Year End Tax Planning for Individuals

As the holidays & end of the year fast approach, I’m going to ask you to take a few minutes to review your tax situation for 2009 to see if some of the following ideas may save you some money on your taxes come next spring. As with everything else, you need to consult your own CPA or tax advisor for advice specific to your situation. This post only covers a portion of possible opportunities that may be available to you and there are also some hurdles (like the Alternative Minimum Tax) that may trip you up & keep you from being able to use some of these suggestions. Also, the clock is ticking REALLY fast as some of these opportunities expire on December 31, 2009.

Traditionally, the typical year end tax strategy is to defer income into next year and accelerate deductible expenses into this year. This is done to defer paying income taxes. Think of it as kicking the “tax” can further down the street. This holds true in years where you expect to be in the same or lower tax bracket the following year. If you expect the opposite to be true (higher tax bracket), then accelerate income and postpone deductible expenses. This way more income is taxed at a lower rate. Currently, tax rates for 2011 will be going up for the high-end tax brackets as the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire. With the programs that the current administration has on its’ agenda to implement, I do not see how they can keep from raising the tax rates on the middle class in 2011 as well.
Here are a few year-end tax planning ideas for your individual returns:

American Opportunity Education (AOE) Tax Credit – This used to be called the “HOPE” scholarship credit. The Stimulus Bill has increased and expanded the educational tax credit. For 2009 and 2010, the credit is 100% of the first $2,000 of qualified educational expenses plus 25% of the next $2,000 of qualified expenses. The maximum credit amount is $2,500 per student per year. Additionally, the credit now applies to the first 4 years of post-secondary education. It was only 2 years under prior law. Qualified expenses include tuition, fees and course materials including books. The old law did not include books. The credit starts phasing out for taxpayers with an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $80,000 (single)/$160,000 (married.)
Tuition Deduction – For taxpayers who don’t qualify for the AOE Tax Credit, there is a deduction allowed for up to $4,000 of tuition and fees paid to an accredited post-secondary school. The deduction is not available to those with an AGI over $80,000 (single)/$160,000 (married).
Estimated Tax Payments-Small Business Owners – For 2009, the “safe harbor” provision for taxpayers in order to avoid underpayment penalties has been expanded. Taxpayers can avoid the penalty if the taxpayer has withheld or makes estimated tax payments totaling 90% of the previous year’s tax return. It was 100% under the old law. The taxpayer’s AGI must have been less than $500,000 and more than 50% of the gross income on the previous year’s return must have come from the small business. NOTE: This provision doesn’t apply to “C” corporations.
Sales vs. Income Tax Deduction – You are allowed to deduct the state & local sales taxes paid instead of the state & local income taxes if you choose. This provision would be most beneficial to those of you in states with no income taxes.
Sales Tax Deduction on Vehicles – For vehicles purchased from February 18th through December 31st, 2009, you can deduct state and local sales taxes on the purchase. The vehicle purchase price cannot exceed $49,500. Vehicles with a gross vehicle weight (GVW) that qualify include: passenger autos, light trucks and motorcycles. Motor homes also qualify with no GVW restrictions. You can take this deduction whether you itemize your deductions or not. The deduction phases out for those whose modified AGI is over $125,000 (single)/$250,000 (married.)
Additional Standard Deduction – For 2009, an additional standard deduction amount is available to those who pay real estate taxes and who do not itemize. The amount is the lesser of the state & local real estate taxes paid during the year or $500 (single)/$1,000 (married.) This expires 12/31/09.
First-Time Homebuyer’s Credit – This credit was expected to end on November 30, 2009. However, it was extended to April 30, 2010 in early November by the bill passed that extended unemployment benefits. This law allows those who haven’t owned a home in the U.S. during the previous 3-year period prior to buying the home a tax credit equal to 10% of the purchase price up to $8,000. The home has to be purchased with a signed contract by April 30, 2010 and it must close by June 30, 2010. The credit is equal to 10% of the purchase price of the home up to a maximum credit of $8,000. The purchase price of the home cannot exceed $800,000 to be eligible for the credit. The credit is a refundable credit meaning you may receive a check from the IRS if you have a zero tax liability. The credit phases out at the following income levels: Single - $125,000 - $145,000. Married filing Joint - $225,000 - $245,000. The taxpayer must be at least 18 years old and not a dependent. Related party transactions (sales between family members) are not eligible for the credit.
The law has also been expanded to include current homeowners who do not qualify for the 1st Time Homebuyer’s Credit. Current homeowners are eligible for a credit up to $6,500 for buying a new house as long as they’ve lived in their current home as their principal residence for 5 consecutive years out of the 8 years prior to the sale of the house.
These are just some of the deductions and credits available. You have until December 31, 2009. Talk to your CPA or tax advisor to discuss your specific situation.
U.S. Treasury Department Circular 230 Disclosure: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that, unless expressly stated otherwise, any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein. This article is not intended to be comprehensive in nature and competent professional tax advice should be sought in determining the issues that impact your specific situation.
Michael A. Bohinc is a certified public accountant in Cleveland, OH. He is also a licensed HVAC and plumbing contractor in the State of Ohio. He is a Consult & Coach Partner for the Service Roundtable. He has over 20 years’ experience working on business management issues in the HVAC and plumbing industries. He can be reached at: 440/ 708-2583, e-mail mbohinc@keepingscorecpa.com.

