Ten Reasons You Must Attend The New Orleans Roundtable

The second national meeting of the Service Roundtable will be the New Orleans Roundtable.  Why New Orleans?  It's simple.  The city's largely rebuilt (at least, the French Quarter's largely rebuilt), the food's great, the jazz is great, it's easy to get to from nearly anywhere in the country, and it's a fun place to gather. 

Yeah, but what about the meeting?  Time is short.  Money is tight.  Why should I take off April 11-13 to attend another industry meeting?  In short, because this isn't like any other industry meeting.  It's completely focused on taking your business to the next level. 

Look, I'm all for efficiency and frugality.  Few companies are more efficient and frugal than the Service Roundtable.  Yet, the truth is you will not save your way to prosperity.  There are times you must invest... invest in the growth of your business, in the growth of your people, and in yourself.  The New Orleans Roundtable represents a great investment.  The tuition is very affordable.  The ideas and knowledge you'll gain are worth thousands.  The motivation and inspiration is priceless.  If you don't come to another event this year, come to the New Orleans Roundtable.  Here are the Top Ten Reasons You Must Attend...

#10 The Meeting Emcee is Ron Smith
Hanging around with Ron Smith is a seminar by itself. The guy casually drops gems of wisdom whenever he engages in a conversation. How can you miss the opportunity to spend time with the contractor who invented the service agreement, who came up with the idea of residential retail salespeople, who started the HVAC industry’s very first private contractor group and was the first person to franchise the HVAC industry, who spotted and recruited Tom McCart, Charlie Greer, Al Roach, Ruth King, and other superstars into the service trades?

Ron’s going to be emceeing the events, signing books, getting his picture taken with contractors, and generally hanging out.

Click Here to Register

#9 The Ideation Roundtables
Contractors from around the country will be bringing their best ideas to share during the Ideation Roundtables. What is an “Ideation Roundtable?” It’s like business idea storm, where you can pick up proven new ideas ways to make money and cut costs from other contractors. Look, some contractors simply do not post to the HVAC Roundtable, Plumbers Roundtable, and Electrical Roundtable. But they still have great ideas. They’re just more comfortable sharing them in person than over the Internet.

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#8 Bar Talk
The best part of any industry meeting is the interaction that’s not on the agenda. It may sadden the people who bust their tails assembling a first class event, but the conversation over a beer at the end of the day is often better than event. This is especially true when you can meet the faces behind the email signatures and the staff of the Service Roundtable. If bar talk’s important, few places are better for it than the New Orleans French Quarter.

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#7 Charlie Greer’s Lagniappe

A lagniappe (lan-yap) is defined by Dictionary.com as “a small gift given with a purchase to a customer, by way of compliment or for good measure; bonus.” Charlie “Tec Daddy” Greer will be delivering the New Orleans Roundtable’s lagniappe in the form of a free-for-all question and answer session at the close of each day. Bring your questions for one of the top consultants in the service trades and fire away as long as you want.

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#6 The Haunted Hotel Monteleone
Okay, no one goes to a conference because it’s held in a cool hotel, but it doesn’t hurt either. Located in the middle of the French Quarter, the historic Hotel Monteleone has been a hangout and inspiration for numerous literary greats, such as Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, featured on everything from E! to the Food Network to A&E, CNN, and the major Truman Capote, Eudora Welty, Rebecca Wells, Anne Rice, Stephen Ambrose, John Grisham, and more. It’s been the site for a bunch of movies. It’s been featured on the major networks. The Travel Channel’s featured the hotel many times, including a show about “the best place to pop the question” and a show about haunted destinations. Haunted? Yup. It’s considered “one of the premier haunted hotels in North America.” Don’t worry. Staying on the haunted floor is purely optional. Look, this has got to be one of the coolest places ever for a meeting.

Click Here to Register

#5 Your Own Personal Board of Directors
Want help with a problem? We’re creating mini Roundtable Boards of non-competitive contractors to address each others’ business problems. Bring your most perplexing issues, whether it’s sales compensation, marketing issues, human resources problems, succession planning, figuring out a tactful way to get the mother-in-law to retire, truck policies, or anything else that affects your company. Get input, suggestions, and advice from contractors who have been there, done it, and have a closet full of t-shirts.

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#4 Bob Viering’s Secret of Successful Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the more powerful marketing tools at your disposal. Service Roundtable Content Manager, Bob Viering will show you an incredibly easy way to create an email marketing program to reduce the cost to build relationships and promote your company. Done right, email marketing is the lowest cost method for pushing communication to your customers. It’s the fastest marketing method around – what’s sent today is opened today. Customers who opt-in to receive your email communication and promotional offers are surprisingly likely to open the mail and respond. If you’re tired of expensive, hit or miss marketing, you must attend this session.

Click Here to Register

#3 Joe Cunningham’s Menu For Success
Popular sales trainer and consultant, Joe Cunningham promises he’ll show you how to take your business zero to profitability in 60 seconds. By adopting Joe’s simple, proven processes and plugging them into a “menu for success” implementation calendar that you’ll build, even the smallest contractors can leap forward, regardless of the economy.

Click Here to Register

#2 Brandon Jacob’s Exit Strategy
Every so often a window opens where buyers, ranging from consolidators to utilities to independent business people, look for contracting companies to buy. When the time is right, your company must be ready. Brandon Jacob, the service trades’ go-to-guy for acquisitions, will identify the steps you need to take to prepare your company maximum attractiveness and value. Even if you never want to sell, following Brandon’s guidelines will help your company more easily secure lines of credit and other loans, as well as generally improve your financial performance. If you ever want to sell your company or borrow money for less, you should pay attention to Brandon.

Click Here to Register


#1 Ken Goodrich’s Wild Ride
Ken Goodrich is a contractor like no other. The guy’s put together a team of all-stars who built and sold six companies. When he sold his last business to a consolidator, management hired him and told him to keep doing what he was doing. With his team, he grew the company and expanded to $100 million in 10 markets with 250 trucks. Incredibly, most of the growth was organic, not the result of acquisitions. With double digit net profit, Ken doubled the size of his operations in 2009.

