KickStart: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
I’m guessing the late poet Maya Angelou never owned a Home Services business! But her words are the key to build a “Critical Mass” residential services company. Here’s why…
KickSTART: Program a brief but enthusiastic welcome reception for a new service employee when they arrive for their first day of work.
CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve recruited, verified, interviewed and hired a Very Best Person.👍 (Hopefully you’ve also performed a ‘Working Interview’ to make sure ‘Charlie’ won’t hate doing the work you’re offering!)
Even better, immediately after hiring Charlie you gave him a tour of your company. You also warmly introduced Charlie to your office staff.
Your goal? To foster an immediate sense of belonging and commitment to help Charlie fight the inevitable ‘New Hire Remorse’! (Too often my ‘New Hire’ would bail on me even before his or her first day on the job!)😲
KickStart: Reduce your personal pressure by sharing the accountability (and rewards) with your employees.
24-7 PRESSURE… 365 days a year!😲 Sound familiar? If you own or manage a residential services business… very likely this is your life!
True- we all have to deal with pressure and now more than ever. But for you the pressure is non-stop with workers in the emotionally perilous residential environment! Why? Because there are so many moving parts to your Home Services business!
KickStart: Bonus your people ’emotionally’ when you warmly express sincere (and specific) gratitude for their hard work.
Owning a home services business is not for the “faint of heart”! It can be a very lonely entrepreneurial journey.😥 In fact, many residential services business owners become isolated, suspicious and even cynical. I get it- I too spent far too many years on this negative path.
But then I realized needed help. And who knew better the pressures and struggles of working for homeowners than… my employees? So I started delegating authority AND sharing accountability with my workers. Amazingly…
KickStart: Don’t fool yourself with the “Nobody wants to do service work any more?” complaint. Instead, ask the more productive question: “Why doesn’t anyone want to work for… ME?”
Everyone from Fortune 500 CEO’s to your local competitors slamming down boilermakers at lunch are all desperate to hire more home service employees. And they’re all moaning the same complaint…
“Nobody wants to work any more!”😫
Seriously? Nobody? As in, “Not one single person?” Come on, people! As I write this the U.S. has a 3.6% unemployment rate. So a bit of simple math tells us that…
KickStart: Share money, praise and profits to attract and keep the Very Best People!
I learned so much from my residential customers. After all, our clients had to be financially successful even to afford our high prices💲💲 So, I would just 1) ask questions and 2) LISTEN to my client’s answers.
One very wealthy CEO (who I suspect was a bit bored in retirement) often regaled me with his stories. Since I was trying to build a Critical Mass Business that could run without me I focused on Paul’s hiring tips. His first tip was…
KickStart: Promote a 1) Safe, 2) Sane and 3) Stable atmosphere in your company to attract and keep the Very Best People. (HINT: It starts with YOUR example.)
If you’re reading this I’m guessing that you (like me) are a steely-eyed Home Services ‘gladiator’ (entrepreneur) that glories in the daily cut-and-thrust of commerce!
I was (Sioux says I still am)🙄 an adrenaline junky that ‘gets his fix’ from winning in the grand game of business! Is this you too? If so, here’s your danger…
KickStart: Commend (and reward) employees when they share ‘bad news’ with you! Read on for the ‘why and how’…
I love surprises.🎆✨🎊🎉 Surprise gifts, surprise parties, and yep, being surprised with a kiss from Sioux!💖 (Even after 47 years I still appreciate her!) HOWEVER, in my Home Services business I had one cast iron employee rule :
NEVER, ever surprise me!
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…
KickStart: Pay your star employees more while also banking more profits yourself with this ‘WEB Plan’ concept.
co·nun·drum /kəˈnəndrəm/ (noun) “a confusing and difficult problem.” Yep, our Residential Services Industry is full of… (wait for it) ‘conundrums’! For example…
Conundrum: You want (and need) to pay your employees more and yet… you still need to make a profit. YOUCH!
SOLUTION: Develop my concept of a Worker Efficiency Bonus (WEB) Plan that that A) holds your workers ACCOUNTABLE when they mess up but also B) REWARDS an employee when he or she creates extra profits for your company.👍👍