EP 142 : Mastering Branding: Strategies for Unstoppable Success
Introduction :
Welcome to the DYB Podcast, where we dive deep into strategies for doubling your business and making a positive impact in the community.
In this episode, we explore the importance of branding vehicles for marketing, managing debt on work trucks, organizing equipment, and targeting specific clients for painting services.
Our speakers share their big wins, from increased community engagement to improving the customer experience and handling employee challenges.
We also delve into tools and methods for estimating, appointment booking, and managing conflict.
Join us as we discuss the power of marketing to higher-income clients, finding recurring revenue, and engaging in “stay interviews” to maintain a positive work environment.
Stick around for valuable insights and practical advice to help you double your business.
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Transcript :
Speaker A [00:00:00]:
Welcome to the DYB podcast, where each week we share strategies and stories to inspire you to double your business so that you can have financial freedom, time for your family and make an impact in your community. Knowing what to charge is the hardest thing to learn. Well, not anymore. In fact, you can profit from every estimate with Steve’s estimating spreadsheets. These are the exact spreadsheets that he used to grow Burnett painting before we sold it. Get your free estimating spreadsheets@dybcoach.com. backslash estimating bundle hyphen offer. And now this week’s episode.
Speaker B [00:00:39]:
Hello and welcome to Mastermind. Our mission is to build a million dollar businesses so that we can have financial freedom, time for our families and make an impact in our communities. Let’s kick it off some big wins. Isaac, lead the way.
Speaker C [00:00:51]:
Yeah, so I’ll just, that was actually going to be my big win was just the community engagement that we’re experiencing. And, yeah, we got that ad in the newspaper and I feel like it’s just starting to increase exponentially, just the level of interaction and awareness that the community is having around what we’re doing. And it’s funny because at the same time that’s growing, our employees are like dropping like flies. And so I’m in this weird spot of, man, people are really wanting us to do work and then workers aren’t wanting to do, but I’m doubling down, digging my heels in and saying this is what I’m doing, so I’m not going to go backwards. Surprisingly, more encouragement than anything.
Speaker B [00:01:35]:
Yeah, that’s awesome. Now, I probably shouldn’t talked about it before we started the meeting. No, no, we’re just a quick recap for those who weren’t here.
Speaker C [00:01:43]:
Yeah. A girl reached out who works for the local newspaper and asked if she could do a write up in the paper about us and really just talked about specifically the community spotlights that we’re doing and what a cool impact that’s having on the community. And I think the fact that just as part of your system that you just do it to give back and you’re not like charging companies for these videos, I think just shows a lot of rapport of your character when you do that. And so I think that’s standing out. And then, yeah, so she just did a write up of a little bit about us and what we’re doing and how cool it is. And, yeah, it was really neat.
Speaker B [00:02:24]:
So again, well done and just to share it. So a community spotlight is when you just go out into your community and you interview people, business people you want to trust. And five eight minute interview and simple. Just introduce them and tell them a little bit about their business. And then you share it to your social networks and email it to your client list. Worried about this. Got around for Isaac and paper reached out and said, hey, we want to write an article about what you’re doing here. And.
Speaker B [00:02:49]:
Yeah, so well done. Fantastic. My pleasure, Chris. Morning, sir.
Speaker D [00:02:56]:
Good morning. My big win is I’m just getting really happy with the overall customer experience. Like the customer we closed yesterday. They found us through Google book me. Got just super easy for them. We show up. We didn’t, I didn’t close that job on the spot. But they were really excited about the color consultation, which we’re doing now, which is great.
Speaker D [00:03:25]:
And also they were trying to figure out bathroom stuff. And I was able to lead someone from our b and I group to them. So we’re just. Any questions or friction that would have stop the sale from closing. We’re able to answer the question about the color. Here’s your color consultation. Able to answer the question about the bathroom. Here’s your bathroom guy.
Speaker D [00:03:46]:
And pretty much closed them the next day. Just really happy about how it went really smooth. Gave him some and then we gave him cookies at the end and just really feel like we’re distinguishing ourselves and just stepping, standing out.
Speaker B [00:03:59]:
Yes. Well done. Fantastic. Good execution, Daryl.
Speaker E [00:04:05]:
Yeah, got several. It’s funny that you mentioned you can book me. I forgot about that. I have. I told Steve in my one on one, I have a customer that reached out. You’re not a customer, but a person who reached out. Who’s a customer now that got me from you can book me. And sold a about 17, $18,000 interior.
Speaker E [00:04:22]:
And he has a local business, a big truck trucking company where they work on trucks. They do Chrome and accessories. Anyways, after I bid the job, I could not. I don’t say I could not, but I did not bid it on this box. It’s so extensive. And they were trying to get out the door. It’s a lot of work. Anyways, got the job a couple days later.
Speaker E [00:04:39]:
He had me meet him at his shop where they work and sold, sold a $24,000 exterior for their building. So I sold two jobs for the same guy through. You can book me now. I’m in a small area. They know. They know who I am anyways. But it’s just like Steve says, the top of mind stuff. They see my trucks.
Speaker E [00:04:57]:
They went on YouTube. They went on Google. They saw me. Then you can book me. Just made it so simple. That was really cool. And so our crews are going good, jobs going good. And I have a funeral I’m attending on Thursday in Texas.
Speaker E [00:05:12]:
So I’m able to take off three days unexpectedly this week. After taking off two days last week, I was on camping trip, but it was just really nice to meet. I have my crew taking care of things and Isaac, I was in that spot for about a year and a half about the employee situation. It was tough. I pressed through. I wanted to give up. I literally wanted to give up. But I pressed through and I’m glad I did not give up.
