Sales Bullies

High pressure sales tactics have been unpopular for several years. Yet, some die hards hold on to the idea that if you can't join them, beat them. They seem to think that if they talk long enough and loud enough they can sell ice to Eskimos, or in our context, paint jobs to anyone.

I've never been a fan of such tactics. I don't like it done to me, so I'm not going to do it to someone else. Seth Godin writes about these sales bullies:

Sales bullies describe their approach as ethical, because, after all, it's in
the best interest of the prospect to say yes. It's okay to be a sales bully when
you're trying to get someone to take their TB medicine, so it must be okay to be
a sales bully to get them to sign this contract.

Personally, I've never had to be a bully to get someone to take their TB medicine. I've never known anyone on TB medicine. Besides, if it takes bullying to get someone to take TB medicine, I would likely find better things to do with my time.

But the real point is that sales bullies try to justify their tactics by claiming to know what is best for the client. In some cases this might be true. For example, I've had customers who insist on using oil on their exterior siding. I know this is wrong and will ultimately create more problems. But rather than attempt to bully them, I simply walk away and refuse to submit a bid.

In general, it is presumptuous to assume that one knows the client's needs better than the client. And it's always wrong to be a bully about it.

Branding

I see a lot of painting contractors try to be all things to all people. They try to do high-quality work with low prices, do roof repair, landscaping, and more. They present a very confusing message to the consuming public. The problem is that they have no brand-- no image of their company that is consistent. It's a mish-mash of contradictory claims.

For most small painting contractors, developing a brand can seem like too much work for too little benefit. But no matter how large or small a company, developing a brand is a key part of effective marketing.

Michael Phelps will likely be facing some important branding decisions in the near future. His stunning and heroic achievements at the Olympics are sure to provide an overwhelming number of promotional opportunities. While he will undoubtedly make a lot of money no matter what he decides, his choices could have a huge impact on his long-term marketability.

Brand expert Laura Reis hopes that Phelps exercises extreme caution:

Phelps and his agent need to resist the temptation to cash in quick on his fame.
Too many endorsements for too many products will undermine his most valuable
asset his honesty. Phelps promoting Rayovac batteries, for example, would be
just as horrible for him as it was for Michael Jordan.

In other words, if he tries to promote too many products his credibility will be undermined. He might make a mint in the short-term, but his long-term endorsements will likely be less than if he takes a careful approach. If he tries to be all things to all products, he will send a very confusing message. His brand-- Michael Phelps-- will be a mish-mash of contradictions.

A painting contractor should clearly identify his target market. His image and his message should be directed at that market, and no other. A consistent message will result.

Customers who Know the Price

On occasion I will have a customer who thinks they know how a job should be priced. Their comments will go something like this:

It looks like a professional could do this work in a day. So if you are
paying $15 an hour, the price should be around $120 plus materials.

The first few times I heard such comments I got rather annoyed. But since then I've learned how to handle the situation more effectively. I now view it as a good opportunity to teach the customer a few things about business (and maybe put them in their place).

Actual labor costs are, of course, only a small part of the price. Labor burden, overhead, and profit are actually a significantly larger part of the final price (or at least they should be). While the actual numbers are none of the customer's business, the general principles can be discussed.

I try to inject some humor into my comments. Since I am basically telling the customer that he's a blowhard, humor can mitigate some of the harshness of my explanation. I say something like this:

I'm sure there are some people who could do the work in 8 hours. In fact, I
could have one of my guys do it in less time than that. But we'd have to skip
the primer and the wall repair, as those are going to require drying time. So,
if we are going to do the job properly so that you will be satisfied in the end,
we are going to need at least 2 trips to complete this project.

I am also sure that there are people who would work for $15 an hour, but I
prefer to pay more so that I get good help. But my costs involve a lot more than
just that hourly rate. There are taxes and benefits that must be paid.
Also, I need to pay the phone bill so you can call us. And I'll need to pay the
electric bill so we can operate our computer and see what we are doing.

