Archives for March 2019

by Tom Grandy

Unless your parents dropped you in the jungle shortly after birth and you were raised by wild animals, you have probably noticed there are significant differences between men and women. Physical differences are rather obvious. However, when it comes to communication, there are also some major differences.

Many years ago I listened to a presentation by Sharon Roberts entitled “Selling to Women.” That presentation was an eye opener that changed my marriage as well as my business. Let’s review what she shared and look at a few practical applications.

Sharon stated that when men are talking, they tend to communicate like this: one man talks while the others listen. When the one speaking has completed his thoughts, another man will then comment and/or add his thoughts. It’s very logical and straight forward, right? Well, it seems logical and straight forward if you are a man but perhaps not so much if you are a woman.

Sharon shared when most women are talking, they tend to “think out loud.” Translated that means they tend to say what they are thinking. Now that may not sound earth shattering but it has HUGE ramifications in marriage, as well as business. Let me explain.

Marriage
I have been married for a long time. As a matter of fact, my wife and I just celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary. When I heard Sharon talk about women “thinking out loud” something inside of me clicked. “Wow, that’s my wife! Boy, have I crippled our communication for over 25 years!” Again, in a man’s conversation the process is: talk, listen and talk, listen. Women, in many cases but certainly not all, tend to say what they are thinking. Case in point, I would come home from work and my wife would start talking about her day. She would go on and on while my male brain was thinking “Ok, that is all well and good, but what’s the point?” Usually, after 10 or 15 minutes, I would interrupt her and ask, “Ok, what’s the point?” Bad move! My interrupting just ended the conversation resulting in a long and often very quiet evening.

As our children grew up I would sometimes come home to find there was a problem with one of the kids. Again, my wife would go on and on and again I would eventually interrupt, asking her to get to the point. Again, bad decision, conversation over! After listening to Sharon’s presentation I learned a very valuable lesson – to listen while my wife was talking! What followed really amazed me. As she was sharing her day, she was simply saying what she was thinking. When I did not interrupt, she would complete her “thought press” and all was fine.

When it came to discussing problems concerning the children, I quickly realized that she often did not want an answer or even a suggestion of what could be done to solve the problem. She was simply sharing what she was thinking about. When I would fully listen, she could fully share her thoughts without my needing to comment. The end result was that she didn’t really want a solution; she simply wanted to verbalize what she was thinking. By the end, the so called “problem” wasn’t really a problem at all, she just wanted to share her thoughts on the subject. My lack of interrupting actually made us both a lot happier!

Business
Now carry those thoughts over to women as customers. First of all, realize that women directly purchase, or are part of the buying decision over 75% of the time. When it comes to sales in the business world most sales people are men and most customers are women.  A salesman is making the sales presentation and the woman starts asking questions even before the full presentation has been completed. This is normal for most women since they are simply saying what they are thinking. What’s going on in the man’s mind? “Why is she asking all those questions now? I haven’t even finished the presentation yet.” If you are the normal sales person you wait a bit, silently and then eventually interrupt her and ask (in a nice way) what the real question is. When you interrupted, what happened? The woman thinks you are rude, communication ceases, and the sales process ends without making the sale. Sure, she may be polite and allow you to go on but in her mind, the decision was made when you interrupted because she is now thinking. “I don’t like this guy and I am NOT buying anything from him!”

A wise sales professional allows the woman to speak whenever she wishes and allows her to talk until she has completed her thought process. When the conversation is handled in this way the odds of closing the sales go up dramatically. If you will apply these principles to your marriage you might just be celebrating your 47th wedding anniversary in a few years! If you apply them in your business your close rate just might increase.

by Dave Ramsey

The greatest generals in history knew that wars could not be won without the loyalty of their troops. Likewise, you cannot and will not win in business without the loyalty, respect and determination of your team.

Loyalty is not gained by simply barking orders. Respect is not the result of instilling a sense of fear in those around you. Your success depends on their success, and this is one of the underlying principles of servant leadership. I’ve worked hard to build my company on this concept, and now it’s one of the guiding principles I teach in my EntreLeadership Master Series class.

Setting a good example as a leader is paramount to winning over your team. No one likes a hypocrite, so if you’re going to talk the talk you had better make sure you walk the walk.

Fanatical integrity
Actions always speak louder than words. By putting forth your best effort every day, always telling the truth, and simply behaving as a respectful and responsible person, you will foster a sense of loyalty within your team.

