Beth n Rod

UPDATE! We WILL have all three colors of Wood Tux on hand. We are sooooo excited. We have already sold TO PALLETS of Wood Tux, sight unseen, to two customers NOT including us! WOW!!! This product rocks, and you will want to try it, that's for sure! If you're coming to Vegas, stop by our booth for ... THE GRIME SCENE and check it out as we dress up some wood.... Beth

Ok guys and gals, You know me, I don't get onto my soap box unless I feel reallllllly strongly about something. And you know that if I do, I will talk about it and share it openly with you. Anyone who reads what I post knows that my favorite subjects have to do with marketing and sales. I'm holding two seminars at PWNA. I'll be holding the Marketing Basics & Ad Building Workshop, and I'll be holding a Consultative Sales seminar. The Marketing seminar will have all of the material covered last fall at PWNA, but we will also sketch out ads. I'll be circulating through the room and looking at them making suggestions. The Consultative Sales Seminar will be great. I'm extremely excited about sharing it with you. I can't stress enough the importance of the material I'll be covering. This method works. It gets you into doors for commercial accounts. It's based on the Sandler method, and normally the intro is two days long. I've been using this method for years, and I have picked out the salient points and will cover the basics in two hours. I'll share what I believe to be the most effective techniques. Beth

DOH!!! You always do this to me... All I can say is, stay tuned. You know the book is in the works, but I have not had much time to write in a while. Besides, it's not about how fast I do, it's about the quality of it when I'm done. BUT....BUT....BUT..... I will have more news very soon, and I think you will be interested. ARG!!! I can't spill it yet.... Beth:eek:

Dude... Drive it back. I would hate to ship that. Beth

The convention in Las Vegas is just one week away. Who is going? Beth

The bucket lift Alex P. was selling? Beth

They have rules against spamming, so reporting does help. VBulletin has a fix. So I upgraded and we are good to ho. No more spammers! I also have the addresses blocked. There is a visual piece to the registration screen now, you see an image and have to verify it. The BOTs can't do that. Believe me, I was livid about it when I saw it happening. I was up WAY early fixing it, then one of the scripts was corrupt. My thanks go to one of the VBulletin Developers over in Scotland who was online aand logged in and fixed it for me. (programmer stuff) We will be fine now. Beth :) p.s. same version now as ***

Who else is going?

