Matt Michel is CEO and President of the Service Roundtable, the world’s largest private contractor group. He began his career in 1983 and has held engineering, marketing, and senior management positions with such leading organizations as: The Turbo Refrigerating Company, Lennox Industries, Titus, Aire Serv Heating & Air Conditioning.

The Service Roundtable
The nation’s largest private contractor group. Matt is currently CEO & President of the Service Roundtable, a group dedicated to providing contractors with the information they need to improve their sales, profitability, and business performance. Matt founded the Service Roundtable in 2002 with funding by angel investors, including professional angel investors and a number of leading air conditioning industry professionals, such as four past chairman of the industry’s leading trade association, one of three living industry hall of fame members, several past national contractors of the year, and so on. Within six months of its launch, the Service Roundtable became the largest private contractor group in the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning industry. In 2003, the company added plumbing.

Page Contents:
The Most Successful Man From Russell
20 Marketing Tips For My Wife
Proverbs Of Marketing
Customer Dog
Commanding A Premium
Marketing On The Edge
20 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Next Home Show
The Law of Equilibrium
30 Things Every Technician Should Know
Veritas
Remembering John
50 Observations About the Art of Service
Frank from Philly on Comanche Marketing
Me And Fred



The Most Successful Man From Russell

Russell, Kansas claims less than 5,000 people. It’s not a big town. Yet, it’s one of those obscure places that every now and then gives birth to someone famous. The most famous person from Russell is Bob Dole, the former U.S. Senator, Vice President, and Republican Party presidential nominee. Yet, Bob Dole is NOT the most successful person to hail from Russell. That honor goes to Philip Anschutz (also claimed by nearby Hayes, Kansas).

Who?

Unless you attended college at the University of Kansas, you’ve probably never heard of Philip Anschutz. If you did attend KU, you probably don’t know much more than the fact there’s a few buildings bearing his name. You know the script. Alumnus done good. Gives back. Gets everlasting ego monument to bear his name and cause future generations of Anschutz Jayhawkers to turn red and shuffle their feed when someone connects the name with the building.


Rich as Rockefeller

But in Anschutz’ case, it’s not an ego monument. He likes his privacy. He’s a remarkably grounded man who doesn’t seek headlines, though he could. This is one of the richest men in the world. He’s got as much money as Rockefeller or a Saudi prince. You’ve heard of Rockefeller. You’ve heard of Saudi princes. Who’s heard of Anschutz?


Dad’s Failing Business

His story is a real rags-to-riches tale. He wasn’t born wealthy. He worked as a yard boy, grocery sacker, messenger, and bank teller while growing up. Anschutz graduated from KU and was preparing to head off to the University of Virginia to attend law school when his father became ill and the family business ran into trouble. Anschutz put off law school and stepped in to run Circle A Drilling, an oil company. Anschutz entered the oil business. Not just the oil business, but the wildcat oil business.

“As a wildcatter, 95 percent of everything you do is failure,” remarked Anschutz in a rare interview, “Most holes are dry,”


Turning Lemons Into Lemonade

Anschutz drilled his share of dry holes before finally making a strike in Wyoming. As fast as he could following the strike, he used credit to buy the surrounding leases. No sooner did he get this done when a spark ignited the whole field. Anschutz turned to Red Adair to put out the fire, who looked at Anschutz’s balance sheet, calculated the chance of a payment for risking his life and said no thanks. Adair told Anschutz to come up with some upfront or guaranteed money.

This would have been the end of most people. Not Anschutz. He turned to Hollywood of all places. A movie studio was working on a movie about Red Adair (“Hellfighters” staring John Wayne, who happened to belong to same fraternity as Anschutz and the much poorer guy who writes Comanche Marketing). Anschutz sold the studio the rights to film Adair putting out the fire for $100,000.

Anschutz went on to make a fortune in oil and gas, making the largest find since Prudhoe Bay. He sold his oil fields to Mobil in 1982 for $500 million just before Reagan deregulated, causing oil prices to collapse.


From Oil to Railroads

As the back end of an oil deal, he ended up with a small railroad. He leveraged this into the purchase of a bigger railroad. He saw an opportunity to make money with oil pipelines using railroad right-of-ways and started buying troubled railroads to get access to their right-of-ways.


Why Not Fiberoptics?

He figured what works with oil pipelines would work with communications, specifically fiber optics. After all, he had the right of ways. He founded Qwest Communications and went public at the perfect time to take advantage of the dot com run up.


Seeing Opportunities Others Miss

Here’s a guy who made a fortune in oil and then turned around and made a fortune in railroads and another in telecom. Very few people are able to hop industries like this and do well. This is why John McCool from KU’s history department noted that Anschutz is described as “a man who can see around corners.”

Maybe he sees around corners. I think he just opens his eyes and sees opportunities where others overlook them. And he’s doing it again.

Anschutz was frustrated by the lack of movies he could take his grandchildren to see. He noted that Hollywood has produced over two thousand R-rated films since 2000, but only 137 G and 252 PG movies. Yet, there is not a single R-rated film among the top 20 money making movies of all time. Among the top 50, only five are R-rated.

In a speech at Hillsdale College, he said, “I decided to stop cursing the darkness – I had been complaining about movies and their content for years – and instead to do something about it by getting into the film business.”

He added, “My reasons for getting into the entertainment business weren’t entirely selfless. Hollywood as an industry can at times be insular and doesn’t at times understand the market very well. I saw an opportunity in that fact. Also, because of digital production and digital distribution, I believe the film industry is going to be partially restructured in the coming years – another opportunity. But also, yes, I saw a chance with this move to attempt some small improvement in the culture.”


Unmet Needs & Leveraging

In other words, he sees an unmet need. He also sees an opportunity to use the fiber optic networks Qwest laid on the railroad right of ways to digitally distribute movies to theaters.

Anschutz bought up troubled theaters at below market rates, often buying their notes or purchasing them as they emerged from bankruptcy (today, he owns one out of every five domestic movie theaters). He set up a production company in Hollywood and an education company “headquartered as far from Hollywood as we could get it – in Boston.”


Finding Opportunities by Asking Questions

The education unit hired teachers and parents, charging them to interact with schools. Today, they have a relationship with 10 thousand schools and 30 thousand teachers. They ask what kind of movies people would like to see. They ask about the important books kids are reading in schools.

As a direct result, Anschutz’ company produced the movie, “Holes,” based on the children’s book. The film grossed $60 million after its first six weeks. It’s not a blockbuster, but it was a success. Anschutz’ company is now working on “The Narnia Chronicles,” based on C.S. Lewis’ book series. The company is about to release “Around the World in 80 Days.”

By design, this is not the normal Hollywood fare. “Our company, Anschutz says, “makes G and PG and, occasionally, very soft PG-13 movies. They are primarily family films – films that families can see together. We expect them to be entertaining, but also to be life-affirming and to carry moral messages.”


Escaping the Herd

Yet, there’s also a business motive. “Speaking purely as a businessman,” Anschutz said, “It is of utmost importance for a business to try and figure out a way to make goods and products that people actually want to buy. And as I’ve already suggested, I don’t think Hollywood understands this very well, because they keep making the same old movies – the same kinds they have been making for years – despite the fact that so many Americans are tired of seeing them. Why can’t movies return to being something that we can go and see with our children and our grandchildren without being embarrassed or on the edge of our seats?”

Yes, he’s making money, but he’s also giving back. Like most successful people, he’s taken his share of shots, lots of them. I wonder, how many of the critics are willing to work 14 hour days as Anschutz does as routine?


“A Handshake Kind of a Guy”

His friends and business partners are typically mum about Anschutz at his request. Lewis MacAdams with “Los Angeles Magazine” sought to find out more about Anschutz when his name surfaced with the purchase of the Staples Center, Los Angeles Coliseum, Kings hockey team, and a share of the Lakers.

In MacAdams’ article he wrote, “Nearly everyone who knows Anschutz personally also refused to talk. including his L.A. partner, Roski, who blew off several interview requests. Those who would say anything had only praise. ‘A real gentleman,’ says a lawyer who has represented Anschutz in rural Colorado. ‘A handshake kind of a guy,’ says a lawyer who represents him in downtown L.A. A brilliant person, a great negotiator; great values, very family oriented, echo others. ‘He's a very decent human being--very, very generous,; says former Colorado governor Dick Lamm, who now heads the Center for Public Policy at the University of Denver, which has received grants from an Anschutz foundation. ‘I just wish I could tell you some stories.’"

Generous indeed. I imagine few people could match his philanthropy financially or in the time he donates. In fact, when his exploration company acquired drilling rights to the Weatherman Draw canyon in Montana, the company gave up the drilling rights (an estimated 10 million barrels of oil) to protect some Native American paintings in the canyon.

"To my knowledge, this is the first time an oil company has donated leases to a nonprofit organization," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which received the donation.

We need more successful people like Philip Anschutz.


Don’t Envy, Emulate

Regardless of whether you’re fated to reach a fraction of Anschutz’ success, you can emulate the man…

-You can work hard.

-You can look for the opportunities that are staring all of us in the face, but that everyone’s overlooking.

-You can find out what your prospects want and offer it.

-You can look for opportunities to leverage your business into new arena.

-You can try to raise the standards and quality in your industry.

-You can ignore the critics.

-You can stay grounded once you are successful.

-You can give back.

-You can do what’s right, even if it costs.

© 2004 Matt Michel

P.S. He's now betting big on major league soccer in the U.S. and hockey in Europe. I wouldn't bet against him.

20 Marketing Tips For My Wife

A little background is in order. Long time readers of Comanche Marketing know that a few years ago my wife was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Actually, they diagnosis is that she is “Parkinsonian.” PD is rare and rarer still for someone her age, so the neurologists are reluctant to render an absolute diagnosis. I don’t know whether this is the result of malpractice suit fears or the fact that neurologists have an aversion to being caught in error.