Don't Keep It a Secret

Whenever I take shirts to my cleaners, the cleaners replaces any missing or broken buttons. Your cleaners probably does the same, but do you know about it?

The reason I'm aware is the cleaners sticks a small tag through the matching button hole and staples it. The tag declares, "Replaced Button."

The tag is a reminder of a small added value the cleaners provides. Without the tag, I might forget about there was a button missing or even be aware of it. The cleaners won't get extra credit if I don't know about it. Hence, the tag.

I bet there are little things that you do for your customers they are unaware of. A plumber might clean a faucet aerator. An HVAC technician might notice the time on a digital thermostat is off an hour due to a change in daylight savings time and set the time correctly. An electrician might casually test a GFCI outlet. A pool technician might cut out a small section of pool sweep hose where it's leaking.

Whatever the action, you won't get credit if you don't tell the customer what was done. Note it on the invoice and write, "No charge." And don't just note it. Tell the customer too. Think of the impact if the cleaners employee told me that three buttons were found missing and were replaced at the time I picked up my shirts.

When you do a good deed, even if it's part of the routine, don't keep it a secret.

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.

Fish

My buddy Bubba is a pretty good fisherman. He rarely has a dry haul. He could probably be a professional guide. No, he should be a professional guide, because he’s not much of a businessperson. I wonder what kind of fisherman he’d be if he fished the way he runs his business.

Read the rest at Contracting Business

Al Ries on Logo Shapes

What shape should is right for a logo? Marketing expert Al Ries suggests a ratio of 1 X 2-1/4.

Mirroring to Build Rapport

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davefayram/ / CC BY 2.0

Have you ever just clicked with a prospect? Everything worked from the minute you met. It was an easy sale.

More than likely, you and the prospect share similar social styles. You have natural rapport. You click.

It's great when you benefit from automatic rapport. Too bad it only happens around one time in four. Most of the time, your social style conflicts with the prospect's.

When your style conflicts with the prospect, you don't click. Yes, you can still make a sale, but it's more difficult. In fact, when the salesperson's social style is in direct conflict with the prospect's style, the sale is made in spite of, not because of the salesperson's efforts.

So what can you do? Well, one simple technique is mirroring. Match the prospect's verbal tone and pacing. Match the body language. If the prospect leans back, you lean back and vice versa.

Be careful not to mirror so closely that you mimic the prospect. If noticed, mimicking can be perceived as an insult.

Frankly, it's uncomfortable to mirror a prospect. It's counter to your natural social style, but it improves your focus on the prospect and helps the prospect become more comfortable. Give it a try.

A Few Painless Ways To Cut Costs

Have you ever walked down the street and noticed a $20 bill lying on the sidewalk? If you did, I bet you picked it up. Maybe you looked around to see if someone had just dropped it, but if it was free and clear, you picked it up. It's free money. Who wouldn't pick it up? Apparently a lot of people.

One of the most painless ways to cut expenses is to cut the cost of money. Given current interest rates, this is a great time to call your banker to renegotiate your building mortgage interest rates.

If you rent and there are commercial vacancies in your area, see if you can get a break on lease rates. If the landlord isn't willing to work with you, check into the possibility of new space elsewhere, at more competitive rates, once your lease is up.

Due to impending legislation on credit card interest rates, many card issuers are raising rates dramatically because they may not be able to down the road. If you have an unpaid balance, check into lowering your rate by transferring it to a new card or rolling it into other debt.

If you pay expenses by check today, consider paying bills with credit cards that have a cash back or airline mileage provision. If your supply house doesn't take credit cards, consider switching to another that does.

