For the past 4 years or so, I have worked for a couple of different small roofing businesses. Along the way, I have learned a few things that I think are worth passing along.
1. Never pay full price for advertising. Advertisers make a ton of profit off of every company that advertises with them; they can afford to cut the costs and 'show some love' in order to get your business. So, make nice, sweet talk, and never, ever pay full price.
2. You have not because you ask not. If you want the sale, ask for it. If you want the customer to give you a referral, ask for it. And, if you want those supplies at a lower cost, ask for it. My boss has been invited over for dinner and lunch by his customers simply because he is likable, and he asks!
Another good example: We had an magazine advertiser who was selling a particular spot for about $1500. The boss asked for a discount and got it down to $1300. We then asked for a further discount and got it down to about $1000. That's a good discount! Well, my boss said, just for fun, ask him to lower it another $300. We did it more or less for kicks, and just to see what he would say. (This was all taking place by email) We thought he'd get mad, but instead he emailed back that he had discussed it with his supervisor, and he would give us the ad at $700! The point: We asked.
3. Most people are generally lazy, so ask two or three times. Why? Because, they will try to take the lazy way out rather than checking, making the phone call, reading the directions, etc.
Here's an example: I called over to Lowe's, and asked to talk to someone about roofing shingles. I asked the guy on the other end a question,
"Do you carry such and such shingle?"
"Um, no. No, I don't think so."
"Are you positive that you don't have it?"
"Um, yeah." (I still didn't believe him.)
"Would you mind walking down the aisle and taking a look for me?"
Sure, there was a risk that I would tick him off, but when he came back, he had to admit that the item was in stock.
The same conversation works with bank tellers, delivery men, and employees!
4. Test and measure everything! At the small roofing and siding company that I work for, we keep track of everything: advertising costs, leads per promotion, jobs per promotion, conversion rates, trends, etc.
I know that last month my salesman was given X number of leads, and that he converted that number to Y number of jobs, and that this brought in Z amount of revenue.
I know that those leads came from two flyers, a postcard, Angie's List, and passing out a business card at a restaurant. I know exactly how much those ads cost the company to generate, and what the profit was per job. (I love bean counting!)
Why is this important? Well, for example, we almost dropped our radio advertising. We had spent about $8000 in advertising with a particular radio station, but we weren't getting very many leads for our money; the boss wanted to drop them. But, I figured out that we had brought in about $40,000 in revenue over the past year from the radio station leads. With our profit margin set at 20%, after paying for labor and materials, we had made $8000 for the year year . . . from a radio spot that cost us $8000 for the year. We weren't making a profit, but we weren't losing any either.
Where we had originally planned on dumping the radio spot altogether, but after seeing the numbers, we decided to keep the spot, and the branding exposure that came with it.
5. Hire a Mentor and do what they say! The first small business that I worked for hired a business mentor (for $50,000!), but didn't implement any of the action steps that were suggested. The mentor in question had built and sold something like four or five businesses himself!
The second small business, where I currently work, is at least trying to follow through with our coach's recommendations. We've written out vision statements, mission statements, 90-day plans, 3 month goals, etc.
The difference is that one business is doing well, and one was avoiding calls from collection agencies. The Scriptures say, "Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety" and "For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety." (Prov. 11:14, 24:6)
6. Get more training! It's the same reason that you hire a mentor: you don't know everything. So, when you think you know something, take another course on it. When you're an expert salesman, go to a seminar on 'closing the sale,' when you're an expert at roofing take a 'Top of the House' training class from Owens Corning. Never stop learning.
7. Frame it and hang it. Let others know about all this training that you've been getting.
I used to find it distasteful when I'd walk into someone's office and see a bunch of plaques on the wall. How egotistical, I thought. How self-promoting. Now, with my new boss, I've seen that he doesn't have to brag - the plaques do the talking for him. They are hanging in the foyer, and they say that he is a professional, he is well-trained, and he is knowledgeable.
The plaques are there to make sure nobody misunderstands his goofy side.
There are other lessons: Give the hourly employee opportunities to make more money (rewards and incentives), Give to charities and poor people, Spend more time on the hiring process so you don't have to fire them later on, Invest back into the business, and, Say, 'No' when you don't want the job, even if it will make you money.
What lessons have you learned from your job?
"No, Daddy, we want to go to McDonald's!"
