The Sales Bin 

Recently, I was asked by a wonderful, new organization called Service Nation, to put together a presentation for business owners.  A snippet of the presentation is available here by clicking the “Sales Bin” link above.  If you need the entire presentation, give me a call.  Its a wonderful tool used to track sales, closure rates, and specifics about every proposal that your company gives out.  The days of endless paper files for tracking proposals and sales are comming to an end.

I recently had an opportunity to have lunch with a good friend.  Tom and I met working at a Ministry with in our Church.  I enjoy time with Tom because we try to run our business’s by making decisions based upon our faith.  As I am sure most of you would realize that being a business consultant for small contractors, I often find myself teasing him as to what he should and shouldn’t do.  I do this just like he would analyze my bulkhead that separates my properties backyard from my waterway lagoon.  Tom is in the Marine Construction Business.  He specializes in providing new bulkheads for water front properties and driving foundation pilings for new homes along coastal property’s.  Tom is very good at what he does and because of this, I enjoy picking his brain and teasing him about ways that he could improve his business.  One pet peeve of mine is Tom’s reluctance to advertise.  His advertising budget almost doesn’t exist!  Of course I have to challenge him about this deficiency, and to find out how he generates leads and perspective clients.  His answer seems to be almost ignorant.  Word of mouth!  Hmmm, I thought – Gotta be more to it than that.  Sure Tom does good work and his customers are happy, but to have all of his customers talking about him, something else has to be going on, so I began to prod a little.  It was after a cold and snowy February afternoon that it all came together.  Tom’s success at generating leads and having a constant flow of work is done by the ultimate form of “Guerrilla Marketing”.  Tom’s profession of Marine Construction is surrounded with heavy machinery, fascinating work and detailed expertise.  When Tom shows up to put in a homeowners bulkhead, he has back-hoes and trenchers on the customers property for at least two weeks.  This is visible from the front of the house with yard signs and trucks, and in the back of the home for many boaters who are driving by the property during the boating season.  Tom has one distinct advantage to his marketing besides the heavy machinery.  He is in a industry that I like to call, “Neighbor Repetitive“.  If one person on the block is having a new Marine Bulkhead replaced, then its time for everyone to have it done.  In a nut shell, Tom shows up, tears the place apart, while making a whole bunch of noise for two weeks, and leaves the customer with a product that they should be happy with.   Anyone who is within earshot (everyone on the street) will know that their neighbor is having a bulkhead replaced and it is time to inquire about it.  Tom went on to explain to me on that snowy afternoon, that if he doesn’t get at least two to three neighbors to inquire about work on any particular job site, it is an oddity.  Imagine that! 

The objective of guerrilla marketing is to create a unique, engaging and thought-provoking concept to generate buzz, and consequently turn viral. The term was coined and defined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his book Guerrilla Marketing.  Most Residential HVAC and Plumbing work is not done with the use of heavy equipment.  Even so,  there are ways to let your current customers surrounding neighbors, know you are there to provide a great service.  Standard operating procedures should dictate;

• At the conclusion of every major installation, the installers should be dropping off, to immediate neighbors, letters of invitations for either sales or service. 
• At the beginning of every installation, yard signs should be in place (Don’t forget the gift card reward to the homeowner for any leads that generate a sale). 
• Clean and organized trucks with eye catching  truck wraps can get neighbors to notice. 
• Most importantly explaining to the customer the value in referrals and how much you would appreciate theirs.
• Marine bulkheads and docks have life expectancy’s that are not much different then home heating and cooling equipment.  Understanding the age of communities along with networking with other organizations within local municipalities can give you a marketing advantage for homes that are in need of new HVAC equipment. 

Learn to market your business constantly and efficiently so that you don’t have to worry about trying to hoard all of your money during the peak months.  Understand Guerrilla Marketing to make your business more profitable. 

If you want to find out more about the tactics that can help keep your phone ring year round, contact me today at 732-616-4617 or joe@contractorbusinessprofits.com .