Good news: after a few years of varying success, my wife seems to have a drug cocktail that works well, mitigates the symptoms, and allows her to function normally, albeit with a few medication side effects. Even better news is an experimental drug that’s about to be released and seems to retard or stop disease progression. In other words, the chances are good that she will be able to live a fairly normal life, though she cannot skip a drug dosage without paying a price.

Through this odyssey, we’ve both undergone some fairly significant self-examination. One of the things that happened to me was I decided that life was too short to put up with utter nonsense and crass behavior. This led me to walk away from some nice opportunities that were accompanied with utter nonsense and crass behavior. At the same time, a need to do something meaningful led to the creation of the Service Roundtable.

My wife has also done her share of searching. One outcome has been work on her music. She was working on a CD when she had a bad reaction to her medication. The CD was put on hold. While working on it, she pushed her own personal envelope in the areas of composition and arrangement and is now creating a library of background music for videos and performances. I’ve used some of it. The music in the video linked below is an example of her work to spec.

https://www.serviceroundtable.com/Freebies/ViewFreebie.asp?PCID=292

She also discovered a love for mosaic art. As this developed, she decided to launch a mosaic art business. She’s created her own website. She’s gotten some of her work placed in stores. I've even had her make a sign for the “World Headquarters” and several corporate gifts.

As you know, there are an enormous number of details involved in starting a business, especially one that involves a degree of manufacturing and inventory. She’s done all of that. She’s good with details. Now, since we have all kinds of money tied up in mosaic mirrors, pots, tables, frames, candle holders, magazine racks, platters, and little bitty tile pieces that get *everywhere,* it’s time to market and sell.

She hasn’t really asked me for my advice and I’ve been reluctant to offer too much. “No one’s a profit in his own town,” and all that. Whenever I step on one of those tile slivers, I bite my tongue and hold my peace. But enough is enough. Whether she wants it or not, I’m going to offer a few marketing tips to my wife. Since some of you may be in a similar situation, running a cash strapped small business start-up (wait, I’m running a cash strapped small business start-up), I thought some of these might apply to your business…


1. Your Website Will Never Be Perfect – Cut It Loose Anyway

You’ve done a good job putting together your website. The fact that you’re doing it on your own is both a benefit and a liability. The benefit is that whenever you want to make a change, you can change it. Of course that means you need to figure out how to do it. It also means you tend to tweak more.

Go ahead. Tweak away. But your site will never be perfect. I know. The Service Roundtable site never is. But guess what? Most people don’t seem to notice and those that do, don’t seem to mind as long as you’re making improvements.

You will always have enhancements and cool new features to add. It’s ready for business now. Push it.


2. Start a Mosaic Links Page

Put together a links page for people interested in mosaic art. Include a history of mosaics. Include a “how to buy mosaics” page. Include links to other mosaic sites. Join a webring for mosaic artists. Include useful information that anyone interested in mosaics might want. This generates traffic, gives you more search engine hits, and will eventually deliver a customer or two.


3. Start a Community Links Page

Create one massive page with every link and reference number you can think of for Flower Mound, Lewisville, Highland Village, Coppell, Grapevine, Southlake, and the other surrounding towns. Give each community a separate page. Include links to community businesses, government services, schools, the local arts community, churches, and so on. Even if it’s on your site, put a link to your home page at the top of the page as the page’s “sponsor.” Tell people to press CNTL + B to bookmark the page as a handy reference. Provide a way for people to submit new links or updates. Email everyone you have linked with a link to the page and a polite request for them link back. It’s like building a web of contacts. Some of the people you email might even be customers.


4. Get Your Husband To Tout Your Website on His Newsletter That Goes to More Than 5,000 People

You never know. If people have a need or desire for quality mosaic art, they might buy a few piece and/or recommend it to friends and neighbors.


***
WARNING: CRASS COMMERCIAL MESSAGE CLEVERLY EMBEDDED BELOW

If you’ve enjoyed Comanche Marketing, please visit my wife’s website at:

www.MosaicMedleys.com

Maybe you could even buy something. She can custom produce anything you want. For example, she took a picture of the St Augustine lighthouse and turned it into a tile backsplash for a beach house. She also made the sign for the World Headquarters. It cost the same as other quotes I’ve gotten from sign shops and looks nicer and more expensive. Even if you don’t want something, look at the site and email it to a few friends. Thanks!
***

Okay, the husband’s done his part.


5. Hold a Grand Opening

Email a note about the grand opening of the website to everyone in your email address book. Send it to yourself and copy everyone as a blind copy, so you aren’t passing their emails around. Consider holding a grand opening sale.


6. Create a “Family & Friends” Coupon

As part of your grand opening, create a special coupon for family and friends. Embed it in an email. Be sure to give people permission to forward it around. This is a “viral” marketing strategy that’s designed to elicit buzz. Lots of big retailers use this tactic with employees.


7. Announce it on Lists & Boards

You participate on several Parkinson’s boards. As a personal interest commentary, tell your story. Tell people how you aren’t letting Parkinson’s get you down. You’ve started a company and just launched a website. Lots of Parkies seem to be computer savvy since their mobility’s been reduced. Some would be interested and visit the site.

Do not shill, however. If you do, you’re likely to turn more people off. Simply tell a personal story about not letting PD limit you. Also, make sure you post in the appropriate forum. Posting this in a forum focused on the latest drug therapies would be the same as shilling no matter how you couch it.


8. Send Out Press Releases

Get a book on writing press releases or (ahem), talk to your husband about creating and sending a press release about your grand opening to local newspapers. Create another stressing the human interest angle and send it to the Parkinson’s publications.


9. Come Up With an Off-The-Wall Promotion

An off-the-wall promotion that’s unusual and involves the use of your product is worth advertising gold. I happen to think your husband and his computer geek friends have come up with a brilliant one. Your husband has been collecting AOL, Earthlink, and other CDs that ISPs carpet bomb consumers with. Make a mosaic or two out of them. Send them to some of the leading computer writers who have a sense of humor and promote it as a use for old CDs (recycled CDs). Make a plea as part of the press release for unwanted CDs. Before you know it, you’ll have free mosaic material coming out of your ears. You’ll also have a unique product that appeals to computer geeks. Send a letter to the president of Earthlink and offer to make him a table with an Earthlink logo out of old AOL CDs. Do the opposite with AOL. It’s hype, but if successful, it would generate a lot of awareness. Besides, it’s fun.


10. Marketing Very Locally

You’ve got a teenage daughter who’s suddenly become interested in money because she’s suddenly become interested in clothes because she’s suddenly (gasp!) become interested in boys (aaaaiiiieeeeeee!!!). Pay her $20 a subdivision to carry flyers promoting your business and site to the surrounding subdivisions. Emphasize the “neighborhood” aspect of your business.


11. Follow Up on the Silent Auction

The piece you donated to the church silent auction was a big hit. See if you can get permission to send a coupon or small gift certificate to everyone who bid unsuccessfully for it. They may not let you, but it’s worth a try.


12. Advertise in Church Newsletters

You do not have much of an advertising budget. Yet, many church newsletters are surprisingly affordable and people assume that anyone advertising in a church newsletter must attend that church. People prefer to do business with others in their church. Contact a few. See what develops.


13. Start an Affinity Marketing Program With Your Daughter’s School

Tell them you’ll donate 10% of all purchases back when a buyer mentions the school. They promote Campbell’s Soup Labels, Ci Ci’s Pizza, and half a dozen other businesses. Why not yours? By the way, it’s okay to mention all of the volunteer time you and your husband have donated to the school.


14. Focus on the Corporate “Gift” Angle

Companies love to see their logo on everything. You’ve got a unique way to provide it. And most companies aren’t as tight as your husband’s. Send a few strategic letters to the advertising and promotions managers for the biggest employers in the area. Stress that your smaller mosaic tables make a nice promotion for key customers and clients, keeping their logo discretely in place in their offices.


15. Look for Obvious, Unmet Need

Business is everywhere. When you drive around town, keep an eye open for small offices with poor signage. Send them a letter with a few pictures and offer to create a custom mosaic sign. Get prices for custom cast signs to use as a comparison.


16. Take Every Opportunity to Market

Remember Tom McCart? He’s a strong advocate for inserting business cards with every bill you pay. You never know who might be opening the bill. And people do prefer to do business with people who buy from them. Include a business card or three with every bill.


17. Leverage Influencers

You want to take on a few large projects. The best way is to contact the people who control them. Contact area architects and interior designers. Become a source so that they can let their creativity soar.


18. Help the DIYers Get in Over their Heads

At the Hickory Creek Craft Fair, you were asked to teach a “how to” class on mosaic art for do-it-yourselfers. The people who are going to mosaic on their own are not your customers, so it does not hurt to teach them a few things. Most will never do more than the most basic mosaic. Yet by teaching them even that, you will position yourself as the expert. You will be the person they hold in high esteem for your skill, artistry, and knowledge.

When they want something beyond their ability, when they get in over their head, as they inevitably will, you are likely to get first shot at producing it for them. Remember, even if they become proficient, it’s unlikely that they will have your flair. If nothing else, it helps get your name out in the community.

Carry it a step further and offer to teach a class at the art studio where you wrote check after check, year after year, so that your high maintenance teenage daughter could learn to doodle with style. This is like getting paid to promote yourself.


19. Create Promotional Flyers For The Places You Patronize

You’re spending a small fortune on your high maintenance teenager’s horse habit. See if you can tack a promotional flyer with a few business cards up at the stables. Hit up all of the places around town that you patronize, but especially the locally owned ones, like the local hardware store. While you’re at the hardware store, see if they would be open to consigning a few pieces near the fireplace section.


20. Listen to the Experts

Pay attention to your husband. He is very smart, wise, and handsome. Listen to him in all matters.

© 2004 Matt Michel

Proverbs Of Marketing

Solomon is reputed to be the wisest man who ever lived. He left a record of bits and pieces of his wisdom in the Book of Proverbs. There’s lots of sage advice scattered throughout proverbs. Every few years I take the time to re-read it. I’m not a Biblical scholar so I probably misinterpret things. Yet, the beauty of Proverbs is that I can find gems that seem to fit whatever circumstances I find myself at the time. Here are some of the proverbs I took note of during my last reading…


The Law of Equilibrium Again…

They will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
-Proverbs 1:31

Treat your customers, employees, and suppliers bad and it will come back to haunt you. Treat people the way you would like to be treated. Even better, do your best to treat them the way they would like to be treated.


