60 Great Ideas …in 60 Minutes

Sponsored by:

And

Jim Neyer Ken Neyer Plumbing

Cleves, Ohio

Jessica Burden Milton Frank Plumbing Spring, Texas

Jeff Heger, Nixco Plumbing Mason, Ohio

Moderator: John Zink

PHCC Educational Foundation

Falls Church, Virginia

Panelists

We will be covering many tips & tools, including websites and mobile apps that can help you be more productive and save money.

We may or may not have personally used these sites/apps and they may have changed their policies or pricing since this presentation was compiled. Do your own due diligence before using or installing them!

DISCLAIMER

• Ask every customer for their e-mail addresses and/or cell phone number.

• You can get more participation by saying that you want to send them a picture and bio of the technician coming to their home.

• Use this contact info (responsibly!) for future marketing.

• Automatic triggers.

Idea #1 - Jessica

• Join your local organizations - you can get some of the best info from your fellow members. You know a lot, but you can’t know everything.

• When you need knowledge outside of your own level of expertise, reach out to your network. Asking for help allows you to focus on the things that you do best without spending valuable time trying to figure it out on your own.

Idea #2 - Jeff

• Use 99designs.com to create a new company logo or update an existing one. $299 to develop new logo.

• Designers worldwide participate in your design contest.

Idea #3 - Jim

• Pay cash or offer a $5 discount off a service bill for customers who program your company into their cell phone under the name “Plumber” or Air Conditioning Company.

• This must be done while the tech is present in the home.

Idea #4 - Jessica

• Train, train and train - you can never know too much - marketing, sales, plumbing tips.

Idea #5

• Block out time slots for everyone in the company to get training during the course of the year.

• Put money in the budget every year to pay for training so that the lack of funds cannot be your excuse to not do it.

- Jeff

• lifehacker.com

• Daily emails & website devoted to tips and tricks for getting things done.

• Source for your newsletter or Facebook posts.

Idea #6 - Jim

• Rewarding Techs

Idea #7

• Use a carefully crafted incentive/bonus program for techs.

• Eliminate loopholes or ways techs could boost their bonus at the expense of relationships with customers (selling unneeded equipment, etc.).

• Spin-the-wheel to reward techs and their apprentice for compliment letters or good reviews.

- Jessica

• Be able to answer: “Why should someone hire your company?”

- Create a specialization

- Represent social good - pink trucks (cancer), other charities

- Having credentials separates yourself from others - awards, training, recognized by experts, etc.

Idea #8 - Jeff

• Investigate and take advantage of getting your business certified as a MBE, WBE or SBE.

• More governmental agencies and owners are looking to do business with subcontractors with these certifications.

Idea #9 - Jim

• Develop a Disaster Plan.

Idea #10

• Protect your employees, preserve your income source and be the company that is still able to serve the community after a disaster.

• Federated Insurance has a guide available on their site.

- Jessica

• Remember Your 5 P's –

Proper

Preparation

Prevents

Poor Performance

Idea #11 - Jeff

• Make sure any moderate computer user in your office utilizes two computer monitors.

• If you review drawings consider a larger monitor like 37”. Prices continue to drop and productivity drastically increases.

Idea #12 - Jim

• Offer Financing

Idea #13

• You can help people who need the work but cannot afford it right now by offering financing.

• Partner with a bank (Wells Fargo) or other provider.

• You can get many more upsells and BIG jobs when you can eliminate the “up front” cash needed.

- Jessica

• Become a Time Management Master

- Prepare a daily list the day before

- Schedule your time

- Prevent interruptions - close the door, handle larger projects before you answer e-mails

- Keep your desk clean

- Say no much more often

- Take 5 minutes at the end of each day to clean off your workspace. Clear your desk of junk mail, throw away papers in your work truck or wipe down your store counters. Doing this will get you prepared to start the next day with a clean slate.

Idea #14 - Jeff

• Buy large white boards from www.fathead.com

• You can get a 4 ½’w x 3’h white board for $45.

Idea #15 - Jim

• Use the PHCC Overhead & Profit Calculator as a training tool for employees.

• Demonstrate why the company charges what it does and where all that money goes (not into the owners’ pocket like many techs think).

Idea #16 - Jessica

• Use the PHCC Overhead & Profit Calculator to Price Your Work For Profit - NOT to be competitive.

• Why price yourself to lose money?

• “We have no quarrel with others who sell their service for less-- they know what their work is worth.”

Idea #17 - Jeff

• Use copytocontact.com to capture emails in signatures and save in your Outlook Contacts list.