Speaker B [00:05:39]:
Well done. Fantastic, Daryl, thank you for sharing. And rich, big wins at a five.
Speaker F [00:05:46]:
Day vacation for our holiday weekend. That was a pretty big one for me. Just in the finger legs. I have a camper up there, works coming in. I don’t have anything spectacular. Yeah, five day vacation was nice. Just sit back and relax and not really worry about much.
Speaker B [00:06:01]:
Okay, fantastic. Glad to hear it and glad to see you. All right, one thing, Isaac. What’s the one thing we could brainstorm for you such that might make it easier for you to double your business?
Speaker C [00:06:14]:
So I was just wondering, in your experience, when you were working with peak painting and camel painting, when they were early on, do you remember if there was any one thing that really helped them to go from like maybe the $3400,000 range to five, six, seven as they were starting to grow? Or was it just nation of all your stuff in the system.
Speaker B [00:06:43]:
And really. So generally it’s convergence is the one thing. Convergence of everything, right? Yeah. Cause I was thinking, like, what’s one thing I can tell people is that they get it. It’s everything. But with this stage, there is. There is an element to the stage. And this stage there is one thing, and that is getting four all stars.
Speaker B [00:07:03]:
Getting four all stars in the field so that you can get out of the field. Because once you get out of the field and you can focus on working on the business and that’s when really take off. Yeah. You can double again in one year.
Speaker C [00:07:16]:
Yeah. Because that’s actually literally what my wife and I were talking about yesterday was it’s like, man, either I could just inch along or I just get four guys and get two vans going. And as much as I hate debt, I’m considering just getting a little bit of debt to get another van and get it just stocks built out and just ready to go. So, no, that’s encouraging.
Speaker B [00:07:41]:
So I don’t like that either. However, when it comes to company vehicles, if it’s, if it’s the right vehicle, the right payment, I would never say, go out and buy an $80,000 pickup truck. That’s just. But I do believe it is okay to go out and get a small loan for a reasonable car payment because that vehicle is very valuable. It does multiple things for you, professionalizing branding, and it builds value into the crew leader that you assign it to. And I think that, I don’t have the data on this one. It feels like they just pay for themselves. They were never an issue.
Speaker B [00:08:17]:
And some we paid for and some released or not least, excuse me. No, not least payments. And as long as the payments reasonable, I think it’s absolutely worth it to get these crews out and get them rolling and for branding. And also, in fact, it builds value into the relationship with the crew leader. And they feel good about themselves. They go home and say, hey, I was given a company vehicle, check me out or whatever. And then they’ll say, hey, can we use it to run to the grocery store or whatever. And I said, absolutely.
Speaker B [00:08:44]:
Drive that thing everywhere. But make sure you brand park. So when you go to the bowling alley with your family or when you go to the movie theater, make sure you park where everybody can see it. I don’t even care if it’s illegal. If you get towed, I’ll pay for it because everybody’s going to see it getting towed across town. That’s what we did. I parked it on the curb sides or whatever. So I always push the envelope.
Speaker B [00:09:03]:
And sure enough, like, everywhere I went, people said, man, we see you guys everywhere. I remember I had a guy, he was, we were in Venice. He went to outback Steakhouse down in Cape Coral, which was like an hour south. And somebody, one of my friends, somebody I knew down there, texted me, said, hey, just seen one of your hhrs here at the outback. And I was thinking, and I was like, oh, yeah. And I took a guess and posted up and grouped me and said, hey, Steven, how’s that steak? And he goes, what, man? He goes, you have these things, gps? I said, no, you did a great job parking. And somebody I knew saw it.
Speaker C [00:09:35]:
Yeah, that’s awesome.
Speaker B [00:09:37]:
So vehicles. Yes. I’m not a fan of debt, okay? But I believe that this is these vehicles, a reasonable vehicle, clean and, you know, a clean vehicle that looks good going down the road. Branded. Get some. Get it branded. You don’t have to wrap them. Not a fan of wrapping.
Speaker B [00:09:54]:
And two, $3,000 isn’t always necessary. You can get it. Get your logos on, which I think you did, actually. You do a beautiful job. You’ve got an iPhone for design, so I don’t have to tell you anything about that there, but I would. Yeah, get a vehicle and lean into just whatever you can do to get four guys, usually because I say four guys, because it’s usually four guys depending on how you live. Now, if you’re living above your means, you’re gonna need eight guys. Right.
Speaker B [00:10:16]:
But if you’re living a reasonable lifestyle and you can ease. Some guys get on the field with three, but it’s three. Four guys can get. You can offset your expense so that you can get out of the field and just start networking, marketing, and selling your tail off. Yeah. Yeah. The field, you can double in one year. Good day, guys.
Speaker B [00:10:36]:
Sweet.
Speaker E [00:10:37]:
I’ll back up what Steve was saying about the vehicle thing, because Steve knows about my financial situation. I don’t really have any debt either, except for my house. I have four, five vehicles. One’s personal, but I own Iowa, like, $9,000 on one of my vehicles, and that’s a jeep that I have $70,000 in, but I owe $9,000 on that. So I don’t like debt either. But I took on a 2010 or eleven f 150. Really nice for one of my guys. I actually tried to take a loan out on it.
Speaker E [00:11:06]:
When I got it, I can’t remember what. Something was going on with it, with the timing, so I ended up paying cash for it, ended up not taking a loan, but I would not have had any problem taking $15,000 for a really nice work truck. Ended up paying 11,000. Yeah. Debt. Small debt on a work truck. That’s nice. And you’ve got the right employees in it.
Speaker E [00:11:26]:
It does. Phenomenal. It is phenomenal for you.