Ken is a contractor with an amazing, inspirational story. He shows you what is possible in our industries. Even if your goal is to grow to $10 million or $1 million instead of $100 million, you can learn lessons from Ken Goodrich. Because he’s a contractor, growing like crazy, it’s rare for Ken to speak in public. This isn’t the type of presentation or speaker you’ll hear anywhere else. Do not miss this change to change your perspective on your business and industry.

To register for the New Orleans Roundtable, call Janet Thomasson at 877.262.3341 or click here to send her an email.  Or, you can click here for more information and the registration form.

Bonus:  Maintenance Agreement Seminar
Stay an extra day and join me to attend the Profit Strategies "Build Lasting Value With Maintenance Agreements" seminar.  You're already in New Orleans.  Stay one more day and get that much more value out of your travel dollar.

Click Here to Register For the Profit Strategies Maintenance Agreement Seminar

Did He Really Say That?: Improving Technician Communication

“Why can’t she understand,” the tech thought to himself. He was frustrated. He was trying to explain a problem to the homeowner, but this lady didn’t get it.

The tech knew he wasn’t the world’s most eloquent person, but what more was there to say? He looked at his feet. The homeowner made him uncomfortable. And now she was getting angry… at him! He started to explain it again, but why bother. She wasn’t going to understand. His attempt to say more broke down into a mumble.

Didn’t she know that he had other calls to make? He couldn’t stand around all day repeating the same thing over and over again. Why couldn’t she understand?

Read More At Contracting Business

Are You Going to Spring Training?

Before any game, athletes warm up. They stretch, loosen up, and throw the ball around. Warm ups are important. It gets the athlete ready for the opening play. If he skipped the warm-up, the athlete would play stiff. The baseball player might make a critical error. The football player might get beat for a touchdown.

Before the start of a season, pro sports teams conduct their own team wide warm ups. These are exercises in fundamentals where the coaches help the athletes to eliminate any bad habits in technique that the athlete allowed to creep in. Old plays are reviewed and new ones added. Players work on their timing and seek to make small improvements that result in big differences on the field.

Right now, professional baseball teams are gathering in the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues. Spring Training costs baseball owners a fortune. Think about moving your entire company across the country for six weeks, putting everyone up in hotels, renting office space, and then returning. While the baseball owners charge for attendance to exhibition games, the games are held in leased ball parks with capacities that are a fraction of the major league ballparks. The revenue doesn’t cover the expense.

Football teams not only have a pre-season to tune-up, but off-season training and mini-camps. Since many of these camps are voluntary, the teams pay the players big bucks in the form of bonuses to encourage attendance. It was reported today that the Cincinnati Bengals’ Chad Ochocinco is passing up a $250,000 bonus so that he can participate in Dancing With The Stars.

Professional athletes are already good or they wouldn’t be able to make a living playing a kid’s game. Yet, they still need pre-season work to get back in playing form.

For the team owners it’s no game. It’s a business. And the owners recognize the value to their businesses from pre-season warm-ups.

What about your business? What are you doing for your company and for your best players? For that matter, what are you doing for yourself? If you don’t know, click here to check out the Service Roundtable’s Spring Training Opportunities.

Spring Training Opportunities With The Service Roundtable

The Service Roundtable is offering two Spring Training opportunities. The first is the Retail Sales Academy with Joe Cunningham March 22-26. This is a great program for your HVAC salespeople to get them in mid-season form so they close more early season sales at higher margins.

The second is the New Orleans Roundtable. This is for owners and managers of plumbing and HVAC companies. The focus is taking your business to a higher level. Emceed by legendary contractor, Ron Smith, the meeting features incredible speakers and powerful peer-to-peer information exchanges.

Write-ups and links on both meetings are below:


The Retail Sales Academy

This intensive, hands-on, interactive program will provide attendees with the skills necessary to become a high impact, low pressure, technically savvy replacement salesperson even with no prior industry experience. This program is proven to take a person from zero to a competent closer in just one week. The topics covered in this program are:

• Understanding The In-Home Sales Psychology
• Learning About the HVAC System
• Understanding Security Issues
• Uncovering The Prospect’s Needs & Wants
• Removing Sales Objections Up-front
• Implementing a 5 Step Sales Process
• Performing The Heat Load and Security Analysis
• Choosing The Proper System For Individual Applications
• The “Why Your Stuff” Story
• Building Customers For Life
• Creating Referrals

These time-tested techniques result in the most successful salespeople in the HVAC industry with high closing ratios and a high-end product and add-on mix. The program has proven to be highly effective with industry newcomers that possess little or no industry knowledge. This course will cover the complete 5 Step Selling Process with an emphasis on creating an atmosphere of trust and education so prospects choose to buy full higher efficiency systems and appropriate add-ons with a one-call close.

Click For More Information (pdf)


New Orleans Roundtable

Unlike other contractor meetings, the New Orleans Roundtable is focused on contractors interacting with each other.


Keynote Message: From Zero to 100… Million Dollars

Ken Goodrich and his team may be the most successful PHC service and replacement contractors in the country. From his starting point as a tech on a truck, Ken assembled an all-star team, built and sold, not one or two or three, but SIX different companies to consolidators. No one else has done that. If contracting were a sport, Ken would be contracting’s Lance Armstrong.

Ken keynotes the New Orleans Roundtable, where he shares the incredible wild ride he started after he sold his last business to ARS. The new owners at ARS brought Ken and his management team on board and commissioned them to grow the Southwest Division. They did.

In a few short years, Ken and his team took the business to more than $100,000,000, serving 10 major markets with over 250 service trucks. Some of the growth was through acquisition, but most was organic. In 2009, while many contractors struggled across the country, especially in the markets Ken served, Ken’s team grew their operations over 100% year-over-year. That’s right. They doubled their size in 2009. And they did it with high double digit profitability!

In his keynote, Ken will share his story. He will tell you how he became fabulously wealthy in the plumbing and air conditioning industry. Ken says it’s not magic. It’s about the team and about a system. He will share how he built the team and explain the business systems and methods they developed to take run-of-the-mill plumbing and HVAC companies to unprecedented levels of sales and profitability, as well as share his experiences and viewpoints of industry consolidation. While Ken may have accomplished more than most in the PHC service and replacement business, he says that anyone can match his accomplishments with a few simple strategies.

