pete.danielson – Comanche Marketing

Join the 11th Annual International Roundtable in Orlando-A Premiere Event for Residential Contractors

HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical, and Remodeling Service Nation Members are headed to Orlando, Florida.

Service Nation is hosting their 11th annual International Roundtable. The three-day event is exclusively designed for HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, and Remodeling contractors. It is intended to provide additional opportunities for training, networking, and sharing best business practices in the Residential contracting industry.

The event will highlight keynote speakers and breakout sessions centered on four main components critical for contractors. Members will learn to develop and fine-tune lead generation strategies, streamline operations and processes, hire and keep the right employees and build a plan to improve their bottom line.

“A big part of what we do at Service Nation is providing training, education, and mentorship. We are always looking to deliver relevant training to all of our members. For this year’s International Roundtable, we wanted to concentrate on choosing speakers and topics that aligned with four main areas of focus for our members. When business owners can improve operations, lead generation, recruiting and training, they can make more informed decisions and grow their business the right way.”- said Matt Michel, President of Service Nation Inc.

Learn Network Grow

The event includes more than just training and breakouts. Over the years, it has become a forum for all Service Nation members around the world to meet, network, and discuss ways to improve their businesses.

“Throughout the year, we provide regular opportunities for our Service Nation members to come together and discuss what’s working for them. The International Roundtable gives these members the chance to meet face to face and develop further those business relationships that make them successful,” said David Heimer, SVP of Service Nation Inc.

Service Nation is a powerful community of over 5,000 global contractors. International Roundtable helps support an environment of mentorship and offers a place for residential contractors to meet and absorb best practices and tips from other contractors across the country.

The International Roundtable will kick off with Alliance day on April 16^th and will continue through Thursday, April 18^th in Orlando Florida at the Renaissance Orlando at Sea World. This event is open to all Service Nation members.

Attend the Event

If you would like to attend the event and are not a member of Service Nation, give us a call at (877) 262-3341 or visit www.goservicenation.com to sign up for $10!

To learn more about the International Roundtable visit www.irtshow.com.

About Service Roundtable:

Service Roundtable is the world’s largest private contractor group, dedicated to providing service contractors with an affordable means to drive new business and generate higher sales.

If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Jessica Hezlep at 469-293-8816 or email at Jessica.hezlep@ServiceRoundtable.com.

Service Nation Scores a Top Spot on Fort Worth’s Fastest Growing Companies of 2019

Coppell, TX, February 28 — In the 2019 January/February release of the Fort Worth Inc. magazine, Service Nation, a B2B company serving residential contractors in the HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical industries, ranked near the top of the list as one of Fort Worth’s 30 fastest growing companies.

President Matt Michel founded Service Nation in 2002, with a singular vision that has become the secret to their success: put contractors first in all they do.

“Service Nation is built on the idea that when you provide business training and support for residential service contractor owners, they, in turn, can better take care of their employees and customers. It allows us to be a force for good in the markets we serve. The result is year-over-year growth and profitability not only for our organization, but for our members, their families, and the communities where they operate,” said Matt Michel, President of Service Nation.

The Fastest Growing Companies List was created to honor businesses in the Fort Worth area that have made

significant contributions to their local economy and have seen unprecedented growth over the last three years. Companies were eligible to compete if they were for-profit; generated revenue by March 31, 2014; had at least $50,000 in 2014 revenue and completed or billed at least $1.5 million in 2017 revenue, and are based in Greater Fort Worth area.

Abe Romero, VP of Marketing for Servce Nation Inc., attended the event and accepted the award on behalf of Service Nation.

“It was an amazing night. I was excited to be among so many other talented individuals and successful companies as well as discover that Service Nation Inc., was ranked 14th out of 30 companies on the list of fastest growing businesses. Additionally, I was proud to realize that Service Nation Inc., was the only company recognized whose mission it is to elevate other companies growth and financial performance through training, mentorship, and ongoing education. ” said Abe.

“We’re thrilled to be recognized for our growth in the market. It is a true testament to our vision and the exceptional team of people who work hard to support our members all over the country. We look forward to implementing meaningful and strategic programs to maintain our growth while we continue to add value to our members and our partners in the future,” said David Heimer, SVP of Service Nation Inc.

About Service Nation:
Service Nation, Inc. is the world’s largest private contractor group, dedicated to providing residential service contractors with an affordable means to drive new business and generate higher sales.

If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Jessica Hezlep by phone at (469) 293-8816 or email at Jessica.hezlep@ServiceRoundtable.com.

Top Five Things to Prepare For Before Implementing Service Management Software

By Lynn Wise

Spring is in the air! Or should I say…Service Management software is in the air? We have received a lot of inquiries from clients and potential clients about changing or implementing Service Management software in their business. Some of this is due to clients changing server-based software to cloud-based software or the need for additional functions such as purchase orders, marketing reporting, or better details for the customer records. Regardless of the reason, you need to be prepared for this change in your business. After many engagements to help clients clean up after they have implemented this software, I wanted to provide a check list to do BEFORE you begin the on boarding or migration to scheduling software.

