually takes longer, but it can continue creating value after a single campaign ends.
Direct Remodels has already expanded well beyond its original home market.
Todd said the company has grown from roughly $17 million toward $50 million without leaving Florida, and leadership still believes the state can support a much larger business.
But Todd was also open about where the work is not finished.
He said Direct Remodels has built strong community relationships around Pinellas, Pasco, and Hillsborough counties. The company has supported charitable efforts, local organizations, community events, and relationships with leaders in those areas.
He also acknowledged that the same level of connection does not yet exist everywhere the company serves.
Palm Beach County was one example.
“We need to do better throughout our entire state,” Todd said.
That honesty gives the next stage of growth a clearer goal.
Direct Remodels does not only need to enter another county.
It needs to learn that county.
It needs to find the people and organizations that matter there.
It needs to show up enough times for residents to stop seeing the company as new.
For homeowners that local connection could eventually become just as important as the advertising that first introduces the brand.
Todd said building that wider community presence will be a major focus moving into 2027.
That means the next stage is not only statewide reach.
It is statewide relevance.
Visit Direct Remodels to learn more about its growing service presence across Florida.
Greg’s question also pushed the conversation beyond the homeowner.
He asked Todd to think about the employee experience.
Direct Remodels team
What is the difference between joining Direct Remodels in a market where the company already has deep roots and joining it in a place where the brand is still being built?
That question matters because employees represent the company long before they ever explain its services.
In an established market, an employee can see the brand around them.
They can hear customers recognize the name.
They can see community events.
They can hear people mention the advertising.
They can see local organizations working with the company.
That gives culture something employees can touch and see.
Greg described the difference as having “roots in the ground.”
For a Direct Remodels, those roots can help employees understand that they are representing more than a product or sales number.
They are representing a business with a visible place in the community.
That can build pride.
It can also create responsibility.
When employees know homeowners already recognize the company, they also know their own actions can strengthen or weaken that trust.
Community presence therefore works in both directions.
It can make homeowners feel more connected to the brand.
It can also give employees a stronger reason to protect what the brand stands for.
Community presence used to stay mostly inside the community.
Today, it can travel much farther.
A charitable event can become a local news story.
A community partnership can appear on a website.
A homeowner experience can become a review.
A local project can become a photo, interview, or article.
Those pieces create a digital trail around the work a company is already doing offline.
That connection became important later in the PowerChat when Todd and Greg discussed AI search.
Todd said contractors now have to think about whether tools such as ChatGPT and Claude can understand who they are when homeowners ask for recommendations.
“I need to be recognized in this new form of communication,” Todd said.
Community involvement can help give that recognition something real to stand on.
For a homeowner researching energy efficient replacement windows, an online search may uncover reviews, media coverage, community stories, interviews, company information, and other signs that show how a contractor operates beyond its own advertising.
That is why the offline and online parts of the brand no longer need to live apart.
The company can show up in the community first.
It can earn trust there.
Then it can make sure those real stories are visible online.
That gives homeowners more proof when they search later, and it gives new technology more information to understand the company behind the name.
The strongest future brand may be the one that connects both worlds well.
Build the relationship face to face.
Then make sure the story of that relationship does not disappear when the homeowner goes online.
Todd Sigler’s message about community comes down to something simple.
“It is truly being a partner in the place that they live.”
That kind of partnership cannot be created in one campaign.
Grateful Direct Remodels customers!
A contractor can enter a market quickly. Becoming part of that market takes much longer.
It happens when people keep seeing the company show up. It happens when relationships grow beyond the next project. It happens when homeowners recognize the name for reasons that go beyond an advertisement. Over time, familiarity can turn into belief, and belief can turn into trust.
Direct Remodels already sees what that feels like in the Florida communities where its roots run deeper. The company also knows that newer markets will need time before they carry that same connection.
That gives the next stage of growth a different meaning.