Learning is Lifelong…

Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.
-Proverbs 3:13,14

Solomon talks a lot about wisdom. It’s apparent that he considers wisdom to be the greatest gift one can earn. The day you left school is the day your education really began. Study your craft. Read books and trade magazines. Attend conferences and seminars. Join trade associations or success groups. Listen to what others have to say. Learning is lifelong.


Nothing Takes The Place of Persistence…

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
-Proverbs 6:6-11

Of course, all of the wisdom in the world is useless if it is not applied. There is still no substitute for hard work.

President Calvin Coolidge said, "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan, ‘Press on!’ has solved and will continue to solve the problems of the human race."


Don’t Argue, Listen…

"Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.
-Proverbs 9:7-9

It’s a losing proposition to argue with a customer. You won’t win and you’ll just make them hate you. As difficult as it is, listen to what they’re saying. They may have a point and you might learn something.


Don’t Get a Big Head…

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
-Proverbs 11:2

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
-Proverbs 16:18

If you’ve got press clippings, don’t believe them. If a supplier or customer tells you you’re wonderful, thank them, but don’t let it go to your head. You’re never as bad or as good as others think. No matter how good you are, there’s always room for improvement. That’s why humility is important. If you lose you humility, you risk losing your desire to improve.


Build a Your Own Advisory Board…

For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure.
-Proverbs 11:14

Talk with lots of people. Listen to everyone. Each has a different and unique perspective. This is one of the benefits of groups. They give you access to different people. Sometimes conflicting advice is the best you can get. It gives you an opportunity to weigh more alternatives and select the best course for you and your company.

In my company, I have the benefit of a Board of Directors. I report to the Board, but the Board also serves as an advisory group. You may not have an outside Board of Directors, but you can create an Advisory Board and use it for advice, counsel, ideas, and suggestions. Who do you ask? Try a key supplier, a customer, your banker, an attorney, owners of non-competitive service businesses, and anyone whose judgment you value.


Be Wary of Outward Appearances…

One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.
-Proverbs 13:7

Every salesperson can tell a story of being surprised by someone who didn’t seem to have two nickels to rub together, yet who nevertheless bought the top-of-the-line. At the same time, every salesperson will also talk about the cheapskate rich, who live in nice homes, but want the cheapest solution. Could it be that the former has more disposable income than the latter?

Salespeople and technicians often prejudge customers. They make decisions about what people can and cannot afford. They may never present the full range of solutions. The problem is it’s impossible to know how much money someone really has. Don’t let your prejudgments limit your offering to a customer.


Overnight Successes Rarely Occur Overnight…

Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.
-Proverbs 13:11

If you cheat your customers, employees, or suppliers, sooner or later it will come back to haunt you. Running a service business can be very profitable, but it takes time to build. There are few overnight successes. When you find one, often the “overnight success” period was preceded by years and years of hard work.


Charge Customers Fairly and the Same…

The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him.
-Proverbs 20:23

Charge people fairly and the same. In other words, charge a flat rate so that you charge customers the same whether the tech is slow or fast and you charge the customer the same that you charge his neighbor.


Do Not Lie…

A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.
-Proverbs 21:6

Do not lie to make a sale. Ever.


Value the Integrity of Your Name…

A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.
-Proverbs 22:1

One of the true values of your company is its reputation in the marketplace. Guard it like gold.

© 2003 Matt Michel

Customer Dog

Over the weekend, I stopped by a pet store to pick up some dog food. Outside the pet store, one of the Animal Rescue Societies had set up, and was giving away dogs. I noticed a small dog, with long floppy ears. This was the goofy, lovable dog, that seemed to have the traits of a half dozen breeds.

“Ah, the classic American mutt,” I said, reaching down to pet the dog.

“I’ll have you know that’s a special breed of dog,” said a volunteer with Hank on his nametag. “Everybody wants him, but they often overlook him.”

“Oh yeah? What kind of breed is this?”

“It’s a customer dog.”

“A customer dog?”

“Yep. Well, I should say he *was* a customer dog. Right now, he’s gone back to being a prospect dog, but he wants to be a customer dog again.”

“So he was a customer dog, but’s now a prospect dog and wants to become a customer dog again. I see,” I said, though I didn’t know what the guy was talking about.

“That’s right. Once he was a customer dog, but he left his owner. Ran away. Now he’s looking for someone else to take care of him. Customer dogs want to be loyal.”

A small boy walked up to look at customer dog and he immediately left me and bounded over to sniff the boy, who giggled.

I laughed. “He doesn’t look too loyal to me.”

“Of course not,” said Hank. “He’s a prospect dog, at the moment. He’s trying to figure out who he wants to take care of him so he can become a customer dog again. Until he does, he bounces all over the place, sniffing out one person after another.”

“What does a prospect dog look for?” I asked, intrigued.

“Prospect dogs and customer dogs don’t want a lot. They want someone to treat them well, take care of their needs, and pay a little attention to them. Show customer dogs a little love and they will love you back.”

“So they’re the perfect dog?”

“Nooo. Customer dogs aren’t perfect. Sometimes they growl at you for no apparent reason.”

‘That’s not good.”

“It’s not, but all customer dogs do it sooner or later. When they growl, pay attention. Usually they growl for a reason. It might be that you haven’t put water in their bowl or you messed up the customer dog’s bed. They don’t mean anything when they growl, not usually. They just want you to fix a problem.”

I watchrd the boy play with the customer dog for a few minutes. A little girl who looked just like the boy and must be his sister noticed him and toddled over. “Doggy,” she squealed. Customer dog looked up and ran to the girl like she was a long lost friend, licking her to excited squeaks.

“My doggy,” said the boy angrily and pushed his sister.

“Typical,” said Hank, parting the two children.

“What?” I asked.

“People are always fighting over prospect dogs. Everyone wants them when they’re prospect dogs. When they see a prospect dog, they forget all about their own customer dogs.”

Hank looked at the kids. The boy was tugging on his sister’s hair, while she was kicking her brother in the knee. “I bet you have some doggies at home don’t you?”

“Tree,” said the girl.

“You can’t count,” said the boy, “We’ve got two.”

“Tree!”

“Two!”

Hank looked back in my direction, “You see they aren’t even sure how many customer dogs they’ve got.”

“Tree,” said the girl holding up her fingers and numbering them, “Dere’s Pookie an’ Ralph an’ Flash. Dat’s tree.”

“Pookie’s not a dog,” snorted the boy, “Pookie’s a cat.”

“Cats don’t make good customer dogs,” said Hank, “Though some people insist on counting them.”

“What’s wrong with cats?”

“They’re too independent. You can’t depend on them. They tend to be annoying and they expect to be taken care of without every showing any loyalty or giving much back in return. I suppose a cat’s alright if that’s all you’ve got, but customer dogs are so much better. Cats will never be loyal, though lots of people try. They give a bunch of attention to cats, trying to turn them into customer dogs, but they’ll never be customer dogs.”

“Can they be customer cats?”

“No such thing. They’re cats. Not every animal is meant to be a customer dog. You can’t change their nature. If you try, you’re wasting your time, time that could be spent on customer dogs. If people spent more time with their customer dogs and less time trying to turn cats into customer dogs, fewer customer dogs would run away and become prospect dogs again.”

“So why did this, uh, prospect dog run away?”

Hank shrugged. “You can ask, but they don’t always tell you.”

“Why do you think he ran away?”

“Could be he was ignored. Maybe he was mistreated. It’s surprising what some customer dogs will put up with. Some run away the instant people seem to forget them. Others put up with abuse because they don’t think it will be any different with someone else. Once they figure out that there are people who will pay attention to them, who will take care of them, then they’re out like a shot.”

“Wanna cookie?” said the boy to the prospect dog.

Hank sighed, shaking his head. “People are always trying to bribe prospect dogs, offering them special treats to lure them over and make them customer dogs.”

“Is that bad?”

“Not necessarily. It’s an old practice.”

“So what’s wrong?”

“That little boy doesn’t have a cookie. Customer dogs and especially prospect dogs hate empty promises. They hate being misled.”

The prospect dog sniffed at the boy’s closed fist. He opened it. It was empty. “Fooled ya,” he said.

The prospect dog looked a little hurt and whined.

“Doggy,” said the girl, with her arms open.

The prospect dog bounded over and leaped into her arms.

“Doggy,” said the boy, “Doggy!” He stamped his foot. The prospect dog ignored him.

He sat down and started bawling. “Not fair! Not fair!” he wailed.

“I see it this the time,” said Hank.

“What?”

“People use deceptive practices to attract prospect dogs. Sometimes it even works for a while, but the prospect dogs catch on sooner or later. Prospect dogs seem to have some way of communicating with each other that we don’t fully understand because other prospect dogs will start to ignore these people. They cry and whine that life’s unfair, when the only thing that’s unfair is the way they treat prospect dogs and customer dogs.”

“Let’s fin’ Daddy,” said the little girl, “’Cause I wanna take you home.” The prospect dog followed dutifully behind her.

Hank smiled. “Prospect dogs like that.”

“Like what?”

“They sort of like being told what to do, in simple terms of course. If they trust you, they’ll follow. Trust is what it’s all about.”

“Do they trust instantly?”

“Some do. With most it takes time. But once they trust you, you can screw up and they’ll give you another chance. They won’t run away. Well, they will if you keep screwing up, but the more they trust you, the more chances you get.”

Hank had given me a lot to think about. I looked around. People were snapping up prospect dogs left and right.

“Looks like you’re about to run out of prospect dogs,” I said.

“Nah. There’s a lot of prospect dogs. In fact, there are more prospect dogs than customer dogs. People just don’t know where to find them. Some have been so mistreated that they’ve become shy. In fact, a few decide they’d rather scavenge on their own, take care of themselves, which is a shame because they’re much better cared for as customer dogs than DIY dogs.”

