KickStart: Recognize the long term consequences of not focusing on every service caller!
“Aargh, another ‘how much do you charge’ caller!” (Screamed as I slammed down the phone!) “I hate price shoppers!” 😡
Steve’s True Confessions Time: This “I hate price shoppers!” outburst was an ongoing complaint from my office staff for many years.
However, I finally realized my company needed to…
KickStart: “The person who walks alone will find himself in places no one has ever seen before.”
KickStart: Maintain your prices high enough that homeowners routinely wince… and then book the job anyway!
True Confession Time: Steve Toburen is not remotely an accountant and/or a financial planner. In fact, Steve HATES and despises “number crunching” of any type!😡
In fact, I tell each client and every online class I teach: “I’ve always been good at MAKING money. But I’m terrible at counting, tracking or even investing this money!”
And yet, even with this major financial disability I’ve enjoyed a very successful career as the owner of multiple Home Service businesses! I’ve built my (very profitable) success on one informal pricing concept I call…
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’😥:
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.)
KickStart: STOP🛑 losing money BEFORE you focus on increasing gross sales. Read on…
Profit: “The revenue remaining after all costs are paid. These costs may include labor, materials, interest on debt, and taxes.”
Ah yes, that wonderful and too-often elusive word, “profit”. And yes, as a Home Service Business owner you need (and deserve) LOTS of profit.💲💲💲 (Which should be calculated AFTER paying yourself a fair wage for your labors.)
Ya gotta feel sorry for the poor retailers!😥 They’ve got pandemic problems, ‘supply chain’ issues, staffing challenges AND stores get ‘price shopped’ like crazy! After all, I can easily get 10 or 15 price quotes in a few seconds online for any manufactured good! (And you thought you had ‘Price Shopper’ issues!)😲
Remember, ‘people buy any commodity based on who offers the lowest price’! (Customers know a commodity is the same no matter where you buy it so why not go with the lowest price?) However…
KickStart: ‘Charging more’ let’s you pay more to attract better applicants! (And keep the great team you’ve already built.)
I’ve always pushed my students to “charge more”! Why? After almost 50 years in this industry (I started young!) I’m convinced the vast majority of residential service contractors do not remotely understand the TRUE COST of daily business.
But hey, I’m not really a ‘number crunching accountant’ type of guy! So instead, I just preach to my students:
1) “All other things being equal… its better to have LOTS of money instead of having NO money!!”
KickStart: Quickly involve your texting prospects when you interview them using ‘Valid Business Questions’!
Sigh…!👎 Thanks to smartphones the venerable over-the-phone text question “How much do you charge?” can be texted to you… 24-7!🙄 GRRRR!😡
So, ya suck it up, carefully text back with an estimated price and… NO REPLY!😖 So, how can you convert this potentially great lead that texted you? (Without being ‘ghosted’ once you quote a price!)
IMPORTANT: Please do not assume that a “How much…? text means they are a dirty, rotten ‘Price Shopper’! Instead, many wealthy homeowners simply don’t know what else to ask! So they fall back to asking about your pricing!
KickStart: For the (very few) previous clients who balk at rebooking due to your higher prices use Steve’s ‘Feel-Felt-Found’ Objection Buster Reply!💲💲💲
I feel like a proud parent! After all my exhortations you actually raised your prices!👍👍 CONGRATULATIONS! (You deserve it!)
Now (hopefully) you are following my 3 step sequence to rebook past customers after a price increase. Since most customers don’t even remember what they paid last time most will just automatically schedule with you again. However…