Hiring during the slow months, to some contractors, is terrifying, however, there is significant benefits to this procedure.

1. First and foremost, all contractors who have employee’s should be advertising regularly for a steady supply of perspective employee’s. There are ways to do this without hurting anyone’s feelings (such as current employees). A steady stream of applicants is a necessity for any small business owner.
2. I recommend to all of my contractors to have at least four “Classified Advertisements” budgeted into their chart of accounts. These four are run during the change of the seasons. This should allow you more than enough potential employees resumes to skim through.
3. Classified Advertising is not the only means of acquiring a perspective employee. Referrals from existing employees with REWARDS! This has always been one of my best ways of getting some of the best employees. Many mechanics, sales people, and office personnel have friends who are in the same industry. “Birds of a feather, flock together!” That being said, there is a good resource for help. Don’t forget to not be stingy when it comes to the REWARD. 
4. One of the best methods of obtaining installers, service technicians or sales people is to have a good relationship with your suppliers. They have a good feel for what is going on in everyone of their customers business’s. They know who is happy and who is not. They know who is looking for a change. Setting up an individual REWARD program for those individuals can be as helpful as the employee reward program. Be careful not to portray yourself as a headhunter when applying this procedure, but like all of your companies operating procedures, there are ways to do this.
5. With the use of some of the procedures I listed, you should be able to have success acquiring perspective employees or at least a data base of prospects to pull from. Keep in mind, in trying to put together a “Turn Key Operation”, these systems should become standard operating procedures. They should be in line with your interviewing and new employee processing procedures. It should all be a fairly simplified system that produces success.
   

If you should have any questions about hiring new employees or anything about running your small business, contact me at 732-616-4617 or drop me an email at joe@contractorbusinessprofits.com.

Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with some of the people who own and run Field Diagnostic Services.  For those who are not familiar with this organization, they have put together some testing equipment along with some procedures for ensuring peak efficiency of HVAC Equipment.  Very impressive and cutting edge, while very simplistic.  These principals ensure proven procedures are followed for maximum efficiency along with enabling the contractor to prove to the customer the return for the investment.  Great stuff and very different.  They have differentiated themselves from their competitors and much of the industry and thus ensuring PROFITABILITY!

 What have you done to ensure that the Service Company down the road can not compare to yourself.  Contractor Business Profits has worked with many company’s putting together marketing and advertising paradigms that have helped break down financial barriers that could not be achieved before.  Proper review of any organizations financial reports help any company put together plans and systems that can absolutely differentiate themselves from the rest. 

January, inherently brings slower times to the Construction / Home Services Business.  This is a perfect time to begin review and implementation of programs that will improve profitability.

 I recently had a chance to comment on some very good blog sites regarding HVAC and Plumbing.  I find many good HVAC and Plumbing Owners who have wonderful work ethic’s and morals and are fantastic representatives to our Industry on these sites.   Some of these same Business Owners are struggling with how to run their businesses  because they are making mistakes on how to analyze and make decisions with regards to their financials.

 At Contractor Business Profits, the emphasis in understanding financial reports such as profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and performance indicators will absolutely help the individual business owner make decisions that are completely based upon PROFITABILITY.

 Contractor Business Profits helps contractors set up, and if already set up, how to adjust their pricing to maximize profitability.  Once those systems are in place and a clear understanding of what your small business needs are, in regards to Gross Profit Dollars, all kinds of projections and budgets can be put together in business / marketing plans. 

 It’s just a matter of putting the systems into place.  Contractor Business Profits is here to help with that.  We spend time with every one of our clients ensuring that they acquire the success they deserve.  Call today to discuss anything you and your company may have questions with.  Visit our web site to find out more about what we do and how we can help you become more profitable. 

With the wide arrange of issues facing today’s contractors, time allocation for planning needs to be addressed for the issues within every business. Every Day, time needs to be utilized to help grow your business.