Since the credit card gives you a 30-day float, make sure you pay vendors within 10-days to take advantage of discounts.

Make sure you're utilizing frequent purchaser programs from office supply stores. Every few months, we receive a gift card from Office Depot based on the previous months' purchases. It's not a huge amount, but it adds up and we earn it simply by remembering a phone number when we make a purchase.

Some retailers offer corporate discounts for the asking. Barnes & Noble will gladly sell you a Reader's Advantage card for $25, but the also offer a corporate card for free that gives you 15% off book purchases. Recently, I replaced my laptop battery at Batteries Plus. Because I told them I was replacing it as a business purchase, I got a small discount.

If you're eligible for buying programs like the Service Roundtable's Roundtable Rewards program, be sure to enroll and take advantage of the savings.

Another area to save is merchant services. Many business owners pay far to much in rates and the myriad of small fees. A different merchant services vendor can save thousands.

Ask small business owners if they're doing these things and most will say they are. I suspect, however, that most are not. I'm basing this on how well contractors utilize the Service Roundtable's merchant services program. Thousands should be using it, but are not. Recently we were approached by another merchant services vendor about the possibility of supplanting the current vendor. Here's the note the rep sent to Lee Rosenberg...

I have good news for you, but bad news for me - Unfortunately, you are currently getting the best deal we've seen in a long time. You are getting all pass through plus 10 basis points. Look in the Discount % column where it says .10%. Then, we looked at all the interchange breakdowns on the 2nd page and all of the interchange categories are correct and you are getting your business cards at Level II which is rare. Cleanest and cheapest statement we've seen in a while. Best we could do is match what you are getting and if what you have now is working, then it would not make sense to switch.

Contractors using the Service Roundtable's program literally save thousands vis-a-vis their old program. Every dollar falls straight to the bottom line.

Why in the world wouldn't a contractor jump at the chance to painlessly save money? Why would anyone walk past a $20 bill lying on the sidewalk?

If you figure it out, let me know. If you're a Service Roundtable member and want to save painlessly through Roundtable Rewards or the merchant services program, contact Janet Thomasson.

Don't Quit Computer Wallpaper

Remember Edison

Often success lies just beyond the horizon of failure. Napoleon Hill was given letters of introduction by industrialist Andrew Carnegie to study the country’s top achievers. Hill captured his research in his classic book, “Think And Grow Rich.”

Napoleon Hill wrote, “Before success comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and, perhaps, some failure. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do.”

“More than five hundred of the most successful men this country has ever known told the author their greatest success came just one step *beyond* the point at which defeat had overtaken them. Failure is a trickster with a keen sense of irony and cunning. It takes great delight in tripping one when success is almost within reach.”

One of the people Hill met and studied was Thomas Edison. No one illustrates the value of persistence and tenacity better than Edison. Many people know that Edison failed 2,000 times in his effort to find the filament for the light bulb. But did you know his attempt to create a better battery resulted in the failure of 50,000 tests?

A discouraged assistant figured even Edison would quit after 50,000 failures. “You must be pretty downhearted with the lack of progress,” said the assistant.

“Downhearted?” replied Edison, “We've made a lot of progress. At least we know 50,000 things that won't work!”

Edison’s kept at it, through 50,000 failed tests, through ten years, and through one million dollars of his own money until he developed the nickel-iron alkaline storage battery, which is still used today!

Maybe you don’t have Edison’s tenacity. I know I don’t. Yet, when I think about Edison, I find I have just a little bit more tenacity. Edison inspires me. Edison helps me see failure in a different light. It’s not failure. It’s progress. Edison helps me to stay positive while I’m making progress.

“Don’t Quit” is an inspirational poem many people have read that may have been written about Edison. Though many claim to have written the poem, its author is lost.


Don’t Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and debts are high,
And you want to smile but have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won if he'd stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow,
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man.
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown,

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

For a nice winter wallpaper featuring the poem, “Don’t Quit” to boost your attitude and tenacity, click here to visit the "Free Stuff" section of the Service Roundtable.

Vinnie's Learning (Dis)Ability

http://www.flickr.com/photos/txberiu/ / CC BY 2.0

Vinnie grew up in an Irish Catholic family with four brothers and two sisters in the upper Midwest. He described his childhood family life as everyone “pounding he heck out of each other, never liking to lose.”