“Hey, what about that dog over there?” I said, pointing at a dog sitting on his haunches, barking and nipping at the other dogs.

“Oh him? He’s useless. A real shame, given his background.”

“What happened?”

“Well, he used to be a champion dog, the kind of dog everyone wants, but then an owner ruined him. He was so happy before, too.”

“What did he do?”

“He was a technician dog and the owner decided he’d promote him. Started calling him Service Manager. Now all he does is sit around and bark at the other dogs.”

© 2004 Matt Michel

The Impoverished Craftsman

A contractor wrote to me in an email, “I have never been able to figure out some guys. They think that being underpaid, undervalued and in debt is some badge of honor that goes along with being a quality craftsman.”

If you can’t figure it out either, then this Comanche Marketing is probably not for you. If, on the other hand, this strikes a nerve, sounds familiar, this Comanche Marketing might be one to think about.

Do yourself a favor. Do not react emotionally. Read it. Think about it. Consider it. And maybe, make some changes.


The Small Business Owner

I’ve long held a special affinity for the small business owner. I remember my father telling stories about how hard my grandfather worked during the depression to operate the Michel Tire Company in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Grandpa worked hard, was honest in his dealings with others, but never seemed to get very far ahead. He was always running scared.

That could be said for many small business owners. They revel in their craft, in the work, but they hate the nuts and bolts of making the business prosper. They hate the crude, crass functions of accounting, marketing, and especially, sales.


The Source of Business Starts

Some businesses start to pursue a new idea, an invention, or a concept. Most small businesses start because the owner seeks freedom. The owner hangs out a shingle so he pursue his craft as he sees fit. He wants the freedom to do the job right, without a boss looking over his shoulder critiquing and urging him to hurry along. Surely, if he performs the craft right, the way he knows it can and should be done, everything else will fall into place. People will seek him out. The money will be there.

It rarely works that way. The irony of the craftsman as businessman is that once he launches his own venture the craftsman is confronted with the need to give up the very thing he loves most, the craft.


Impossible Standards

Some craftsmen accept the need to learn a new set of skills, a new “craft,” so to speak. They embrace the notion of building a business and, though they are letting go of the craft, find a replacement that’s even more fulfilling: the craft of building a great business.

Yet for other craftsmen, this is impossible. They cannot give up the craft. Even if they could, they can never find anyone to do the work. No one measures up. No one meets their standards. No one is as good a craftsman as they are.

Faced with the prospect of hiring someone who fails to meet their standards, they never hire anyone. They can’t do it all. They can’t practice the craft and manage the business. So they shift as much of the business burden as possible to their spouses. What their spouses cannot or do not know how to do, doesn’t get done.

This burden gets thrown on a spouse who is already trying to run a household and likely holds down another job to help pay the bills. It strains the marriage. It stresses the family.


Business Novices

Great craftsmen know how to turn a wrench, but not how to turn a profit. They’re business novices. The craftsman usually undercharges. He undercharges because he still thinks in personal terms, not business terms. He relates pricing to the pay he earned working for someone else. He thinks like a craftsman, not a businessman.

He doesn’t realize that by undercharging he is subsidizing his customers at his company’s, family’s, and own expense. If he works through the numbers and understands them intellectually, he doesn’t accept them psychologically. The craftsman doesn’t think *he* is personally worth what the business needs to charge. His self-esteem won’t allow him to charge what he should to build a business, to build a better lifestyle, to build a future. Since he wouldn’t pay what the business demands for himself, he can’t imagine others paying it. He associates higher rates with larceny.

He misses the fact that while his customers appreciate his conscientiousness, they wish he would respond faster, handle complaints and callbacks with more aplomb, and provide those little service extras that he cannot afford because he doesn’t charge enough.

Every callback becomes a threat. Every callback is food off his table, money out of his pocket. He still responds. The craftsman inside him demands a response. Yet, the husband, the father, the owner, responds grudgingly. Already under stress, customers sense his reluctance and quickly turn adversarial, further souring his attitude and starting a slippery slide down the path to customer conflict.


The Impoverished Craftsman

Impoverished and nearly always broke, the craftsman is continually juggling. He makes do without small luxuries for himself and his family. He thinks twice before going out to eat. The most minor investment in his business is a reason to pause. Can he afford it? How much does he have in the checking account? Can he make the bills balance out?

The impoverished craftsman may steal a three-day weekend here and there, but he rarely takes a real vacation. He can’t afford to. He can’t afford it financially. He can’t afford to be away. Who will take care of the customers?

He’s always worried about the dry spells, the times when the calls do not come. It’s not merely the dearth of revenue that bothers him, it’s the free time. Free time is frightening. Free time allows for introspection, thought, consideration about where he is and where he wants to be in life. Free time forces him to confront the thought that it wasn’t supposed to be like this. It wasn’t supposed to be this hard. He once had such dreams.

As long as he can hold it together, keep the wolves at bay, and stay one step ahead of bankruptcy, the impoverished craftsman remains static. He can’t, won’t go back. He won’t work for someone else. His pride won’t allow it. His honor won’t stand it.

So he exists… barely. He exists safely within a defined comfort zone. He can’t bring himself to leave the comfort zone, to let go of the craft and learn a new one, to take the steps necessary to succeed.


Denial

When he sees others in his trade doing well, he asks how. Why are they successful when he’s struggling? It requires a hard look in the mirror to answer the question. It requires facing the truth that his greatest enemy is staring back.

Forced to confront a world that heaps rewards in equal measure to the value provided to society on those he disdains, he rationalizes. Why they aren’t even craftsmen, he thinks. They’re salesmen, marketers, high priced hucksters, overcharging their customers.

The fact that the customers of these companies may be aware they’re paying a little more, yet are still satisfied with the arrangement eludes the craftsman. He concludes that the successful must have cheated, lied, deceived. To think otherwise is to take responsibility, to realize he could also be successful had he made different choices. To think otherwise is to recognize his lot in life, his die was cast by himself.


Animosity

As time goes on, he regards the successful business owners with greater and greater animosity. If someone reaches out to help, he slaps the hand away. He shuts himself off from new ideas and new concepts. He becomes the antithesis of the successful companies in his field and seeks like-minded individuals to reinforce his world view and salve his tenuous esteem.

To the outside world, he’s brash, bold, and confident in the purity of his ways. It’s a cover. Underneath is a nagging sense of self-doubt that he cannot allow to rise to the surface. To allow it to emerge is to face reality… to face the need to change.


The End Game

As time goes on, he finds it harder and harder to perform the craft he loves so well. His body, abused and slight broken, resists when he struggles to carry more loads, to squeeze into more inaccessible spaces. Backaches and stiff joints become his constant companion. Still, he cannot stop. He can’t afford to. His only exit strategy is the final exit. So he works until he can work no longer, old, impoverished, pained, proud, stubborn, and bitter.


Alternatives

The tragedy is that it’s unnecessary. Life doesn’t have to turn out that way. Almost every successful business owner was once an impoverished craftsman who had an epiphany, who was splashed with the cold reality of true self-insight, who faced and accepted the need to change.

Giving up the known for the unknown and unfamiliar is never easy. It’s always terrifying. The knowledge of the craft is comforting, secure, satisfying. Craftsmen who cannot abandon the comfort, security, and satisfaction of the craft for the business would be better served working for someone else. They would have more money. They would have fewer hassles. They would have more stability.

A craftsman who cannot bring himself to work for someone else, must learn a new craft. He must learn the craft of business. He must learn how to hire people who may not be as good as he is and to let go. He must learn how to coach his employees and how to trust them, accepting that every now and then he will trust the untrustworthy.

The craftsman must look at the business objectively. He must divorce business pricing demands from a craftsman’s wage demands and determine the right pricing for the *business.* He must study the unfamiliar disciplines of sales and marketing. In short, he must leave his comfort zone and change. He must give up the craft to build the business.

The good news is there has never been a better time in history to build a business. More resources are available for the small business owner than ever before. There is more knowledge, more information, more tools, and more general prosperity. A prosperous world is a world of opportunity.

While not everyone is prosperous today, anyone can prosper today. Anyone who works hard, applies themselves, stretches, grows, and risks can attain prosperity. Maybe you won’t rival Bill Gates, but you can control your own destiny. You can become financially secure. It won’t happen overnight. It won’t happen in a linear manner. You will face sidetracks and setbacks. Still, you can succeed. You can prosper.

If, in your prosperity, you find you miss the craft, you can always return to it. You can hire a manager to run your business while you run around on a truck. It’s funny though. I know a lot of people who left the truck and built prosperous businesses. None of them returned. I think the reason is building a prosperous business is fun. It’s satisfying. It’s fulfilling. It can be more fun that the craft.

You’ve only got one life on this planet. You might as well build the best life you can. It’s not too late. Get started!

© 2004 Matt Michel

Commanding A Premium

If you run a service business, it’s tough to slug it out at the bottom. There’s always someone cheaper, either because they do not understand their costs, operate with less overhead (i.e., a garage operation), or can spread their overhead over much greater volume. Unless you’re already big, spreading overhead is unlikely to help over the short term. Building a large customer base and the infrastructure to support it does not happen over night. If anything, it’s becoming more difficult as service companies confront a scarcity of skilled labor.

If you can’t win slugging it out at the bottom, why not offer a premium service and command a premium price? You might be thinking, “Sure, simple for you to say” and you would be right. It is simple to say and difficult to execute; so is anything worth doing. It can be done. You can build a premium service, command premium prices, and enjoy a premium margin… if you’re willing to work at it.


The Starbucks Difference

This morning I passed the convenience store to buy coffee from Starbucks. I paid a significant premium for it.

Some say coffee is coffee. Not me. However, I’ve got to admit the coffee served in the convenience stores has improved. It might even be as good as Starbucks, but it’s still not the same. The Starbucks shop has a different smell, different feeling when I walk in, different music, and a different overall ambience. It’s hard to identify all of the specific differences, but the totality results in a premium many people pay.


