Small Shop Talk: Do's and Don'ts for Small Shop Operators
My mission is to help you make a living doing what you love. Do you love what you do? Great. Now, what about the money, honey? I spend much of each day on the phone, talking business. On the seminar trail, I meet lots of folks who love to tell me what works for them … and what not to do. I’d love to share this wisdom with you. So here is a collection of do’s and don’ts for every area of your business.
My mission is to help you make a living doing what you love. Do you love what you do? Great. Now, what about the money, honey? I spend much of each day on the phone, talking business. On the seminar trail, I meet lots of folks who love to tell me what works for them … and what not to do. I’d love to share this wisdom with you. So here is a collection of do’s and don’ts for every area of your business.
Do read this list. Don’t neglect to do things that will make you more money!
• DO join a trade association. Shop around first, and find one with a mission and philosophy that matches yours.
• DO find exceptional performers within the roofing industry and copy them.
• DO find a successful business owner with whom you don’t compete and offer to become his or her mastermind partner. Commit to help each other improve as businesspeople.
• DO read at least one book per week. Alternate between classic novels, humorous fiction, and business books.
• DON’T miss your kid’s football game because you choose to work instead.
• DO commit your hopes and dreams to ink and paper (or computer bytes). Keep a journal. Thinking manifests at one level; speaking and writing creates at an even higher level.
• DO use a day planner. We are too old to remember everything. Who cares if you look like a nerd; you can laugh all the way to the bank.
• DO listen to books on tape or CD in your car. My current favorites: Good to Great by Jim Collins and Time to Make the Donuts by Bill Rosenburg
• Do handle the issues that keep coming up and spoiling your success. Talk to a friend or a minister. Go to the desert for 40 days and 40 nights.
• DON’T lie. Even “white lies” chip away at your integrity.
• DON’T say, “Tell him I am not here!” Say, “Tell him I’m busy right now, and I will call him back later.”
• DON’T look for service standards within our industry. Go to Disney World and watch how they do it.
• DO lead by example.
• DON’T talk so much.
• DON’T imagine that you are irreplaceable. Once upon a time, our business partner’s last words to me were, “If I don’t do it myself, it will never get done.” He died two days later. Things got done.
• DO go on a ride-along with one of your technicians at least once a week.
• DO make a sale yourself every once in a while - just to show the rest of the team that you’ve still got it.
• DO watch “The Apprentice” when the new season kicks off. Yeah, I know - it’s just TV. But watching it is educational. It will get you thinking about business as a game … because it is.
• DON’T enter into a 50-50 partnership. There is no such thing.
• DO find 10 things that are going right and congratulate the people responsible.
• DO find something to laugh about and share it with someone.
• DO read the autobiography of Christie Brown. It will keep you from feeling sorry for yourself.
• DO what you say you will do. Be a samurai … every word is a promise.
• DO your best to keep your family together and communicating.
• DO it today.
• DO understand that you are in business for the money.
• DON’T be ashamed about that.
• DO run a balance sheet, income statement and cash flow report every week. Once a month is not enough!
• DON’T trust industry averages for budget and performance comparisons. If most businesses stink - and they do - what can you learn from industry averages?
• DO base your selling price on your costs of doing business.
• DON’T pay any attention to what your competitors are charging. What do they know?
• DON’T forget what you really sell: time and knowledge.
• DO remember that the knowledge takes time to deliver.
• DON’T kid yourself. You are not selling materials.
• DO consider material sales as gravy. Materials take time to install, and that’s what you sell.
• DO track billable hours. It’s the variable with the most impact on your financial position.
• DO create a line item in your budget for “customer satisfaction costs.” Allow 1 percent to 2 percent of total sales. This is for making folks happy the second time around when you blew it the first time around.
• DO understand that establishing the proper selling price is the first and most important step in making more money for yourself and your employees.
• DON’T spend money on marketing, uniforms, new trucks, computer systems and new employees until you have raised your prices to cover the new costs.
• DO get out of tract-home work. Now. Unless you are very, very good at tract home project management and have the financial data to prove that you can make money doing it, just steer clear.
• DON’T call me if you are convinced you can’t raise prices in your neighborhood.
