By George Hedley
Several years ago, I made a resolution to take charge of my
business life, put my priorities first and focus on building loyal customer
relationships. I committed to work smarter, get organized and in-control, focus
on the 20 percent that produces 80 percent of the results, delegate as much as
possible to my employees, spend 33 percent of my time with customers, and get
home at decent time.
When Monday morning rolled around, I was excited and got to
work early. I made a list of all the things I had to do and prioritized them into
three categories: must do, should do, and don’t have to do. Then guess what
happened at 8:30 a.m.? I started to get calls and emails putting demands on my
time. People were requesting I attend meetings, customers had immediate needs,
superintendents were having problems with subcontractors, the concrete crew was
sitting around waiting for concrete, and one of our trucks had broken down. So
I did what I always do: I went out and attempted to fix everyone else’s
problems for them.
When I finally got back to the office at 4 p.m., I realized
I had missed lunch and my desk was piled with at least 25 new requests, notes,
invoices, voice mails, and files requiring my immediate attention. So much for getting
to my priorities! Then, my best customer called and asked me to play golf with
him at his private country club the next morning. He wanted to introduce me to
his banker and talk about his next project. How could I play golf? I didn’t
have enough time in the day. I have to fix everyone’s problems and put out all
these fires.
The Top 2 business priorities
Decide to be bold. Do what you know you have to do. What are
your top priorities? Are they in your calendar? Are you going to do something
about them? In order to stay focused on what will make the biggest difference
in your business, step back and take a hard look.
In my opinion, business is simple. The two most important
priorities are to find customers and then keep customers. Finding customers involves everything to
keep profitable revenue coming in the door. Finding customers includes sales,
marketing, estimating, presenting proposals, customer appreciation, schmoozing,
networking, and what you do to build loyal customer relationships. This area is
often overlooked in construction businesses. Most construction company owners
focus on bidding work, and then getting it done. As a top priority, finding
customers cannot be delegated easily. Customers want to know who they are doing
business with.
Keeping customers is all about doing a good job and meeting
your customers’ expectations and contractual requirements. This top priority is
an outcome of a well-organized and systemized operation led by a professional
management team and well-trained employees. This area of your company can be managed
by a professional management team that implements your business mission,
philosophy, organizational systems and procedures. But, without great systems
in place, delegating operational tasks is impossible.
Hire pros to grow
Here’s an email I received from a plumbing and heating
contractor in Santa Fe, N.M., who saw me present to a large group of local
contractors. He wanted to share some things that work for him: “Fire the
idiots! But, more important, I found two top-notch working foremen and
convinced them to come to work for me. I had to offer them about a 50
percent wage premium over market wages. I had to raise my open hourly
rates significantly, and I charge them out even higher on bid work. Guess
what? Virtually no customers were lost, my percentage of really excited
customers soared, and I was free to do what I do best: sell jobs! They run
their jobs, ask me an occasional question (perhaps just to flatter me) and I
give them free rein. After this experience I realized that if I have to go
to a jobsite for a reason other than boredom, curiosity or public relations, I
don’t have the right man on the job. Find the right people, give them the right
resources, set ‘em free, and never look back!”
The fastest way to get your company organized and focused on
keeping customers is to hire the best and give them the task of getting the
work done. Great people do cost more money, but take less time to manage than
weaker ones. Plus, you’ll never be able to get your business to grow beyond the
capacity of your top people. Professionals will make you money. You can’t
continue to do it all yourself. Sell your truck or backhoe, lease a used one, take
the money, and hire a professional to help you.
Put your priorities to work
Don't just talk about it, get started and do it! Continually
ask yourself if what you’re doing is a good use of your time and money. When
you do things you shouldn’t be doing or don’t like doing, your business becomes
a drag. Activities that are not rewarding drain your energy. Exciting tasks and
activities included in your top priority list are rewarding and actually
invigorate you. When you are moving toward your goals, improving your business
and seeing progress, you will get excited about your future. What are your Top
2 business priorities? Remember that your #1 priority is to keep your No. 1
priority as your No. 1 priority!”
George Hedley is a licensed professional business coach, popular professional speaker and best-selling author of “Get Your Business to Work!” and “The Business Success Blueprint For Contractors,” available at his online bookstore. He works with business owners to build profitable growing companies. Email gh@hardhatpresentations.com to request your free copy of “Winning Ways To Win More Work!” or sign up for his free monthly e-newsletter. To hire George to speak, be part of his ongoing BIZCOACH program, or join one of his ongoing Roundtable Peer BIZGROUPS, call 800-851-8553, or visit www.HardhatPresentations.com.
George Hedley, HARDHAT
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