We’ve all heard the stories before, stories about – contractors. Folks are eager to share their experiences with others in vivid detail. Nightmarish stories about contractors leave a bad taste in the mouths of many consumers today. Statements like, I could never reach him, he never returned my calls, didn’t finish the job, used to spit in the azaleas, pee in the bushes, smoke on my property and throw cigarette stubs in my lawn, would drink beer on my property, and the all time classic – you could see his butt crack! It’s easy to see why contractors get a bad rap. But it’s not impossible to get past this negative stereotype; it just takes a bit of work. Creating a negative image is easy; you don’t need to know how to do that, it’s effortless, disgusting and unprofessional. That’s the problem! Creating a positive and professional image, well, that takes a little more effort. If you aren’t up for the challenge of bettering yourself or your company then you have made a decision to remain stereotyped. On the other hand, if you want to succeed and help your business grow you’re going to have to bite the bullet and take the following steps to get you there. Begin with the end in mind. Where do you see yourself and your company next year? It’s important to visualize the image you want to create for the company. Next think about the impression you want to create in the mind of the customer. If you can’t imagine it, you can’t focus on it and it won’t be presented as polished or professional. If you’ve read my other articles you should know how I feel about consistency. If not, go back and read them when we’re done here. Consistency is extremely important, and is critical to the image of your company. All flyers, print ads, and brochures, should all have the same look and feel. Keep your logo, slogan, font, colors, and message consistent throughout. Make sure that your company name is on your truck; regardless of if it’s a magnetic sign or permanent lettering. Why? Because developing name recognition is all about the consumer being able to spot your company name and be comfortable because they have seen it somewhere else. Having the company name on your vehicle also presents a sense of permanence and stability to the consumer. Ok, so you’ve done that. Are you still getting the cold shoulder? Well, what do you wear when you go out to do your estimates? Are you in old dirty torn jeans or nice clean new ones or maybe some khakis? Does your t-shirt have a chili stain on it? Or do you have a nice clean company t-shirt or polo shirt with the logo on it? Clean shoes? Neatly combed hair and brushed teeth? Good. You should. It helps. Alright, so far we have professional literature and a polished looking person coming to the door. But what happens after you ring the doorbell and have to begin speaking to someone? Always introduce yourself, be polite, and shake their hand. It’s important to know what the standard questions are that could be asked of you, and it’s even more important to know how to answer them. You’ll get a feel for that pretty quickly if you’re new. A word of caution here. Don’t make it up as you go, people will be able to tell if you pull the answer out of thin air and are lying, not to mention they may well have spoken to another contractor who knew the answers and took the time to explain them to the customer. If you don’t know, tell them you’ll find out and get back to them. Then do it. Do make sure that you have a polished and professional delivery when you speak. Practice some of your answers if you are uncomfortable speaking in public or to people. It helps with stage fright. Maintain good eye contact and use only proper language. No vulgar language or staring at the ground or off in another direction. It’s annoying and it makes people feel like you are being deceptive. Remember to thank them when you leave. The image you’re creating should be reflected in your employees as well. Make certain to discuss the level of conduct you expect from them, including courtesy and discussions about the job. Be careful to let them know not to try to answer specific questions about the work they are not trained or experienced enough to handle. The customer is going to remember one thing, and one thing only; the employee told me that _________. Fill in the blank. You get my point. Misinformation at the hand of a well-meaning, eager employee can be your downfall. Make sure workers know to tell the customers to either call the office, or that they’ll relay the message. Shift the dialog back to the professional. It’s where it belongs. Employees need to maintain their appearance too. A good place to start might be to have them wear company t-shirts. Additionally, while many customers may not be in when work is performed, it is always best to check and see if someone is there when workers arrive, and also to let them know when they’re leaving. It just seems to sit better with the homeowner if you communicate with them if they’re there. It’s their property after all, and they’ll appreciate the respect for it, as well as the professionalism. Let’s step back and take a look for a minute, shall we? Joe Customer gets two flyers in his front door. One from you, and one from Company X. Yours seems familiar to him since you advertise in other areas like the phone book and maybe a coupon mailer. All your ads are designed to look the same. He likes your flyer. Company X has a flyer that simply says: “PRESSURE WASHING COMPANY X CALL JOHN 555-1212 FREE ESTIMATES” Joe customer calls you both, since he wants more than one quote. Company X shows up in dirty jeans and the t-shirt with chili stains. You show up in a professional looking company outfit. Company X makes up answers as he goes. He’s not polite, doesn’t shake hands, or look at the customer. You shake the customer’s hand, are polite and informative. See how easy that was? You’ll get the job.