You cannot miss this keynote.


From Zero To Profits In 60 Seconds… The Incremental Steps to Huge Success

Joe Cunningham describes the slight unobtrusive, small, step-by-step process it takes to transform the small service company into a fully functioning profit machine. Joe will help you build a “menu for success” implementation calendar.

Joe is the founder of Successtrack Network and was one of the PHC industry’s first “Million Dollar Men,” single-handedly selling in excess of 1 million dollars worth of HVAC equipment per year in the highly competitive Houston, Texas market in the 1980’s.

Joe went on to develop sales and marketing programs for the plumbing and air conditioning manufacturers and distributors. Joe was also a key distributor and training program developer and trainer for Retrotec Infiltrometer Systems and helped introduce many contractors to solving “whole house” problems helping them to consistently set themselves apart from and outsell their competitors on a regular basis.

Joe was President of the country’s most highly acclaimed HVAC training facility, Future University. He produced and directed the first ever nationally televised training series for the HVAC industry, was involved in the first wave of industry consolidation, has developed proprietary training programs for the HVAC, Plumbing and IAQ industry, is a Strategic Training Ally for major manufacturers and is one of the service industry’s most respected professionals.

Joe’s step-by-step, easy-to-implement processes and procedures have helped thousands of contractors nationwide increase their sales, develop new markets, maximize their opportunities and grow their businesses in any economic climate.


Maximum Company Value, Maximum Personal Wealth

Brandon Jacob knows more about buying and selling contracting companies than anyone in electrical, HVAC, and plumbing. A Certified Public Accountant and Certified Valuation Analyst, Brandon worked on more than 100 transactions involving companies representing total revenue exceeding $850,000,000. Brandon has bought, sold, and valued companies with American Residential Service, ServiceMaster, and more intensely, as an independent consultant. Today, he is the industry’s “go to guy” not only for consolidators, utilities, and contractors seeking acquisitions, but for contractors looking to make their companies more attractive and valuable as acquisition candidates.

At the New Orleans Roundtable, Brandon will share the steps you can take to maximize your company’s value. The actions Brandon recommends will improve your business performance whether you intend to sell your business or pass it along to heirs. Brandon will show you how to earn more now and in the future. The steps Brandon recommends apply to any size company and lead to maximum personal wealth.


Bring your ideas to share and your problems to solve.

We will have brainstorming and ideation Roundtables. We will create Roundtable Boards of non-competitive companies to discuss and solve your greatest business problems. We will feature a dynamic keynote speaker, terrific speakers, and a brief update on what’s new from the Service Roundtable.

The New Orleans Roundtable will be held in the historic, 4 Diamond Hotel Monteleone, located in the middle of the city’s French Quarter. Don’t wait. Our last meeting, the Las Vegas Roundtable, sold out and we turned people away. Reserve your place today!

Click For More Information

10 Technology Resolutions For 2010

Note: This is my column from Southern PHC Magazine. Normally, I would link to the article, but the magazine doesn't post articles online so I'm reprinting here.

The only constant in the world is change. Regardless of our desires, the world changes. Our industry changes. Technology changes. When your world is changing around you, it’s necessary for you to change with it. Here are my top tech resolutions for the coming year that will allow you to keep up.


1. Line Extension

The PHC industry’s products are evolving. New products are emerging that present contractors with more revenue opportunities. The opportunities are all the greater since many contractors avoid new technology until it becomes tried and true, which limits the competitive field for the innovators. Resolve to investigate and add a new product to your offering and actively market it. The products do not even need to be new, just new to your company. Examples include waterless urinals, dual flush toilets, anti-scald faucets, electronic faucets, tankless water heaters, solar water heaters, solar panels, geothermal heat pumps, ductless mini-splits, zoning systems, energy recovery ventilators, dehumidifiers, fireplace inserts, wood stoves, stand-by generators, whole house surge suppressors, etc.


2. Service Extension

Your line extension opportunities are not limited to products. Resolve to investigate new service opportunities by attending one seminar or one conference focused on a service you do not currently offer. It can be as simple as a plumbing company adding HVAC or vice versa. Or, it could adding light commercial or a commercial contractor moving into the residential market. Other possibilities include jetting, sewer line cameras, infrared thermographic analysis, duct cleaning, remote system monitoring, radiant barriers, duct sealing, duct balancing, and building science.


3. Tools

Contractors love tools, but mostly tools like Sawzalls, wrenchs, gauges, and vacuum pumps. Spice up your tool collection to enhance your service personnel’s diagnostic capabilities while wowing the customer. Resolve to add one new state-of-the-art tool from your trade. Examples include digital anemometers, thermographic cameras, the previously mentioned jetters and sewer line cameras, non-contact infrared thermometers, infiltrometers, duct blasters, tapeless measures, non-destructive moisture meters, gas detectors, combustion analyzers, carbon monoxide detectors, dye based furnace crack detection systems like Visible Defects, flow hoods, digital manometers, video borescopes, ultrasonic leak inspections, electronic metal and rebar locators, and sound level meters.


4. Information Technology

If your computers and/or software are more than three years old, they’re antiquated. Resolve to upgrade your information technology. While Vista was problematic, Windows 7 appears to be a winner. Consider adopting the new operating system. Look into inexpensive netbooks for salespeople and even service personnel. Evaluate your business (software) system. If you haven’t kept up with the latest upgrades and revisions, resolve to start.


5. Handheld Technology

While few contractors are still using a Motorola Startac flip phone, many have failed to keep up with the latest technology. Today’s upper end phones include text, email, cameras, GPS, 3G web surfing, and a host of custom applications that can improve your efficiency and your team’s efficiency. Resolve to investigate an iPhone, Blackberry, Palm Tre, Google Android, or other smart phone and purchase the one that appeals to you most.


6. Website

Surprisingly, many contractors still lack a website. And many with a site offer little more than brochureware or follow a generic manufacturer template, which commoditizes the site. Resolve to create a website if you lack one. Resolve to make it distinctive. Resolve to secure your own URL. Resolve to tie your business email to the URL and avoid the use of AOL, hotmail, gmail, Yahoo, or other free mail sites that scream you lack professionalism.