Loyalty is born, and a quality culture occurs, when leaders follow through in a professional, predictable and proactive manner on every single issue and opportunity.

Interact and listen
Part of being a servant leader is listening to, and interacting with, those around you. Locking yourself away in your office is one of the worst things any leader can do.

Spend time with the troops, and get down in the trenches with them regularly. Get to know them and their families, and ask their opinions. Just as importantly, surround yourself with other leaders who are willing to tell you the truth instead of what they might think you want to hear.

Think of others
Love your team well. When you would expect to be praised, give them praise. When you would expect a raise, give them raises. And remember, nobody’s perfect — especially you! There are times in everyone’s life when they need a little grace, so be caring and willing to give it. And if one of your team members needs to be reprimanded, do it privately in a prompt and constructive manner. That’s what you would want if you messed up, right?

As a servant leader, you must always strive to think of others. It’s really as simple as following the Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31 NIV).

By following these principles, you can inspire loyalty within your team. This will help turn “employees” into team members, who will stand by your side and help you become more successful than you ever dreamed possible!

No matter how old you are, at one point we were all kids. When I was young, many years ago, all the neighborhood kids would gather to play baseball, kickball, or basketball during the day and capture the flag or kick the can at night. Amongst the kids there was always the leader. Someone would suggest we play this or that, and the rest would agree and fall in line. When it came to picking sides, the two top leaders would then select who would be on their team and you felt a sense of pride when you were chosen.

Yes, I do realize there are a zillions books, videos, and training programs on how to become an effective leader. I also agree that a portion of being an effective leader can be learned. With that said, I also believe that the vast majority of leaders are born, not trained.

It really doesn’t matter how leaders become gifted with their abilities, they are there and most people recognize a leader when they see one. Every business needs a leader! Someone has to set the pace. Someone has to have the vision and someone has to move forward with the team following.

One of the great qualities of leadership is trust. Those surrounding the leader tend to trust them, even if they don’t always agree with their decisions. Why? Because they know the leader will take ownership of the decisions he or she makes. If things don’t work out as planned, they don’t scan the horizon looking for someone or something to blame.

I listened to an amazing presentation awhile back. It was entitled You Don’t Have to Have a Title to Be a Leader. The business owner might be the overall leader, but leaders are needed at every level. The company may have a service manager, but leaders are needed even among the tech team. Do others look up to you? Do they look to you when a decision needs to be made? If that is the case, you are a leader, like it or not. By the way, if you are a leader then act like a leader … because others are watching you.

by Tom Grandy

Let’s assume it’s the 1950s. During the ‘50s, few people had, or used, credit cards. Purchasing things back then was based on a pretty simple concept – if you didn’t have the money, you didn’t buy it. Sounds a little un-American to today’s generation, but it had one outstanding benefit: people, in general, were not deeply in debt.

Fast forward to the summer of 2016. I am on a working vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC and I have a wife whose hobby is shopping. No, she does not spend money just to be spending it; but with three daughters, three sons-in-law, and nine grandchildren she is always scanning the horizon for great buys. Over the past several days we have gone to several shopping areas with no intention of buying anything. But, as expected, we now have bags of the stuff we had no intention of buying. The principle is pretty simple. If we had not seen the item, we would not have purchased it. In other words “Out of sight, out of mind.” If you don’t see it, you won’t buy it.

That same principle applies to spending money in your business, “Out of sight, out of mind.” Let’s look at a few areas where this principle applies. The following suggestions may even limit your spending a bit, or at least reduce your indebtedness.

Credit Cards
It is so easy to spend money using credit cards. However, paying off the balance at the end of the month can be more difficult. I understand that principle as I accumulated quite a bit of credit card debt during my early years in business. It took several years, but I found a solution. I have set up a “liabilities” savings account that I can access online. Each time I use the credit card, I simply enter the amount into QuickBooks as a bill to pay, then transfer the money out of my business account to the online liability account. That process continues throughout the month. When the credit card bill arrives, all the money I owe is sitting in my liability account. I simply transfer the money from the liability account back into the general business account, and pay the bill. Since the money was NOT sitting in my business account, where I would have been tempted to spend it, it was “out of sight, out of mind.”