Idea #18 - Jim

• doodle.com

• This is a free service that you can use to create scheduling surveys – use it to find a time when everyone will actually be able to attend a meeting.

Idea #19 - Jessica

• One of the best customer retention tools out there are newsletters. There are services that can help you to produce a monthly or quarterly newsletter.

• Include a mix of general interest information, facts, quizzes and a highlight of a special offer you are running. This mix makes the piece more recreational reading than something that just feels like an advertisement.

Idea #20 - Jeff

• Utilize desktop scanner such as XEROX DocuMate 162.

• Increases productivity by not having to go to central office scanner and allows you to recycle a tremendous amount of paper.

• Make sure it is TWAIN certified

(software standard that regulates communication between software applications and imaging devices).

Idea #21 - Jim

• dropbox.com or sugarsynch.com or drive.google.com

Idea #22

• Use these free services to synchronize and have access to files on multiple computer or mobile devices.

• When you make a change to a file on any machine, the updated file will then be available on all the other devices too.

- Jessica

• Use newsletters, direct e-mails, Facebook specials, other contact methods to build a fence around your customers.

Idea #23 - Jeff

• Show appreciation for employees and customers by taking lunch to jobsites.

Idea #24 - Jim

• Need to show someone else exactly what is on your screen right now?

• join.me can do it.

Idea #25

• It is a simple screen sharing tool for meetings on the fly.

• Get everybody on the same page, when they're not in the same room, instantly. Review documents and designs. Train staff. Demo products.

- Jessica

• Offer longer warranties than the competition.

• Check with your manufacturers and vendors.

• Water heaters, disposals, sump pumps, etc., all have variants with longer warranties available.

Idea #26 - Jeff

• Read 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris.

• He has ambitious ideas of limiting time at work and generating income but has some realistic ideas that you can implement in daily life.

Idea #27 - Jim

• Targeted Mailing Lists - Yellowbook

• Buy mailing lists that will allow you to target only the best customers in an area.

• Instead of blanketing an entire zip code with a mailing, instead identify your prime targets – homes over 10 years old and valued at $400,000+ with household incomes of $100,000 or more.

• Spend your time, money & attention on targeting these very best potential customers to get the most return on your investment.

Idea #28 - Jessica

• Become members of manufacture's elite group:

- Moen Plumbers

- InSinkErator Circle of Trust

- Kohler Leading Edge Plumber

- Others …

Idea #29 - Jeff

• Listen to business books on CD or MP3’s in car.

• An hour commuting or traveling to jobsites in a day can move you through audio books quickly.

Idea #30 - Jim

Share Your

Great Ideas!

IDEAS FROM YOU

• Sign up to be a service provider for Home Warranty companies.

• Don’t expect to make any money off of the service work done under these warranties – it’s about marketing instead.

• The work gets you into a customer’s home to establish a service relationship with little or no marketing costs to you.

Idea #31 - Jessica

• Provide goodies bags for your customers

• Magnets, pens, pencils, notepads, pot holders, pizza cutter, chip clips....whatever it takes for the customer to remember you.

• Maintain TOMA (Top Of Mind Awareness).

Idea #32 - Jeff

• Utilize prefabrication to improve jobsite productivity.

• Be creative – you can prefab much more than you think.

Idea #33 - Jim

• Have an elevator pitch ready to go at any moment.

• Start conversations with strangers everywhere– you never know who you might be talking with.

Idea #34 - Jessica

• Customer reviews can make or break you being selected by a customer who is searching online.

• Train technicians or someone making service work follow-up calls to ask your customers for reviews on Google, Yahoo and Bing.

• Make the process as easy as possible to complete.

Idea #35 - Jeff

• Send a thank you note at least once per week to a customer, employee or supplier that helped you out.

Idea #36 - Jim

• Use Flat Rate Pricing.

• Customers like it better than T&M, it solves many headaches related to tech productivity and accounting and it forces you to know your costs.

Idea #37 - Jessica

• Don't spread yourself thin when offering products/services to your client.

• Taking on too much impacts quality and effectiveness and your clients will notice.

• Stay focused on what you are good at. You can always partner with someone else for the other services.

Idea #38 - Jeff

• When saving a computer file, name it so that it can easily be retrieved in the future.

• Include a date in the name, with the year first: “2012-9-6 Smith plumbing proposal.doc”

• This makes files easier to find in the future because they will appear grouped by the date.

Idea #39 - Jim

• Develop a Mobile Website

Idea #40

• In 2011, 10% of all US internet traffic was via a mobile device. In 2012 – 20%.