7. Search

People are increasingly turning away from the yellow pages and to their computers when looking for service companies with “local” search taking on added importance. The search engines are stressing local search, which is free, but you must adhere to the search engine requirements. Resolve to list your company with “local business centers” on each of the major search engines. Further resolve to study search engine requirements and tune your site accordingly. Finally, resolve to start a search engine marketing campaign, such as Google AdWords.


8. Publish

The Internet has revolutionized publishing. Today, anyone with something to say can publish it to the world. If what is published is interesting enough, the writer will build an audience. The simplest way to publish is to start a blog through Blogger or Wordpress. Tie it into your website and you will also improve your website’s search engine. Resolve to start a blog in 2010 and write about PHC related topics that interest you, offer tips for homeowners, talk about your community, explain life in a small business, and so on.


9. Social Media

As changes in technology affect society as a whole, they similarly affect marketing. While traditional media is losing its effectiveness, new media is on the rise and social media is emerging. The advantage of new media and social media is the reduced cost. Unfortunately, the savings are balanced by the need to invest considerable time. Since this is largely time spent interacting with customers and prospects, the investment is worthwhile. Resolve to establish a Facebook account and company fan page, create a Linked In Account, and start tweeting with Twitter. What do you talk about? Start with alerts about new blog posts.


10. Training

Technology is also revolutionizing training with much of it free or practically free. While you shouldn’t forget the run-of-the-mill trade association meetings, conferences, and trade magazines (especially the one you’re reading now), a wealth of information is available on blogs, podcasts, and online discussion forums. The advantage of the online resources is the searchability and real-time interactivity. For example, every day contractors help other contractors solve problems online through the Service Roundtable’s discussion groups. Resolve in 2010 to seek out industry oriented blogs like ComancheMarketing.com, listen to industry podcasts like the 3 Questions For Small Business podcast (3QuestionsForSmallBusiness.blogspot.com), and join a discussion forum like those hosted at ServiceRoundtable.com.

Creating Positive Imprints on the Self-Image

For most of us, just competing in the Olympics would be a lifetime highlight. Winning an Olympic medal would be the thrill of a lifetime. After Lanny Bassham won an Olympic Silver Medal in rifle shooting he says he spent the next four years apologizing for being number two.

“A silver medal in the Olympics is the best you can do in the world and still lose,” says Lanny. “You are the world’s best loser.”

Lanny didn’t like losing. He decided he wanted to do something about it.

He says, “I came home from the Olympics motivated to find out, how do you manage the mind under pressure?”

“My problem was not holding the rifle,” he adds. “My problem was thinking. My problem was the mental game.”

After trying a sports psychologist, Lanny decided to talk with the people who were the best in the world. He talked Olympic Gold Medalists. He talked with a lot of them and based on the things he learned, he created a system he calls “Mental Management®.”

Lanny applied his system to himself. He returned to the Olympics and took home the gold, followed by a several world championships. Today, his company trains athletes, performers, and business professionals on the mental game.

One element of the mental game is the imprinting we do on the self-image. Our self-image constrains our performance and it is influenced by imprinting.

There are two types of imprinting. First is the imprinting of actual performance. Once we accomplish something, we are confident we can do it again.

The second type of imprinting is imagined. It’s our self-talk. Do you see yourself achieving a goal or failing to achieve it? Either image is imprinted on your self-image.

Your self-image cannot distinguish between an actual imprint and an imagined one. As individuals, we need to focus on the outcomes we desire, not our mistakes. As parents and managers, we similarly need to direct people to focus on positive solutions and outcomes.

Unfortunately, we live in a society that focuses on the negative more than the positive. Even if you are an upbeat person, you are likely to fall into the trap of focusing on the negative.

“Ask people how they did after a performance and they’re likely to talk about what they did wrong,” says Lanny. “We live in a culture where it’s become socially acceptable to talk about what we did wrong first, and to talk about what we did wrong more than what we did right.”

Don’t focus on the mistakes your people make. Focus on the things each can do to perform better. That is creating a positive imprint. That is building the self-image.

“We build self image by what we cause them to picture,” notes Lanny.

If you want to learn more about Lanny Bassham or order his books, CDs, DVDs, or other products, visit his website at Mental Management®.

Writing to be Read - Teaching to be Remembered

Some of the most memorable lessons I had as a kid came from stories.  Who doesn't remember the lesson that "slow and steady winning the race" from the Tortoise and the Hare?  I bet you have similar lessons you remember from Aesop, Uncle Remus, and the Bible.

Of course, that's just kid stuff.  Right?


Maybe not.  When I was working as a manufacturing engineer, I was given a copy of "The Goal" by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox.  The book presented the Theory of Constraints, not exactly the most exciting of concepts.  Yet, I read the book from cover to cover in one sitting.  It wasn't the concept that kept me riveted, but the story.  "The Goal" was written as a novel.

It turns out that millions of people liked the format.  A book about a manufacturing concept sold millions of copies.

I've noticed a lot of well selling books use the form of a narrative, including "The Richest Man in Babylon," "The Wealthy Barber," "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," "The Greatest Salesman in the World," most Ken Blanchard books, and the books ("Freedom From Fear" and "A Simple Choice") by my friend, Mark Matteson.  People like to read stories.  This is why fiction outsells non-fiction.

Erika Holzer wrote the following about Ayn Rand in a blog about the resurgence of the great book, "Atlas Shrugged."

“One evening back in the mid-60s, when my husband and I were Ayn Rand’s lawyers [and] the three of us took a break from business . . . Rand drew a fascinating distinction about the impact that . . . fiction, as opposed to nonfiction, has on readers. ‘Reading non-fiction,’ she told us, ‘is mainly an intellectual exercise whereas fiction involves the reader in a personal experience. It’s the difference between reading a technical manual on flying a jet airplane as opposed to experiencing the actual sensation of hurtling through space in one. The manual may be educational, even stimulating, but the plane ride is happening to you.’” (Emphasis Rand’s.)

If you want to write to be read, write stories.  If you want your lessons to your team to be remembered, use stories and parables to make them more memorable.  The way Jesus taught a couple of thousand years ago still works. 