Will you be using QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop (Enterprise), Sage, or other accounting software? Your choice is determined by a few things: inventory tracking for multiple locations (trucks), job costing, the amount of transactions in your business, and the need for 24/7 access for you and the trusted partners. You need to consider each of these functions and determine what is best for your business. One thing I would like to point out is that this is accounting software and is designed to do accounting functions. Do not confuse this with your operations that should be a key part of your Service Management software.
Determine the Chart of Accounts and process of classifying sales in your accounting system. The best approach to a Chart of Accounts is to have the correct accounts that sales, cost of goods, expenses, assets, and liabilities that can be classified to allow for you to review the summary of the totals in a way that provides you transparency to your business performance.
Do you have a price book? Are you using a third party book? You must have a price book to be successful. This book needs to have associated parts, supplies, and equipment itemized so that you can build tasks easily and track costs to jobs, departments, and projects.
Review your customer lists to understand how work orders and billing are organized. Commercial or property management customers are set up to either be billed to the main billing address or sometimes billed to each work location for payment. Understand your customer’s billing needs and be able to describe this as a requirement for the new software company. Prior to onboarding or migration, take the time to clean up your customer list, specifically delete old information, and revise the information you want to keep. This will enable the import to bring across the information that your business needs.
Lastly, build a list of business requirements for your needs for customer experience, marketing, service agreements, operation reports, time keeping, compensation such as commission, and proposal presentations for your quotes. Service Management software is a framework for you to implement your business requirements and processes. Software is dependent on you to load your content and your rules to optimize it for your business.

In conclusion, be prepared before selecting and implementing new Service Management software. Most Service Management software will perform the same or similar for booking job appointments, dispatching, maintaining customer records and transactions, and integration to an accounting software. Key differences in software generally are in operation reporting, proposal presentations and price book display, and purchase order and job costing capabilities. If you know you are going to deploy these key functions, you may need to accept the software process and understand that it may not be the way you want it but in general, it will work! Be flexible and be prepared when making your decision on your Service Management software partner.

Service Roundtable is dedicated to growing your bottom line and helping your business maximize its full potential. These group of contractors work together to assist you with marketing, sales, business, and so much more. Twice a month, seminars around the United States and Canada are held to network and further assist your business. Visit Service Roundtable.com to see if there are Success Days in your area!

Get Off Your Duff!

By John LaPlant

We constantly read and hear about the labor shortage around the country, and it is not just occurring in the contracting industry. Yes, and then we stomp around and complain ad-nauseum. So, what are you doing about it? It is not going to get easier! So what is your move? Take action.

First Question: What or Who is Our Industry Competing Against for Labor?

Recent reports suggest the fastest growing opportunity position for the foreseeable future is fork lift operators. Why? A one-word answer: Amazon. With approximately 75 distribution/fulfillment centers with a typical size of 1,000,000 square feet and 800 associates who “fulfill the customer promise” every day of the week. Amazon has a huge labor requirement for fork lift operators.

A high school in Patterson, California, near one of these Amazon fulfillment centers, spent a few million dollars constructing a mock warehouse facility to teach students distribution and logistics, warehouse management, supply chain, and fork lift skills. This is because Amazon estimates they will increase employment from the current level of 100,000 associates to over 125,000 associates for warehousing functions over the next six years. And then there are others with comparable demands such as Walmart, Big Lots, Target, Costco, and the list continues. That is considerable demand for warehousing jobs.

And these forklift jobs pay between $14.00 and $18.00 per hour – approximately $30,000 plus per year, which is an attractive wage to a high school or junior college graduate.

Now think what our heating, air conditioning, plumbing, and electrical industries can offer. It’s so much more. There is absolutely no comparison…in dollars, independence, professionalism, career…you name it, we win! With technicians, plumbers, and installers on performance pay are making over $40 per hour, key managers making in the $70,000 plus range, and comfort specialists making six figures a year! This can be life changing for young talent.

We have the challenges and glitz of technology, not only in product and system controls, but in diagnostic testing and now applications of the IoT (Internet of Things) with smart homes.

Second Question: How can we reach this young talent?

Company Sponsored Job Fairs – A number of top tier companies in our industry are holding one-hour, on-site Job Fairs from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm once a quarter. The Job Fair is promoted in want ads, digital and social media.

Interested applicants register to attend. On the evening of the Job Fair, applicants are given a brief tour of the facility, background on available positions, and clear definition of expectations and clear articulation of company culture.

Resumes are collected, evaluated, and offers are extended. Companies report it is an excellent way to bring folks in from outside the industry. It also attracts a diversified age group. It is an effective way to present career pathing opportunities and long-term benefits of connecting with a future oriented organization.

Outreach Presentations at High Schools, Vo-Tech Schools and Junior Colleges – One owner of a very unique, top tier company works hard to get himself in front of high school and junior college student groups, particularly on career day agendas.

He walks on stage, introduces himself and his company. He holds a 16” x 16” rigid card covered front and back with brown paper. He holds up the card and tears the paper off the front revealing a Range Rover. He says, “Even though I am the owner of the company, this is not mine. It is one of our team members. His name is Jimmy John, he is a field service specialist.”