• Relatively cheap to create, and even new construction companies can benefit.

- Jessica

• Companies that can help - Yodle, Market Hardware, etc.

• Stay Above the Fold

• Visitors to your website shouldn't need to scroll to find the info they need.

• To get best results, keep your call to action above the fold of your web pages. This helps visitors find what they are looking for quickly and encourages them to take the action you desire.

Idea #41 - Jeff

• Use Microsoft OneNote or Evernote.com to keep notes and journals.

Idea #42 - Jim

• Credit Card Processing + Mobile Processing

Idea #43

• Get your rates re-quoted every year.

• Seek out the lowest pricing with best features – who is offering the best value?

- Jessica

• Don't lose a sale because a customer can't contact you.

• Customers find your business in many places, but they can't buy from you if they're calling the wrong number or visiting the wrong address.

• Make it a point to review all of your online listings. If the info is not accurate, take the time to update it.

• Possible to have your company name hijacked online & used as a front to route calls to another company.

• Yext.com – Auto updates company profiles everywhere.

Idea #44 - Jeff

• Use Google Chrome as your internet browser.

• Can be more secure; can search in the address bar.

Idea #45 - Jim

• E-mail Marketing Tools

Idea #46

• MailChimp.com – “More e-mail marketing tools than you can shake a banana at.”

• ConstantContact.com – A wide variety of templates to use and training courses held around the country.

- Jessica

• Are Your Customers Financially Healthy?

Idea #47

• Pay attention when your customers suddenly change their behavior, specifically when it comes to their finances.

• Paying their bills late or asking for multiple extensions could be a clue that something’s up. Understanding their circumstances can help you make better decisions on how you work with them, before it starts to affect your business.

- Jeff

• Online Survey Tool

Idea #48

• Need to know something from your customers?

• SurveyMonkey.com – Free version gives you up to 100 responses to a 15 question survey.

• $17 monthly fee for many more features.

- Jim

• Techs With iPhones/iPads

Idea #49

• Techs can check manufacturers websites for troubleshooting guides, specs, etc. Have as many preloaded as possible.

• Multiple apps available to allow techs to swipe credit cards.

• Allows company to communicate easily with techs via e-mail.

• Use e-mail groups to get word out quickly.

- Jessica

• Understand Partner Risk Upfront

Idea #50

• Screen potential partners before you conduct business with them.

• Do quick research to determine their financial stability and credit rating – both could be indicators of their ability to pay.

• For high risk partners, ask for payment in advance. For low risk partners, offer extended payment terms. Knowing this information upfront will help you protect your business cash flow.

- Jeff

• An Online Whiteboard You Can Share

Idea #51

• Dabbleboard.com lets you freehand draw or use shape tools on a onscreen “whiteboard”.

• You can then share that screen with others through a web link or e-mail.

• iPad - Bamboo Paper App

- Jim

• Techs With iPhones/iPads

Idea #52

• Company can control Internet usage, do live updates, push documents to, control emails, can add/delete apps, restrict websites, restrict apps of a certain size, read text messages, etc.

• Software called AirWatch. It’s a MUST to handle that many devices.

• e.g. - Pricebook is on Techs iPads in pdf format, we can change the price of one item or the whole book and push that PDF back out to their iPads without them even knowing!

- Jessica

• Test Your Advertising

Idea #53

• Incorporate ways to track and test ads with your customers to see what resonates. Use different landing pages for each type of ad (online, print or otherwise) and monitor which receives the best traffic and converts the best.

• By testing your ads, you get a sense of which version brings in your target audience the most effective way!

- Jeff

Idea #54

• Google.com/voice

• Use Google voice with your existing phone number and it will transcribe your voicemails & send them to you via text message or e-mail. Much more too!

- Jim

• skype.com

Idea #55

• Granddaddy of VoIP (online calling).

• Make free video calls home to see the kids when on the road.

• Make free calls to any other Skype user - with their smartphone apps, as long as there is a data connection, you never use plan minutes.

• Can call mobile and landline phones for very low rates.

• Can do group video calls.

- Jessica

• Close the Deal More Often

Idea #56

• Make sure you’re selling to the decision-maker or someone who influences the decision-maker.

• Before the meeting, confirm that they need your offering and have the budget.

• Don’t waste time pitching goods & services to people who either can’t say or influence the “yes”.

- Jeff

• Need a New Website? - SnapPages.com

Idea #57

• SnapPages is the easiest way to create your own website online. With simple drag and drop tools, you can have your new website up and running in no time.

