Several years ago, I resolved to take charge of my business life, put my priorities first and focus on building loyal customer relationships. I committed to work smarter, get organized and in-control, focus on the 20 percent that produces 80 percent of the results, delegate as much as possible to my employees, spend 33 percent of my time with customers, and get home at a decent time!
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Several years ago, I resolved to take charge of my business life, put my priorities first and focus on building loyal customer relationships. I committed to work smarter, get organized and in-control, focus on the 20 percent that produces 80 percent of the results, delegate as much as possible to my employees, spend 33 percent of my time with customers, and get home at a decent time!
When Monday morning rolled around, I was excited and got to work early. I made a list of all the things I had to do and prioritized them into three categories: must do, should do, and don't have to do. Then guess what happened at 8:30 a.m.? I started to get calls and emails putting demands on my time. People were requesting I attend meetings, customers had immediate needs, superintendents were having problems with subcontractors, the concrete crew was sitting around waiting for concrete, and one of our trucks had broken down. So I did what I always do-I went out and attempted to fix everyone else's problems for them.
When I finally got back to the office at 4 p.m., I realized I had missed lunch and my desk was piled with at least 25 new requests, notes, invoices, voice mails and files requiring my immediate attention. So much for getting to my priorities! Then my best customer called and asked me to play golf with him at his private country club the next morning. He wanted to introduce me to his banker and talk about his next project. How could I play golf? I didn't have enough time in the day. I had to fix everyone's problems and put out all these fires.
Priority No. 1
In my opinion, business is simple. The most important priority is to find customers and then keep customers. Finding customers includes: sales, marketing, estimating, presenting proposals, customer appreciation, schmoozing, networking, and what you do to build loyal customer relationships-everything that keeps revenue coming in the door. This area is often overlooked in construction businesses. Most construction company owners focus on bidding work and then getting it done. As a top priority, finding customers cannot be delegated easily. Customers want to know who they are doing business with.
Keeping customers is all about doing a good job and meeting your customer's expectations and contractual requirements. This is an outcome of a well-organized and systemized operation led by a professional management team and well-trained employees. Depending on the size of your company, this area of your company can be managed by a single person or an entire professional management team who implement your business mission, philosophy, organizational systems and procedures. But, no matter the size, without great systems in place, delegating operational tasks is impossible.
Hire Pros to Grow
Here's an email I received from a plumbing and heating contractor in Santa Fe, N.M., who saw me present to a large group of local contractors. He wanted to share some things that work for him:
"Fire the idiots! But more importantly I found two top-notch working foremen and convinced them to come to work for me. I had to offer them about a 50 percent wage premium over market wages. I had to raise my open hourly rates significantly, and I charge them out even higher on bid work. Guess what? Virtually no customers were lost, my percentage of really excited customers soared and I was free to do what I do best: Sell jobs! They run their jobs, ask me an occasional question (perhaps just to flatter me) and I give them free rein. After this experience I realized if I have to go to a job site for a reason other than boredom, curiosity or PR, I don't have the right man on the job. Find the right people, give them the right resources, set 'em free, and never look back!"
The fastest way to get your company organized and focused on keeping customers is to hire the best and give them the task of getting the work done. Great people do cost more money but take less time to manage than weaker ones. Plus, you'll never be able to get your business to grow beyond the capacity of your top people. Why haven't you hired management professionals to help grow your business? Where do you need the most help? Accounting, operations, estimator, superintendent, project manager, or office manager? I know you can't afford it, but when will you? Professionals will make you money. You can't continue to do it all yourself. Sell your truck, lease a used one, take the money and hire a professional to help you.
Put Your Priorities to Work
Don't just talk about it, get started and do it! Continually ask yourself if what you're doing is a good use of your time and money. When you do things you shouldn't be doing or don't like doing, your business becomes a drag. Activities that are not rewarding drain your energy. Exciting tasks and activities on your top priority list are rewarding; they actually invigorate and give you more energy. When you are moving toward your goals, improving your business and seeing progress, you get excited about your future. What are your top business priorities? Will you stay focused on them? Change how you do your business. Get what you want and adjust your calendar. Always remember that your No. 1 priority is to keep your No. 1 priority your No. 1 priority!