The Math of Achievement

I don't know who figures stuff like this out, but I bet it was either someone attending a meeting that lasted too long or someone waiting for Windows to reboot. Anyway, this is based on an email I received...

How do you give 100% in life? It's not merely hard work. All of us know people who work hard their entire lives without ever achieving much. Hard work may get you most of the way there, but there must be something more.

Certainly knowledge is important. I can think of many times in my life where I worked hard, but not smart. I didn't know better ways to get something done. Once someone showed me a better way, I was able to get more done for the same amount of effort.

However, even knowledge and hard work is not sufficient. Together, they can get you close to 100%, but something's still missing. What's missing is attitude. Without the right attitude, you'll never give 100% in life. And you'll never receive life's full bounty in return.

Here's a way to illustrate it mathematically...

First, we convert the letters of the alphabet to numerical values:

A = 1
B = 2
C = 3
D = 4
E = 5
F = 6
G = 7
H = 8
I = 9
J = 10
K = 11
L = 12
M = 13
N = 14
O = 15
P = 16
Q = 17
R = 18
S = 19
T = 20
U = 21
V = 22
W = 23
X = 24
Y = 25
Z = 26

Now, we assign the values to each letter in the words hard work, knowledge, and attitude.

H = 8
A = 1
R = 18
D = 4
W = 23
O = 15
R = 18
K = 11

K = 11
N = 14
O = 15
W = 23
L = 12
E = 5
D = 4
G = 7
E = 5

A = 1
T = 20
T = 20
I = 9
T = 20
U = 21
D = 4
E = 5

Finally, add up the numeric totals for each word and divide by 100. Hardwork = 96%. Knowledge = 98%. Attitude = 100%.

Sure, it's a mere coincidence, but it illustrates the point well. Hard work gets you close. Knowledge gets you closer. But you'll never give or receive 100% without the right attitude.

33 Approaches to Overcoming the Price Objection

The most feared objection for most salespeople is the price objection. The salesperson might hear a prospect state outright that it’s too expensive, that someone else offers similar products or services for less, or simply demand a better number.

The price objection never goes away. I’ve encountered it when selling HVAC products in the high rise plan & spec market (about as competitive as it gets), when selling pure intangible products like consulting services, and when selling a product (i.e., the Service Roundtable) that costs 1/20th of some competitive products. People complain about price at every price level. The absence of any price objections is taken as a sign by most business people that the price is too low.

Price objections are normal, expected, and even welcomed by top sales professionals. Stated objections can always be addressed and overcome. It’s the unstated ones that concern most professionals.

Price objections are really buying signals. The prospect is telling you he’s ready to buy if you’ll give him a little help. According to research studies, price is the most important factor in roughly one out of seven purchases. In six out of seven, it’s secondary! Nevertheless, the price objection remains the most feared of all objections.

Here are 33 approaches to overcoming the price objection for in-home sales. Some are very similar and simply represent different ways of saying the same thing. Others are formulistic, like “feel, felt, found.” They come from different sources, such as Ziglar, Hopkins, Tracy, Novak, McCart, Greer, McCormick, Cunningham, Howard, Piscitelli, Cameron, and dozens of other sales professionals who have influenced me through the years. Each should be used situationally, based on your read of the prospect, your comfort level with the response, and your internalization of the response.

Pick a few that you like and practice. Make them yours. Adjust them for your company and industry. When appropriate weave stories around them. Ziglar tells a great story about buying a cheap bike for his daughter that broke after a few months and had to be replaced. He describes how he figured he better spend more for a bike that would last. He notes how his daughter rode the more expensive bike for years. He then drives the point home by breaking down the monthly cost of ownership for each bike.

Here are the responses…

1. Really? My price is too high? [Then, shut up.]
   
   
2. What do you mean by “too high?”
   
   
3. If I may ask, what is your budget?
   
   
4. Compared to…?
   
   
5. Is price the only factor in your decision? Is it the most important factor?
   
   
6. Okay, let me recap. We sat down and built this system together, taking into account utility costs / health concerns / comfort / safety / home value. We didn’t account for price. Is it more important that one of your other factors? What should we remove?
   
   
7. This is a beautiful home. Since others in the area cost less, price must not have been the only factor or even the most important factor when you bought this home. Now, you’re faced with one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your home. You don’t want to make this decision based on price alone do you?
   
   
8. It’s a fair price and I can’t lower it without taking something out of the job. Do we need to see what we can cut to meet your budget?
   
   
9. I know this sounds trite, but it really is better to spend a little more than you planned to get what you want than to spend too little and risk losing everything [or being miserable for the next 15 years].
   
   
10. If we can arrange for financing, would that make it more affordable / attractive / comfortable?
    
    
11. Of course it is. Let me explain why.
    
    
12. It’s true that the initial cost or first cost is higher, but when you factor in operating and maintenance costs over the life of the product, you’ll find a different story. First cost may be a little higher, but the total cost of ownership is far less.
    
    
13. Why do you think it’s higher?
    
    
14. That’s interesting. How do the price, products, and other companies you’re considering compare?
    
    
15. Most companies in our industry have comparable net profit margins so price shouldn’t vary much from one company to the next. If it does, there’s a reason. Did you ever see the movie, The Towering Inferno? The movie is about a fire in a skyscraper. The fire started when project costs were running over budget and the electrical contractor cut costs by using lower quality wiring. It’s the type of thing few people would notice. Unfortunately, the wiring didn’t handle the load and short circuited, resulting in a devastating fire. I’m not saying that other companies are using substandard materials, but there’s got to be something different.
    
    
16. You’re right. We do charge a little more. Do you know why? We’re worth it.
    
    
17. If you can show me a cheaper proposal, I would be happy to match it item for item with identical warranties and guarantees.
    
    
18. Years ago, quality expert Phil Crosby wrote a book entitled, “Quality is Free.” Crosby noted how higher quality pays for itself, the savings are hidden. Here the savings are breakdowns you’ll avoid, emergency service calls you won’t have to pay, and hassles you’ll miss. The point is that it’s worth spending more for better quality.
    