And that lady who you said is so helpful on the phone-- she likes to get
paid for being so nice. Come to think of it, I like to get paid as well. So as
you see, there is a lot more involved in our price than just what we pay our
workers.

Sometimes the customer responds well to this, and sometimes they continue to act like a jerk. In either case, I've done all I can-- I've told them the truth. If they want to believe otherwise, they probably won't listen to anything else I have to say either.

Panties and Painting

I've seen some painting contractors argue that our services are luxury items. Nobody, they argue, needs to paint their house.

This is not necessarily true. Exterior surfaces do need occasional maintenance. Paint does more than provide color-- it also provides protection. While interior painting is more of a luxury--the house won't deteriorate because the paint is flaking--there are psychological aspects to paint that can elevate it to more of a need. If for example, you buy a house with black walls, you may legitimately think that the walls need to be painted.

Dan Miller has an interesting post on the issue of needs versus wants. He talks about the difference between men's underwear--which is generally a purely functional item, and therefore inexpensive-- versus women's underwear-- which is generally viewed in a more stylish sense, and therefore more costly.

The same can be true with our businesses. If we just sell men's underwear--the basic function paint job--we are not likely to command a high price. But if we sell a frilly, lacy, sexy paint job, we can likely get a much higher price. Now I don't mean this literally. I can't imagine how we could sell a sexy paint job, unless we hired a bunch of buxom beauty queens to paint in bikinis.

But we can add to the value we offer. Women's underwear does have a practical function, but it also offers other value-- such as style and allure. I'm not an expert on women's underwear, but I suspect that the most basic, plain panties are considerably less expensive than those that offer lace, sexy designs, etc.

Regardless, the issue is the value offered. When we offer more value, we can command a higher price. And that is true in panties and in painting.

Magic Pills

All of us want to manage our time more efficiently, no matter what our personal goals. Yet, despite reading books, articles, etc. we often find it difficult to actually make better use of our time. Denise Miller addresses this in a recent blog post.

You see the words everyday: goal setting, time management, multitasking, organizing…. After diet and weight-loss books, these topics are high on the list of self-help tomes. I have worked with clients who owned more time management books than many bookstores stock at one time, yet they still need me to come into their offices and work with them. One of the reasons may be that many of the books are still shrink-wrapped, and the rest are in pristine condition.

It’s appealing to think that a book or a training session will resolve an issue, but there are some points that must be stressed when you sincerely want to improve your time management skills, which can include managing paper, email, and clutter as well as calendars.

I think too many of us look for some magic pill that will solve our problems, whether it is dieting, time management, or marketing our paint contracting business.

There is seldom a single magic solution that will fit all people and all situations. There are general principles that apply, but those principles must then be adapted to our particular situation. This takes effort-- mental effort. And I think that is what a lot of people are trying to avoid when they seek a magic solution.

The truth is, no matter what your goal or what the issue, action must be guided by thought. We must identify the goal the means for achieving it. In other words, accomplishing a goal is a combination of mental and physical effort. Thoughts without action are simply a waste of time, and action without thought is suicidal.

Focus on the Customer

I've previously written about the need to focus on your customers. Mitch Axelrod, author of The New Game of Business makes a poignant point about this topic in an interview at OneCoach:

Don’t fall in love with your products and services. Of course, you have to like and believe in what you sell. But when you become overly enamored of what you produce and sell, you can easily become blinded to what the marketplace actually wants.

Instead, shift your attention to the people who buy your product or service. They will tell you what they want and need, and they will help you improve your products and services to better serve those needs.

When we focus on what we think the market wants, we aren't necessarily delivering what our painting customers want. And there can be a big difference. For example, offering customers options regarding products, such as low-VOC paints, allows the customer to decide what is important. If we do not offer those options, we could be shooting ourself in the foot.