The Dealership Versus The Local Garage

In a few days I’m going to take my car into the shop for a minor repair and some routine maintenance. I’m taking it to the dealership. I know I’ll play a premium to take it there.

There’s a local garage that can do all of the things I need done, for less. I’ve used them before. They do not always get repairs right the first time and returning is a hassle. They do not always complete a repair when promised and it’s a hassle to not have a car. Sometimes no one answers the phone, even during business hours. They do not always manage to order the right parts, even when I arrange things in advance. Returning is a hassle. Their waiting area consists of a couple of uncomfortable chairs and a few tattered car magazines.

When the repair is done, they hand me my keys and point me in the general direction where they’ve parked my car. Sometimes there is butcher paper on the floorboard, covered with mud.

The dealership has the parts needed. If not, they manage to get them so fast I don’t notice. I can call the dealership to schedule a repair or I can schedule it online, which is much more convenient. Schedule a repair in advance and it’s possible to arrange for a free loaner car if the repair will take time. Usually, repairs are performed so quickly that it makes more sense to wait. The dealership has a nice waiting area with comfortable chairs, a wide variety of newspapers and magazines to read, cable news on the television, coffee and donuts. More important to me are the private work rooms with built-in desks, counters, power supplies, phones, and doors.

When the repair is done, my car is waiting by the front with the engine running and a smiling technician who’s holding the door open. There’s no butcher paper on the floorboard, but the car has been washed and the interior has been cleaned and vacuumed. I’m not sure that any one difference is worth the premium, unless perhaps is the assurance that I will not have any hassles with the dealership. It’s the totality of small things, many of them indecipherable and difficult to identify.


The Difference Is Not The Product

The differences between Starbucks and the convenience store lay not so much in the actual product, but everything surrounding the product. The same can be said about the differences between the dealership and the local garage.

One clear difference is price. Starbucks and the dealership do not hide the fact they charge more. They are not embarrassed about it. They do not apologize for it. They do not make a big deal about it. It is what it is. They still run specials and promotions. The dealership is especially aggressive about offering dollars off and percentage off coupons, mailing them quarterly and including bounce back coupons with each service invoice.

The differences between the lower priced service and its higher priced alternative are sometimes subtle, sometimes not so subtle. No one difference is sufficient by itself to justify the premium. In fact, it’s hard to say the differences in toto justify the premium from any rational view. And yet, millions pay more for Starbucks every day and the auto dealership’s service arm probably outstrips the volume of the local garage twenty-fold.


Premium Services Are Not For Everyone

Some can’t afford a premium service. But it may only be a temporary situation. If I’ve only got a buck fifty in my pocket, for example, I’m stopping by the convenience store, not Starbucks (I refuse to charge a cup of coffee though I’ve seen plenty of people do it).

Some do not value a premium service. My wife and daughters spend a fortune getting their hair done. I head for the nearest Pro Cuts.

Not everyone will pay more than the minimum. Some can’t. Some don’t see the value. However, as we become more and more affluent as a society (i.e., even out impoverished live better than most of the world’s well-to-do), more people will be able to afford premium services if they see the value. The market is moving in the direction of better service, which means better margins for service companies who can step up their game.


There Are No Silver Bullets

There are no silver bullets. Building the value necessary to sustain a premium business is not a giant leap forward. It’s inching along, little by little, every day in a myriad of ways. It’s tough to do, which means it’s also tough for competitors to emulate.

Look at your business. Are you more like the auto dealer or more like the local garage? Do you have a Starbucks difference?

What are you doing to command a premium? Next service meeting, pose the question. Listen to the answers and list everything. Ask what you should do. Then, get to work.

© 2004 Matt Michel

Marketing On The Edge

One of my more enjoyable past times is coaching an 11-year old girls soccer team. Years ago, I coached 11-year old boys. One of the differences between a girls team and a boys team is the boys are much more physical. Girls need to be taught to shoulder for position. If a team doesn’t learn how to shoulder, they’re likely to get physically intimidated and lose. After working on it season after season, I felt our kids would be able to physically hold their own against anyone. On Saturday, I learned otherwise.


Coaching On The Edge

The first half of the game was clean and we were dominating. The second half was another story. Our opponents came out and systematically mugged us. I didn’t realize how bad until I saw the video of the game. The other team’s players weren’t going for the ball; they were body checking players. Elbows were flying. Kids were getting pushed to the ground from behind. One or two plays would have done made a youth football coach proud.

Girls do not play like this naturally. It takes coaching. And they don’t change their style of play between halves unless a coach instructs them.

Unfortunately, the ref was young. He was intimidated by the other team’s coach. The coach blustered and bullied and the ref never shut him down. He never called any fouls. The game got out of hand. It was so bad that the ref and a linesman apologized to me afterwards. That’s a first!

After the assault and battery began, our kids started playing tentative. They gave up a goal. We were tied. Literally in the closing seconds, their forward knocked our best athlete to the ground and scored the winning goal.

The other coach probably feels pretty good about himself. He shouldn’t. He was coaching on the edge. Really he was coaching beyond the edge. If his team continues to play like they did in the second half, someone (i.e., an 11-year old girl) will get hurt before the season ends.

I played soccer overseas and was the captain of one of the best high school teams in my state. I played for various club teams and I played my freshman year in college. I know a few dirty tricks myself. Our team has an assistant coach who played soccer at Michigan State, one who is about to attend college on a soccer scholarship, and another who played football at Texas Tech. We could teach our share of dirty tricks… *but we CHOSE not to!*

First, these are 11-year old girls. I do not want to see any of them get hurt so that we can get another trophy. It’s not worth it. Second, even if no one gets hurt, I don’t want to win that way. We coach the kids to be physical, but CLEAN. All of them know that they will get pulled from a game for play like our opponent exhibited.

This isn’t the first time I’ve we’ve faced a team who played on or beyond the edge. Losing hurts, but winning the wrong way means you lose more than a game. You lose part of your soul.


Marketing On The Edge

What does the soccer game have to do with marketing? EVERYTHING!

Lots of people market on the edge. A few go beyond the edge. I don’t even have to give examples. I bet you know exactly what I’m talking about.

The temptation to market on the edge can be strong. Business is not just a game. It’s your livelihood.

I’ll be honest. I’ve gone over the edge myself in the past, not often, but I’ve done it. I did it when I thought I would be fired if I took a stand. Since I needed a paycheck, I caved. I didn’t think I had a choice, but I was wrong. I did have a choice. I could have done what I knew to be right and suffered the consequences.

Ironically, the consequences are rarely as dire as feared. When you do take a stand, people will often back down. It’s as though everyone gets so covered in slime that they don’t realize they’re sliding downhill. No one has the strength of character to rise, take a stand, and say, “No. That’s not right.”

Once someone calls for what’s right, it’s like the kid proclaiming the emperor has no clothes. Suddenly everyone can see what should have been obvious. And everyone feels shameful.


Consequences

There were not negative explicit consequences from the times I nudged the line or crossed it. I got rewarded. People told me what a great job I did.

It didn’t feel great. At best, I felt relief. In time, I felt shame. The shame never ends. I still feel it.

Conversely, the times I took a stand didn’t result in accolades. There was no feeling of relief when the moment passed. There was only anger, at the situation, at myself. “Am I being a self-righteous dope?” I’d wonder.

There was also fear. I wondered what price I would have to pay.

Only later did a sense of pride creep in. Now, I look back on those times as some of my finest moments.

The stakes in business may be higher than they are coaching a girls soccer team, but the consequences are the same. Cross the line or even nudge it and you’ll pay a price forever. Do what’s right and you may have to take your lumps in the short term, but at least you will still be able to look yourself in the mirror.


The Inescapable Consequence

Even if you look at yourself through a cracked mirror, there are still adverse consequences to dancing on the edge. Play on the edge too often and your reputation will become sullied. It’s the one extrinsic consequence you cannot escape.

In sports, once you get the reputation for being a dirty player or coach, you never lose it. The referees look for you. They watch you closer. You lose the benefit of the doubt.

In business, a poor reputation can also weigh you down. You may feel the pull right away, but you will eventually. It’s like a sea anchor that gradually gets heavier and heavier. Prospective customers and talented employees avoid you. Your competitors, unencumbered by a similar drag eventually pass you by.

Like Lincoln more or less said, you can fool a lot of people, but eventually most will figure it out.


It’s Not Necessary

The soccer team we played is composed of a very skilled group of players. They’ve played together for a long time. Their fundamentals are excellent. It’s one of the best teams in the league when playing clean. Maybe they won’t win every game, but they’ll win most. The coach doesn’t need to cross the line.

Similarly, most of the people I observe dancing on the edge in the world of business don’t need to compete that way. Usually, these are very talented people. After all, it takes skill to play on the edge.

So why do they do it when it eventually catches up to them, when it hurts them in the long run? I guess impatience, fear, desire, or maybe all three gets the best of them.


It’s Not Worth It

Marketing on the edge, like coaching on the edge, is just not worth it. Yet, it seems that more and more people are doing it. It worries me that we may have lost our national moral compass. No longer do people seem concerned with what’s right or even what’s legal but rather, what they can get away with. I wonder if some people are even aware there is an edge.

The next time you’re tempted to nudge the line or cross the line, think back to a point of shame in your life. You know what I’m talking about. Do you really want to add another? Is nudging the edge worth feeling bad for the rest of your life?

About ten years ago, I concluded it’s not and I stopped worrying about it. It empowered me. Sure, it costs me from time to time, but the price of right is temporary and quickly fades. The price of wrong gets paid over a lifetime. And the tax on your reputation forever drags you down.

Like my girls soccer team, play a physical marketing game if you want, but keep it CLEAN.

I wonder what the youth sports coaches of Enron’s Ken Lay taught him?

© 2004 Matt Michel

20 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Next Home Show

It’s home show season. Home shows represent great selling opportunities for all sorts of companies, but they are especially attractive for home service companies. Yet, few companies take advantage of the shows like they should. This is the start of a quick series on ways to maximize you home show potential. While I’m writing about home shows in particular, many of the techniques I’m going to discuss will work with trade shows as well.