Success will not only be measured by how many areas Direct Remodels can serve. It will also be measured by how deeply the company can become part of those places.
That should give growing contractors some reassurance. Community trust does not need to happen overnight. In fact, the strongest kind rarely does.
It grows through presence.
It grows through consistency.
It grows through relationships.
And it grows when a company keeps showing up even when there is no immediate sale waiting at the end.
For Direct Remodels, that may become one of the most important parts of its larger statewide and Southeast vision.
The next market is not truly won when the first ad runs or the first job closes.
It begins to feel like home when homeowners, employees, and local leaders stop seeing the company as an outsider and start seeing it as part of the community.
First, become visible.
Then become known.
Then become trusted.
And over time, become part of the place itself.
Yes. Power100 includes community impact as part of its five layer evaluation system. The platform says it reviews signals tied to growth, customer sentiment, company culture, partner relationships, and community impact before leaders earn a place in its national rankings. That means community involvement does not sit outside the leadership evaluation. It forms part of how Power100 looks at the wider effect a CEO and company have on homeowners, employees, and the places they serve.
Yes. Power100 created a National Charitable Leader of the Year honor for a top ranked CEO whose generosity and community giving set a strong example for the industry. The platform also has separate national awards for customer service, employee culture, industry impact, technology, and improvement. This shows that Power100 looks beyond revenue when it recognizes leadership across the home improvement industry.
Yes, but community involvement does not replace the work inside the home. Todd Sigler’s point is that local trust can give the relationship a stronger starting place, while Direct Remodels still has to deliver on the project itself. The company states that it operates as a licensed Florida general contractor, permits and inspects its work to code, and uses impact rated products designed for Florida homes. Community recognition can help a homeowner know the name, but the company still has to earn confidence through the actual service.
Yes. Direct Remodels lists service areas across Florida, including Tampa Bay, Orlando Metro, the Space Coast, Volusia County, Jacksonville and Northeast Florida, the Nature Coast, Polk County, the Treasure Coast, Palm Beach County, and Southwest Florida. That wider reach supports Todd Sigler’s point that the company now faces a new challenge: building the same local trust in newer markets that it already feels in its stronger home markets.
Direct Remodels connects that message to products designed for Florida conditions. The company says its impact windows meet Florida Building Code requirements, and it offers hurricane rated windows and doors built for storm protection. It also offers Miami Dade approved window lines for homeowners who want products tested against some of the toughest impact and pressure standards in the country. That gives homeowners searching for hurricane rated windows in Florida something more concrete to evaluate than a brand message alone.
Direct Remodels says one team handles the customer journey from the first call through final inspection. The company lists dedicated project coordinators, technology based customer communication, background checked installers, and support before, during, and after installation. That means the homeowner experience does not end when the marketing works. Direct Remodels still has to guide the project through scheduling, installation, inspection, and follow up.
Yes. Homeowners can review public information before choosing the company. Direct Remodels currently displays more than 1,500 Google reviews on its website, along with an A plus BBB rating, and it identifies its Florida general contractor license as CGC1528702. Homeowners searching for a window replacement company in Florida can use those public signals along with product details, permits, inspections, and written contract terms to make their own decision.
Direct Remodels says it keeps project logistics close to its own team through dedicated coordinators, in house installation, direct communication, and local service across several Florida regions. Todd Sigler also acknowledged during the PowerChat that Direct Remodels still has work to do before every new market carries the same community connection as its strongest markets. That honesty matters. The company is not treating statewide reach as proof that every community relationship is already finished. It is treating local trust as something it must keep building as the business grows.
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, CEO of Power100, the platform brings forward the leadership lessons, community impact, and business ideas shaping stronger home improvement companies across the country. Through national rankings, PowerChat interviews, industry content, and leadership recognition, Power100 helps contractors learn from proven leaders while giving great CEOs and companies a trusted place to share the work they are doing for their employees, customers, and communities.
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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.