This is where good communications are so important. Ask your customers what they want, need, and desire. And ask why. Often, the customer knows the end goal, but is mistaken about the means. I sometimes have a customer who is in a hurry to have a job started. When I probe, I find out that they want the exterior painted before a new roof or something similar. In these cases, the customer has the order reversed and may wind up unhappy with the final result.

This type of focus on the customer helps them get the results they want. And it can make you look like a hero.

Burglars

Last week my wife walked in on a burglarly in progress in our home. Fortunately, there was no confrontation and the burglar left through the front door. He must have been in the house for only a few moments before my wife arrived, as nothing was disturbed, rifled, or taken. The only damage was 1 broken window.

Such events provoke several thoughts. One is intense anger that someone would be so brazen as to enter our home. He has no idea what might await him, or happen to him. He takes a huge risk in breaking into a home. But I doubt he has given that much thought--he wants something and he's going to go get it.

And that leads to my second thought. Burglars are simply taking the easy way out. Rather than learn a productive skill, they survive by victimizing others. Rather than trade value for value, they simply seize the values that they desire.

In some ways, this mentality is shared by a lot of painting contractors. I hasten to add that I am not calling any contractor a crook. But many contractors do not regard a paint job as an exchange of values. They view is as a confrontational activity between the client and the contractor, in which each tries to get something over on the other.

As an example, many contractors argue that customers always hire on price. They see no other value involved in the transaction. So they offer the most basic value they can--putting paint on the wall. They don't accept credit cards, have insurance, do color consultations, or offer any other value that customers will pay for. They simply put paint on the wall, and then complain that customers won't pay for quality.

I would argue that such an attitude is a form of theft. A contractor who believes such things is robbing himself and his family. By depriving his customers of the additional values that he could offer, he prevents himself from commanding a better price. And while his intentions may be better than the punk who broke into my house, I'd still like to slap some sense into him. What I'd like to do to that punk is a different matter.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008

Thoughts on Pricing

If you hang around forums long enough, you are likely to see some rather strange theories. Recently a post on PaintTalk claimed:

Painting on the other hand...especially faux or industrial is so subjective that
a lot of considerations are simply not relevant. Simply think about what the
client is willing to pay then double it.

This is some of the oddest advice I've read in a long time. How is one to know what the "client is willing to pay". Apparently, estimating requires some form of ESP, rather than a working knowledge of the trade. In addition, why just double that number? Why not triple it? Or why not multiply it by Pi? No explanation was given.

Here is another one:

When you own a company, profit (i.e. what you make after everyone is paid
(bills, employees, etc.) is essentially the same thing as your salary.

This is a particularly interesting concept, in that it reveals why 99% of painting contractors fail. The premise underlying this statement is that you first pay everyone, and whatever is left you get to put in your pocket. There are several things wrong with this.


First, the owner's salary should be a part of overhead. It should be a defined amount that is built into the price of every job. Second, in the above statement the owner isn't really drawing a salary--he is getting whatever crumbs happen to be left. I don't consider that very motivating. Third, profit is what is left after everything--including the owner--is paid.

I sometimes wonder what motivates such comments. I suspect that the writers simply don't know any better. But that is no excuse for positing oneself as an expert. Fortunately, such comments are usually challenged and corrected by others.


© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008

You’re So Purdy to Me

Because all work and no play make Brian a very dull boy, the following was written for my amusement, and now I offer it for yours.

From the moment that I held you,
And dipped you in the pot,
The truth was crystal clear,
A Wooster you are not.

Your hairs so soft and subtle,
Your handle hard and long,
If I could play the guitar,
I’d probably write a song.

You’re so Purdy to me,
I love to paint with you,
If you were a woman,
Oh the things that we could do.

I’ll use you in the latex,
No oil you will touch,
Please stay soft and subtle,
I don’t ask for much.

I promise that I’ll clean you,
Keep each hair squeaky clean,
Just keep on laying it on,
If you know what I mean.