Speaker C [00:11:29]:
One of my big concerns is having the van organized, and my father in law builds out fans that, like, basically with plywood and stuff, makes it really nice with drawers and everything so that there’s a spot for rollers, brushes, everything, and it’s not just all thrown in. And I wondered, Steve, with your hhRs, how did you have enough room for all your equipment and getting ladders and stuff to jobs?
Speaker B [00:11:56]:
Yeah, good question. We had pickup trucks, too, so we used hhrs, and we used pickup trucks, and pickup trucks had ladder racks on them. But for the hhRs, we used totes. They’d keep all their tarts in a tote, and we systematized everything. So there were same size totes and everybody. Each crew had a collar and so they knew what’s what. And all the large items were kept in the storage unit. Pressure washers, ladders over 8ft tall.
Speaker B [00:12:20]:
We had one HHR that had ladder racks on it, actually.
Speaker C [00:12:23]:
Okay.
Speaker B [00:12:23]:
Yeah. But inside hhR, you could fit an 18 foot step ladder and an 816 foot extension ladder if you put the passenger seat down and go all the way into the dash. Yeah. But also we stayed away from tall projects.
Speaker E [00:12:38]:
Yeah.
Speaker B [00:12:39]:
To keep it simple, we like to just turn projects over as fast as possible. And so we stayed away from large projects and a lot less problems, too. But we did keep, we did keep used pickup trucks as well for the large extension ladders we had them and for the pressure washers and whatnot.
Speaker C [00:12:56]:
Yeah.
Speaker B [00:12:57]:
Okay, cool. Very helpful.
Speaker C [00:12:58]:
Thanks, guys.
Speaker B [00:12:59]:
Okay, welcome. Good question.
Speaker D [00:13:02]:
For clarification, when you say for all stars, do you mean four leads or do you mean two leads? Two helpers.
Speaker B [00:13:08]:
Yeah, for leads, leads, leads. Get a vehicle. We gave every lead a vehicle. And, yeah, and we encourage them to take them home. We encourage them to use them when they go to the grocery store, when they take their family bowling, and then just park. Everybody can see it.
Speaker E [00:13:22]:
Steve, I think he was asking about four. Four people on the team. So you can step out.
Speaker D [00:13:28]:
Yeah.
Speaker B [00:13:29]:
Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. It’s four people. However you stack your team is up to you. But the economics is usually four people, provided you live a modest lifestyle, provided you’re taking a modest income. But if you’re already, like, capturing profits, then you’re going to need more than four people. But it’s just four people.
Speaker B [00:13:46]:
However you stack your team is up to you. If it could be two teams, up to one large team. If you’re doing, you know, a bunch of large projects, but it’s usually about four pioneers. I say all stars. Yeah, mental leads. But when all. Yeah, when all four people are all stars means their culture strong and they’re getting after it, they’re taking care of the customers. When you have four all stars, you just, you really can explode out of the field.
Speaker D [00:14:12]:
Cool.
Speaker B [00:14:13]:
Okay, you’re up, Chris.
Speaker D [00:14:15]:
My question is about networking and just about being intentional. Who to be intentional with? How to create value. I wrote down, like, how to create value for realtors, how to create value for interior designers. What problems do they have that I can solve, and what other key people should I be thinking about?
Speaker B [00:14:38]:
White collar. This is the one that most don’t think about. But seriously, whose homes do you want to paint? I want to paint. I want to paint the lawyers clients homes. I want to paint the doctor’s clients homes. I want to paint the dentist clients homes. Right. I want to paint the CPA’s clients homes.
Speaker B [00:14:56]:
Those are the guys that I would spend time with and connect with, network with and have one to ones and lunches and coffees with. Now the others too. But the white collar, it’s their clients that I want, that I really want.
Speaker E [00:15:10]:
And the way you market will bring those, it’s weird with, with me, I have a, I have a reputation with a lot of people as just being too expensive. But those people that most of the people that say that are their customers that I don’t want anyways, I’m in the unique geographic area. It’s not real huge. I’ve branded myself out of bidding on cheap houses. I hardly turn any of those lower income houses away because I’ve marketed myself in such a way that I attract the higher in the a clients who have the money that are willing to pay what you’re worth. And so, yeah, your branding will flush out the weeds.
Speaker D [00:15:51]:
I guess my question is a little bit about, I appreciate what you’re saying, but my question I guess would be about like key networking contacts. Like for example, a realtor need. A realtor has a problem. They need a house painted in order to sell or whatever color consultant has a problem. They need, we’ve sold this job. We need this painted. And it’s like a repeat thing. Right.
Speaker B [00:16:16]:
Okay, let’s address the first one. The realtor has a client who needs a house to sell and they need it painted. But you know what else? They need it painted cheap because they’re selling it and they’re in a rush.
Speaker E [00:16:30]:
You want to go for the buyer?
Speaker B [00:16:33]:
Yeah. You want buyer agents only. Those are the other end of the spectrum. They just bought a house. Now they want to make it their home and they’re willing to invest what it takes. Usually that’s helpful. Stay away from sellers. That’s why, that’s why I’m not overzealous about realtors or joining a board of realtors.
Speaker B [00:16:55]:
Some people do and you can, but it’s just so hard to stay away from the sellers. The sellers will come at you. Hey, we’re selling. We need a painting right away and we need it done for. Can you just go through and touch it all up? 5000 square foot home. Somebody lived there 20 years. You just go through and touch it all up. Oh man.
Speaker B [00:17:14]:
No. So be careful there. Designers. Yeah, there’s an opportunity there, but really, like I said, just stay top of mind. Tell your white collars, in fact, community spotlights, spotlight them all.