1. Market The Show Beforehand

You’re spending a lot of money to display at a home show. Your team will be attending. You’re presenting a good face. In fact, you’re showing off. Everyone is in sales mode. For home service companies especially, this represents a great time to meet with you customers.

Why home service companies? Because home service companies, by definition, conduct business at the customer’s home, they often operate out of a dump. Their “shop” is more of a workshop than a store front. Few home service companies have showrooms and fewer still are located in areas where a showroom would do much good. They do business “somewhere out there.” Thus, they try to save on bricks & mortar. At a home show, however, the contractor does have a store front, even if it’s temporary.

The most discouraging thing in the world is to exhibit at a dead show, without traffic. Even worse is to exhibit at a show with traffic, but none of it is at your booth. It sucks the energy right out of your highly motivated team. When someone does stop by, your people are either lethargic or they pounce on the prospect harder than a brand new life insurance salesperson at his first cocktail party. The show costs too much for you to take a chance on traffic. Do you best to guarantee it.

Market your presence at the show. Mail or email to your customers, inviting them to come see you at the home show. Give them an incentive, such as a gift they can only get if they stop by the show or a special drawing held at the show for people who received the mailing and stop by to register (note: be sure the emphasize that only a select number of people are eligible for the drawing and that since they must stop by your booth, the odds are pretty good). Give special attention to anyone on your customer list who’s been MIA for the past couple of years; it’s a chance to renew old relationships. And when mailing to existing customers, make the invitations personal, from the owner or their service advisor (if you haven’t got service advisors, that’s another tip for another day).

Identify people who might be in a position to make a significant purchase in the next year or two and invite them to attend the show and come by you booth as well. You can identify these people based on the age of their home. For example, an air conditioning contractor, fencing contractor, or painting contractor should market to subdivisions built just far enough back that they will be entering a replacement cycle. By contrast, a plumbing contractor might try to target homes built in the first five years after low flow toilets were mandated, offering them solution to stoppages with the new “super toilet.”

Coming by to visit a booth at a home show is far less intimidating to these people than asking a salesperson to drop by their home. The show represents an opportunity to see what you’ve got – actually see it – and to meet the people at you company in a non-threatening environment.

When you bring people to the show, and then to your booth, you will energize your team. It’s exciting. You can feel it. It’s like playing golf on a day when every drive you hit goes 300 yards down the middle of the fairway. Things click. Plus, you attract other homeowners attending the show. People tend to follow the crowd. They want to know what’s going on, what’s so interesting.

Do not count on the show to bring enough people to you. It might, but it might not. If you are proactive, you can ensure the show works, no matter what the turnout. You can use the show to renew old customer relationships. You can use it to create a non-threatening environment for homeowners-at-large who have a need or desire for your products and services to learn more about them and your company. Plus, when you attract a crowd, your booth appears far more dynamic, attractive, and interesting.


2. The Greatest Home Show Promotion Ever

I’ve had a lot of marketing ideas that I’ve never taken proper credit for. Mostly, this is because “credit” is not the optimum term. Try “blame.” They, uh, didn’t exactly work. So I do what everyone learns how to do in Weasel 101 (part of the core curriculum in today’s modern bureaucratic corporation) and distance myself, impugning someone, anyone else. If cornered, I’ll fall back to my Consulting 101 course and proclaim the concept to be brilliant, but the execution poor.

Yet, even a blind man with an archery set might eventually put an arrow in the bullseye if the fits enough to the string and lets them fly. Given the number of things I’ve let fly, I was bound to get lucky sooner or later. One of the things I did originate that worked really, really well (hence, I feel obligated to take full credit) is the greatest home show promotion ever. Like most really good ideas, it’s simple. I developed it for the air conditioning industry, though it will work equally well in just about any industry involving the replacement of old stuff. So, are you ready for it?

The idea is this: give away a furnace. I can read your mind. Right now, your thinking something like, “Oh yeah, *that’s* a great idea. GIVE AWAY a furnace. Do you know what business I’m in? I SELL furnaces. I don’t GIVE them away. That’s what my low ball competitors do.”

Ah, but see you’re jumping to conclusions a little too soon. The idea is not to stand out in the parking lot of the home show and shout, “Hey anybody want a free furnace?” The idea is to give it to the homeowner with the oldest furnace in town.

Offer a free furnace to the homeowner with the oldest furnace, provided they pay for the installation. And yes, I know we’re rapidly approaching air conditioning season. Just make it a contest for the oldest air conditioner.

Now, think about it for a second. Every registration for the contest is a qualified lead. First, the homeowner *thinks* he just might have the oldest furnace in town, which means the darn thing should probably be placed in a museum, not a home. It’s ripe for replacement.

Second, the homeowner is willing to pay for the replacement. In other words, he knows he needs and new furnace and is willing to spend a little money to get one. So even if he doesn’t have the oldest furnace, you know he’s already willing to spend something. He’s already half bought. You only need to convince him to spend enough, which savvy salesperson that you are, should be no problem.

If the cost of an installed furnace is X and the cost of the installation alone is Y, talk to the homeowner about the difference between X and Y, not the total cost.

In the contest, you collect information from the homeowners and tell them that you’ll need to make an inspection. After the show, schedule the inspection. While you’re in the home, collect the information necessary to prepare a proposal. Some contractors make a presentation on the spot and offer to refund the price of the furnace if they win.

Others take a two-step approach, calling the homeowner to inform him that he didn’t have the oldest furnace, but telling him that he did win second prize, which is a gift certificate with the contractor’s company (everyone wins second prize). While he’s got the homeowner on the phone, he tells him, “You know, even though you didn’t have the oldest furnace, you furnace is still pretty darn old. You’re wasting a lot of money on utilities and the comfort level of your home could be improved with a new furnace. I’m going to put together a proposal for replacing it and drop it off with your gift certificate. You may not want to replace it right now, but chances are that you’ll have to replace it in a few years whether you want to or not. At least you’ll know what you’re in for.”

Remember, when the contractor gives the homeowner the proposal, he stresses the difference between X and Y. “You know, it’s only (X-Y) more than if you had won the contest to go ahead and replace the furnace now. Plus, you can use the gift certificate.”

This gets better. A particularly crafty contractor I know ran this contest and got a manufacturer to donate a furnace in return for the promotional value (and the promise to push the manufacturer’s brand with all of the second place winners). I wish I’d thought of that idea. It made the contest virtually free for the contractor. The manufacturer donated the equipment and the homeowner paid for the installation.

How well does this contest work? The first guy to try it generated more leads than he could handle. He gave some of them away to a friendly competitor. His first lead resulted in a top of the line furnace and air conditioner replacement.

He’s not alone. It’s been used by people across the country, usually as part of a home show, but not always. Joe Crisara created his own “event” and ran the contest, announcing the winner at the event. Here’s what Joe said…

“We have not only scheduled, and identified 25 furnaces that are at least 20 years old in the past week, but have also sold over $500 in advanced tickets to the event. (A pig roast).

“I can't believe it but 3 local papers have committed to print our article as is and a fourth IS SENDING A REPORTER OUT TO DO A LOCAL FEATURE STORY ON US!


A few weeks later, Joe emailed me to say…

“We are still getting press coverage from this thing going forward. I have been inundated with calls from several media outlets about the winner. The large metro newspaper, (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) ran a full story with pictures and an interview with the winner in this last Sunday's paper. Also we had a TV crew interested in an interview with our owners and the winner.

“Even though the contest was over on Saturday, and we announced the winner, the follow up stories seem to be of a far greater interest than the original contest announcement.

“Another thing, at the event on Saturday, we scheduled about 10 to 12
furnace tune ups and about 8 new equipment estimates. All of this cost us nothing. The pig roast turned a profit enough to cover our costs of the event and printing costs for signage etc.

“This has been the most successful promotional idea that worked that I have seen in the 22 years I have been in the HVAC business.


A week later, Joe emailed me again…

“I have been inundated with business since the event… I have been in this business since 1979 and have never seen a response like this both from a TOMA build up and actual productive responses.


I don’t know what Joe’s final results were, because he’s been too busy handling the volume of business the promotion kick started, but I will say that his story’s not unusual. I’ve heard time and time again that this is the greatest home show promotion ever. Give it a try.


3. Ask a Question

Face it. Most home show booths are boooorrring. Suspects and prospects alike stroll down the aisles looking for something to catch their attention. There's Bubba's Air Conditioning booth, Acme Plumbing, Fred's Carpet Cleaning, and so on, and so on. Ho hum. Yawn.

Yes, you want to promote your company name. But the real mission is to get prospects in your booth. They look at your name and think, "So what?" It's another service company, probably one of five or six offering the same service.

Take your company name down from the top of the booth and instead ask a question. Ask something that strikes at the heart of a problem many people face, a need that's unmet, or a desire they want fulfilled. Give them a compelling reason to stop and find out more. Drape a huge banner across your booth that asks…

Are any rooms in your house too hot or too cold? (HVAC)

Does anyone in your house suffer from hay fever or allergies? (HVAC)

Would you like water so pure from your household tap you could bottle and sell it? (RO systems)

Do you frequently run out of hot water? (plumbing)

Is your home safe while you're at this show? (security systems)

Does your carpet look like faded and worn? (carpet cleaning)

Are you going to let algae take over your pool again this year? (pool cleaning)

Will you be able to afford to send your kids to college? (financial planning)

Could your family afford your home without your income? (insurance)

There are an infinite number of questions you could ask. The questions should emphasize the benefits of one of your products or services. They should scratch an itch of the consumer.


4. Hit Them in the Parking Lot

If you can spare them for the day, position service vehicles near the main entrance to the parking lot, so that everyone who enters must pass by your vehicles. Consider placing banners or signs by the vehicles stating "YOUR COMPANY welcomes you to the show!"


5. Spread Magnets Around

Take your refrigerator magnet and leave it all over the show. Find metal door jams leading in and out of the show and place magnets around them. People will grab them. Periodically make a run and replenish the magnets.