You’re so Purdy to me,
I love to cut the walls,
If you weren’t a paint brush,
Oh we could have a ball.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008

Toads

We have a pond in our back yard. On occasion the neighborhood toads decide it is party time, and they congregate in and around our pond. Like obnoxious neighbors who think you want to hear their music at 2 AM, these toads seem to think that we are interested in their mating rituals.

I would have no issues with them if they simply went about their business. But their mating apparently includes croaking—males use this to “attract” females— at ear splitting decibels. A singular toad doing this is just a minor distraction. However, when a dozen or so are doing it, it turns into a symphony of irritation.

I’ve tried all kind of things in my quest to keep these little beasts out of my life. I tried throwing them over the fence, which provided only temporary relief. I tried flushing them down the toilet, which gave my wife quite a shock when they managed to crawl back.

Toads really have nothing to do with paint contracting, but they do have something to do with owning a business. They are presenting me with a problem, and I am uncertain as to how to solve it. Brian Tracy recently wrote: “Define your problems clearly in writing. Accurate diagnosis is half the cure.”

I can attest to this advice. Many times I’ve wrestled with a problem, only to discover that I really didn’t know what the problem was. That can certainly make a solution difficult to find. So hopefully the toads won’t return to my yard for a while, and in the meantime I can try to define that problem more accurately.

And if that doesn’t work, maybe I’ll buy a large snake to eat them.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008

Getting Stuff Done

If you have trouble getting stuff done, the problem might be the type of stuff you are trying to do. Or when you try to do that stuff.



While this video is intended to be humorous, it demonstrates how easily we can get sidetracked from getting our stuff done. One thing can lead to another, and pretty soon we haven't gotten our stuff done.

This is where prioritizing and planning can help. Much of the stuff we do isn't urgent, or is simply spur of the moment and therefore inefficient. By prioritizing we can identify what really requires out attention. By planning we can group together tasks to improve efficiency.

A simple example of planning is to run multiple errands in one trip. Another example of planning is to schedule some "down" time-- play a game, read something humourous, or tackle some task that doesn't require a lot of attention.

We all have stuff that we need to get done. How we plan, prioritize, and schedule our time will have a lot to do with how much of that stuff we actually get done.

Learning to Walk

A baby's first step is one of those events that parents treasure. It represents a milestone of sorts-- movement towards indepedence. For a painting contractor, learning to walk is also a milestone.

At one time or another, most contractors have an opportunity to bid a job that they think will result in a pot of gold. Maybe it's painting a large apartment complex, or an office building, or a strip center. And while any of these could be extremely profitable, they can also be a potential mine field.

Jobs with a large reward often also have a large risk attached. While you could make a lot of money, you could also lose a lot of money.

The excitement of a large job can sometimes cause one to put reason aside. With visions of dollars flashing through his mind, he fails to properly plan and manage the job. Problems develop and then escalate. Cash flow becomes a problem. The contractor gets stressed and starts putting pressue on his workers and his customer. It can become a very ugly scene.

This is not to say that big jobs cannot be done profitably. They can. But for someone who has not done so before, extreme caution should be exercised. And sometimes it is best to walk away. That is not always a fun thing to do. Losing a lot of money isn't fun either, and you will never lose money when you learn to walk.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008

Bullies and Second-Handers

I have been active on various Internet forums for 8+ years. I am aware of only 1 other person who has be regularly active during that period--whom I will call Harvey. During this time I have witnessed a very ugly side to the man. I quit visiting his board for a period of time. In early 2006 he contacted me regarding this and we talked on the phone. I explained that I did not like his approach and wouldn’t condone it. If he changed I would consider visiting his board. For a short while he was more civil, but when the civility began to disappear so did I.

In March of this year he posted on his board about "a so called professional's blog". Harvey went on to write that "he has pretty much copied what I have written about why we can't price by the square foot floor area!" Harvey proceeded to call the author "a low life crumb" for using the work of someone else "for their betterment, trying to make others think that they are creative!"