In speaking with five of my most successful clients, all of whom deal with residential and light commercial HVAC and Plumbing, all credit their success with taking time out during the course of the day to plan, execute, develop or inform others in their company of what direction their business is going.

Proper planning, in some cases 2 hours a day, is how some of the most successful small contractors establish significant growth in both corporate size and financial returns. In reviewing some of the strategies they use for planning their time, they insist on time in their offices (be it home or corporate office) to develop and execute their plans. Their secretaries or sales people, know that they are not to be disturbed as they work on everything from financial development or review, employee management, sales procedures / sales development, customer relationships, or office management.

Dedicating 2 hours of development time within your business, every day, can prepare you for every eventuality that your company may come across. Whether you’re a one man show looking to grow, or if you’re running 50 employees, knowing how to manage YOUR time in the growth of your business is paramount.

Start by cutting back on small things that can either be handled by someone else or moved to a more accommodating time slot in your schedule. This should free up at least one hour for you to begin a JOURNAL on how to plan and implement plans to help your organization. It must be written, and organized. You must also understand, that these plans will be changed as they are implemented, so be flexible.

To gain profitability, think like a big corporation. Planning and implementing will lead to sound business practices. THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT PLANNING TECHNIQUES THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED THAT WILL INSTANTLY SHOW YOU A PROFIT. Call 732-616-4617 today and we can help you put together a small plan over the phone that will give you more time and availability to grow your company into a profitable machine.

1 year ago today, my wife and I brought the newest member of our family out of  an orphanage in a beautiful little town called Kaluga, in the outskirts of Moscow, Russia.   One of the most spiritually moving experiences in both of our lives.  No doubt, a special day in our families lives as well.  We celebrated today with a stop at our local Dunkin Donuts in the morning, and then off to our local Jewelers to pick up my wife’s wedding ring.  I had dropped the ring off earlier in the week to have it cleaned and buffed out.  9 years earlier, my wife and I sat in the same Jewelers to pick out wedding bans with the owner of the Jewelery Store.  He was a wonderful man along with being very professional.  Besides providing us with a beautiful set of wedding bans, he extended every courtesy one could imagine.  From showing us on a map where some of the best restaurants in town where located, to calling our caterer for precise wedding arraignments.  Far beyond what we expected.  A true joy.  Needless to say, 8 years ago we would have highly recommended this Jeweler to everyone.  Unfortunately, over the past 8 years, things began to change for us when we would periodically stop in for either a chain replacement or new watch battery.  We noticed the customer service wasn’t anywhere near as good as what it was the evening we purchased our wedding bans.  Small things such as not having our jewelery ready on dates when it was supposed to be along with the occasional billing inconsistencies, but the worst had to have been thinking that the counter lady’s tried to make you feel like it was a privilege to get service from them.  These unfortunate situations happened over the course of 8 years.  None the less, I decided to take my wife’s ring there for repairs.  Prior to arriving in the store this morning, my wife even joked about what kind of experience we may run into this time.

We walked into our local Jewelers carrying our new beautiful daughter.  We where greeted with a very kind “Good Morning” from an elderly woman who was grinning from ear to ear.  As we presented her with our invoice for my wife’s ring, she bathed us in warmth and kindness.  She was so kind to our daughter that my wife and I smirked with sarcasm at one another.  After retrieving my wife’s ring from the back room, we both stated that we don’t believe her ring ever looked as good.  This woman’s reply, “We try to do everything we can to keep our customers happy.”  Once again, my wife and I shot looks at each other as if to say, “This must be a set up.  Someone must have heard us complaining prior to us walking into the Jewelers.”  As we paid the woman for the service we thanked her sincerely and gathered our daughter to walk to our car.  Just then, the kind woman behind the counter gestured to wait one second while she went into the back room.  She came back a minute later with a cuddly packaged toy barking dog.  She unboxed the small doll and began to allow it to roll around on the floor barking.  Well our daughters eyes lit up.  We all began to laugh with such joy.  No one harder then our 2 year old daughter.  As tears welled up in this woman’s eyes at the joy she had brought our daughter, my wife motioned to me to listen to the background music being played throughout that jewelers.  My wife and I stared at each other we both realized that our wedding song was playing.  Surely, this was a joke that only the almighty could play.  As we gathered our daughter with her new toy dog, we leaned her in to kiss the kind woman who had literally made our day.  We then turned around and walked out the door, but not before saying we will be back soon.   Her reply was, “We will be looking forward to seeing you and your daughter again.”  As my family and I walked to our car we didn’t say much, but when we finally began to drive away, we both agreed that was going to be our Jeweler from now on.  Even after having a few questionable experiences, the impact that this kind woman had on my family today will never be forgotten.  Not just customers for life, but we will be sharing our story with everyone.