6. Create Notepads

Notepads are a great show giveaway. People always need notepads. They’re cheap to make. They’re often placed near the phone. And they get used!


7. Print a Coupon on Your Notepad

When you make up a notepad, don’t limit yourself to your name and phone number. Include a coupon in the corner for a percent off or dollar off. Not only will people be tempted to use it when calling you for service, but they will tear off a page and give it to a friend or neighbor who needs your service. Print the name of the show along the top of the coupon to show people it’s a special coupon for the show and to provide a tracking mechanism.


8. Place Notepads Near Phone Banks

Hardly anyone uses the pay phones these days. Yet, some people will still go near the pay phones to make calls. Leave notepads and pens near the bank of pay phones and people are likely to use them to jot down notes.


9. Print Napkins Promoting Your Booth

Print a notice on the napkins about a contest that people can enter by bringing a napkin to your booth or offer a special prize (i.e., an ad premium) when people bring the napkin to your booth. Leave the napkins in the concession area. Place some on every table and by the condiments.


10. Make Everyone a Winner

For any drawings, you may only have one grand prize winner, but everyone who enters should win second prize, which is a gift certificate to your company. A gift certificate is the same thing as a coupon, but carries more intrinsic value. People keep gift certificates until they can use them. They toss coupons.


11. Use Light and a Fog Machine

Party City and other retailers offer low cost fog machines that you can use to create some movement and life to some aspect of your booth. Have fog drifting out of a refrigerator or an air conditioner. Strategically use flood lights or Christmas lights for dramatic effect.


12. Put a Tech on Display

Well, not a real tech. Rent or buy a mannequin. Put a company uniform on it and set it on a revolving pedestal. Again, the idea is to create movement and action.


13. Get Creative

Design something that makes people ooh and ah. An example is a plumber’s magical faucet. Attach a faucet to a piece of clear PVC that is mounted on a base in a small tank of water. Use a fountain pump to pipe water up the PVC and back down the outside of the PVC. It will take a little adjusting to get it right, but when you’re done it appears as though water is pouring out of a faucet suspended in air. People will look at it, marvel about it, and poke it.


14. Work Shifts

Working a booth all day is hard work. Anyone in the booth should be "on." They should be alert, outgoing, friendly. That's hard to pull off when you are exhausted, sick of talking with people, your voice has worn out, your feet and back ache. Rotate your booth personnel. If possible, work people in two-hour shifts. They work the booth for a couple of hours and take a break for a couple of hours.


15. Look Uniform

Have everyone working the booth wear the same color, company shirt and the same color slacks or shirt. It gives you a more professional appearance and it makes it easier for consumers to find one of your employees to ask them questions. Without it, they're likely to walk up to another consumer and start asking questions, making both uncomfortable. You want everyone to be comfortable.


16. Avoid Turn Offs

Of course, it should go without saying that no one should smoke in your booth. Yet, it happens often enough at local home shows that it should be said. Don't smoke. Don't chew gum. Don't eat at the booth. And everyone reporting for booth duty should be showered, shaved, and generally well-groomed.


17. Watch the Body Language

Instruct everyone to smile a lot and to hold their arms at their sides or behind their back. Next show, look around. You will see fewer people gathered at booths where the people manning the booth are scowling, with their arms crossed, as though they are daring anyone to come up and say something to them.


18. Get Rid of Chairs

Chairs have no place in your booth. If there are chairs, people will sit. This sucks energy from your booth and makes it look boring. It sends the signal that you’re tired and don’t want to be bothered.


19. Put a Blocker in the Aisle

Have one person stand in the aisle outside your booth. His job is to engage people and help steer them into your booth. Make sure that someone is standing just inside the booth to take the handoff and walk the person inside.


20. Don’t Forget the Exhibitors

Home show exhibitors are also potential customers. At the very least, they can be the source of referrals. Consider making up t-shirts with something like, “I Survived the Spring Home Show” on the front and your company name on the back. Pass them out to exhibitors at the end of the show when people are packing up. Make sure you give them your ad premiums as well.

© 2004 Matt Michel

The Law of Equilibrium

You cannot see gravity, but you know it exists. You know it exists because you can observe the law of gravity in action. Drop something and it falls. If observation’s not enough, you can step off a scaffold and experience gravity for yourself. I think I’ll observe, thank you.

Even though we cannot see, taste, touch, or hear the law of gravity, we know it’s real. It’s a physical law. Just like there are physical laws, there are also natural laws; laws that govern human conduct. We cannot see, taste, touch, or hear these natural laws either. They are nevertheless, very real. And just like gravity, we can observe them and experience them.

One natural law is the law of equilibrium. The law of equilibrium states that things have a way of balancing out over time. Unlike gravity, the law of equilibrium does not necessarily work instantly. Sometimes, it doesn’t appear to work at all. When this happens we scratch our heads and question the fairness of life. Yet, the law is at work, even if do not always observe it.

The law of equilibrium has been around forever...

“A man reaps what he sows.”

Or, in a more modern context…

“What goes around, comes around.”

According to the law of equilibrium, we can expect to get back what we dish out. Help someone with no thought of return and you will inevitably get a return. Maybe it won’t happen right away. Maybe you will never be able to connect X and Y, but things still have a way of evening out.

The movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” is about the law of equilibrium. George Bailey, who spends his whole life helping others, suddenly finds himself in trouble. People come out of the woodwork to help.

The law of equilibrium works in reverse too. Have you ever noticed how those who dish out misery seem to be miserable most of the time?

Of course, you wonder from time to time, when the jerks lead a charmed life. Yet, even in these cases I’ve seen the law of equilibrium play out. It just takes time. The corporate executive who steps all over people on the way up, who ruins the careers and lives of those around him while always managing to land on his feet, who appears to lead a charmed life, suddenly stumbles. He needs help, but doesn’t receive it. He needs a good word, but it’s none is offered.

It doesn’t surprise the executive. It’s consistent with his worldview. It’s sad really. He never realized that life tends to conform to one’s worldview.

This week, I observed the first half of the law of equilibrium in action in bad ways and good. I was reading some of the online public bulletin boards to stay in tune with the things that contractors are talking about, outside of the Service Roundtable. I noticed a thread dealing with trade associations.

While a few people tried to defend their trade association, the overall tone was decidedly negative. In a word, it was narcissistic. These contractors wanted to know what a trade association would do for them before they would ever consider doing anything for it (and by extension, the industry they owe for their livelihood). They have a “what’s in it for me” attitude. If they do not see a direct personal benefit, they see no reason to participate. They are takers. They take without giving. As people who give nothing, they receive nothing and, I suspect, have next to nothing.

People should join trade associations not for what the association can do for them, but for what they can do for their industry through their association. Few takers join trade associations. Givers join.

Givers are the most active in their trade associations, most active in their communities, and most giving in general. They are usually the most successful. Givers do not suddenly “arrive” and become charitable. They were always that way. They always gave, even when they didn’t have a lot. They give much, receive much, and over time, have plenty.

Mitch Cropp in Fairfax, Virginia is a giver. He operates one of the most successful contracting companies in the country. A past National Chairman of Air Conditioning Contractors of America, Mitch is known for being one of the most open people in his industry. Mitch will help anyone, even his competitors. He says that when he helps others, he inevitably learns something, gains, or otherwise benefits. His own gain is not his motive for helping. It just happens.

Few people in the service trades have helped more people with no thought of return than legendary contractor Frank Blau in Milwaukee. Frank was instrumental in the start of Contractors 2000, a private contractor group, not because he needed help – Frank’s been very successful – but because the group was a way to help other contractors. While Frank has undoubtedly been successful in business, he has also been successful in life. Frank is a George Bailey of his industry, positively affecting the lives of an entire community of people. Frank is a giver.

I was at Lee Rosenberg’s house in San Antonio last week. Lee is another giver. He had just returned from a meeting of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Talk about a thankless job, but also one that is very necessary. Lee is another past National Chairman of the ACCA and is currently the Chairman of the Board of the Service Roundtable. He built and sold a very successful company and is now helping his son do the same thing. In an unguarded moment, Lee said that because the air conditioning industry has been good to him, he owed the industry and one of the ways he paid his debt was helping it through the trade association. Well, Lee started paying his “debt” long before it was owed. He didn’t start “giving” once he reached the top. It started long before, while he was just beginning his climb.

You see, it’s not success that allows people like Mitch, Frank, Lee, and countless others to give of themselves. It’s giving of themselves that somehow results in success. Life has a way of giving back what you give. It’s the law of equilibrium.

You do not have to be the president of a national trade association to be a giver. Givers are everywhere and sometimes the most significant results arise from the smallest acts. Recently, for example, a Service Roundtable member has been struggling with a problem employee. I won’t use his name, but it was clear that he was agonizing over the right way to handle a difficult situation.

Lots of people offered him advice, some focused on the human aspect of the dilemma, while others focused on the business aspect. Though the business aspect was significant and couldn’t be ignored, the human aspect was somewhat debatable. The contractor arrived at a decision to do his best to help the employee, even while he made some hard decisions out of business necessity. He didn’t have to try to help. Some might think it’s a lost cause. Some might even say it’s risky.

He explained, “We as employers affect people’s lives every day. And you are right, we cannot tolerate their problems in the workplace. But if I fire this person without any offer of help, he will definitely continue downhill.”

“It is far better to help others,” he wrote, “than to completely turn your back and ignore the problems that other people have.”

Here’s a person who is giving without need or expectation of a return. He’s doing it because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. It will come back, even if only indirectly. If nothing else, treating an employee well who may not “deserve” it, gets noticed by other employees. They recognize the effort. I think people work harder for givers and are more loyal because they know givers will first work hard for, and are loyal to them. Yes, the giver might get burn from time to time, but as they say, “what goes around, comes around.”

The law of equilibrium affects you and your business in countless ways whether you observe it or not. To receive, first give.