• Build a simple but professional quality website that you can completely update and maintain with no hassle. $8/month

- Jim

• QR Codes

Idea #58

• You can generate Quick Response (QR) codes from many web sites.

• Marketing - directing to a website OR just a pre-loaded contact info.

• Use anywhere you can save people using a mobile device the time of typing a long address or data list.

• Can be built into images.

- Jessica

• Create an Employee Handbook

Idea #59

• Even if you only have a few employees, create and distribute an employee handbook.

• This makes it clear what you expect from employees and what employees can expect from you.

• For more info, visit the Small Business Administration at sba.gov and search for "employee handbook."

- Jeff

• Online To-Do List Keeper

Idea #60

• RememberTheMilk.com

• Need something to remind you about all the stuff that needs to get done?

• App for your phone or iPad/tablet to keep your lists organized.

- Jim

• iPhone Life Magazine

Idea #61

• For heavy Apple product users, subscribe to iPhone Life Magazine, or at least the email.

• Newsletter for hints and tricks and the newest apps.

- Jessica

• Ask the Right Interview Questions

Idea #62

• Ask questions that help you understand the character of the candidate.

• Asking a potential employee, “How would your friends describe you?” is a good place to start.

• Watching how they answer a difficult question is a good indicator on how they perform under stress.

- Jeff

• Alternatives to Microsoft Office

Idea #63

• OpenOffice.org or libreoffice.com

• FREE.

• Includes alternatives for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access and compatibility with Office 2007.

- Jim

• Use askmeevery.com to track simple information. It sends you an e-mail or text message with a question.

Idea #64

• Reply with the answer and the site will chart the data.

• This can be used to track everything from service calls completed, to miles walked, money spent on lunch out, anything.

- Jessica

• Get Paid on the Spot

Idea #65

• Consider using a mobile payment device.

• Free credit card readers connect directly to your iPhone, Android, or iPad and accept most major credit cards.

• For a small transaction fee, you can take the customer’s payment right away and get your money fast. Source: PCWorld Magazine, Sept. 2012

- Jeff

• New employee orientation programs

• Compare yours vs. Armed Forces.

• They spend 8 weeks doing intensive training so that everyone can make decisions on their own in real time.

• Recruits know the culture and intent of leadership and are empowered to make their own decisions that support the organization’s mission.

Idea #66 - Jim

• Use Fiverr.com for simple marketing, design or other outsourcing.

• People willing to do almost anything for $5.

• Select a service being offered or put out a request for a gig.

Idea #67 - Jessica

• The Three Ring Rule

Idea #68

• Don’t keep customers hanging – answer the phone by the third ring.

• Customers will appreciate your prompt and efficient service.

• Establishing standards of service are key in increasing and maintaining customer satisfaction.

- Jeff

• Use mint.com to track your personal finances.

• For small companies, it may also be an option for tracking business expenses.

Idea #69 - Jim

• line2.com is a company that will let you add additional incoming phone lines to your cell phone or tablet. This way, you can have a personal and a work line ring to the same phone.

Idea #70

• It uses wi-fi or data connection first to avoid using your cell plan minutes, but can switch over to cellular if needed to preserve call quality. Many other features also available.

- Jessica

• Follow-Up with Customers (Happy Calls)

Idea #71

• Always reach out to new customers after a purchase and ask for their feedback on the experience.

• This is a great opportunity for you to double check your level of service, identify any issues and build on your company’s image.

• Closing the loop with new customers is also a good way to encourage repeat business!

- Jeff

• Need IT Help?

Idea #72

• When you have a computer problem, visit Crossloop.com.

• Do a search for a technician who has experience in that area, let them take over your screen & fix the problem.

• Rates are $25/hour & up.

- Jim

• Until Faxes Finally Go Away…

Idea #73

• Efax.com/efax-free

• Provides you with a free phone number so that you can receive faxes electronically.

• Additional options and ability to send faxes with a $14 monthly fee.

- Jessica

• Support Your Community

Idea #74

• Show your appreciation for the community that supports your business by regularly giving back.

• Volunteer for a good cause, shop locally, or host a fundraiser for a charity.

• By giving back to your community, you show customers that you care about more than just your business.

- Jeff

• Need a Freelancer?

Idea #75

• elance.com or Guru.com

• Just create a project description and put it out for bid on these sites.

• Affordable prices and you typically do not pay until the project has been delivered.

- Jim

• No More Texting and Driving!

Idea #76

• dial2do.com

• Text Messaging - send SMS by voice

• Email - send, listen & reply by voice

- Jessica

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