It was largely a typical childhood, in a typical family. Largely. Vinnie’s childhood was distinguished by a learning disability. In the third grade, he was diagnosed with dyslexia. He had trouble spelling. He had trouble reading. He had trouble writing. He struggled to make C’s. Vinnie said he “went to those classes, SLBP, slow learning behavior problem.”

“You just think that you're not as smart as all the other kids,” Vinnie said. He described his childhood dyslexia as “nearly incapacitating.”

“You feel like you're stupid. You feel like you're in the back of the classroom, you don't get it. It's coming natural to everybody else and you feel stupid.”

“I have such bad memories,” recalls Vinnie, “sitting in the back of a classroom, being told, you know, everybody is going to read a paragraph, and skipping ahead to my paragraph and being mortified and trying to read it enough times so that I wouldn't stutter and stammer, getting called on, even in high school. And it gets to me and I'd be going, ‘ah, ah,’ horrible reader — ran from the problem.”

“I hid from the problem. I did just enough to get by. I was a good athlete so that got me by, that gave the confidence to go forward.”

Playing football, Vinnie managed to attend a local college. Academically, little changed.

“I'm taking a class pass/fail and hand a paper in,” Vinnie recalled. “It comes back. It’s got a big red F on it. I'm not there the day it comes back. I show up at lunch the next day and a buddy of mine had picked it up and it's laying there on the lunch table and it's got a big red F and underneath it says, ‘I don't know how in the hell you got into college. I don't know how you're going to graduate. This is the worst paper I've read in 10 years I've been teaching.’”

Vinnie’s life changed when basketball coaching legend, Al McGuire spoke at Vinnie’s university. Vinnie said, “He talked about how he was dyslexic and he grew up, he got his way through high school and college cheating. And on a basketball scholarship and went back after they won the national championship and taught himself how to read and write.”

Vinnie thought, “If this guy can do it, I got to do it. So, I went back and I taught myself the fundamentals of writing, and I started reading for the first time. My mom and dad had been on me for years. So, I finally picked up ‘Trinity’ by Leon Uris. I plowed through it and I was hooked.”

Vinnie began reading voraciously. He read book after book, but gravitated towards Tom Clancy type action thrillers.

He began to see his dyslexia in a different light. “Every time I sat down to read one of these books, I knew what was going to happen. It was the weirdest thing. It was the gift.”

It wasn’t just books. He could watch a few minutes of a TV drama and anticipate the ending. He could foresee actual events in the real world years in advance.

“Part of it is the dyslexia,” he explains. “It's the way the brain is wired. I think we just think in a leap frog fashion if that makes sense.”

Vinnie earned his degree and took a sales and marketing job with Kraft General Foods. He did well, but felt stifled in corporate America. He quit his highly paid position to become a Marine pilot.

Unfortunately, Vinnie was medically disqualified for the flight program. He eventually got a medical waiver and left the Corps.

Now what? The dyslexic Vinnie decided he wanted to write a novel and took a job tending bar to pay the bills.

“He treated it as a full time job, he'd work eight hours a day on it,” said the owner of the bar. “He basically worked here nights and then he would write during the day, all day long.”

He finished the novel and sent it off to New York publishing houses, but it was rejected. And rejected. And rejected.

“I had 60-plus rejection letters. I put them all up on a bulletin board where I wrote every day. And I'd say, ‘I'm going to prove you people wrong.’”

And yet, it wasn’t easy. “There were moments when I was bar tending at O'Gara's and I would get another rejection letter and I'd think what am I doing. Why am I doing this?” he confessed.

He drew inspiration from the experiences of writers. He said, “It was a great source was strength that Clancy and Grisham had been rejected by every publishing house in New York City. So I figured, ‘You know what? I'm going to stick with it.’”

Vinnie self published his book. People told him he was crazy, but had a plan. He was going to sell enough books in his market to catch the attention of a New York publisher.

“Once at number one at Twin Cities,” Vinnie said, “It got picked up by Simon and Schuster. And now, the 11th book just came out this past month.”

“Anybody who knew me growing up calls me Vinnie,” says best selling author Vince Flynn.

His first book, the one he self published, is titled “Term Limits.” I’ve read it. It’s a page turner.

One after another, Flynn's books are successes. He's popular with kings and presidents. Flynn's been invited to the White House by Presidents Clinton and Bush. He was flown to Jordan by King Abdullah, who is also a fan. Not bad for the guy who wrote the worst paper a college professor read in 10 years of teaching.

Cursed with dyslexia, Flynn realized it gave him a different set of capabilities. It enabled him, for example, to write about a terrorist attack on the United States by Islamic radicals four years before 9/11. Today he sees the curse as a gift.