    
19. I understand that my price may be a little higher. A long time ago when I started my company I made a decision. I decided I’d rather explain a higher price every now and then, than apologize for poor quality forever.
    
    
20. Hmm. I suppose I could lower my price. What would you like me to take out to get the price down?
    
    
21. You’re right to be concerned about the price you pay. It’s a big decision and most people can’t afford to make a poor choice. Do you think there’s a difference between our company and the others you’ve talked with?
    
    
22. Do you want me to show you something cheaper?
    
    
23. Yes, our price is higher but you won’t have any regrets with us. It’s why we offer such a strong guarantee. Isn’t it better to invest a little more than to invest too little and risk your entire investment?
    
    
24. I understand how you feel. Mr. Jones, one of your neighbors felt the same way a year ago, but after buying he found that the added performance we delivered, the quality of our work, and the support we provided after the sale was worth far more than any money he might have saved with someone else.
    
    
25. Yes, it is a little more expensive. It’s the best on the market. Don’t you and your family deserve the best?
    
    
26. How much is the difference? You say that we’re $500 high? Well, this product carries an average life of 15 years. That works out to $33 a year or 64 cents a week. Isn’t it worth an extra 64 cents a week to get exactly what you want and do business with an established, reputable company like ours? After all, that’s what… a cup of Starbucks every month?
    
    
27. Am I offering more than you want?
    
    
28. It is a significant investment and not the type most homeowners make very often. But, you’re going to have to live with this decision for years. Isn’t it worth a little more to be sure?
    
    
29. I bet you hear the same thing in your business. You know, I can probably get [high school kid / offshore programmer / Legalzoom or other website / etc.] for less than it costs to hire you. [Then, shut up.]
    
    
30. I’m sure it’s tempting to select a company desperate for business and willing to work for less. However, may I suggest that anyone who charges more than a couple of hundred dollars less is probably either cutting corners or cutting profits? You don’t want the first and may not care about the second. You should. It’s a sad fact that a lot of companies in our industry close every year. A year from now you probably won’t remember what you paid but five years from now you may take great comfort from the fact we’re still around to honor our warranty.
    
    
31. My price may be higher, but I offer you something no one else can match. Me. You get my personal service and attention now and in the future.
    
    
32. If you don’t mind, let me ask, have you ever paid a premium for a product or service? Why did you pay it?
    
    
33. I’m sure they believe they match up with us. When I was in junior high I loved baseball and looked up to one of the high school pitchers. This kid could do it all. I was sure he would go pro and pitch in the World Series. After practice he used to talk with us, telling stories about the home runs he hit and the batters he struck out. One day he bragged that he could strike out anyone. “What about Hank Aaron,” asked one of my friends.
    
    “Sure, I could strike him out,” he said casually. “I’d take him down with three pitches.”
    
    Wow, I thought. This kid was so good he could strike out Hank Aaron. A few years later, I was watching a home run derby on television when I remembered the comment about striking out Aaron and laughed out loud. There was no way he could’ve managed to get one strike. The greatest home run hitter of that day would have shelled him. The competition is a lot like this high school kid. I liked the kid and know he believed his boast when he made it. Likewise, I’m sure the other company believes they can match us. That doesn’t mean they can.

Do you have any you would like to add? Email me!

© 2009 Matt Michel

Inside Contracting: How Top Contractors Win In HVAC

Inside Contracting, a new book from Service Nation Press, is a must for any HVAC contractor's library.


Why Go It Alone?

Building a successful HVAC service company is not without its challenges. Inside Contracting provides you with the collective wisdom of dozens of the country’s most successful contractors and consultants to help you meet those challenges head-on. This includes top HVAC professionals like Drew Cameron, Roger Costner, Ken Goodrich, Charlie Greer, Bob Haak, Dave Holt, Martin Hoover, Jeff Lee, Jeff Marl, Steve Miles, Tom Piscitelli, Matt Prazenka, Bob Ring, Ben Stark, Stan Stupor, Larry Taylor, Aaron York, and dozens of others.

The tips, tricks and traps within provide real-life examples—not unproven theories—of how to profitably grow, manage and one day, exit your business.

Inside Contracting presents the best practices of leading contractors including...

• Internet Advertising: SEO vs. SEM
  
  
• Private Use of Company Vehicles
  
  
• Private Labeling - Selling Your Brand
  
  
• Advice for the Desperate Contractor
  
  
• Buying a Company: Valuing The Customer List & Phone Number
  
  
• Buying Service Vehicles
  
  
• Hiring Salespeople
  
  
• Manufacturer Co-op
  
  
• Reducing Yellow Page Advertising
  
  
• Woman in HVAC Sales and Service

Build a Bridge From Your Island

One of the most challenging aspects of running a business is the isolation. Sometimes it feels like you are alone on an island with all of your employees. They’re looking to you for all of the answers, but there’s nowhere and no one for you to turn to. Inside Contracting is like a bridge from your island to top HVAC contractors and consultants from across the country.

Inside Contracting plugs you into the real world experience of other contractors representing hundreds of years of contractor experience. Learn from their best moves and biggest mistakes.

Inside Contracting is an essential reference in every HVAC contractor’s library. Topics include:

• Advertising
  
  
• Angry Customers
  
  
• Branding
  
  
• Callbacks
  
  
• Co-op
  
  
• Financing
  
  
• Green Marketing
  
  
• Hiring
  
  
• Internet Marketing
  
  
• Lead Generation
  
  
• Management
  
  
• Marketing
  
  
• Mergers & Acquisitions
  
  
• Motivating
  
  
• Networking
  
  
• Pricing
  
  
• Referrals
  
  
• Sales
  
  
• Scheduling
  
  
• Service Agreements
  
  
• Succession Planning
  
  
• Technician Selling
  
  
• Women in HVAC
  
  
• Yellow Pages

Inside Contracting is only $32.95 (contractors enrolled in Roundtable Rewards receive a $5 rebate) plus shipping & handling. Texas residents, unfortunately, get zapped for sales tax.

Click Here To Order Your Copy Today! Order several. It makes a great Christmas or Hanukkah present.

Inside Contracting was built from the Service Roundtable’s 85,000 record knowledge-base management archive.


