Put Your Hands Up and Scream

Close your eyes and imagine this…

You hear a familiar *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*, and you feel yourself being pulled to the top of the roller coaster that you paid money (often a lot) to ride. Once at the top, you pause for what feels like an eternity but is only a moment before you plummet 150 feet straight down. Then back up. Then upside down. Right-side up. Into a tunnel and back out. Never really knowing where the next dip, flip or plunge is coming. On top of that, you’re feeling a little green, and the guy next to you just barfed... on your shoe. Thankfully, you are pulling back into the station, and insanity hits you, and you are ready to do it again.

Now open your eyes… does that same story apply to the roller coaster that is your business through the seasons?

You didn’t go into business to get barfed on or to be forced to pay a ton of money to be a part of a ride that you have no control over. Yet, that’s where many of you find yourselves.

Hands in the air, strapped into a ride that you can’t control. The only person that has any control is the weather man.

When it is hot, we are on an endless trajectory to the top. Until, the highs settle in around 74 degrees for three months, and you find yourself picking up your phone to see if you still have a dial tone. Another plunge back down from that high. Mercifully, the first frost hits, and you are back on the fast track. Rinse and repeat. Season after season and year after year. Predictably unpredictable is your life.

It doesn’t have to be that way. There are ways to avoid that roller coaster and have your business be a lot less roller coaster and a lot more “It’s a Small World.” In our industry, predictability is the goal.

Easy for me to say, right?

Fair enough, but the reality is that you CAN avoid those peaks and valleys in your business using some simple tips that I’ll outline here.

• Focus on your Maintenance Agreement program: Do you want to know the best way to avoid the valleys in your off seasons? Have work scheduled already. A strong Maintenance program is going to help you manage the slow periods like a champ. Your techs are going to love you almost as much as your accountant does. There are a lot of ways to structure a good program, but the best for your bank account auto-renew, and many plans have a monthly payment component. CHA-CHING!
  
  
• Keep your customers happy and engaged:The hardest part of growing and sustaining a strong business is having a low frequency of transaction in your customer base. Often times, servicing a customer once is a loser for your bank account.

Let’s look at the math:

Average Acquisition Cost (new customer): $250

Average Ticket: $500

Average Net Profit: 10%

You add all of that together and you spent $250 to make $50. Ouch. Avoid that math by having repeat transactions with a customer. The best way to do that is with a Maintenance program. The next best way is to have regular contact with your customers. Don’t let them forget your name and you won’t have to fight for every call that comes in.

• Develop a marketing strategy: The best way to take control out of the meteorologist’s hands is to plan for what you know is coming. Guess what… it will be cold this winter. Guess what else… it will be hot this summer. Plan accordingly.

A simple technique to use is the 21-Day Method (get with your Coach for a full explanation) that allows you to take the low hanging fruit out of the marketplace before they become an emergency call at peak times. Using this technique, you avoid the long stretches of hoping the phone rings, and you stretch those busy periods so that you truly maximize your season.

• Train your technicians to *gulp* SELL: Most techs aren’t great salespeople. Not in their own minds, anyway. They didn’t go to school, master their trade and put the long hours in to be a salesman. Yet, we all know that the best opportunity for an upsell is in the home at the time of service. Every minute that elapses after a visit leaves that customer less and less likely to participate in any kind of upsell. This means that your technicians need to be proficient in upselling across all of your services. By giving these technicians the tools that they need and the practice that they need, they will close more opportunities. This will provide you with more consistent work year-round.

Often these techniques are the difference between a good year and a great year. These methods may also be the difference in laying off technicians in the off seasons. By doing this, you build a loyal, trained and effective group of techs.

What are some of your methods for bridging the gaps between the seasons?

Share your comments by shooting us an email at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading, and until next time, have fun in your business!