“I'm a horrible speller,” Flynn said in a recent interview when he was discussing his dyslexia. “I omit words. My editor, Emily Bestler, she deals with this all the time. I just leave words out of my manuscript, I'm typing so fast and I come up with creative ways to spell things, but what I didn't know is it's a gift.”

Flynn added, “The ad agencies of the world, the creative people on Broadway and in Hollywood, they're all — it's just a disproportionate number of dyslexics.”

Flynn’s story is one of looking at a disability as a different ability, at a curse as a gift when viewed from another perspective, and at obstacles as challenges to be overcome. Had life been easier, he might not have climbed so high.

How high do you want to climb?

Neil Rackham on Selling in a Recession

Many sales professionals have read Neil Rackham's book SPIN Selling. Rackham advocates a consultative sales approach with lots of questions. His approach is well suited to process sales and high ticket items.

Rackham was interviewed by Gerhard Gschwandtner, the publisher of Selling Power Magazine about selling in a recession. Rackham noted that the instinctive reaction of salespeople is to sell price during a recession. This is a mistake.

More than they want a good price during a recession, people want to avoid risk. In fact, people will spend more for a safer solution. Successful salespeople should show people how their solutions minimize risk.

This reminds me of a research study on air conditioning purchases in a Midwestern market that I read conducted 20 years ago. The conventional wisdom was that high efficiency was more likely to be purchased by affluent homeowners. After all, the affluent consumers had the money. Yet the study revealed that middle class and lower middle class homeowners were more likely to buy high efficiency. At the time, it was a head scratcher for me. It didn't make sense. My boss, Garry Upton, instantly knew the reason high efficiency sold better to people with less money.

"They can't afford a mistake," Garry said.

In other words, they didn't have enough money to risk losing it by making a bad decision. They would spend a little more to buy what was perceived was a better product. It was an inherent form of insurance.

In the interview, Rackham noted that salespeople feel pressured to close and communicate their nervousness to the prospect. In risk-avoidance mode, the prospects shy away from the nervous salesperson. Rackham advises sales managers to relieve some of the pressure on salespeople so that they feel safe in their jobs and communicate confidence, which is interpreted by the prospect that the company is a safe bet.

I agree with Rackham to a point. The absence of sales incentives usually results in lazy salespeople. By nature salespeople are usually money motivated and competitive. Keep them incented.

Rackham also notes that companies go into panic mode during recessions and flail around, mistaking activity for results. They chase every opportunity, but fail to devote the time needed to win more. Rackham suggests focusing on the sales you can win, not winning more opportunities.

But how can you identify winnable sales opportunities in advance? Personally, I advocate the pursuit of every possible opportunity to the point where you can determine the potential for a payoff. Always pursue those you have a good shot at winning. Drop the long shots unless pursuing them doesn't interfere with higher payoff activities. This works in good times and bad.

In summary, Rackham's advice is sound...

• Minimize buyer risk
  
  
• Be confident, not nervous
  
  
• Focus and optimize your effort.

By the way, if you're in sales and haven't read SPIN Selling, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy.

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

Philip Kotler on Marketing

Philip Kotler is the top academic marketer in the world. He's marketing's counterpart to Peter Drucker. In this six minute video delivered at the London Business Forum, Kotler explains the difference between product management, brand management, and customer management.

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.

Toilet Rebate Clearinghouse

Contractors should be aware of local government and utility rebate programs. They should be aware. In reality, many contractors are not aware of the programs. The reasons are numerous, including poor promotion on the part of the rebate authority, contractors who are so busy chasing work they fail to stay informed, and so on.

Plumbing contractors, at least, can stay up with the flow on low flow toilet rebates at ToiletRebate.com. The site lists toilet rebates in the U.S. and Canada by state and province. Rebate programs are also highlighted through a Google map. Low flow showerhead rebates and other water conservation rebates are often listed with the toilet rebates.

Some of the rebates are substantial. And some, according to a New York Times article, are flush out of cash.

Check it out at ToiletRebate.com.

Ellen From New York Wants to Start a Consulting Company

The public seems convinced there's some kind of glamour in consulting. Hardly. Anyone who thinks it's glamorous has never done it.

It's a little like business travel. I was scheduling an upcoming trip to San Diego and a friend made a comment about how nice it was to visit San Diego in December.

"Yeah," I responded. "I fly in, check into the hotel, go to a dinner meeting, speak after dinner, go back to the hotel, and get up and fly home. It might as well be Cleveland."