About The Service Roundtable

Formed by leading contractors, the Service Roundtable® offers an incredible array of HVAC and Plumbing best practice tools and diverse communication outlets to help you generate leads, close more sales, market your company, recruit technicians and plumbers, price for profit, manage your service agreements, and create an exit strategy.

Every week contractors receive new tools to supplement the Service Roundtable's vast library of existing brochures, letters, post cards, pricing calculators, consumer newsletters, sales sheets, marketing guides, training tools, and more. They tap into the company's 24/7/365 Industry Roundtables with leading contractors and consultants. They save with the company's Roundtable Rewards buying program. And they get it all for just $50 a month! Learn more about the site HERE. Call toll free 877.262.3341 and request a FREE private tour.

The Service Roundtable is the one contractor business alliance without a long-term contract. CLICK HERE to try it for a month. If you don't like it, quit. It's that simple. Of course, you won't quit. Once you see all of the value, you'll wonder how the Service Roundtable is able to do it. Then, you'll wonder how you ever survived without it. Go ahead. Give the Service Roundtable a one-month trial.

Effective Communication

This is a well-done slide presentation on effective communication IF you are already well versed in the subject matter. It would make a good presentation to download and use in a company training meeting.

Download as a PDF.

30 Things Every Technician Should Know

Field service personnel know a lot about making repairs. Yup. They can fix stuff. But service is more than turning a wrench and all of the technical knowledge in the world isn't enough. Here are 30 things every technician, plumber, electrician, and mechanic should know...

1. Payroll is the starting cost of a technician to a company. Other direct costs include everything from payroll taxes, uniforms, trucks, vehicle insurance, and worker’s comp to benefits. When all is said and done, the non-payroll costs of employing a technician range from as little as 30% to as much as 100% of payroll.

2. Education is a professional’s lifetime proposition. Only the ignorant think they know it all.

3. Technicians must fix more than the problem. On every service call, there is broken equipment and a broken customer. Both must be fixed for a complete repair.

4. The technician is an ambassador for the company when in uniform or behind the wheel. A technician’s driving habits on the road and personal courtesy everywhere reflect on the company. Since no one knows when someone is watching, a technician should act as though someone is always watching, unlike the technician who was caught on camera by Dateline when he relieved himself in the customer’s bushes.

5. Every technician is a supplier. Technicians are suppliers to some poor soul in the office who depends on the legibility and completeness of the paperwork to do their jobs.

Read more at Contracting Business.

Read Part 2 at Contracting Business.

24 Ways to Boost Your Average Ticket – Part V

Finally, the conclusion to boosting your average ticket (yeah, I know it’s more than 24 ways, but I thought of a few others mid-stream)…


25. Stand Up Straight, Smile, and Look Customer In The Eye

Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t trust a man who won’t look me in the eye.”

Ironically, the biggest con men can look you straight in the eye, state the biggest whopper, and never blink. Con men know the actions that lead to trust. Eye contact is one of them.

Your field service personnel will improve add-on sales and repair close rates simply by tucking shirts in, standing up straight with shoulders back, smiling, looking the customer in the eye, and nodding in the affirmative to indicate understanding as the customer describes problems.


26. Practice Good Grooming

This should be obvious, but it’s important to appear as clean and groomed as possible. First, it’s a tangible clue about the quality of your service. If your field service personnel won’t take care of themselves, why should I expect them to take care of my home?

Next, some customers have a low tolerance level for dirty and disheveled people. They are going to be more willing to do business with and spend more time with neat, clean, groomed technicians.

Equip your trucks with handy wipes. Require your people to clean their hands before every service call.

Stock trucks with breath spray. It should be used before every call, especially after coffee, lunch, or a smoke break.

A morning shave should not be an option. Hair should be neatly trimmed and combed, even if a cap is worn.


27. Keep the Truck Stocked

If you want to boost add-on sales, keep your trucks stocked. Identify the most common sizes for accessories and keep one on each truck. Some plumbers, for example, keep storage water heaters on their trucks for replacement NOW. Others keep standard bath and kitchen faucets.

Air conditioning contractors, who want to sell more humidifiers and air cleaners, stock them in their mobile warehouses. Electrical contractors, who want to sell more whole house surge suppressors, similarly stock them.

Not only should trucks be fully stocked with universal (i.e., generic) repair parts that cost less than OEM parts, but trucks should carry common accessories to prevent the need to run to a supply house and to support impulse buying.


28. Conduct Feature/Benefit Training

You wouldn’t send your people into the field without the proper training to make repairs, so why do you send them in the field without the proper training to talk about the features and benefits of accessories, options, and upgrades?

In a service meeting, introduce one product at a time. Ask for a volunteer to call out the features, one at a time. Write each feature on a white board or flip chart.

Once the features have been listed, ask for the benefits to each. Write the benefits next to the features.

If appropriate, ask for a monetary value of the feature to the homeowner. Usually, the total of the monetary value of the features will exceed the installed cost of the product. If so, ask your service force if it’s in the homeowner’s best interest to let her know about the product that’s worth more than it costs.

After the meeting, write up the list of features and benefits, including values, on a single sheet that can be inserted into a price book. Pass it out at the next week’s service meeting for everyone to study.

A week after passing out the feature/benefit list, see who can recite the most features and benefits. To make the exercise more fun, have the tech hold a burning match while reciting the list (the match simulates the pressure of standing before a customer). Make it a contest with a spiff to the winner.

© 2009 Matt Michel

How To Attend A Conference

Industry conferences and shows are excellent opportunities to pick up new ideas, to source new products, to motivate yourself, to recharge your batteries, and to have a good time. Most people, however, fail to maximize their opportunities. Here are 10 ways to get more out of your next show...


1. Plan

If seminars are concurrent, identify the seminars you most want to attend in advance. Depending on how seminars repeat, it may take a little juggling to hit the sessions you want to attend the most.

People usually choose seminars based on the topic or the speaker. Some topics address an issue you are facing or interested in. Some speakers are so good and/or knowledgeable that any session they lead is worth attending.

If two or more people from your company are attending, divide the seminars so you can cover as many as possible.

If a show accompanies the seminars, identify the vendors you want to visit in advance. Do not simply stop by the companies you're already familiar with. Try to visit new companies with new products and services.