Speaker D [00:17:27]:
Okay. Yeah, no, that’s helpful. So, yeah, because you hear other key people I was wondering about was like, maybe property managers, although it’s not something I’m interested in, but just try to think of easy repeat business. But I appreciate what you’re saying. Like, you’re probably where you find easy repeat business. You probably find much more competitive pricing stuff like that. So.
Speaker B [00:17:47]:
Yep. So you want to know where your recurring revenue is going to come from. Your easy recurring revenue where? Step nine in the system, top of mind.
Speaker D [00:17:56]:
Right? Okay.
Speaker B [00:17:58]:
Once you get that flywheel going, you just show up to estimates, connect with them, have water or coffee with them, and I look over the job a little bit, tell them the price, and I say, okay, when can you do it?
Speaker D [00:18:10]:
Yeah. Okay, cool.
Speaker B [00:18:13]:
All righty. Okay. Keep up the good work.
Speaker A [00:18:16]:
We’ll continue with the rest of this week’s show in just a moment. But first, do you have your copy of Steve’s book how to double your business? It’s for sale on Amazon for $37, but we want to give you a free copy instead. Just cover the $6.95 for shipping and handling. Get your free copy of the Dyb book@dybcoach.com. free dybbook. And now this week’s episode.
Speaker B [00:18:46]:
Daryl.
Speaker E [00:18:47]:
Yeah, so I remember. I think it was Ron Ramson, a couple, two or three, four years ago. I don’t know. I was talking about stay interviews, and I’ve been thinking about a stay interview, and I’ll explain that to some of you may not know it, but I liken it to when those of you are married, you’re dating, you’re dating your girlfriend, you’re doing everything good. You’re on your best behavior all the time. You’re doing things well. Then you get married ten years later, you’re drinking, getting fat, and blah, blah, blah. Then you lose your wife because you’re not taking care of her.
Speaker E [00:19:14]:
So that’s a long story short of what I’ve seen in the world. But it happens in the business, too, because we get so excited when we get somebody and then we, we don’t take the time to stop by the job instead of talking about the job, just talking about them. So I’ve done that a little bit. I want to do a little bit more. Just talk, talking about what they’re doing, how they’re doing. But I did reach out to my team last week and told them I’m going to take everybody out. There’s, I got four team members. I’m going to take them out to lunch one on one.
Speaker E [00:19:44]:
Said it’s not about business. It’s not a, it’s not any kind of discipline. It’s just I want to see where things are at with you and me and things like that. But I don’t really know how to, I know how to talk, but I don’t know. Some good key points to bring up on a stay interview. You’re staying. Why are you staying? What would it, I want to ask what would it take if somebody, if you were to, if somebody in another company was offer you a job, what would it take for you to leave me? You know, because I don’t want to know that. But I also don’t want to, I don’t want to have their will spinning either.
Speaker B [00:20:14]:
Right. Yeah. Yeah. I wouldn’t, so, good. That’s wise. I wouldn’t ask that question. So I would just say, hey, I would start the net promoter. Hey, John, on a scale of one to ten, how’s your experience here? See what number they give you.
Speaker B [00:20:27]:
Say eight, maybe nine. Say thank you. What would make it a ten? And then if the conversation’s going and you’re getting good insight, go ahead and go into the four what’s, yeah, I’ve.
Speaker E [00:20:38]:
Got that on my list.
Speaker B [00:20:39]:
Okay. And just for those listening, you start off with what’s working to get it positive, productive. And then you ask what’s not working and what’s missing. And then the fourth one is what’s next? An important thing about the what’s next question is you make sure you assign an owner and a due date to the task that are what’s next or what was missing. What’s next? So I would just open with a net promoter. On the scale one to ten, how’s your experience?
Speaker E [00:21:04]:
Yeah. Never done anything like a stay interview, but I think it’ll bring some value to your relationship because I care. I think right now, Isaac, I didn’t, I know you’re having issues with some of your team members, but right now I’ve got the best culture I’ve ever had. And it’s, I’m not scared of losing it, but I want to make sure I’m doing the things that, that I was first doing to keep them and attract them because I spent thousands and thousands of dollars over a year and a half on indeed and other avenues looking for team members.
Speaker C [00:21:37]:
Yeah.
Speaker E [00:21:38]:
And so I want to keep what I have because I think they’re good. So I just want to have those conversations with them. I think I’ve been really good too, guys, just to make yourself accountable and approachable to your team, not defensive when they bring up a criticism. That’s one thing that’s been really good with my team and me. I’ve proven than that because they’ve, they have had conversations with me about certain things. I didn’t get defensive about it and just they’re little things was okay, what do I need to do to change that? So I think I’ve built the trust in them, but I think the next step is to do a stay interview. So that’s how I’m gonna start. I was gonna do it this week, but I’m gonna be gone for that funeral.
Speaker E [00:22:15]:
So I’m gonna start it next week.
Speaker B [00:22:17]:
Okay, that’s great.
Speaker E [00:22:19]:
Thank you.
Speaker B [00:22:20]:
Thank you. Darrell Rich.
Speaker F [00:22:23]:
Well, I’ve been about getting my estimate bit more on check. Just wondering what everyone else is using for software and hardware. A tablet kind of software. I currently use joist, but some of the things that I’m doing, I think it takes a little bit longer to write it on the spot estimate. I do about 50% of the time I do it on the spot estimate. And the other time I take it home, do it in the office and send it right, right away. But I just was wondering what’s the best estimating software rate available right now and maybe what kind of tablet or whatever everybody else is using for that.
Speaker B [00:23:02]:
Right on. Good questions. Okay, guys, what are you using?
Speaker C [00:23:05]:
I like using drip jobs with an iPad. I found that just the, all the different aspects of what Drip jobs offers as well just ties it all into one system, but then also being able to customize it where you can add small details, you can put a link to a YouTube video of a testimonial and just looks really nice as you’re sitting there just going through it with them. Yeah, I think it’s worth the investment.
