Customer Focused

Jeffrey Gitomer hits a big bulls eye on how to deal with the economy. This brings the issue down to each one of our levels.

“The economy is falling. The economy is falling.

“It must be true. It's all over the news. The economy is in BIG trouble. Stocks, mortgages, banks, insurance companies, the Yankees. All falling or failing.

“Falling from where? The biggest economic boom of all time? The biggest housing boom of all time? The easiest loan requirements of all time?

“Business is not down, it's different.

“For example, when you hear the negative statistic on the news that home sales are down 33%, it actually means that FIVE MILLION homes will be sold this year. The only unanswered question is: Who will get that business? The media portrays gloom when actually there's still PLENTY of opportunity - just not as much as before.

“The low hanging fruit of two years ago is now much higher in the trees.

There's plenty of business in the marketplace - just not as much as there was during what was the biggest housing and economic boom of all time. As a result, businesses are adjusting to current market conditions, and your company is no exception.

“Less people are needed and lower inventory quantities are required. Layoffs are tough - no company leader wants to lay off anyone - there is emotion because layoffs involve coworkers and their families. Attitudes are affected and morale is affected - it's human nature. You will hear the words: cutback, save, fewer, less, and "because of the economy" more often than you want. That's part of what goes along with any economic change.

“How's business with you? Flat? Dipping a bit? When will it begin to get better?

“Since no one can predict the future, and the economic growth or slowdown answers are not yet apparent, senior management must react to present-day situations.

“In times like this, leadership must do what they believe is in the best long-term interest of the company. In short - leaders are doing their best - and they expect the same from you. You can help by doing your best every day. Adjust to whatever decisions are made without reducing your level of service to your customers, your loyalty to your company and your fellow workers, and your effort or belief.

“But cutting expenses or laying people off is not the only answer - it's just a safeguard and a response to the situation at hand. The best answer is more sales... and more profit. This is where you can help.

“Below are 8.5 critical elements in your ability to help your company and yourself in these times. These 8.5 elements, when combined and mastered, will gain more sales now, and keep your customers loyal as the economic conditions begin to improve.

1. Ease of doing business with you. The availability of people and product. Have more web offerings, easy access to more people, less voicemail, less automated attendants, more human-to-human contact, and no excuses. Get me what I need, when I need it.
2. Error-free order processing. When I get an invoice, the easier it is to understand and the more correct it is, the faster I pay it. No backorders. No surprises.
3. The quality of your relationships with customers. How strong are your relationships? Are they transactional or interpersonal?
4. Service excellence. You'd think this was a given, but often slower times means slower service. Less people, more work. BIG mistake. BEST PRACTICE: Double service offerings.
5. Your attitude. The way you dedicate yourself to the way you think. If you can't be positive for yourself, you can never be positive with and for others - both coworkers and customers.
6. Your belief. Belief in your company, your product, your service, yourself, AND belief that the customer is better off having purchased from you.
7. Your loyalty. The best way to get loyalty is to GIVE loyalty. From bosses to employees, from employees to customers, and finally from customers back to you, loyalty is the profit frontier. In these times, giving won't always breed receiving - but the seed is planted and the roots are deep when the economy begins to rebound.
8. Helping your customer whenever possible. Understanding how they are hurting, and meeting their needs as BEST you can. Offering to assist with anything from manual labor to unparalleled service - from brainstorming ideas with them to making connections for them.

   8.5 Your extra mile. What are you doing above and beyond the ordinary? What are you doing to out sell, out serve, and out value the competition? What's memorable about you and the actions you take on behalf of others? Are you going the extra mile for your customers?

“There are other personal measures that can be added to this list. Friendliness for one. Being proactive for another. But I think this piece speaks loud and clear. If the economy is down, you have to be up. You have to be ready to help, ready to serve, and ready to be your best. This will not only help others to survive, it will also ensure that you thrive.”