Nothing against Cleveland. Actually, I kind of like Cleveland. In fact, I'd rather go to Cleveland than San Diego for business because it's easier to get around. The streets are straight.

Well, it's Saturday and I'm channel surfing during college football time-outs when I run across a call-in business show on the Fox Business Channel. The subject appears to be financing start-ups and the show is struggling to attract calls, so they send a camera and mic outside to find someone to ask a question. The camera crew finds Ellen, a student at Columbia.

Ellen wants to start a consulting company after she graduates. The show's experts correctly advise her that she doesn't need much in the way of financing to start a consulting company. In fact, all she really needs is a client. Another tells her to bootstrap.

The "experts" then proceeded to tell her a few ways to attract clients, but none of them addressed the most fundamental question. How in the heck is a university student qualified to consult with anyone about anything? What has she done? What does she know? Who would hire someone who hasn't done anything and doesn't know anything?

Sorry Ellen, but you aren't ready to be a consultant. You are, however, perfectly qualified for a life of politics.

The Continuing Relevance of Direct Mail

I ran across a good article by Herb Torgersen, president of Direct Innovations, about direct mail in the magazine, Direct. For small business, direct mail remains a great way to market, even as other forms of traditional marketing are losing their punch. Here's part of what Torgersen had to say...

It's an understatement to say the ability to reach consumers with a targeted message through mass media has become fragmented. Audience share on the big three networks has diminished considerably, cable options are endless, magazine and newspaper circ is down, and audience shares for radio have also taken a dip.

Through it all direct mail—if done properly—has continued to consistently produce return on investment on a consistent basis. The sheer amount of databases available enables any marketer to precisely pinpoint their audience. If marketers continue to apply the tried and true "principle of affinity"—a common denominator between product, offer and audience—they will no doubt be able to acquire new customers.

Read the rest of Torgersen's article.

Emerson CEO Speaks Out On The Economy

As a believer in free markets, I've been curious why Fortune 500 CEOs have largely been silent about some of the destructive economic policies currently being pursued. Finally, a CEO speaks out. Even better, he's an HVAC and plumbing CEO.

As reported in Supply House Times, Emerson Electric's CEO, David Farr, made some blunt statements at the Baird Industrial Outlook conference about the impact of cap & trade, socialized medicine, and anti-business labor laws...

• Companies are creating jobs in China and India because they are "places where people want the products and where the governments welcome you to actually do something."
  
  
• "My job is to grow that top line, grow my earnings, grow my cash flow and grow my returns to the shareholders. My job is not to shrink and roll over for the U.S. government."
  
  
• "I’m not going to hire anybody in the United States. I’m moving."

This type of candor from the Fortune 500 is good news. I'm sure it's being said in private, but not so much in public. By speaking out, Farr is helping to highlight the consequences of foolish policies while there's an opportunity to prevent them.

Kudos to David Farr! We need more business leaders with Farr's gumption.

Read the article in Supply House Times.

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.

KC CO Poisoning

Source: KMBC TV, Kansas City
Thanks to Rick Allgeier for finding this:

A faulty furnace emitted the dangerous fumes and two people were rushed to a hospital...

"We've had incidents where people haven't been able to walk out of their house because they've been in it too long," Overland Park Fire Lt. Chris Palmer told KMBC's Peggy Breit.

Link to the Story

Share this with your customers.

News That Doesn't Depress You: The U.S.A. Leads World In Undeveloped Fossil Fuel Resources

I bet you didn't know the United States leads the world in undeveloped fossil fuel resources. I didn't. I knew we had a lot of coal. I knew we had new oil and gas finds. I knew our shale oil reserves were huge. I didn't know we lead the world, but that's what a report by the Congressional Research Service stated.

Check out these charts from Human Events...







So how come we import 60% of our energy, with much of it from unfriendly and/or unstable regimes? Part of the answer is economics. Some of our reserves, like the shale oil, is expensive to extract and the technology is not quite in place. However, the technology is rapidly advancing. A few years ago the technology didn't exist to extract a lot of the current natural gas fields.

Part of answer is regulations. The bulk of domestic energy reserves is untouchable due to regulations and restrictions.

While it seems foolish (even suicidal) to me to artificially restrict domestic energy production, I take some comfort from the fact that the reserves aren't evaporating. We'll wake up and utilize them some day, though we will have to endure some self-inflicted pain first. It takes years to ramp up production. It's better to start now, before we need it.