Speaker E [00:23:33]:
Yeah, I just got drip jobs. I should have gotten it a few years ago, but I was in a bad spot with my employees and I let things get away with me. But I just got signed back up with it. I don’t even look at what is 150 a month or whatever. That’s a small investment because you think about the present, the presenting of the proposals. I’m still doing Microsoft Word with a portable laptop and a printer and I’m selling like crazy. But drip job is going to make it so much easier and so much professionalizers. Nobody even doing what I’m doing now, let alone doing drip jobs.
Speaker E [00:24:04]:
It’s just. It’s a game changer on that, so. And the guy that owns it, Tanner, he’s always, um. He’s always looking to improve, and he’s taking feedback. He’s a painting contractor full time right now, so he does what we’re doing. So, yeah, drip jobs.
Speaker F [00:24:20]:
I know we talked a little bit about last meeting with me about the drip jobs, but I just. I don’t know. Still haven’t bit the bullet yet.
Speaker D [00:24:29]:
I switched from Joyce to drip jobs last year, and what got my attention with it, honestly, was just the drips, because I really. I wasn’t able to keep up with my. Whether it was a. A lead or it was a estimate sent out, and just those drip emails already were closing more jobs. The joist presentation is maybe better than some, but the. The drip jobs one is super customizable, and it looks really good. And there’s a really easy. Joyce might have this, too, but there’s a real easy paint sign here, pay now button at the bottom that goes directly to a credit card, and they go ahead and put their deposit down right there.
Speaker D [00:25:14]:
It integrates with stripe. I can’t say enough good things about drip jobs, and two things I wanted to mention was, Steve can tell you about his tech stack, where you get a bunch of different apps all lined up and integrated with Zapier, and then you’re just. Now you have a mega app. Basically, we’re doing all kinds of different things for you. And the other thing I would recommend is doing Steve’s estimating course, because that’s brilliant, too. And he’ll have you showing your video testimonials in your presentation right there on the spot, asking great questions to get the job closed. So definitely recommend all of that.
Speaker F [00:25:55]:
Okay. Thank you.
Speaker B [00:25:56]:
I posted the link. I have a link for a 75 day free trial for you. I think it’s the biggest one they offer. I think the standard is 14. So I posted a link in group me for you, rich, for 75 day free trial. Okay. And then I have to get back on group me.
Speaker F [00:26:15]:
I didn’t. I forgot all about group me, actually.
Speaker B [00:26:18]:
And then I’ll post the zap flow chart in there for you, too, that Chris just mentioned.
Speaker F [00:26:24]:
All right.
Speaker D [00:26:25]:
I use Joyce. You won’t go back.
Speaker F [00:26:28]:
I’m gonna check it out. Definitely.
Speaker B [00:26:30]:
Yeah. He has a job costing now, as well, which is fantastic.
Speaker F [00:26:35]:
I’ve seen some ads on that, and I just. Wow, this thing looks pretty. Pretty intense. So I think it’s the next step for me.
Speaker B [00:26:43]:
Yeah. And then to Isaac’s note, iPad is Apple’s the way to go. Yeah, no, whichever one you go, I prefer. I used to be anti apple. I used to just criticize. I’m like, you suckers. That’s all branding. You.
Speaker B [00:26:57]:
Yeah, you and your polo shirts and your BMW can take your apples and eat them, you know, until a customer got, like, the new iPad two back in the day. And as I can see then I’m looking at, whoa, this is pretty neat. And sure enough, I was in. I bought an iPad and then I bought an iPhone, and then I bought my first MacBook. And so my point is, whichever way you go with whichever system I recommend, you go all in on one or the other. I don’t know about PCs, but I can tell you in the Apple world is that you can start a text on your phone and finish on your laptop and vice versa, copy something on my laptop and paste it on my phone just via bluetooth. And it’s just everything syncs, texts are all. So it’s just streamlined.
Speaker B [00:27:40]:
And so that’s what I really love about them.
Speaker E [00:27:41]:
I’ll give you that one.
Speaker B [00:27:43]:
Okay. Yeah. And there’s no circle of depth anymore. They don’t slow down. It’s just, you just go.
Speaker E [00:27:49]:
And there are no viruses. Didn’t apple.
Speaker B [00:27:51]:
No viruses. Yeah, you don’t need a virus thing.
Speaker E [00:27:53]:
Yeah. That’s crazy because I’m paying like a couple hundred bucks a year for antivirus for my laptops.
Speaker B [00:28:00]:
Yeah, no, no more of that nonsense. It’s all gone. Just peace of mind. I open it up and work and close it and just. It just works. Their model used to be. It just works. It’s true.
Speaker B [00:28:09]:
It just works.
Speaker C [00:28:10]:
Yeah. Yeah. I’ve had my MacBook since 2014 and haven’t had no problems.
Speaker B [00:28:15]:
Wow.
Speaker C [00:28:16]:
I even dropped it on in an airport and just about broke. It’s all like, bent in one corner. Things.
Speaker D [00:28:23]:
Amazed.
Speaker B [00:28:24]:
Yeah, I was. I say all that, say I was wrong because I was so anti. I thought it was all marketing and branding. I was so wrong. And I used to be the biggest anti apple guy out there until I saw the light. Now I drink the Kool aid.
Speaker C [00:28:37]:
So then you start a class.
Speaker B [00:28:40]:
I class? Yeah. Oh, man. I class. I was in Austin Aba. Yeah. A lot of fun there. Alrighty, we’ve got a little extra time. Anybody else have anything else they would like to discuss?
Speaker E [00:28:53]:
Yeah, I have one on my. On my notes. Oh, go ahead.