After visiting the booths on your list, take time to walk the show floor. Be methodical, taking it aisle by aisle. You never know what you might find, which is the whole purpose for being there.

Often, vendors hold special sales for shows. Come prepared to act and you can save yourself quite a bit of money.


2. Walk Out of Bad Seminars

I know this sounds rude, but don't be afraid of walking out of a seminar if the topic isn't what you expected or need, or if the speaker is poor. You're paying too much money to attend the conference to sit through a bad seminar.

If you feel the need to leave, do so quickly and as unobtrusively as possible.


3. Adjust the Plan

In between seminar sessions ask others what sessions they attended, what was covered, and how well they liked them. Ask about the show. What was new and exciting. Based on the feedback you receive, don't be afraid to change your priorities.


4. Take Lots of Notes

There's so much information flying around conferences that it's easy to forget great ideas. One approach is to use 3X5 or 4X6 cards. The smaller size makes them easy to stick in your back pocket (lots of ideas get kicked around at hospitality rooms in the evenings). Try to limit yourself to one idea per card. I'll why explain later.


5. Don't Eat Alone

At lunch, sit down with people you don't know. Introduce yourself. Try to ask three or more questions of everyone at the table. You never know who you might meet and what you might learn.

Ask someone to join you for dinner. It's another opportunity to network and pick the brains of your peers. Don't eat alone.


6. Attend the Hospitality Functions

Some of the best educational opportunities arise during vendor hospitality functions. Be alert for new ideas, for new connections, and for people who have faced similar problems to those you face, but who have overcome them.


7. Limit the Alcohol

Have fun, but not in excess. You're attending the conference to learn. Don't drink so much that you have trouble getting up for the 8:00 a.m. seminar the next morning.


8. Don't Forget Business Cards

Duh. For multi-day conferences, put your business cards behind your name badge. That lessens the potential that you'll leave all of your cards in your room since most conferences practically mandate the continual use of your conference name badge. This is also a good place to stuff drink or meal tickets if they're included in your conference registration.


9. Recap Daily

Before going out to eat, take a few minutes to jot down additional notes and to adjust your plan for the following day, if necessary.


10. Debrief & Prioritize

At the end of the conference, spend an hour or so with everyone from your company who attended the show. Capture any new ideas on 4X6 cards. As a group, take your 4X6 cards and sort through them. Find the ONE idea you want to attack first. Then select the second and third. Work on the top priority before anything else. Next, tackle the number two priority.

Absent a method of priortization, the tendency is to get home and be so overwhelmed by all of the information that you do nothing OR to try and do everything at once so that you accomplish nothing.

"Vision Trumps All Other Senses"

Photo: Dreamglow
We recall information better when we see it. How much better? Try SIX TIMES better.

In his book Brain Rules, John Medina cites a study by LJ Najjar, about information recall. If we hear something, we remember 10% of it three days later. If we see something, we remember 35% of the visual. If we see and hear the information, we remember 65%. Adding a visual increases recall by a factor of six!

What does this mean for your company?


1. Marketing

Long copy's not dead. Remember, long copy still sells. Long copy, by itself, may even be effective. But it's not as effective as it could be. Graphics and/or images make marketing more striking and more memorable.

If someone is still peddling all-copy direct mail or newspaper ads to you, remind the ad peddler that we're living in the 21st century. We can do more with images today. It's easier than ever, though never easy. And we know it makes our marketing more effective. Tell the ad peddler to put more effort into his craft can come back with visually appealing, graphically exciting support for the persuasive, sales-in-print copy.


2. Training

If you want better recall of your training, add visual support. Seeing may or may not be believing, but it is remembering.


3. Coaching

What works for service meetings also works one-on-one. Maybe you won't whip out a computer and LCD projector when coaching individuals, but you can draw diagrams.


4. Managing

Rather than simply report performance numbers, create visuals. These can be as simple as a bar chart or pie chart. Charting performance improves recall and drives home the results.


5. Selling

In sales presentations, seek ways to make points visually. This can be through the use of props (mentioned in an earlier Comanche Marketing post), presentation books, sales literature, and/or physically pointing something out to the homeowner.

Note: I got the statistics from Medina's book by way of the following presentation. This is worth watching if you ever give a PowerPoint presentation.

Charlie Greer Invites You To Attend The Las Vegas Roundtable

Tips on Empowering Service Workers

The following video, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, features Thunderbird School of Global Management professor David Bowen talking about ways companies can empower frontline service workers.

Why CPR?

Photo: Kiltbear

John Riley from Skuttle fired me a link to this one...

An air conditioning contractor stops by to check on an installation. He hadn't planned on stopping, but the homeowner is glad he did.

While checking the thermostat, the homeowner collapsed. He was having a massive heart attack. The contractor immediately started performing CPR, restarted the homeowner's heart, and kept him alive until the paramedics could arrive.

Is the contractor a hero? You bet. But what if he hadn't had the training? What then?

Fortunately, we'll never know. However, we can take a lesson from the story and arrange for CPR training for our staffs.

Read More and watch the video.

Telephone Customer Service Fundamentals

This is a great presentation to review with your CSRs and dispatchers on customer service over the phone. The only beef I have is the admonition to avoid ever telling the customer, "I don't know."

It's okay to say, "I don't know," as long as it's followed by, "But I'll find out."

Watch the presentation in full screen...

No Scent Makes Sense

Every year, Jerry Thomas, the CEO of the marketing research and consulting firm, Decision Analyst hosts a company wide training sessions on do's and don'ts. These are lessons company employees have learned the hard way through the years.

Several deal with odor. Not only should client service personnel use breath freshener prior to meeting with clients, but they should avoid cologne for men and perfume for women.

The need for breath fresheners is especially important for smokers. Many smokers are not even aware of the effect smoke has on their breath and clothes. If possible, smokers should try to light up in places where they can minimize the amount of smoke that will collect on their clothes. Lately, these are practically the only places where smoking is permitted.

Cologne and perfume should be avoided. The scent you find appealing will assuredly repulse someone else.

When it comes to the personal hygiene of field sales and service personnel, no scent makes sense.

(c) 2009 Matt Michel