I was made aware of the post by a friend who questioned if the post referred to me. I suspected it did and contacted Harvey. He refused to deny that the post referred to me. He did however, remove his post. I then wrote an open letter that I shared with a small number of people, including Harvey.

Harveyresponded with several emails requesting that I retract the open letter. He ended one email by writing: “I can state with assurance that this would be your BEST chance at damage control.” I did not retract the letter, and heard nothing further from Harvey.

In August he joined a particular board and began to take pot shots at me. Several friends emailed asking why he was doing this. I was not certain, but suspected a lingering animosity. Desiring to avoid open warfare on the board, I wrote a post implicitly addressed to Harvey. He eventually responded. A few excerpts are included below, along with my comments:

Harvey: Just because you decide that somebody (me perhaps) has taken something out of context to somehow disprove your credibility doesn't make it so and I'll tell you that it ain't so.

I clearly established the context in which I was writing. I was referring to the markup of materials and its impact on the price. I gave numerical examples in addition to my textual explanation. This was the context that I established as the basis for my comments. To address my comments while ignoring that context is fallacious, and that is precisely what you did. I never denied that material costs could fluctuate.

Harvey: YOU are being consumed by your own philosophical BS. I find Ayn Rand to be somewhat of a mental case, personally and judging by your behavior and your secret squirrel topics, I probably ain't far off with my assessment.

Now we are getting closer to the real heart of the matter and the apparent source of your animosity and anger. You bring up Ayn Rand, which I had not done. Why do so when she was irrelevant to the topic? In doing so, you are resorting to an ad hominem attack—you are trying to refute my argument by reference to someone I admire. And then you engage in petty slurs against her in a very juvenile attempt to make a point. You might as well say that my mother wears army boots.

These comments are rather revealing, in that you make no attempt to address anything substantive. Phrases such as “philosophical BS”, “mental case”, and “secret squirrel topics” are simply childish. You make no attempt to provide evidence to support your claims. You just lash out in anger, as if that will provide a compelling argument.

This is in sharp contrast to my posts. When someone questions my position, I respond with facts and numbers. I explain why I reached my conclusion. I certainly do not respond with “I’ve seen it for years” or "you are a mental case" or "may family has been doing this for 50 years".

What is particularly interesting in the above is that you jump to conclusions about my mental state while simultaneously launching into an irrational and unintelligible rant. You question my behavior while simultaneously raising irrelevant issues. You suggest that I might have some issues while you demonstrate that you actually do have issues.

I will not speculate as to your motivation. But I have enough experience with irrational thugs to know the general ideas that underlie your type.

I’ve said before that you are nothing more than a bully. Like a little child who stomps his feet and holds his breath when he doesn’t get his way, you resort to personal insults and threats. Unable to provide a logical argument, you resort to the only tactics available to brutes. This has been your pattern for years, and not just with me.

The underlying premise to such actions is that reality is malleable to your whims. If you hold your breath long enough, or shout enough threats, others will appease you. That may work with some people, but it won’t work with me.

You exhibit all of the symptoms of a second-hander—a person whose self-worth is dictated by the opinions others have of him. A second-hander reacts to disapproval in one of two ways—he lashes out or he appeases. He typically oscillates between the two, depending on the circumstances and his emotional state at the time.

This has been your pattern for years. For example, you threatened to beat up Richard Kaller, and then quickly claimed that you didn’t mean it. One day you’d be his biggest defender, and the next a brutal enemy. You berated Paul Burns, and then gave him a forum on your board. You see-saw between outright hostility and transparent timidity.

You likely regard this as “philosophical BS”. Petty minds often do. But what you think is of little concern to me.

Harvey: Somehow, you seemed to position yourself here as the Guru of I don't know what but man, we all have something to add here and just because it our opinions oppose yours doesn't mean we're "out to get you".