Speaker C [00:28:56]:
I just wondered with. You can book me with the ease of how they can just pick a time. Is that like way better still than the integrated booking link with drip jobs, where all their information is just automatically in there and ready to go. I don’t know which route because that the drip jobs one has been working for me, where they give two different options on days that are available and give recommended time. They’re available, but didn’t know if the ease of you can book me would be that much of an increase.
Speaker B [00:29:31]:
That’s a really good question.
Speaker E [00:29:33]:
You not do both. You not still have. You can book me on your website.
Speaker C [00:29:38]:
You can probably have it on your website. I just didn’t know if the information that it asks for, if that automatically integrates into drip jobs like it does with my drip jobs link.
Speaker B [00:29:50]:
So according to this fancy zapier automation flowchart, it starts with, you can book me and goes right into drip jobs.
Speaker C [00:29:58]:
Okay.
Speaker D [00:30:00]:
April just did this for me.
Speaker B [00:30:01]:
Did she? Thank you. Okay. Personally, I think I would still lead. I appreciate what Tanner’s doing. Personally, I think I would still lead with, you can book me because it saves a step or two. They can see the whole calendar and they can just schedule it. Yeah, that’s step one. Step one, it’s scheduled.
Speaker B [00:30:17]:
There isn’t a link. Or pick a couple things back and forth. I like efficiency with that respect. So I personally, I go with YouTube or the. You can book me.
Speaker E [00:30:26]:
You can book me. Help me. Help me with accountability, too. On my calendar.
Speaker C [00:30:30]:
Yeah. When you click through and pick a time, does it ask them questions about their project and get all their information still okay.
Speaker B [00:30:39]:
Yep. You can. You can set up your questions.
Speaker C [00:30:42]:
And then last thing with that, if you. If it’s a project that you don’t want, how do you tell them, hey, thanks for booking, but we’re gonna have to cancel.
Speaker B [00:30:52]:
Yep, good question. So it’s part of the pre qualifying process. And I have a sheet for this, my graphic for you. And what you do is you usually can use the how soon do you want it done? Question. So the how soon do you want it done question serves you both ways. It helps you to close them on the spot if you want them, and it helps you to refer them away if you don’t. And what we do is we come from a perspective of taking ownership of our production calendar. What I mean by that is, just because we have an opening in three weeks, it doesn’t mean that’s our next opening for them.
Speaker B [00:31:22]:
Okay. So if it’s a job that’s just not a good fit, usually what the easiest way is, say, unfortunately for your project, our first availability isn’t until whenever you. The dead of winter. The only time you’d consider doing a dog house right now. It doesn’t mean that’s your first availability. It’s the first availability for that project.
Speaker D [00:31:43]:
Yeah.
Speaker B [00:31:43]:
Okay. Because you only do those projects then. Does that make sense? So we’re taking ownership of our production calendar. So this is one long sentence with a comma in between. And it’s very important because this safe space. And they’re actually happy. You send them away happy. And so you say, isaac, unfortunately for your project, our first availability is until January.
Speaker B [00:32:02]:
However, here are the name and numbers of two other companies. But I think can get to you much sooner.
Speaker C [00:32:07]:
Yeah.
Speaker B [00:32:08]:
And they’re just, they say, oh, wow. Okay. Thank you so much. They’re grateful for two reasons. They don’t have to start over, and it’s a referral.
Speaker C [00:32:16]:
Yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker B [00:32:18]:
Everybody.
Speaker E [00:32:19]:
I had a guy a couple weeks ago, I was talking about, he’s selling his house. He got me on, you can book me and said, I’m selling my house needed done in the next couple months. I just need one side of the house done and some touch up on the other. I call him back and immediately and said, man, thank you so much for filling an application or filling out your appointment online. But we’re like three months out right now. And he said he’d already had some other painter looking at. I’m like, I think you should go with them because they’re pretty reasonably priced. I would go with them, and I did not waste any time but two minutes on a phone call.
Speaker E [00:32:51]:
And my. You can book me. Had that question on there already. What is your timeline getting this done on the other side, I had another customer that was in a bit of a hurry too, but he was buying a house and it was inside, and it was just a few rooms. And long story short, I finished his job. It was about three days. He was a member of Rotary in a town 2 hours away. He just moved here.
Speaker E [00:33:15]:
I invited him to Rotary. He was at my rotary meeting yesterday and gave him an application. He probably is going to join a Rotary club. So I took a minute job and it worked out.
Speaker B [00:33:25]:
That’s awesome.
Speaker E [00:33:26]:
It was my discretion. I was able to do that because I wanted to.
Speaker D [00:33:30]:
I recently integrated the you can book me thing. I think it’s just that much easier for the client. It is. Or the prospective lead. It’s a question of what are these two dates that would work for you? Which is great, but the calendar is allowing them to book that. It’s allowing them to pick their time. It allows them to look at their calendar. And I think there’s something about it that also solidifies it where there is another step included, because they.
Speaker D [00:33:54]:
When you do it through the trip jobs form, because there’s these two dates and you need to. You need to confirm it, which is something that, like, I don’t know, skipping a step for you. You don’t want to. What if you missed it, right? What if you didn’t? What if. So there’s that also. But I don’t know. You’re giving your. You want to empower the person as much as they can and make it easier.
Speaker D [00:34:17]:
And it’s a little different, but I feel like I’ve seen a difference since using it of more people booking. It’s also right there on the website. You might be passively scrolling and then, oh, here’s a calendar right here. And what is his availability? And all I have to do is click and it’s just no friction.
Speaker C [00:34:33]:
Do you ever get an appointment that’s. Oh, boy, that was open. I don’t actually have time.
