Steve Toburen KickStart: Trumpet your service worker’s accomplishments to increase morale AND supercharge your marketing.
Are you struggling with high turnover and/or marginal frontline employees?😥
“Well, DUH, Steve! You just described my life! I pay much more than the ‘going wage’ but nobody wants to work anymore!” Ummmm, sorry to disagree but the Very Best People DO “want to work”! But I digress…
KickStart: When a homeowner points out a concern and/or makes a request immediately make a note of it on a clipboard.
I recently shared why a service crew leader should use a clipboard during their initial interaction with a residential client. After all…
A clipboard gives your on-site employee 1) authority, 2) confidence and 3) a built-in “teleprompter” to check their next lines in the “Homefront Service” stage play you’ve scripted!
But wait! Here’s the biggest benefit a clipboard brings to the essential homeowner-service worker relationship! DRUMROLL, PLEASE! 🎉🎊🎈🎇🎉
KickStart: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.” William Shakespeare
You gotta love good, old Bill for pithily dissecting the human condition! And yep- Mr. Shakespeare’s quote above goes double for those of us working daily in our customer’s homes.
Ironically, long before I became a William Shakespeare groupie I’d often remind my in-the-home production employees they were “actors in our company’s Home Front stage play”.
Now very likely you personally have always instinctively recognized that you are “on stage playing a part” in a client’s home. However, here’s your challenge…
KickStart: “You never get a second chance to make a first IMPRESSion.” Will Rogers
Good old Will was correct! One of the best ways to immediately IMPRESS a homeowner is to…
KickStart: The homeowner is always watching… everything and everywhere! Behave accordingly!
I’ve taught (pontificated?) extensively on the absolutely essential homeowner/service tech relationship. Basically, everything, including your family’s future financial welfare, comes down to how the client feels about your people involved in their service transaction!
However, emotions (and feelings) can be… complicated.🫢 (“Ya think, Steve?”) I’m reminded of a TV host, Art Linkletter, back in the day. Art was famous for his “Kids Say the Darndest Things!” observation. I would morph this into, “Clients Think (and Feel) the Darndest Things!” This means…
KickStart: Don’t allow 1) sunglasses, 2) ringing cell phones and/or 3) bad attitudes inside your client’s homes! Read on…
Back in the day, I loved pulling up to a new residential customer. New people, a new job-site, and new challenges. (Say what you will, our home services industry is seldom boring!)👍
Sure, I always had a few butterflies too.🫢 Did the office give me an accurate work order? The right tools and materials? Will I be able to get to my next job on time? And most urgently- will this homeowner be a total idiot?😲
KickStart: “Seek first to understand.” Stephen R. Covey
Many, many, many🙄 years ago I finally learned that all successful Residential Services companies are “Emotionally Based”.
I know, you’re shaking your head here while muttering, “No, Steve you don’t get it. I own a plumbing/ carpet cleaning/ lawn care, and/or HVAC company”. My reply? “No, these things are the physical service(s) you deliver. BUT…
KickStart: Homeowner Customer Cheerleaders provide a huge emotional ROI to all involved in a Home Services business.
Your business should be about much more than pure, naked gree… I mean profits! Instead…
Your residential services company should build a close emotional bond (dare I say even “love”?)😲 between you, your employees AND your clients.
Reflections: For me, I LOVED💖 creating “something of value”, a residential services company that (most of the time!)🙄 ran like a well-oiled machine. But my true focus was on “values”.
KickStart: Residential Home Services Cheerleaders not only provide immediate benefits but will also help your company indirectly!
We recently focused on how delighted “Customer Cheerleaders” can help your residential services company immediately.
After all, Cheerleaders will help you immediately with 1) booking skittish callers*, 2) improved cash flow, AND 3) let you charge (much) more than the “going rate”!
KickStart: The true ROI on making a Residential Customer Cheerleader is much more than the direct financial profits they produce. (Which is a LOT!)
“Ummm, what’s a ‘Cheerleader’, Steve?”🤔 A Cheerleader is a homeowner that is so delighted and yes, surprised with the level of service they’ve received they will “sing your praises from the rooftops”! (And more importantly, post multiple 5-star reviews online!)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
So, it’s a no-brainer! An ecstatic Cheerleader Customer is an incredibly valuable asset! Which is why I’m always amazed that so few residential service contractors focus on systems to create Cheerleaders!😥