Getting Your Business to Work

What Makes You Different Than Your Competitors?

WOW! I just finished my busy winter speaking tour. I presented two programs at the Minnesota Nursery & Landscape Association; held a 2 day Profit Builder Circle in Baltimore for 23 business owners; spoke three times at the World Of Hardscape in Atlanta; presented a 3 hour seminar to the Fresno Builders Exchange; presented five programs at the World Of Concrete; held my 2 day Profit Builder Circle boot camp academy in Las Vegas; spoke to Heavy Construction Company in Rapid City in South Dakota; presented a marketing and sales program to the division managers of Western Waterproofing in Orlando, Florida; and gave the keynote speech to Merlin 100,000 Mile Shops franchisee convention in Chicago, What did I learn? In spite of the economy, many companies are doing well while most are struggling. The companies who are looking towards a good year offer a different approach to their business and a unique delivery process that sets themselves apart from their competition.

• The successful landscape contractors offer full design and build services and don't limit their scope of work to only a single part of the overall process. Their customers want full service and don't argue about the price.

• The successful waterproofing company focuses on customers who appreciate the extra service and quality their competition doesn't provide. They are known as the best in the business. Their staff attends several hours of training every year to continually improve.

• The concrete businesses who are still doing well specialize in the tough jobs that take some brains and technical skills. Their competition is very limited if any. And they make a lot of money while 99% of concrete competitors try to look for the standard jobs to bid and sell low price to get work.

• The auto service business makes their distinction by developing repeat customers and trying to help get their customer's cars to last 200,000 miles. Unique and effective.

What makes you unique and different than your competitors? What entices your customers to pay more for your service and keep you loaded with work and profit? The choice is yours: Be the same as everyone else or do business different! Guess what? - Next I get to fly off for 5 days with my wife to the Grand Cayman Islands. I will be presenting another program to a unique company, Johns Manville who really knows how to treat their customers. To get a free copy if my new e-book entitled: $ure $trategies To $urvive A $lowdown! Send me an email. (gh AT hedleycontstruction DOT com) See you on the road! George Hedley CEO Hedley Construction & Development Inc.

Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Quick, Jack Change Your Business Plan Before It's Too Late

In a slower market, when you continue to do what you’ve always done, you’ll find it eventually doesn’t work and won’t deliver the same results you are used to achieving. So it’s time to let go of your past and face the fact that the future will be different. And only the nimble, quick, and strong will be successful. Look at the car manufacturers trying to change their business plan. Too late. It’s over for them as they have done it for 50 years or more. You must change how you do business to thrive in the years ahead. Golfers know what ‘mulligans’ are. They are second chances to re-hit your shots. But in the real world, you don’t get a second shot. Every day you face reality of a slower economy and tougher business climate. Either improve your swing and try something new, or continue to hit your shots into the rough and your score won’t improve and you will lose the game. The booming economy handed out lots of mulligans when many companies delivered average or mediocre performance and poor results. It gave them a second chance with their customers, clients, and contract requirements. But now companies won’t get any mulligans for a long time. This is the real deal, no “take-overs! You must get it right every time on the first shot every time. Welcome to the PGA tour where you can’t rest on your past performances to pay your bills, keep fans coming back wanting more, and keep you at the top of the money list. To survive, you will have to work harder, smarter, more, get organized, stay in control, try new ideas, and work different than you have in the past. To work differently, you’ll have to improve how you operate your company and change how you work with your customers, implement your marketing plan, sell your products or services, deliver your projects, and elevate your level of quality and service. To get a freecopy if my new e-book entitled: $ure $trategies To $urvive A $lowdown! Send me an email: gh AT hedleycontruction DOT com

George Teaches Business Owners How To Make More Money Using Marketing & Sales Strategies That Work

“I have never received a thank you note from a subcontractor, vendor or supplier” said George Hedley at the beginning of his seminar on selling more than price last Friday morning. “All I ever get are invoices and change orders from my subcontractors,” he continued. “But now that the economy is slow, a lot of contractors, vendors, and suppliers are calling and looking for work. And do you know what I ask them?” he questioned with a smile. “I ask them: where were you when I needed you and you wouldn’t return my call?” Ongoing “Drip-Drip-Drip” marketing and sales must be done all the time, every day. Not just when the amount of work on your books is lean. Maintaining good relations with customers is an continuous process, from thanking them with a personal gift or a handwritten card when they give you work, to building a trusted relationship with those who may be able to give you more work in the future. “Being a successful business owner,” said George many times during the 3 hour session, “is not about doing the work, it’s about getting the work.” To get more work, a company owner — no matter what the business — needs to build personal relationships with at least 24 loyal and potential customers. People prefer to do business with friends, and second, if a friend is not available, then they want someone they can rely upon. According to George, the things customers want and look for are, in order of importance: reliability (30%), responsiveness (25%), assurance (20%), empathy (15%) and last, quality and price (7%). What this tells us is that price is not everything. George’s research show that 80 percent of customers actually want convenience more than the lowest price. “Don’t sell price,” George repeated over and over during his talk. “If you want to be successful and if you want to be rich, don’t sell low price!” (Unless you are as efficient as Walmart.) Instead, find a way to differentiate yourself from your competitors. He provided, as an example of the Pink Plumber. When the garbage disposal at his home was broken, he called the Pink Plumber, whose motto is: ‘We Pamper You!’ His immaculate truck was pink. His clean uniform was pink. His pristine tool box was pink. He rolled out a spotless pink carpet from the door to the sink. He put pink booties on before entering my home. When he finished, he vacuumed his way back out to the front door. He thanked us for calling him and giving him the job. He asked if there was anything else he could do for us. It was a perfect experience, said George. The next time we have a plumbing problem we will absolutely call the Pink Plumber.

• George is not saying that you need to pick a color and make everything that color. He is saying that the Pink Plumber company had done everything right. First, they had a motto that reflected what the company could do for the customer, namely: We Pamper You!
• Next, their employees were dressed in clean uniforms. Their trucks and tools were spotless and showed their professionalism. The technician cleaned up after himself, and took extra steps to not make a mess in the home. At the end of the job, the customer was thanked, and was asked if there was any other work that the company could do for them — an important question that many of us fail to ask.

Figure out what it is that sets you apart from your competition, and then tell everyone, over and over and over again. Repetition is the key here. The Sell More Than Low Price seminar gave the attendees who packed the conference room practical marketing and sales strategies to find and keep loyal customers who will call and give you work, instead of just blindly bidding jobs and hoping a low price will win the day. If you did not attend the seminar, watch out, because your competition just got a lot more savvy about getting profitable work.