Any good business owner needs to be able to find ways that can take their customer service to another level.  Whether its an employee who helps with the customers garbage or if its a kind letter.  Sometimes, mistakes happen.  That doesn’t always mean a lost customer.  Try to find ways, or operating procedures, that can help fix strained customer / company relationships.  A properly written letter from the owner expressing a shortcoming as a mistake and ensuring that it wont happen again can mean a whole lot.  To take your company to another level, find ways to separate yourself from your competition with excellent customer service.

Think like the kind old lady who worked at my local Jewelers.

Great article from the Wall Street Journal naming names of some of the Politicians who are pushing to push out the small business owners.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126153388406402389.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond#articleTabs%3Darticle

Some great comments on the comment section of the article.

Take some time and contact your legislator’s about this one. It will definetly impact your margins!

Please take the time to review this important article.   It is about the sneakiness that our politicians incorporate into their everyday business practices.

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2009/12/21/daily25.html

All small business owners who are trying to do the best they can at running their business are encouraged to not get pushed around! Contact your local Senator or Representative. It’s very easy to do. Go on line and let your legislator  know your upset.

http://conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm

This health care plan will hurt many small businesses and may very well destroy your ability to be profitable! It is simply because we aren’t letting the legislatures know we are not happy!

2009, while better then 2008 (Thanks to Fannie and Freddie), was still a drudgery for roughly 70% of the companies in our industry. 2009 saw many home services / small business companies file for either Chapter 11 or Chapter 7. This due in fact to the horrendous practices of the banking industry. None the less, people still need our services almost more then any other home service. Our industry is something that our society cannot do without. Our industry is fighting through this storm and will be better and stronger then ever.

As business and marketing plans are built for not just 2010, but for the next decade, the savvy business owner should certainly incorporate protective measures into their plans that will provide protection from another financial calamity.

Proactive business owners will begin to ensure that they have good reviewable pricing methods, lead pipelines, overhead analyzers, along with plans that allow for GROWTH and SHRINKAGE as determined by the economy.

Disciplined and Successful Contractors who manage their own personnel time wisely, will find time to build these plans. At Contractor Business Profits, we recommend to all of our Business Owners to find 2 hoursEvery Day to build plans and then implement them. Occasionally a Business Owner will say, “How can I find two hours with so much on my plate now!”. It is usually this Contractor who is having a hard time meeting his monthly margins.

In reviewing all of the contractors who we work with, the top 5 contractors who are consistently meeting their monthly numbers along with growing their customer data base, they insist on working on their business plans and procedures every day. They incorporate programs and policies that in turn, their employees implement and monitor. These contractors are truly business owners who know the importance of planning and preparing in every aspect of their business.

Commit to success for 2010 by beginning to set up plans and procedures that will allow you to see a big change from 2009. Growth and Profitability are obtainable as soon as you make a commitment to wanting success. If your not sure how to acquire the planning, research the process on your two hour daily development plans.

God has granted you the blessing of being a business owner. Don’t let him down by not maximizing your potential due to excuses. Make it happen, get it done and tear up 2010.