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…
When you refuse to entrust your much-loved customers to even a great employee you are ‘trapping yourself on the truck’! (I recently focused on the ego-stroking but very limiting dead end of your clients ‘ONLY loving you’!)😥 Let’s face this problem head on:
YOU SAY: “No employee will ever do it as ‘perfectly’ as I do!” My reply? TRUE! (No employee will perform as well as you THINK you do!) After all, NO ONE will ever be as invested in your business as you are! However…
FACT: Decent employees can be ‘perfect’ IF you buy into my business definition of…
per·fec·tion: “Sufficient for its intended purpose”!
WOW! What an incredibly ‘liberating’ concept! No more being ‘trapped on the truck’ with your OCD fear of trusting your precious customers to… employees! Instead, learn to ‘let go’ by meditating on this ‘transformational’ question:
“What is ‘sufficient’ for my residential clients?” In other words, learn to ‘accept and expect less’ and in the process… you’ll find ‘Personal Freedom’! Here’s my suggested three-item checklist residential ‘Job Perfection Checklist’:
1) Good work. Obviously. But honestly, with good technical training and the right tools, “doing good work” really isn’t that difficult. Your challenge? The smooth, consistent DELIVERY of this ‘good work’!
SOLUTION? Obsess over your ‘Business Infrastructure’. (Written systems and procedures that ‘make it easier to do it right than to do it wrong’.) Why? Because a business in chaos simply can’t consistently create Cheerleaders! (Plus, even good employees quickly become frustrated by a disorganized operation.)
Pro TIP: Remember that you (and your staff) don’t get to define what a “good job” is. Instead, it all comes down to…
2) A delighted customer! BINGO! All Home Service businesses need 5-star reviews (the very best marketing!) and the more the better!
SOLUTION? Recognize that 80% of HOW a homeowner decides on ‘job quality’ (and whether they leave you a 5-star or 1-star review!) is based on the RELATIONSHIP your client has with the staff involved in their transaction. NOTE: Be sure to orient/reward employees on the ‘why and how’ of making Customer Cheerleaders!)
Pro TIP: It is tempting to load ALL this ‘relationship building work’ on your technicians. (And yes, front-line techs are essential in the Cheerleader Development Process.) BUT your team must also get a new customer ‘started off right’ in their initial phone call…
RESOURCE #1: This is why you need our 3-hour, online SFS: Winning over your caller! LIVE seminar. Click HERE for 100’s of ‘Lead Conversion’ ideas and systems to easily book prospects who use text, email, Facebook, website chat or even… the phone! HERE are our upcoming class dates…
Logically, when your residential Critical Mass Business routinely cranks out good work AND consistently creates ecstatic Customer Cheerleaders you will be rolling in…
3) PROFIT! Yep! I tell my training classes that “All other things being equal… MORE money is better than NO money!” Agreed?
SOLUTION? 1) ‘Service Engineer’ how your employee’s DELIVER the quality work they already do and then 2) confidently raise your prices! Customers WILL pay more but they won’t offer to do so unless you charge more!
RESOURCE #2: Once you ‘Hire the Very Best’ (see RESOURCE #3 below) give each new employee my self-paced 12 session, 7-hour MP3 tech training course, ‘Winning on the Home Front’. Click HERE to purchase it one time and then use this digital course to train an unlimited number of Service Techs in any sector of our Home Services industry. (Course includes all Tech Skills Reviews and answer sheets.)
THE RESULT: ‘Personal Freedom’ for YOU? (And your family.) Remember, the purpose of your business should be to serve you… not the other way around. BUT this won’t happen automatically…
SOLUTION? Suck it up and learn to LET GO! Home Service Pros love to blame the tough hiring environment for staying on the truck (and hiring IS BRUTAL now!) but YOU are your own worst enemy!
Pro TIP(s): 1) Document and chart your service business production flow, 2) Build your 5-star Cheerleader reviews (best marketing ever!) 3) Hire the ‘Very Best People’ (they ARE out there!), 4) Add ‘Positive Employee Accountability (stellar efforts/results deserve to be recognized and rewarded), 5) Gradually LET GO! (More on these five steps going forward.)
RESOURCE #3: Growing your business is SO MUCH MORE FUN with a team of great employees! Discover 100’s of new hiring ideas and systems in our 3-hour, online SFS: Hiring the Very Best! LIVE seminar. To learn more and/or easily register online click HERE.
REFLECTION TIME: Seriously, if the home owner believes that 1) your staff did a ‘good job’, 2) is delighted with the service they received AND 3) your company has made a nice profit isn’t this a PERFECT JOB?💖 If so, you now need to LET GO!
And I need to ‘let go’ by asking one question: Are you motivated now to ‘transform’ your business? (And just maybe your life?) Yes? WOO-HOO! Our conversation here was “Sufficient for its intended purpose” and therefore PERFECT!😁 Thank you and let’s ‘git ‘er done’… TOGETHER!
Steve