© 2004 Matt Michel

30 Things Every Technician Should Know

1. Payroll is the starting point for the costs of a technician to a company. Other direct costs include everything from payroll taxes to uniforms to trucks to vehicle insurance to worker’s comp to benefits. When all is said and done, the non-payroll costs of employing a technician range from as little as 30% to as much as 100% of payroll.

2. Education is a professional’s lifetime proposition. Only the ignorant think they know it all.

3. Technicians must fix more than the problem. On every service call, there is broken equipment and a broken customer. Both must be fixed for a complete repair.

4. The technician is an ambassador for the company when in uniform or behind the wheel. A technician’s driving habits on the road and personal courtesy everywhere reflect on the company. Since no one knows when someone is watching, technician should act as though someone is always watching, unlike the technician who was caught on camera by Dateline when he relieved himself in the customer’s bushes.

5. Every technician is a supplier. Technicians are suppliers to some poor soul in the office who depends on the legibility and completeness of the paperwork to do their jobs.

6. Customers are not the enemy. They are people. They are people in distress because they have a problem and need the technician’s help. The customer needs a technician who will treat them as a friend. Friends care. Friends understand. Friends tolerate. Friends help.

7. “Sell” is not a dirty word. Done right, the act of selling is the act of helping someone solve a problem or meet a desire. True salesmanship is another way of being of service to the customer.

8. Technicians are entrusted with tens of thousands of dollars of company assets in the form of a truck, tools, and stock. It is with these assets that the technician earns a living. If not for their value to the company, then for their ability to generate personal income, the technician should take care of and maintain the assets.

9. If a company is not profitable, it cannot afford to pay technicians. Similarly, if a company is not very profitable, it cannot afford to pay much. Since the company only makes money when the technician is doing work for the customer, the most basic way a technician can help the company become more profitable is to minimize the time spent away from the customer. This includes minimizing the time in the parts house, time spent on breaks, and all other activities.

10. *Most* people prefer to know how much a repair is going to cost before the work starts. They hate the uncertainty of paying by the hour when they have no idea how long a repair will take.

11. The secret to good customer service is often as simple as standing up straight, smiling, making eye contract, listening to the customer, and answering questions.

12. Technicians who start their own companies often take a pay cut and a hassle increase. There’s a lot of paperwork required to run a business, including scores of government forms and reports. Many business owners could make as much money working for someone else as they can make working for themselves. Plus, the hassles are fewer.

13. As long as a technician is getting a paycheck, the tech owes the company loyalty and support. Few people will ever agree with every company policy. Griping, whining, and complaining will only make an irritating policy seem worse. It’s always better to focus on what’s right than what’s wrong.

14. Not everyone wants to fix old stuff and face more repairs in the future. Some people would rather buy new stuff. This is why most people, if they can, sell their cars well before they hit 100,000 miles.

15. Taking a little more time on a repair is faster than hurrying and missing something, which leads to a call back.

16. Moonlighting is not only theft of customers, revenue, equipment and vehicle wear and tear, and the illegal use of the company’s license, it is a disservice to the customer. Sooner or later a moonlit job will go bad or an accident will occur, leaving the customer high and dry, unprotected by insurance or the financial resources of a company that can make the customer whole.

17. There is a good reason for the company to ask the technician to do silly things, like wear shoe covers or plastic gloves. Even when they are not really necessary, they serve a purpose. They demonstrate an attitude of care and respect for the customer’s home and cause the technician and company to stand out.

18. Windshield time presents an excellent learning opportunity. If a technician listens to educational or motivational audiotapes or CDs just one hour a day while driving between calls, the tech will benefit from the equivalent of more than six full, 40-hour weeks of learning each year. Audiotapes and CDs are available at most bookstores or online from sources like…

Charlie Greer
http://www.hvacprofitboosters.com/Audio_Tapes/audio_tapes.html

Contracting Business http://www.serviceroundtable.com/Freebies/FreebiesDetails.asp?PCID=316

Nightingale-Conant
http://swiftweb.com/ha/personalgrowthtapes.html

Zig Ziglar
http://www.ziglartraining.com/Ziglar/cdroms.do

There are many, many others as well.

19. The customer’s circumstances are not the same as the technician’s. What seems expensive to the technician may not be expensive to the customer.

20. Customers to not understand tech-speak. They are not familiar with even the simplest, most commonly used industry jargon. Thus, good technicians are good communicators who seek ways to expand their vocabulary to explain things in terms the layman will understand.

21. The grass really isn’t greener on the other side of the fence. Though other companies may *seem* like much better places to work, the truth is that they have their dark sides too, even if they are not visible.

22. Customers are judgmental. If a technician looks sloppy or the truck looks sloppy, customers assume the work will be sloppy.

23. It is wrong to withhold an option to fix broken equipment from the customer if it can be repaired. It is also wrong to withhold an option to replace broken equipment, especially if it is old or the repair is expensive.

24. Good hygiene is a basic courtesy for the customer. This includes showering before work, good grooming, and also washing hands when the repair is complete. As Service Roundtable Plumbing Czar, Randall Hilton puts it, “Would you want to take a pen from a guy who just had his hand in your toilet?”

25. It costs a lot of money to run a service business. The owner doesn’t keep the difference between the amount the customer pays and the amount paid to the technician. The owner must use it to pay the bills of the company. If the company is fortunate and well managed, ten to fifteen cents of every dollar will be left over. The owner usually cannot keep even this. It’s used to fund growth and keep as a reserve to cover expenses during lean times when the company is not generating enough business to pay all of the bills.

26. Customers do not want to pay for service. Who does? But, as Charlie Greer (www.hvacprofitboosters.com) says, “all the money in the world won’t help open a stopped drain or fire up a dead furnace. To get that done, you need knowledge and the willingness to do the work.” They do not want to pay for work, but they will because they want the problem solved. This is why they called in the first place.

27. Company owners are not perfect. Well, most technicians realize this. However, many seem to expect the owner to be omnipotent and perfect. They should not. Like the technician, the owner is struggling to do a good job, but with the added problems of the financial and time pressures of running a small business. If the owner screws up now and then, forgiveness is necessary. After all, no one attends “owner school.”

28. Technicians should be teachers. It is the technician’s job to educate homeowners about problems, potential problems, care and maintenance, and the range of solutions to problems. Armed with this knowledge, customers will be able to make good decisions reflecting their personal circumstances and preferences.

29. Fail to clean up the work area, which customers can see, and they will question the quality of the work in the areas they cannot see.

30. It is the job of every employee to promote the company. This means referring the company to family, friends, and acquaintances whenever the opportunity arises.

© 2004 Matt Michel

Veritas

I remember watching Superman as a kid. Superman stood for truth, justice, and the American way. All of this is in short supply today. Especially truth.

As a society we’ve lost respect for the truth in the last 20 years. Nixon was hounded from office because “he lied to the American people.” Today, no one would bat an eye. We expect politicians to lie to us. And lately the lies seem to have taken on a new brazenness.

The media tells us everyone lies and they should know. There seems to be a stream of media scandals where journalists are caught plagiarizing, making up sources and stories, staging accidents (e.g., when a truck inconveniently failed to explode in an expose on gas tank safety, the news crew firebombed it).

Politicians, media types, and various and sundry government officials lie all of the time to advance whatever agenda they are putting forth, which is usually the pursuit of personal power.

Hollywood is such a fantasy land of deception that they can’t even fathom the difference between truth and fiction. Witness some of Oliver Stone’s work or the upcoming docudrama smear job on the Reagans.

Unfortunately, many in the private sector seem to be taking their lead from the baser examples of public life. Companies lie in their marketing. Salespeople lie in their promises. Not everyone lies, but enough do to turn the consumer into a real cynic.

Worse, deception gets applauded. The other day I noted that a certain marketing piece was praised to high heaven in a pop management book. There’s just one teensy weensy problem. The marketing piece was dishonest. I remember getting an alert about it from a consumer watchdog group years ago. Something’s really got to be over the top for this particular group to take action.

The irony is that the piece was pretty good. The falsehoods were unnecessary. It would have been just as effective without lying. So why lie? I’ve never been able to figure that out. Reading the praise made me sick to my stomach. Some poor slob is going to read that and conclude that it’s okay to deceive the public as long as you make the sale, breeding more deceptive marketing and more cynical consumers.

I was attending a sales meeting years ago, when an idiot sales manager was waxing profoundly about something he knew little about, namely sales.

“Hitler had it right,” he declared, causing me to actually perk up and pay attention to what he was saying for the first time that morning, “It doesn’t matter whether it’s true. Say it loud enough. Say it often enough. Keep saying it. And people will believe it.”

I was flabbergasted. Did he really say that, I thought to myself. An arm shot up from the row in front of me.

“Uh, wasn’t that called ‘The Big Lie,’” asked the guy raising his arm.

“That doesn’t matter,” responded the sales manager as I gathered my stuff and left the meeting. Not only was this idiot advocating lying and praising Hitler, he didn’t even know his history. The big lie was Goebbels’ creation, not Hitler’s (Goebbels actually said that if you’re going to lie, you’re more likely to be believed if you tell a big lie).

As a consumer, I’m sure you’ve experienced lying and deception on the part of companies first hand. For example, I just switched cellular carriers after getting a $400 roaming charge.

The sales rep for the wireless company swore up and down that I would never pay for roaming with their service. Being a cynic, I studied the literature. That’s what it said too. In fact, the name of the plan promised one rate anywhere and everywhere. Unfortunately, there is a certain class of service not mentioned by the salesperson or in the literature that does result in a roaming charge. Oh, you mean *that* type of service. Well, of course that involves roaming.

In my mind, the company lied and the sales rep lied. When the phone I bought from them broke after 10 months, I was informed that although the phone is covered under warranty, this particular repair is not covered. In other words, they lied there too.

That’s the problem with lies. Eventually, you get caught. Once you are caught, your reputation is destroyed with the consumer and everyone he or she comes in contact with.

So what can you do about it? Well, it’s not rocket science.


Tell The Truth

Sometimes we hedge because we don’t want to tell people things they do not want to hear. It gets worse because people hear selectively. They often only hear wha