Last week I was in Las Vegas attending the EGIA EPIC show. Always fun escaping my office to connect with contractors “boots on the ground” style, especially after missing out on live events completely last year. Most of these shows are largely the same; you see many of the same vendors, the overall schedule is similar, and there are always contractors attending to do work and a handful just there to blow off steam. But this one hit differently for me from the opening keynote.
The man in the unenviable opening spot, charged with motivating a room full of contractors to focus on business health and growth during a few days in Vegas (not an easy task), was Jon Taffer of Bar Rescue reality show fame. If you’re unfamiliar, he’s a super charismatic guy who seemingly has the “Midas touch” for renewing struggling bars and restaurants to profitability. But, as he said, the Midas touch is really just instituting some common-sense tactics and changing mindsets, while “having someone to yell at you” to make sure they get done. And the institution of these changes starts with asking hard questions.
This is where he got me.
Loosely paraphrased, he said- When I’m dealing with a business the first thing I always ask is, “What’s keeping you from being successful?” I’d get all kinds of answers from stiff levels of competition, to dirty tricks, to tragedies like fires and employee embezzlement that ended up sending this business to the brink of bankruptcy. But then I’d pry deeper. How did you react to that? Did it become an excuse to quit or a call to action? When you got up in the morning and thought about that problem, did it make you drop your head and mope through the day? Or did it challenge you to figure it out and try again? Because there’s one common denominator in all my failures or victories, and that’s ME. In all my years of doing this, you know how many people have ever answered that first question correctly? There will always be excuses and reasons to complain. Business enemies and competition will come and go. Every day brings a new challenge, every day a new reason to throw our hands up and quit. But you are stuck with yourself. What’s keeping ME from being successful and figuring it out? ME.
That hit me like a ton of bricks. I do a lot of reading from business coaches and motivational guys, and I’ve heard many keynotes bring “inspirational heat” like this. In all seriousness I’ve probably heard this same thing said before, or something similar. But that day it made me pause and do a little self-examination about where my fingers are pointing. Do I spend more time focusing on my problems and making up excuses as to why I can’t be successful than I do actually trying to implement solutions to overcome the roadblocks I face?
We have all had plenty to complain about over the last year or so. COVID has turned lots of things upside down and brought on a world of new excuses for us, but… many contractors actually had BETTER sales years in 2020 than in 2019. Why? Because they adapted, worked on problems instead of putting them off, and chose to implement solutions instead of talking themselves out of trying new things. If gaining new leads is your business’s greatest need, let me ask you, how often have you requested information, grabbed info and a business card from a rep at a show booth, or even done a full demo with a marketing company who offers solutions only to end up doing nothing afterwards? Are you still complaining about leads? Why?
Is the guy down the road driving your price point down? How often have you heard that investing in your branding and customer relationship can help differentiate you to a point where customers will pay more for what they perceive is a better product and service? But have you chosen to fix the problem, or would you honestly rather just keep the excuse?
If Jon Taffer is anything, he is blunt. And after a few profanity-laced tirades he had most of the room’s attention because I think he was hitting most of us right in the procrastination. He said, “I’ve dealt with business owners just like you all of my life. Why the hell does it take you guys so long to do anything? Do you not value your time? I’ve renovated entire restaurants in less time than it takes some people to order their lunch. Just make the decision you know you need to make, and then move on.” I’ve appreciated having people who will talk to me this way at many points in my life; people who will wake me up, tell it like it is, and be less concerned about hurting my feelings than they are about seeing me succeed.
Contractors have had some interesting problems to face lately. Again, if you need leads and more customer engagement, we’ve got you covered. But in this business climate we are running into many contractors who are unable to find enough help, or equipment shortages are holding them back. So, these contractors, could just throw their hands up, decide to wait it out, and throw a pity party every morning on the way to work… or we could help try to find solutions.
There are good workers out there waiting to be found, and do you know how to find them and get them to choose you? Marketing. It’s a different style, but it’s still marketing. There’s still plenty of money to be made even without big-ticket replacement items while stock is low. But do you know how to build a customer base that signs the maintenance agreement, refers friends, and accepts the add-on services? Marketing. There are solutions out there to every problem – a stick of dynamite that blows up any excuse – but what we all need to do now is take a look in the mirror to see the man (or lady) who’s standing in the way of finding it and tell them to MOVE.
If you’d like to talk through the issues holding your business back and see where Hudson,Ink can help you overcome them, email me at [email protected] or click here to arrange a time to speak.