KickStart: Prevent cancellations when you reach out to new clients AFTER they book the job with you.
WOO-HOO! You did it! Yet another lead converted into a booked job!👍 (Now you can make payroll!)
Essentials
How a 3-letter Acronym Can Transform your Business!
KickStart: Get your entire company focused on their ‘Triple A’s’ (Appearance, Actions and Attitude) and profits will soar!
I admit it. I truly love inventing acronyms for routine daily activities. (This drives Sioux nuts!)🙄 But my staff used abbreviations in my residential services business all the time. For example…
We invented and implemented a PDS (Production Day Sheet), IQC (Immediate Quality Check calls) and an EEB (Employee Efficiency Bonus program), etc. You get the idea, right?
How to (gently) Promote Online Reviews!
KickStart: Want more reviews? Mention how important their online review is to the employee who worked in the customer’s home.
Let me be clear. I am NOT a ‘marketing guru’! Why not? Because the constant, frenetic changes in online marketing make my head hurt!😲 But I do know a bit about ‘Timeless Concepts’ (this phrase IS part of my tag line, after all!) in business.
Hands down, marketing’s most ‘Timeless Concept’ is ‘word of mouth’ advertising. But NOW it can be supercharged with ‘Today’s Tools’! (Darn it- how did the second half of my tag line sneak in here?)😁
Stop Communicating ‘Intrusively’
KickStart: When booking their work give your residential customer options on how you should contact them.
All of us (including you, me AND your residential clients) are more stressed (and OUT of control) than ever before!😲 This is why you must help your customers FEEL ‘in control’. (Including on their first nervous phone call inquiring about your services.)
But remember, no customer wants to completely control your work on their home. If they did, the home owner wouldn’t be calling your company. They’d just do the work themselves!
Marketing Services to the Neighbors- Part II
KickStart: Send a brightly colored envelope “pre-orienting’ close-by home owners that you’ll be “in the area”. (Include a list of your services.)
Marketing your residential services is tough! After all, home owners are bombarded with a dizzying deluge of advertising and (GRRRR!) low-price offers!😡 But WAIT!
You have an exclusive, ‘virgin marketing territory’ when you or your on-site workers make a friendly, ‘heads-up’ visit to the neighbors when beginning each job. Or even better, in conjunction with your personal visits…
‘Pre-orient’ the neighbors that you’ll be “in the area” BEFORE your scheduled work. Simply…
Market to Your Customer’s Neighbors- Part 1
Take advantage of every jobsite to connect with ideal new customer right next door! Your customer’s neighbors can be your customers too.
The WHY (and how to) of Building an ‘Employee Waiting List’
KickStart: Avoid ‘Desperation Hiring’ by continually recruiting and interviewing future employees BEFORE you need them!
Why, oh why, did it always happen late on a Friday afternoon?☹ I’d had a good week (defined as 100% delighted residential clients!), was finishing up paperwork on my desk, and looking forward to a fun weekend. Then my employee Charlie appeared…
Charlie: “Uh, Steve, can I talk to you?”
Me: “Sure, Charlie, what’s up?”
Charlie: “Ummmm, Steve, I’m really sorry to do this to you. But I’ve got a new job starting on Monday. I asked them if I could give you more notice but they’re insisting I start immediately…”
And my relaxed weekend came crashing down! Now I was facing double shifts to cover Charlie’s booked-solid schedule! Or even worse being forced into the dreaded Desperation Hiring! AAARGH!😲
BEFORE Hiring Do a ‘Trial Hire’
KickStart: BEFORE hiring even the best job applicant pay them to work with you for a day.
Have you ever received a text like this from a new hire? (Remember, this applicant interviewed great!)😥
If so, here’s the deal: You LOVE the Home Services industry. (Me too!) But hard as it is to believe…
Beware These ‘Hidden’ Profit-Sucking Black Holes!
KickStart: Are your business profits being silently siphoned off by unnoticed problems? Read on…
OK, I’ll admit it. I used to be a chest-pounding Home Services Business (HSB) owner that bragged about how many trucks, employees and/or customers I had. (I especially loved sharing that my company had grown into a powerhouse that grossed seven figures yearly!)
But then, I wised up. (Or maybe just got older!) I realized it is smarter to fix the ‘Profit-sucking Black Holes’ (PBH’s) that all residential services companies struggle with. I call the obvious PBH’s the ‘Tragic Big 3’😥:
Break Free From the ‘Low Price’ Service Trap Forever!
KickStart: Benefit from our current run-away inflation rates to justify your new (large) price increases.
In ‘normal times’ (is there such a thing any more?) I’m a huge proponent of small (3% to 4%) yearly price increases. Here’s why:
1) A small yearly increase will ‘fly under the radar’ of your clients. (Most customers can’t remember what they paid last time.)