• DO call me if you want to discuss how to do it.
• DO learn about real estate. Eight out of 10 self-made millionaires have significant real estate investments.
• DON’T forget you live in the greatest country in the world, in the most fortunate time in history. This is a renaissance age. What are you waiting for?
• DON’T forget Warren Buffet’s rules for business. Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1.
• DO grow rich in a niche.
• DO something no one else does … and charge a lot of money for it.
• DO pay your employees much better than anyone else.
• DON’T forget that there is more than one way to make a living.
• DO whatever it takes to make a customer happy, even if it means giving them all their money back. If you honestly think you are being taken advantage of, then …
• DON’T work for that customer again.
• DO spend more time asking questions than pitching your product.
• DON’T make a sale if it isn’t in the best interests of the customer.
• DO learn about marketing. Good books for starters include Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith, The Wizard of Ads by Roy Williams, and Bang! by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval.
• DO create a bulletin board of all your marketing pieces. Everything should “match” and pieces should reinforce each other. Make sure you are presenting a clear, consistent image.
• DO give your customers one good reason to call you. Boil it down to an “elevator speech”: an 8- to 24-second speech on why you are their best option.
• DON’T forget what they are really buying: time. Their time. Because of you, they don’t have to spend their time worrying, wondering, calling around, shopping or fixing it themselves.
• DO ask the customer for feedback. Send a report card, or follow up with a phone call.
• DO ask for the sale every time.
• DON’T worry when they say no.
• DO ask if you can ask them one more question.
• DO ask, “What made you say no?” and see if you can fix it.
• DO feel free to say no to customers who won’t let you make a profit.
• DON’T discuss poor performance in a crowd.
• DO acknowledge great performance in front of as many people as possible.
• DON’T underestimate the power of a handshake, a smile and a sincere “Well done!”
• DO anything and everything that will make you stand out in the crowd.
• DON’T use low prices as your selling advantage. The advantage disappears the moment someone dumber than you offers a lower price.
• DO switch to “flat rate” and upfront pricing because your customers want to know “how much” before they buy.
• DO offer service with a smile. Look around at all the wrinkled, frowning faces in this world. Smiling is a nice thing to do. Customers will respond to it.
• DO keep score in the sales game. Competition is good fun and good for you.
• DO read a Zig Ziglar book. Zig is the godfather of sales.
• DO listen to old people. You are going to be old someday, if you’re lucky. And you’ll want your contractor to listen to you.
• DON’T gossip.
• DO work on your own attitude towards work and life.
• DON’T discuss anyone else’s attitude with them. It’s none of your business and there is nothing you can do to change someone else’s attitude.
• DO choose to work with folks who don’t suck the life out of you. Employment is a day-to-day agreement.
• DO it right or …
• DON’T do it at all.
• DO call if you are going to be late.
• DON’T be late.
• DO reschedule if you can’t make it - as soon as you realize it.
• DON’T discriminate when hiring. Women make great technicians. Kids today are wonderful.
• DO take a mental health day once in a while. Go to the park or to the movies. Just don’t go into work.
• DO aim for a company that runs without you. Picture receiving financial reports via e-mail at your Maui beach house.
• DON’T assume that telling someone to do something means it will get done. Put it in writing and follow up.
• DON’T assume anything.
• DO provide everyone with an “in basket.” Empty the in basket by the end of the day. Work gets done, filed or delegated.
• DON’T pay technicians on a “commission only” basis.
• DON’T reward every employee the same way regardless of performance. The overachievers should make more. Keep score and keep it objective.
• DON’T give raises every year just because.
• DO create a compensation plan that combines hourly wages with spiffs for stellar sales performance.
• DO understand that a technician works at one speed - his or her own speed.
• DO recognize that the labor shortage is directly related to our unwillingness to pay skilled workers what they are worth.
• DON’T fool yourself. The talented kids out there are not interested in $10 an hour for uncertain, seasonal, dirty work with no benefits.
• DO create an operations manual. Document every job in writing. Hold everyone accountable.
• DO get input from the folks affected when you are putting your operations manual together.
• DO encourage puppies and babies visit the office, as long as there are housetrained or wearing a diaper.
• DO apologize if you are wrong.