If I am regarded as a Guru—a title that I have never claimed—then it would be by the evaluations of others. Assuming that such is true (i.e., that I am regarded as a Guru), I can only conclude that it is on the basis of the ideas I present and my manner of doing so. I present logical arguments for my positions. I cite numbers and facts. I do not threaten or berate others, even when they disagree with me.

According to Wikipedia, a guru "is a person who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area, and uses it to guide others." I did not explicitly seek such a status, but if I have attained it, I would not regard it as a bad thing. But why would that bother you? Does any success that I have attained threaten you?

I have never had an issue with someone disagreeing with me. However, I expect more than “you are wrong because I said so”. That is neither compelling nor factual. It explains nothing. And until facts are presented that refute my position, I will remain adamant in that position.

My position is not a matter of opinion. It is based on facts. You imply that all opinions have equal merit, an idea that I thoroughly reject. An opinion that is not founded on facts is just a fantasy.

Interestingly, you find it necessary to point out that those who disagree with me are not “out to get [me]”. Whatever would give you the impression that I think that? The fact that I have the courage and conviction to stand up for myself and my ideas does not mean that I think others are "out to get me". I can only conclude that you are projecting your own insecurities upon me.

You recently joined the board, and within a short time were attempting to assert your authority by reference to your family’s history in the industry. You repeatedly told us that your arguments are true “because you’ve seen it”. You claimed profundity for comments that others regarded as obvious. These are not the actions or attitudes of someone who is interested in learning and sharing. These are the actions and attitudes of someone who is trying to impress. When those tactics did not work, you resorted to childish and fallacious attacks on me.

I have largely avoided you for the past several years. I had previously told you that I did not appreciate or condone your tactics and I would not be party to them. For a brief period you behaved in a more civil manner, but when you could no longer resist your natural inclination to be rude and arrogant, I ceased visiting your board.

That was apparently unacceptable to you. You responded by attacking me on your board, but didn’t have the courage to name me. When I questioned you on this, you refused to deny that you were referring to me. You apparently thought that I, and others, could not see through your transparent and petty anger.

More recently you have taken the same approach on the board. Others on the board contacted me privately, asking why you were attacking me. You may be deluding yourself with your visions of grandeur and your underhanded methods, but others are not buying your silliness. Nor are they blind to the object of your hatred.

I do not know the source of your insecurities. But they are obviously deep and profound. Given your frequent reference to your family’s history in the industry, I suspect that therein lies some, if not all, of the answer. But that is speculation, and I will not claim it to be true.

When you attacked me earlier this year, I was content to limit access to my open letter. I gave access to less than 6 people and had password protection on the letter. You did not know this, and your emails pleading for me to remove the letter were further evidence of your second-hand nature. It was rather evident that you could not tolerate the idea that many people could be reading the truth about you.

You have again chosen to attack me publicly. Justice demands that I treat you in the manner that you deserve. This is my way of doing so. If you wish to make an ass of yourself, I will not stand in the way. I will however, document that fact and I will continue to share it when and where appropriate. I may also reveal your true identify, at my discretion, to those who ask.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008. Reproduction or distribution in whole or part, by any means, is prohibited.

Make a Date with Yourself

I hear a lot of contractors complain that they simply can't find the time to work on certain projects. They want to develop procedures, or tweak their estimating system, or some other task that will have long-term benefits. But they just can't seem to squeeze the time into their day.

In a recent blog post Brian Tracy offers some tips on how to make better use of your time.

Some people allocate specific 30-60 minute time periods each day for
exercise. Many people read in the great books 15 minutes each night before
retiring. In this way, over time, they eventually read dozens of the best books
ever written.

The key to the success of this method of working in specific time
segments is for you to plan your day in advance and specifically schedule a
fixed time period for a particular activity or task.

Long-term projects require a prolonged committment-- consistent steps in the right direction. By setting aside some amount of time each day or each week to work on a project you are able to make gradual, yet consistent progress. Painting a house requires a series of specific actions. So does the completion of long-term business tasks.

