Strengths & Weaknesses
Not in your perception, but your customer’s. How many here ever ask their customers: “May I ask you what made you decide to hire me?â€
How can any of us first, acknowledge and then address, our weaknesses or market our strengths?
What we feel about ourselves and employees is a moot issue. Our customers could care less. Likewise, our company as a whole is a moot issue, because it only takes one bad experience of our customers with only one of our employees can ruin a local reputation. Therefore, the reputation of our company as a while is determined by each part of our company, and those “partsâ€, or customer “contacts†create positive or negative experiences by vendors, sub contractors, and our own people.
And not a single “perception†of the above can be determined unless we ask the question: â€Why………………..â€
Do you really know your weaknesses and strengths? By knowing them you will learn “how†to sell yourself, and the selling of yourself is exactly what determines your profits. Yes, we are business owners, tradesmen, managers, etc., etc., but we are sales people first. We sell ourselves to our customers. We sell ourselves to our suppliers. We sell ourselves to our subs, or GCs if we are a sub. We sell to everyone with whom we come in contact. If we cannot sell, and sell very well, we go broke, or at best, only make wages.
And remember, “You’re a good contractor†means about as much as saying “He’s a good husbandâ€. Only “specificsâ€, not ambiguity or generalizations, tell the story of your strengths and weaknesses.
Replies
Interesting points, Sonny. I was told once be an old timer to look at myself how others might. Not just the obvious, but the little things we don't usually think about.
I have asked that question before, only not about me. I've asked it when working for a GC before, and also a custom cabinet factory. I had always assumed reputation had mostly to do with it, and I was somewhat correct. It was interesting to hear some things.
Personally, I have never asked why I didn't get work. I know there are plenty who do. It would be interesting to hear some of those stories. For me, a trimmer/small remodeler/occasional contractor, 90% of the work I get is referral, where 1. price isn't always an issue, and 2. I'm not really competing against the next guy.
How many HOs do you think will be really truthful when telling of your weaknesses? I'm not talking business. That, to me, is easier because it is separate from personal. While I may not like the outcome, hearing of my personal weaknesses may be a very good thing.
ADH Carpentry & Woodwork
Quality, Craftsmanship, Detail
I'll play along, but you come up with the new marketing gimmick.
Pros: attention to detail. Minute trivial stuff. I guess I put it in pros since I've found the niche of folks who notice that. Or at least some of them. I'm courteous, I'm on time, I keep my word. 99% of my customers would say I've developed a good rapport with them. A handful would say I have a good sense of humor; more would say it's hard to grasp sometimes. I don't play games with people, I'm pretty open about answering questions about how or why something got bid the way it did (so long as I dont have the hairs on my neck raising when its asked)
Cons: time management. Great irony there. But that's another story. It's not brushfire management, I take more than I can chew and force myself to get it done. So I work weekends. Actually, I think since about May, I've taken 2 Sundays off. Returning calls. Fairly good, but not stellar. I give the excuse that if I called everyone back that called me every day, I'd never get any work done. Some truth, but it feels like there has to be a better way. Paperwork, in general. It gets done, but it's not a daily ritual. It's like the floor of the truck. When the pile gets bad enough, take a block of time and deal with it. Intentionally letting it go to the point where it has to get done.
So what's the pitch. If you can get me in the first place and I don't have too many delays, you'll really like the craftsmanship? Maybe that's a little harsh.
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain
Sonny, I've never asked.....and I don't intend to. I'd be too afraid of the answer!
It is a great question though.
This spring, as I had time to analyze our business and plan for expansion, I decided to create a questionairre that would identify exactly the things that each customer liked or disliked about us. I felt that it would help us by getting us into their heads....for instance, some builders are freaky about crew size, some want the job done in exactly ten days or less...others are focused on details of the elevation, some can't tell the difference between a queen ann and a box corner.
You get the idea. My goal was to identify each customer's (remember, we build new, so we have a lot of repeat business) idiosyncrosies, then use them in our next sales pitch and also educate our crew.
Well, we've decided to ditch the framing.....but I'm sure we'll do it with our retail clients when the buy a home from us.
The other big reason for sending that questionaire was to differentiate ourselves from the pack. We already work hard at differrentiating ourselves, but every little effort helps.
blue
“May I ask you what made you decide to hire me?â€
Just about every time I get a signed contract.
Why not ask ... they just picked ya, right? Can't be too bad an answer ....
I usually get "yer one of the few that showed pics" ...
Last big job I got ... "We narrowed it down to 2 ... and U showed more excitement. More like U would consider this project to be special ... not just another job."
and they were right! It was cool and I did want it.
I heard lots of ... "presented yourself well ... professional"
like I said ... it's usually gonna be something ya wanna head.
I had a sales mamager when selling alarm systems that had a check list you had to have the customer initial ... both sales and loses ...
That was a big Q .... never a whole lotta fun ...
"Hey... thanks for your time and wasting mine ... but tell me exactly when ya didn't buy nothing?"
To keep us honest ... he'd pull them at random every other week ... and call and follow up to see if anyone lied.
Heted it at first ... but since it was used as another sales tool and not to ruin your weekend ... I came to appreciate it.
Jeff
I have had a coupla times where the customer ended up reconsidering ...
never on anything big ... but twice I can think of they gave answers I felt I could give a "reason" for ... not to fight ... just to end things on a positive note ...
they said they liked my "explanation" ... said What the hell ... no one elsed Why Not Me?
If ya can't tell by now ... I'm open to discussion on just about anything!
Jeff