• DON’T hold a grudge.
• DO more of what works and less of what doesn’t.
My mission is to help you make a living doing what you love. Do you love what you do? Great. Now, what about the money, honey? I spend much of each day on the phone, talking business. On the seminar trail, I meet lots of folks who love to tell me what works for them … and what not to do. I’d love to share this wisdom with you. So here is a collection of do’s and don’ts for every area of your business.
Do read this list. Don’t neglect to do things that will make you more money!
Taking Charge!
Leadership do’s and don’ts:• DO join a trade association. Shop around first, and find one with a mission and philosophy that matches yours.
• DO find exceptional performers within the roofing industry and copy them.
• DO find a successful business owner with whom you don’t compete and offer to become his or her mastermind partner. Commit to help each other improve as businesspeople.
• DO read at least one book per week. Alternate between classic novels, humorous fiction, and business books.
• DON’T miss your kid’s football game because you choose to work instead.
• DO commit your hopes and dreams to ink and paper (or computer bytes). Keep a journal. Thinking manifests at one level; speaking and writing creates at an even higher level.
• DO use a day planner. We are too old to remember everything. Who cares if you look like a nerd; you can laugh all the way to the bank.
• DO listen to books on tape or CD in your car. My current favorites: Good to Great by Jim Collins and Time to Make the Donuts by Bill Rosenburg
• Do handle the issues that keep coming up and spoiling your success. Talk to a friend or a minister. Go to the desert for 40 days and 40 nights.
• DON’T lie. Even “white lies” chip away at your integrity.
• DON’T say, “Tell him I am not here!” Say, “Tell him I’m busy right now, and I will call him back later.”
• DON’T look for service standards within our industry. Go to Disney World and watch how they do it.
• DO lead by example.
• DON’T talk so much.
• DON’T imagine that you are irreplaceable. Once upon a time, our business partner’s last words to me were, “If I don’t do it myself, it will never get done.” He died two days later. Things got done.
• DO go on a ride-along with one of your technicians at least once a week.
• DO make a sale yourself every once in a while - just to show the rest of the team that you’ve still got it.
• DO watch “The Apprentice” when the new season kicks off. Yeah, I know - it’s just TV. But watching it is educational. It will get you thinking about business as a game … because it is.
• DON’T enter into a 50-50 partnership. There is no such thing.
• DO find 10 things that are going right and congratulate the people responsible.
• DO find something to laugh about and share it with someone.
• DO read the autobiography of Christie Brown. It will keep you from feeling sorry for yourself.
• DO what you say you will do. Be a samurai … every word is a promise.
• DO your best to keep your family together and communicating.
• DO it today.
Making Money
Financial must do’s and never do’s:• DO understand that you are in business for the money.
• DON’T be ashamed about that.
• DO run a balance sheet, income statement and cash flow report every week. Once a month is not enough!
• DON’T trust industry averages for budget and performance comparisons. If most businesses stink - and they do - what can you learn from industry averages?
• DO base your selling price on your costs of doing business.
• DON’T pay any attention to what your competitors are charging. What do they know?
• DON’T forget what you really sell: time and knowledge.
• DO remember that the knowledge takes time to deliver.
• DON’T kid yourself. You are not selling materials.
• DO consider material sales as gravy. Materials take time to install, and that’s what you sell.
• DO track billable hours. It’s the variable with the most impact on your financial position.
• DO create a line item in your budget for “customer satisfaction costs.” Allow 1 percent to 2 percent of total sales. This is for making folks happy the second time around when you blew it the first time around.
• DO understand that establishing the proper selling price is the first and most important step in making more money for yourself and your employees.
• DON’T spend money on marketing, uniforms, new trucks, computer systems and new employees until you have raised your prices to cover the new costs.
• DO get out of tract-home work. Now. Unless you are very, very good at tract home project management and have the financial data to prove that you can make money doing it, just steer clear.
• DON’T call me if you are convinced you can’t raise prices in your neighborhood.
• DO call me if you want to discuss how to do it.
• DO learn about real estate. Eight out of 10 self-made millionaires have significant real estate investments.
• DON’T forget you live in the greatest country in the world, in the most fortunate time in history. This is a renaissance age. What are you waiting for?