Many highly productive people schedule specific activities in preplanned time
slots all day long. These people build their work lives around accomplishing key
tasks one at a time. As a result, they become more and more productive and
eventually produce two times, three times and five times as much as the average
person.

Like many time management tips, this is easier said than done. The daily demands of owning a business, in addition to family, friends, and hobbies, can stretch our time very thin. Focusing on priorities, rather than the interest du jour, keeps us moving toward our long-term goals.

Toothache Marketing

Dentists have a challenge when it comes to marketing. They can have signs, ads, and everything else all over the place, but if your teeth don't hurt, you will ignore those ads. In other words, much of their marketing is "wasted" because they can't target only those with toothaches.

The same is true of painting contractors. We don't know exactly who wants/ needs our services. But as Seth Godin writes, "Figure out a cost-effective way to be there. A way to gently be in my face so that when my toothache shows up (in whatever form that takes) you're the obvious choice."

In other words, we almost need to be omnipresent-- we need to be everywhere. Then when that paint starts flaking, our company is easy to find.

Godin also recommends offering products or services that don't require pain for the customer to take action. Fortunately for painting contractors, this is a large part of our business-- color changes. But we still need that top-of-the-mind awareness.

Market early, market late, market often. If we are always in front of the consumer, we'll be in front of him when he needs us. Or, as Godin puts it, "There are toothache marketers in just about every industry. Realizing it is the first step to dealing with it."

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008

Rules of Customer Service

Customer service is sometimes viewed as one of those business issues that largely lies in the eye of the beholder. That is, each customer desires something different, and thus, what is exceptional service for one customer may fall short for another.

Frederic Premji lays out 10 basic principles of good customer service. These include:

Always give more than advertised. If you really want to put the customer
experience over the top, you have to provide more value than they expected. Bad
service falls below expectations. Good service meets the expectations. Excellent
service surpasses expectations.

Be open to flexibility. It occurs on occasion that a customer doesn’t find
exactly what they were looking for, and being a little flexible can turn out to
be quite beneficial for both parties.

Anticipate what your customers want & guide them. Sometimes when
dealing with a client, they will not be too clear about what they are looking
for, because they perhaps do not know a proper way to express it. Your job in
this case is to figure out what is best for them and provide them with this
solution.

All of these items focus on the customer, and that is essentially what good customer service requires. It requires that we identify the values our customers desire, and then seeking methods for providing those values.

Business is about creating win- win situations. If we lose sight of this, and focus only on our desires and values, poor customer service can easily result.

This does not mean that we should do anything and everything to please the customer. That creates a situation in which we lose.


© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008

Analyzing Numbers

Numbers are an important tool for managing your paint contracting company. Numbers help us keep score, understand how our company is doing, and allow us to project future performance. But numbers can also be misleading if we don't understand what they represent.

A post on allbusiness.com emphasizes this point: "[N]ot everything that is important to customer service can be counted and not everything that can be counted is really important." While the post is about using numbers to analyze customer service, the point applies to any data.

Like any tool, if we don't use numbers properly they can do more harm than good. If we focus solely on the number, and not what it represents in reality, we could drive right off the cliff.

For example, the closing rate is only one number, and it isn't the most important number. But if we obsess over a low closing rate while our average sale and return on investment are skyrocketing we are missing the big picture.

Further, we must understand how each number impacts other numbers. We can drive our closing rate close to 100% by cutting our prices, but that's not a good strategy and is ultimately counter-productive. As the article concludes, we should never try to get full understanding merely from the numbers, but they are a large part clarifying and understanding aspects of our business.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008

Cooking and Marketing

John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing had an interesting post last week comparing cooking and marketing. "People tell me I’m a pretty good cook," he writes, "and here’s my secret. I’m not afraid to take ingredients I like and throw them together and see what happens."

