KickStart: Your company WILL take ‘surprise hits’. Set up systems now to see these blows coming to defend your business.
As entrepreneurs we’re all incurable optimists. (Negative thinkers tend to stay ‘comfortably trapped’ in dead-end jobs their entire lives.) Heck, if you hadn’t focused on the positive you never would have opened your residential Home Services business!
Talk about a ‘love-hate’ relationship!
You: “I LOVE being a Home Service Provider!(HSP) But I HATE dealing with the incessant stream of ‘price shopping’ phone callers!”
My clients: “I LOVE the results of the (insert service here) in my home. But I HATE how the process made me feel! It was super stressful calling/ choosing/ booking a Service Provider!”😲
NOTE: Customers also feel super vulnerable, trapped and even invaded with strangers in their home but that’s for another a blog post!
KickStart: Instead of calling it a ‘script’ give your staff a proactive ‘Phone Format’. (You’ll hit less employee resistance!)
Your business phone rings, you (timidly) answer and yet once again you hear the question you dread…
“Yeah, ummm… I was just calling around to see how much you charge…?” And panic strikes!
Seriously? I mean, how many times have you heard this query over the years? And yet you and/or your staff STILL don’t have a ‘phone script’? If so, I SAY GREAT!👍👍 Here’s why…
For you as a residential services contractor I’ll make two assumptions. First, I’m guessing that you are at least ‘reasonably good’ at your trade(s). Second, you’re probably making more money than you ever dreamed of! (And of course you have all the ‘associated toys’ too! (Cars, boats, motorcycles, golf clubs, etc.)
Am I right or am I right? 😁 After all, any reasonably competent member of our home services industry should (at the very least) be making a ‘good living’. But WAIT! Even your service techs are (hopefully) being well paid! And speaking of techs…
KickStart: Create a ‘Careers with Us’ landing page that A) lists out the great career opportunity you offer to B) a very select group of Team Candidates.
Tried to hire… ANYONE lately? One of my long-time clients recently told me, “It’s brutal out there, Steve!”😲 Another said, “It’s agonizing to have people begging our company to send out techs (at any price) and I’ve got nobody!”😥 I replied the same to both…
“First, get used to it! And second, Get proactive!” Don’t allow our business growth to be stunted by this brutal and agonizing ‘hiring famine’! Instead, constantly be ‘RECRUITING’😉 new Team Candidates.
Dear Home Services professional,
Welcome to the new world of hiring! (HINT: It’s a disaster out there and especially when looking for technicians!)😲 Finding quality front-line workers has always been tough in our industry. But now? It is a war out there!
In any war the side with the best army wins! Which means you must start ‘recruiting’. I recently shared how to convert your clients into ‘CRO’s’. (Customer Recruiting Officers) Think about it.🤔 Who knows better than your clients who should be working in their homes?
However, you have another great ‘recruiting resource’ already working for you! That’s right…
NEWS FLASH! Hiring front line technicians has NEVER been more challenging! The good, old “just put a Help Wanted ad in the newspaper and desperate job seekers will call begging for a job” Hiring Model is dead and buried!😲
Instead, just follow the Marine’s old recruiting slogan, “We’re looking for a few good men!” (And women!)👍
KiskStart: Learn to ‘let go’ (and discover ‘Personal Freedom’) by redefining the word “perfect”.
I’ve been accused (unjustly in my opinion) of being ‘a bit OCD’!😲 OK, OK! I’ll admit I liked things to be ‘perfect’ in my home services business and especially for my much-loved customers! Sound like anyone you know?🤔
Here’s the deal. If you are serious about growing your company into a ‘Critical Mass Business’ (one that will run smoothly without you being there 24-7) you MUST tweak your definition of ‘perfection’. Here’s why…
Being a solopreneur has its perks. On the other hand, every service biz operator should evaluate his version of longterm success.
Ask Steve: Who should be training my new Service Tech?
Steve says: Look for the employee who A) best embodies your company culture and B) ‘plays by YOUR rules’!