As an owner operator contractor, it’s tough to stay on top of everything.
You own everything, the sales, production, team, cashflow… the list goes on.
And in an environment where competition is strong, leads dry up, it’s more critical than ever to plug the leaks in your operation.
I’m going to talk on top tips to stop gaps in your client experience.
The best way to solve a problem is not to optimize it, rather eliminate it.
I love this quote: People make the mistake of optimizing things that shouldn’t exist in the first place.
So before we optimize the solution to the problem, explore ways to utterly eliminate the problem.
Here are some examples:
Let’s say you struggle with missing calls from prospects on your business phone number.
You want to solve the problem, but it’s hard to distinguish between the spam calls and the real calls.
So let’s say you set up an elaborate process where you set up a business phone system where the caller has to select a number to talk to sales, customer inquiries, etc.
That way when your phone does ring, the chances that it’s a real prospect is much higher, and your phone doesn’t interrupt you as much out on the job site.
Optimize, optimize, optimize….
What if we just eliminated the problem instead?
Get someone else to answer the phone.
Not the person who is out on the road, the job, running equipment, sweating, no notepad nearby.
Rather have a professional person answer the phone, one who is in the right place to take the information, process the lead, and establish next steps.
Or another example:
I see people over engineering their sales process.
Too many steps.
You don’t need 3D designs to sell a $10k planting job.
Details kill deals.
I’ve seen six figure jobs close from painting lines on the ground and a pencil sketch.
You want to get to the yes or no ASAP.
Don’t artificially drag out the process in an attempt to appear “legit”.
It wastes both you and the prospect’s time.
The top 5 opportunities I see for contractors to improve their client experience, and reduce things falling through the cracks are:
- Have someone dedicated to answering the phone during business hours
- Define your sales process into clear steps, so your prospect knows exactly what to expect. Don’t leave them wondering.
- Speed up your proposal process with templates and production rates. Present the proposal right there at the consultation and go home with a no, or a deposit check. Not an item on your to-do list.
- Set expectations with scheduling the work. Don’t tell clients that you’re going to start the job on a specific day 3 months from now. Too many things will change. Rather give them a ballpark range (ie “late September”) and tell them you’ll call with a hard start date a week in advance.
- Explain your invoicing process up front. Do not leave anything open to interpretation. Tell them exactly when amounts will be due, so that there is a hard line expectation set before any issues arise.
These 5 areas are the most ripe for missed communications and expectations, causing drama and disappointment on both sides.
When that phone rings from a lead, that call is gold.
You do not want to miss or fumble that.
All your marketing efforts led up to that one moment.
Don’t squander it.
Focus on getting these processes lock tight, and not only will your client experience improve, but your own experience will be much less stressful as well.
Setting clear expectations ahead of time is much easier than trying to clean up a misunderstanding.
It starts by you yourself defining how things “should” go.
Getting that into writing.
Using that documentation on your website and providing that info to your prospects.
Before going wild on optimizing, ask yourself if you’re optimizing something that should just be eliminated…?
The tendency is to lean toward complexity. Find ways to simplify.
Good luck out there.
Cheers,
Weston Zimmerman
SynkedUP CEO & founder
P.S. Come tour a thriving business to get ideas, in person, at our Contractor Summit event for contractors!
We’re going to be touring Evolve Design & Build’s facility, their office, their process, everything.
Sept 11-12, Kitty Hawk, NC. Right on the beach.
Get $250 off your tickets by using code EARLYBIRD.
Want to see how SynkedUP helps contractors price their jobs profitably? Book a call.
Weston Zimmerman
CEO and co-founder
See SynkedUP in action
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