Materials/Equipment
The same principle that applied to my credit card spending also applies to paying your suppliers for materials, parts, and equipment. When you get the 25-50% deposit for the job (you do get a deposit in this range, right?) don’t spend it all. If you get a $1500 deposit, take the material and equipment cost of the job (perhaps it’s $1100) and transfer it to a liability account or open a separate account just for your suppliers. If you do that throughout the month, an amazing thing happens – you will be able to pay your distributors on time. That has some great benefits. If your supplier offers a discount for paying on time, you will be able to take advantage of it. Also, the name of the game for distributors is cash flow. The more money that comes in, the more stuff they can put on the shelf. Also be aware that less than 15% of contractors pay on time each month. If you pay on time, that places your company in a unique position with your supplier. You now have negotiating power that other companies don’t have. Try it, you’ll like it. Again the principle is simple. “Out of sign, out of mind.”

Monthly Savings
This one is easy, and fun. Simply pick a dollar figure to put into savings each week. It doesn’t have to be a large figure, so let’s pick $200. Now for the easy part. Have a short meeting with your office manager or whoever handles your checkbook. Tell them to take $200 out of your business checkbook each week and deposit it into a savings account or mutual fund. Since you will never see the money it really is “out of sight, out of mind.” Now for the fun part. By this time next year you will have accumulated over $10,000 plus growth and you will never miss the money!

Paying Off Debt
If you follow Dave Ramsey you are familiar with the process of the debt snowball for paying off multiple debts. Let’s say you have three debts:

• Debt #1 has a payment of $400/month and is scheduled to be paid off in six months.
• Debt #2 is $350/month and you owe $3,500.
• Debt #3 is $550/month and you owe $8,000.

As soon a Debt #1 is paid off apply the $400 to Debt #2. You are now paying $750/month on Debt #2 and it will now be paid off very quickly. When Debt #2 is paid off apply it all the debt payment funds to Debt #3. You are now paying $1,300/month on Debt #3 and guess what, it will be paid off in no time. Since you never saw the extra money when the first two debts were paid off it was again, “Out of sight, out of mind.” The best part is that you are now debt free AND you have an additional $1,300 going to the bottom line each month. That is an additional $15,600 in profit each year!

Payroll Tax Account
How many times have you borrowed from your payroll tax money sincerely thinking you would pay it back really soon … but you didn’t. Don’t mess with Uncle Sam because he doesn’t play fair. Failure to pay on time WILL incur penalty and interest and, if not paid, Sam will take your house, your car, and all you have. There is, however, a solution.

Again, create another online payroll account. At the end of each pay period, transfer 100% of the employees’ gross wages into that account PLUS the company-matching taxes (social security and Medicare and state and federal unemployment dollars). Once all the money has been transferred to your new online payroll account write your payroll checks out of that account. What’s left in the account? All the employees’ withholding taxes and all the company matching taxes. Again, “out of sight, out of mind.”

I encourage you to try at least one of the above suggestions. When your do, share the results with your elderly parents who grew up in the 1950s, and watch the smile come across their faces.

I just completed a two-day Company Overview with a relatively small, but growing company. As we entered data into the software model it became apparent that the owner was paying above average wages to his techs. Most of the technicians were earning between $75,000 and $100,000 a year. That seemed really high for a non-union company his size. The owner later explained that he hired most of his techs away from other companies.

Over the two days, several things became very clear.

• No calls from the techs. The owner was not interrupted by a single phone call from even one of his five techs during the two days we were there. His techs knew what to do and they did it.
• They showed up for work every day with a good attitude. While looking at the techs’ payroll records I noticed something very unique. They did not miss work! They enjoyed their job and did not take time off. It’s a great feeling to know your techs will show up for work every day.
• They were skilled at what they did. These were highly skilled HVAC technicians. Each installer was capable of doing an entire installation in one day … by themselves! Yes, a helper would bring equipment to the location and the two of them would physically set the equipment, but the tech did the rest on his own. The owner told me it was not unusual for his installers to install two systems in a 10-hour day, by themselves, during the busy season.
• Very few customer callbacks. They did the job correctly the first time. That means there were few callbacks.
• Paperwork was filled out correctly and turned in on time. What a joy it was NOT to hear the office staff complaining about technician paperwork issues!

After spending two days with my client, it was easily proven that these high-income techs were not costing him money … they were making him money!

Are you worth a wage of $75,000 to $100,000 per year? Would someone try to hire you away from your current employer based on your skill set? If not, why not? Career technicians, in any trade, are personally responsible for developing their technical expertise. There is currently a real shortage of technicians across the country. However, highly skilled technicians will always be in demand. If you’re not making top wages in the current job environment, perhaps you should ask yourself why, and do something about it!