This, he says, is a lot like marketing. We know the goal we desire, and we know what ingredients to put together to reach that goal. And, while there are proven principles to follow when marketing, "I’m afraid there is no marketing cookbook just for your business, only a set of proven tools and ingredients."

Often I hear painting contractors ask about what marketing works best. They imply that there is some recipe that will start the phone ringing off the hook. But it simply doesn't happen that way. Door hangers might work great for me, but those results are based on many things-- the message on the piece, the timing of delivery, the neighborhoods I target, and much more.

All of these factors are the ingredients that go into your marketing recipe. We all of to play with these ingredients to discover how much of each will give us the taste we desire.

And sometimes ingredients that seem odd together turn out very well. I just love the combination of cinnamon and cayenne pepper on chicken. The first time I tried it I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out well. The same is true with marketing-- sometimes we need to experiment. The result may be something that we really like.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008

Keeping Focus

Many things can cause interruptions when we are working on a task. We often look at others as the source of these interruptions-- such as phone calls or questions from an employee. But as Denise Landers writes, "there is another one to add to that list. We interrupt ourselves frequently."

Whether the source of the interruption is internal or external, interruptions are a huge time waster. It can take as long as 20 minutes to regain focus, during which time another interruption can occur.

External sources can be difficult to control, though not impossible. We can shut the door, turn off the phone, etc. to reduce or eliminate these causes.

Internal sources-- such as boredom, procrastination, or simply habit-- can also be difficult to control. Landers suggests setting aside a small amount of time each day to focus on one project. "It may seem strange at first, she writes, "and you will find your mind wandering or your hand edging toward the email inbox. Fight the urge."

That might seem like a simplistic suggestion. But the fact is, keeping focus does require effort, and we are the only one who can exert that effort. Like many tasks that are difficult, it may be a struggle at first but will get easier in time.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008

Communicating with Employees

I've written a lot about the importance of communicating with customers during the estimating/ sales process for a painting job. We do this to: 1. learn what they want, need, and expect; 2. explain how we can meet those values.

But employees are "customers" too. We must communicate our vision to them, as well as how we intend to pursue that vision and their role in that process. Too often that communication involves little more than the owner pontificating. As Bill Hogg points out, "if it isn't two-way, it isn't communication. It's simply message distribution."

There is certainly a time and place for one-way communication. But if this is our modus operandi we become little more than benevolent dictators, imposing our ideas on employees. Now only does this deprive us of ideas that the employees might have, it can also lead to less acceptance of our ideas. As Hogg asks, "Do you have a process set up that stimulates a conversation or is your messaging primarily just being pushed out from the communications team?"

This does not mean that we should operate our business as a democracy. Employees want and need leadership. But they also want to feel like their ideas matter. And that can only happen if we talk with them, not talk at them.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008

Learning from a Customer

I found a customer service blog post that is quite interesting. The writer-- Bill Hogg-- was seeking to have some exterior painting done on his house. He called 2 of the student painting outfits. (I'm not going to comment on that part of the story.)

Company A provided an estimate quickly and with no hassle. Company B waited a week to return the original phone call. When they did return the call, Company B insisted that both the wife and husband be present when they inspected the job.

Mr. Hogg recognized what was going to happen-- high pressure, coupled with an incentive to sign on the spot. He cancelled the appointment.

"The lessons here are many, but the big one was they were in business for themselves -- not their customer," Hogg writes. "Their entire process and all the resultant issues that arose were because they were not thinking about my needs -- the definition of a customer-focused business."

Too many painting contractors project their desires, wants, and needs upon their customers. These contractors think that their values are more important that the values desired by customers. When a contractor starts thinking this way, he is headed towards problems.

Such thinking justifies being late for appointments-- it's only a few minutes. It justifies cutting corners-- nobody will ever know. It justifies one-way communications-- I'm the expert and the customer should listen to me. It justifies all sorts of attitudes that ignore the customer.

Customer service means servicing the customer. To do that, we must understand what they want, need, and desire. And that means focusing on the customer.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008