He turns the card over and tears off the paper revealing a Hummer H2. He says, “This is not mine either. It is one of our team members. Her name is Nancy Wyatt and she is an installation production manager.”

He is speaking the language of young people and he grabs the participant’s attention. The overall message is that college is not a requisite for success any more. He lets students know that the training is there, the teamwork is there, the technology is there, and the door is there to be opened.

Up Periscope – Be on the lookout for retail talent. Constantly be observant of employees providing a service in a retail setting. If a server in a restaurant is impressive as a communicator and attentive to detail, then that person is viable candidate for your team. If the manager of an oil change/lubrication establishment is really good at explaining and educating you about the benefits of additional services, then that person is a viable candidate for the team. Always try to find those people that present the WOW FACTOR. Most likely, that person will be an excellent fit for the team.

So driving a forklift may be a job, but joining a HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical company can be a lifestyle far surpassing any personal dream! It’s a real career. Do things that open the eyes of the next generation to our industry. Get off your duff!

Love is in the Air – So Share it With Your Customers

By Chris Lonergan

You know you love your customers…

If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have developed a brand and marketing efforts to attract those customers. You wouldn’t have spent so much time training yourself and your team to provide customers with the services they need. And you wouldn’t have followed through with the best customer service possible at every job.

So it makes sense that you should show your customers some love. We’re not talking about flowers and chocolates here. We’re talking about demonstrating appreciation to your clients all year long.

Whether it is your sweetheart or your best customer, it can be difficult to put the right words together to really say what you mean. So let’s go over a few simple ways to demonstrate your appreciation and show your clients that they mean the world to you!

Be Thankful – Starting At the Job Site

In a day-and-age where many companies are trying to find ways to improve marketing automation and build up additional digital customer service touchpoints, we sometimes forget about the face-to-face interactions that build businesses.

Dealing with a contractor or home service provider in an abstract way, like booking appointments online, processing printed documentation, and emailing reports, can all be considered cold, impersonal experiences.

Building up that human connection is key to make them remember you. They aren’t going to recall the great web form they used to fill out an estimate request. They’re going to remember the people. It’s phone calls, onsite visits, and personal interactions that forge stronger relationships between business providers and customers.

If you’re on a multi-day project, when you meet with a client or call in with a report on your progress, it provides daily opportunities to thank someone for their business while ensuring open customer communication.

When the job is done, a look in the eye, firm handshake, and an honest “Thank you for your business” can go a long way.

Customers and PDA – Public Displays of Appreciation

When you receive a review online, take the time to interact with that customer with a reply for a great way to again make your customer feel they are valued.

Since they did you the favor of leaving a positive review (and making you look good over your competitors), the least you can do is thank them for their business and kind words in a public way.

Likewise, when you finished job that can be documented with pictures as well as a review, sharing that content on your social media accounts can be another great way to publicly display your appreciation while promoting your business at the same time.

Saying Thank You for Spreading the Word with a Formal Referral System

If you do good work, you certainly may get some referral work on accident.

But just as how you have a formal process for active customer review management to gather reviews quickly, having a formal referral system can help to incentivize past customers and generate additional referrals.

Having formal channels, like a referral program on your business card and/or a custom form on your website, can help to drive leads to you with little to no effort.

Whether you offer movie tickets, restaurant gift cards, or cold hard cash, having a nice incentive for taking part of your referral program makes the process even more appealing.

Rewarding your past customers for telling stories about your good service 1) makes your past customer feel appreciated all over again and 2) predisposes your new customers to trust you and your abilities, which makes for an easier sales process.

A Follow Up and Thank You in The Mail

A simple thank you card is a low cost way to simultaneously follow up on a client’s satisfaction and demonstrate appreciation to your customer.

Such a follow up offers you another opportunity to secure a positive review from a happy client or to remedy a poor experience before he or she can contribute a negative review online.

Just be sure your thank you card is authentic. Anecdotes from a job or custom note can be a nice way to create a more personalized customer touch point.

Like thank you cards, holiday cards are a simple, low-cost way to reach out to your customers from the calendar year or even your complete past client base. These types of simple reminders help demonstrate your love for your customers while also building your top-of-mind awareness for future service needs or referrals.

Going Above and Beyond for Your Best Customers

For some customers, you may want to deliver more than a thank you card. Whether you use the size of the job, the number of referrals completed, or recurring nature of service as your criteria, a gift basket at the holidays or on a service anniversary gets opened and acknowledged much more quickly than a greeting card envelope.

BONUS: Don’t Forget to Show Your Employees that You Care, too!

Your employees need love, too. While they certainly recognize your appreciation in the form of their paycheck, personal recognition for going above-and-beyond normal duties can give an employee a warm, fuzzy feeling that cannot be matched by dollars and cents. Demonstrating to your employees that you care fosters a connection between them and your business, which helps all parties involved.

Without your customers, your business wouldn’t be here, so take the time to show them that you care and help grow your company in the process.