Speaker E [00:34:39]:
That’s the accountability part of it. Isaac. Yeah, I learned that.
Speaker D [00:34:44]:
It’s not as bad as you think, though. You integrate it with drip jobs, you integrate it with all your other stuff. I put my b and I meetings in there every week. Chamber of commerce and Rotary both have calendars that you can download and just put into your Google calendar. So it’s already in there. I might not be going to all those meetings, but those times are blocked off in case I need to. And so there isn’t a lot of space, actually, which also creates scarcity. Right.
Speaker D [00:35:13]:
You have to be on it. You have to be using it. But I didn’t. It wasn’t very hard for me to take to.
Speaker C [00:35:18]:
Okay.
Speaker D [00:35:18]:
Because I wasn’t living by a calendar three months ago. Now everything’s in the calendar all the time.
Speaker B [00:35:26]:
Yeah. And Isaac. And if you have to call them and say, I’m sorry, there was a mistake or conflict and we need to reschedule. Nobody was ever upset. They were just so impressed that they were able to book it that they understand that sometimes with the technology and efficiencies that might need to be changed and they’re saying, oh, yeah, no problem. What works? And I look at my calendar throughout a few times or dates and, okay, yeah, that works great. Thank you so much. They were never upset.
Speaker B [00:35:50]:
They understood. They were just. They were so impressed that they were able to book something. In fact, I. There are many guys, I show up and after every sale. This is important to make sure we’re all doing this. After every sale, I say, thank you. You could went with another company.
Speaker B [00:36:01]:
Why’d you go with us? And I remember Mister Scott said it was so easy to book you. I didn’t call anybody else. You had the job for. You got here. I said, did I say 5000? I meant, so that’s awesome. And Dale, you had one.
Speaker E [00:36:12]:
Yeah. I think it was mainly a question for Isaac. You had said something. I think it was Isaac. When you were doing, like, qualifying questions for prospective employees, you were doing like a virtual send them a video where they can answer questions that are asked or something like that. Is it you that did that? Yeah, set that up.
Speaker C [00:36:32]:
So there were so many people coming in on indeed, that rather than give them an in person interview right away, I just sent him an email like, hey, thanks so much for reaching out. I liked some of the answers to your questions. I just wondered if we could, if you could do a selfie video answering these three questions. And it’s just, I think I asked, I can’t remember specifically the three I used, but it was very telling based on how they were on camera and the way that they answered the questions. And then I just had them send it via wetransfer.com. how do you pronounce that?
Speaker E [00:37:12]:
We transfer.
Speaker C [00:37:13]:
Yeah, just, we transfer.com. they can upload up to two gigs, and it just basically sends a link to your email address. It’s really simple.
Speaker E [00:37:21]:
Okay.
Speaker C [00:37:22]:
And there were some guys that were just like, I don’t know, real raggedy and just didn’t really care. And then there was one girl that, like, had smoke in the background. You could tell she, like, must have been smoking or something. But then there were a couple guys that were just really professional, answered really well, and it’s like, okay, I’ll interview them. Just saving myself time. Just having multiple filters along the way.
Speaker E [00:37:48]:
Yeah, that’s cool. That’s. I’m gonna look into that. Thank you.
Speaker D [00:37:52]:
I’ve got a question. I have a question about problem resolution. And just obviously the best way to deal with the problem is to avoid it like an unhappy customer, anticipate any problem that could happen and to prevent it. But we have a job that it’s just gone south. He wants us out of there. And so I guess the question is just when you don’t want these things to happen, you do your best to not let them happen, but sometimes they happen. And do you have any thoughts or anything about just damage control and making sure and maybe even a question about how you think about refunds, when, at what point should you be thinking about that? I’m even wondering if, like, the way that this job happened, I should have been even offering some type of refund or something earlier on so that it was, I don’t have to offer as much as I probably do now because it did go on for a while. So I don’t.
Speaker D [00:38:56]:
Yeah. Any ideas about kind of problem resolution?
Speaker E [00:39:00]:
It depends on what the problem is. But Steve shared a link for, from YouTube as the. Because the best way to handle a problem is head on and quickly, very quickly. And I liked the, the summary of crucial conversation you should listen to. That’s what, six, eight minutes long? It’s a summary of that book. It is so good. I had that with one of my employees not too long ago and it helped out a lot. But, and Steve has always said what’s usually the problem is not the problem, you know, that you’re having on there.
Speaker E [00:39:34]:
There’s, you’ve got to ask a few questions to get into the real issue of why the conflict’s even going on. And that’s not going to happen if you don’t have a quick conversation with that customer. I’ve had it a few times, but I’m really quick to confront, not in a confrontational way, but I confront very quickly when there’s an issue, I don’t let it, I don’t let it fester with anybody, whether it’s personal or business. I just, I go in at it and, but I always like with an employee who’s an all star right now. He almost quit on me about three, four months ago because he had a misunderstanding of a situation and it was totally wrong. But I went in this conversation with him and I apologize for me not being personal with him and understanding his situation. And his guard just completely dropped. And it went from that, him almost quitting to now he is, he is a super all star.
Speaker E [00:40:31]:
I’m talking in three, four months time. And it was because I didn’t go in there and try and defend myself. I was apologetic and like, I was sincere looking at him in the eye. And I am sorry that this has come to this. What can I do to make this better? And the crystal conversation thing really helped. It’s a six minute listen, seven minute. It’s really good.
Speaker B [00:40:55]:
Grabbing a link now posted and group me. I have a summary, but it was too much to post in the chat. So here’s the video. Yeah, it’s fantastic.
Speaker E [00:41:06]:
But you need you. One thing about it, man. You need to hit it head on and quickly, very quickly.