• DON’T forget Warren Buffet’s rules for business. Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1.
• DO grow rich in a niche.
• DO something no one else does … and charge a lot of money for it.
• DO pay your employees much better than anyone else.
• DON’T forget that there is more than one way to make a living.
Getting it Sold!
Sales and marketing pitfalls and windfalls:• DO whatever it takes to make a customer happy, even if it means giving them all their money back. If you honestly think you are being taken advantage of, then …
• DON’T work for that customer again.
• DO spend more time asking questions than pitching your product.
• DON’T make a sale if it isn’t in the best interests of the customer.
• DO learn about marketing. Good books for starters include Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith, The Wizard of Ads by Roy Williams, and Bang! by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval.
• DO create a bulletin board of all your marketing pieces. Everything should “match” and pieces should reinforce each other. Make sure you are presenting a clear, consistent image.
• DO give your customers one good reason to call you. Boil it down to an “elevator speech”: an 8- to 24-second speech on why you are their best option.
• DON’T forget what they are really buying: time. Their time. Because of you, they don’t have to spend their time worrying, wondering, calling around, shopping or fixing it themselves.
• DO ask the customer for feedback. Send a report card, or follow up with a phone call.
• DO ask for the sale every time.
• DON’T worry when they say no.
• DO ask if you can ask them one more question.
• DO ask, “What made you say no?” and see if you can fix it.
• DO feel free to say no to customers who won’t let you make a profit.
• DON’T discuss poor performance in a crowd.
• DO acknowledge great performance in front of as many people as possible.
• DON’T underestimate the power of a handshake, a smile and a sincere “Well done!”
• DO anything and everything that will make you stand out in the crowd.
• DON’T use low prices as your selling advantage. The advantage disappears the moment someone dumber than you offers a lower price.
• DO switch to “flat rate” and upfront pricing because your customers want to know “how much” before they buy.
• DO offer service with a smile. Look around at all the wrinkled, frowning faces in this world. Smiling is a nice thing to do. Customers will respond to it.
• DO keep score in the sales game. Competition is good fun and good for you.
• DO read a Zig Ziglar book. Zig is the godfather of sales.
• DO listen to old people. You are going to be old someday, if you’re lucky. And you’ll want your contractor to listen to you.
• DON’T gossip.
Getting it Done!
Tips for delivering the goods:• DO work on your own attitude towards work and life.
• DON’T discuss anyone else’s attitude with them. It’s none of your business and there is nothing you can do to change someone else’s attitude.
• DO choose to work with folks who don’t suck the life out of you. Employment is a day-to-day agreement.
• DO it right or …
• DON’T do it at all.
• DO call if you are going to be late.
• DON’T be late.
• DO reschedule if you can’t make it - as soon as you realize it.
• DON’T discriminate when hiring. Women make great technicians. Kids today are wonderful.
• DO take a mental health day once in a while. Go to the park or to the movies. Just don’t go into work.
• DO aim for a company that runs without you. Picture receiving financial reports via e-mail at your Maui beach house.
• DON’T assume that telling someone to do something means it will get done. Put it in writing and follow up.
• DON’T assume anything.
• DO provide everyone with an “in basket.” Empty the in basket by the end of the day. Work gets done, filed or delegated.
• DON’T pay technicians on a “commission only” basis.
• DON’T reward every employee the same way regardless of performance. The overachievers should make more. Keep score and keep it objective.
• DON’T give raises every year just because.
• DO create a compensation plan that combines hourly wages with spiffs for stellar sales performance.
• DO understand that a technician works at one speed - his or her own speed.
• DO recognize that the labor shortage is directly related to our unwillingness to pay skilled workers what they are worth.
• DON’T fool yourself. The talented kids out there are not interested in $10 an hour for uncertain, seasonal, dirty work with no benefits.
• DO create an operations manual. Document every job in writing. Hold everyone accountable.
• DO get input from the folks affected when you are putting your operations manual together.
• DO encourage puppies and babies visit the office, as long as there are housetrained or wearing a diaper.
• DO apologize if you are wrong.
• DON’T hold a grudge.
• DO more of what works and less of what doesn’t.
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