Today, I’m not writing about marketing or advertising, I’m not writing with tech tips or how-to’s. Upon occasion reflection lends valuable insight into where we are going, what we are doing, how we might get there, and how we can improve along the way. It shows us who we were, and who we do not want to be, as well as who we wish to become. Buried deep within that context is an understanding of what we can reasonably expect and what we can not change. Sometimes, keeping this in mind helps along the way. I’ve done a lot of reading over the past years, and have listened to many conversations. I have heard many tales of hardship and of success. There’s a ladder we all climb, but we do so with hesitation and fear of having someone come along and push it over while we are on it. We are protective, and fearful of our competition. I can recall growing up and participating in sports of many kinds, some team oriented, some individual. In the end, we were taught that sportsmanship would flow into many areas of our lives, to respect the competition and to congratulate them. We were also taught to better ourselves and that the person who wins today may not win tomorrow. Betterment for all, was the message. Stretch. Grow. Expand. Shake the winner’s hand and work to win tomorrow. Many contractors keep to themselves, never speaking up and absorbing all that is put before them while fearing the competition. There is no right or wrong in that, but I’ll ask these questions. Do you complain about the stigma attached to contractors? Do you complain that people stereotype you and treat you as less than they are? Do you work with others in the industry in an open manner for the betterment of all to change it, or do you leave that to others and complain about how it could be better if only they would do it differently? Do you share your ideas to better the industry, or keep them to yourself? I want to challenge you all to open up and speak up. Share your ideas and your thoughts and experiences. There is an old saying that if you are not a part of the solution you are a part of the problem. In essence, if you sit back and complain but never speak up, it’s your own fault as well. Teamwork. It takes teamwork. Visit any, or better yet, visit all of the BBS’s out there today, but don’t just read, POST. Ask questions. Share ideas. Brainstorm. Help out the new guy. There are many folks out there without the benefit of a college education, but it by no means is an indicator of their ability to do business. Everyone has something to offer. Everyone. Try helping someone who has a question you can answer. Look at yourself, and the image you present to the customer. Do you want to go toe to toe with the toughest competition out there? Yes? Then pick yourself up by the bootstraps, and do it. Go back to may article on image improvement. Improving the industry means we all have to take a stand and be active participants in the growth and development of it. We all have to think, to speak out, to be honest, and to act accordingly. We have to get past our fear of being crushed by the competition and realize that there is work out there for us all. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.”

Come on in folks! :) Beth

New construction work is a nice change from residential. Beth :)

Howard how did it go? Beth

I promise to do that soon! : ) A couple people want to know. Just a little more catching up to do... Promise! Beth

Finally! Just finished the last part of my second presentation for PWNA! I have been trying to get it finished for a week. Beth

Not long now.... so who is going to Las Vegas?

The BBS was upgraded this morning to a newer version that prevents spamming. Thanks for your patience, and we hope you enjoy the forums. :) Beth & Rod

No I checked with VBulliten today. There are things called BOTS that go out and hit sites with email addresses. LOTS of BBS's are getting hit. The Grime Scene is in the search engines. I just have to get used to the controls.... All the ones listed hit us. They register, then they wait a period of time, then they hit every thread with a link. I have pruned all the threads. All we have to do is post over the names. The URLs generating the addresses have been banned, there were actuall two, one I caught before the spam started! (YAHOO!) Believe be I plan to keep a careful check on that from now on. I also set the spamming control higher. I had it set too low. Sorry guys! You'll notice a delay in posting. (80 seconds between posts) Beth

Hmmmm. You should see it. I'll double chek. May not have set you to see it. Sorry! :( I'll do it...I promise.. Beth

Hi all, The brochures are printed. The slogan is "Dress up your wood". It begins shipping March 15th. It's 89.00 a 5 gallon pail, oil based, and you guys are going to love this stuff. Last time Russ was this excited, he shipped HD-80! You can preorder now if you like. :) That way you have it when you need it, and I know the weather in the south is ready in many places. Beth p.s. The logo will be available for use on users web sites. Spinning bow tie and all. Just ask.

Ponder THIS.... If you don't rinse you have crystals of acid waiting to be REACTIVATED. So one night there is a little rain. The deck is damp the next day. A small child gets up before mommy and daddy on a Sunday morning and goes outside to play...barefoot. Later the child says..."mommy my feet hurt" Sorry.... I'm a believer in rinsing. If it happened to my child, I would call a lawyer. Don't but yourself in that place. Just my .02. Beth:)

The PITA Factor is great... Deck on a rock garden? Steep slope? Apply Pita factor. Too many plants arond deck? Pita factor. Anything that's hazardous our costs extra time... Beth

Reed, Drop cloths are great for preventing ANY caustic from harming foliage. Beth:cool:

What are some of the typical job problems you run into out there? How do you avoid them?

Speaking of water, how many rent water meters?