Speaker D [00:41:13]:
And it was kind of situation where we actually took a crew off of the job and put another crew on and tried to be really on top of it and everything, and it just got away from us. One thing I find is you do. You really do have to stay on top of it, because once one thing goes wrong, in their mind, everything feels like it’s gone wrong. And so you got to always maintain that. Just showing that you’re on it. Wondering who. Yeah, maintaining. Exactly.
Speaker D [00:41:42]:
Keeping trust, because as soon as they feel like trust is broken. That’s. Yes, that’s the perfect word.
Speaker B [00:41:47]:
Trust. You. You can’t do anything wrong, pretty much. But once you do something wrong or offend them or break their trust, you can’t do anything right.
Speaker D [00:41:53]:
And even with this job in particular, I didn’t actually lose trust. Like, we shook hands at the end of it, and it’s. It was more just. They wanted to go separate ways, and I understood at that point. So I don’t even know what my question is. I guess I like what you said, darryl. What can I do to make this better? And at the end of the day, that’s whatever they say is all you can do, right? Trying to think if there’s, like, more you can do, but prevent it as much as possible and then make it right, I guess, is the answer.
Speaker E [00:42:21]:
And learn from it. Learn what you did or didn’t do you better for the next ones.
Speaker B [00:42:27]:
Yep.
Speaker D [00:42:28]:
Absolutely.
Speaker B [00:42:28]:
Fast base segways. Hit it fast. Hit head on as fast as possible. Okay. Try to cut it off, rich.
Speaker E [00:42:34]:
Not in a text message. I would.
Speaker B [00:42:38]:
Yeah. Never text. If there’s ever an issue, pick up the phone straight away. Never. Never text message. Yeah. Yep.
Speaker F [00:42:45]:
Always call.
Speaker E [00:42:47]:
Yeah.
Speaker B [00:42:47]:
Always call. All right, gentlemen, this is a fantastic discussion. Appreciate you guys. Let’s roll out with takeaways. Isaac, lead the way, please.
Speaker C [00:42:56]:
I’m gonna check out that summary of crucial conversation. And then just the four. What’s that? I like that. Yeah. And just doubling down on the thought of getting four guys going solid. So.
Speaker B [00:43:12]:
Yeah, and keep that. Keep that video bookmarked or saved, because you’re gonna need to come back to it and be like, oh, my goodness, what was that framework again? And these situations come hard. Situations come, and it’s part of growth and it’s part of leadership. But fortunately, we have that framework there that makes a lot easier. So save it and then keep up.
Speaker C [00:43:34]:
That was good.
Speaker B [00:43:36]:
Okay. Right on. All right, Chris, I’ve got four all.
Speaker D [00:43:40]:
Stars written down here, and even that, I think in some ways answered my question. I had kind of about some issues I’ve had with production that I think that’s. This is just my new benchmark, actually. Just for all stars. Not even thinking about anything. There’s lots to think about, but this is a big one to think about until that’s done. That’s a big one. Target white collar.
Speaker D [00:44:04]:
Think about buyer agents and your recurring revenue comes from staying top of mind. I really liked what’s working, what’s not working, what’s missing and what’s next. I wrote that down. That’s great. And I’ve heard of crucial conversations multiple times. So I’m going to check out that summary and probably read the book.
Speaker B [00:44:23]:
There you go. I don’t know. The book is very corporate and it’s dry and it’s drug out. Bless you. You’re going to be good with the summary. I want to invest in the book. Yeah. The summary is awesome and it’s all you need.
Speaker B [00:44:37]:
I want to save you from some of that, but very cool. Thank you for all those. Appreciate it.
Speaker F [00:44:42]:
Rich might take ways. It was absolutely the white collar marketing. You do that anyway. But I just kind of reinforce that in the drip jobs. I’m going to look into that. And I haven’t been on group me in a few years, so I’m going to have to look into how to get that set up again.
Speaker B [00:45:01]:
Yeah. Come back to the party, my friend. We’ve been missing you, so we’re going.
Speaker F [00:45:04]:
To figure out group me.
Speaker B [00:45:06]:
There you go. Okay. Good deal. Yeah. And those links are in there for you, too, with a free trial. If for whatever reason you don’t get in or can’t get back in, let me know. Email me and I’ll send you the links directly and or help you get back into group me. Mastermind chat.
Speaker B [00:45:19]:
Okay, perfect.
Speaker F [00:45:21]:
Thank you.
Speaker B [00:45:21]:
Fantastic. You’re welcome. All right, Darryl, no pressure. Close us out.
Speaker E [00:45:25]:
Yeah. I’m going to look into the wetransfer.com because I think that sounds like a cool idea. Yeah.
Speaker B [00:45:30]:
All right. Fantastic. All right, gentlemen, thank you very much. Want to encourage you to do exactly what it does right behind Darrell’s shoulder there on the wall. Dream big. Hustle smarter. You’ve got this. Have a great day, guys.
Speaker E [00:45:43]:
See you guys.
Speaker C [00:45:43]:
See you guys.
Speaker B [00:45:44]:
See you guys. Ciao.
Speaker A [00:45:49]:
I hope you enjoyed this episode. If this was helpful, please share it with a friend to help inspire them to double their business. Again, this is April Burnett. Steve and I are the founders of Burnett painting and Dyb coach we want to take a moment and thank you for making us the most rated podcast dedicated specifically to painting contractors. To celebrate, we want to help you break through to higher success. So Steve is now giving away free strategy calls. Just click the link below in the show notes that says free strategy call. There are only a couple of openings on his calendar each week, so get your free call with Steve now.
Speaker A [00:46:24]:
Thank you so much for listening and remember to dream big. Hustle smarter. You’ve got this.