Jeffrey Gitomer's Sales Caffeine issue 390

Employee Focus

Time for a change? The economy has changed many things but what have you changed in how you manage the company? Is your culture one of teamwork or is it dysfunctional? Is your culture a “we” vs “they” mentality? Success for contractors will depend on how well all employees work as a team. Do you still tolerate behavior from employees that is not team behavior? Just because they have been with the company for many years, are they setting a bad example and weighing your company down? Do you allow prima donnas to remain on your staff, while you are telling your employees how important it is to be a team player? If so, you are send mixed messages and the result will not be a team culture. You have to decide if you want a team based culture or a maverick based one, and then address the behaviors that don’t create the culture you want. Recognize and reward proper performance. However, bad behavior will undermine all the positive recognitions. Being unwilling to correct poor behavior will do more damage than one can imagined. Action still speaks louder than words.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO CHANGE?

Process Management

Another way to improve your company’s processes is to develop better supplier relations. If the relationship with your suppliers is not 100% perfect you may consider doing the following:

Determine what’s working and what is not. Do this by holding a listening sessions with your employees. Ask them what your suppliers do well and what could be better? Do the same with your suppliers. Ask them what you do well and what you could do to make it easier for them to serve you?

A similar approach is to invest some time in discussing with your management team and key PM’s what your expectations are in how your suppliers serve you. This sounds so basic, yet few contractors have formalized their expectations and are often disappointed by suppliers who fail to meet their unstated expectations. During the same discussion, develop a list of what you think your suppliers expect of you.

Ask your key suppliers to develop, on their own list, what they think your expectations are for them and what they expect of your company.

Meet with your supplier and compare lists. Look at what matches and explore if both sides are meeting the expectations. Give honest feedback. Look at disconnects from both viewpoints. Work to resolve the differences and seek win-win agreements.

This discussion will result in new actions to improve how to fulfill mutual expectations and possibly new things to do to meet newly clarified expectations.

Other thoughts are:
What common goals do you and your suppliers have? How do you share these goals and communicate progress?
How do you recognize suppliers that deliver the best service to you? Always water what you want to grow. You will need to define “best service” to avoid a popularity contest. Being clear on what best service is can help your suppliers better serve you. How will they know if you don’t tell them?
Consider sharing Lean construction applications with your suppliers. Many successful Lean improvements have come by broadening the value stream to include more key players. Looking at what adds value in the process that includes suppliers can yield great improvements.
Finally, do you have a defined method to resolve issues or problems that surface with your supplier’s services and products? Do you have a way to get to the root cause and implement countermeasures to prevent reoccurrences? Do you involve your suppliers or try to do it in a vacuum?

There is never a perfect time to stop doing work to study ways to improve, but the slower market may be as good as any. What can you do to improve your relationship with your suppliers? How can you help them help you?

Learning Opportunities

You may be interested in attending one of these training seminars by Dennis Sowards:

• May 14, 2009 - Problem Solving Lite (No Carbs) - Getting to the Root Cause, – Phoenix, AZ – Sponsor: PIPE & 469 JAC, contact Cathy
• June 4, 2009 – Executive Lean Overview - Phoenix, AZ, 7 Am to noon, sponsors: NECA, P.I.P.E. and SMACNA-AZ, contact P.I.P.E. At 480-966-0377 or NECA at 602-263-0111 ext.12 or debra@azneca.org or SMACNA Arizona at 602-549-957
• Sept. 17, 2009 - Customer Loyalty by Design – Phoenix, AZ – Sponsor: PIPE & 469 JAC, contact Cathy
• Oct. 6, 2009 - Lean Works in Construction – Milwaukee, WI – Sponsor: Plumbing Mechanical Sheet Metal Contractors Alliance, Contact: Dajen Bohacek at 414/543-7622 Must be a SMACNA member company, associate or sponsored by one to participate.
• Oct. 15. 2009 - Introduction to Lean in Service – Phoenix, AZ – Sponsor: PIPE & 469 JAC, contact Cathy

Contact Dennis Sowards if you want a customized workshop exclusively for your company.

Thought for the day

The actions you take in the first hour of your day will determine your fate for the rest of it. Every one of you has said, ‘I'm having a bad day.’ But not one of you has ever completed the sentence, ‘I'm having a bad day, and I created it for myself.’ MY ADVICE: Have a good day. Have a great day. And take responsibility for that.
-From Jeffrey Gitomer

For more information about the High-Performing Contractor assessment process contact Dennis Sowards at 480-835-1185

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This e-newsletter is dedicated to supporting High-Performing Contractors and all contractors working to become one. Compiled by Dennis Sowards