The Professional Painting Contractor's Bailout Plan

How to Prosper and Profit during Economic Chaos, Part II

Many of our coaching clients who have implemented what we call the ‘best practices’ are now better prepared to weather the storms ahead. Those who have not need to get onboard now.

You should use the following ‘best practices’ to build your own economic stimulus plan.

Business Management

* Own your business; don’t let it own you.
* Have a Business Plan in place at all times.
* Use systems to create a business that can run without you.
* Turn your business into a sellable asset.
* Have an exit strategy.
* Spend more time working 'on' your business than you do working 'in' your business.
* Have a vision for your business and share it with your employees.
* Grow your business using the “Before, During and After Process”.
* Strive towards Critical Mass. Critical Mass is the optimal number of leads coming in to produce the optimal number of proposals accepted to keep your crews working on the optimal number of jobs.
* Implement proven business models.
* Keep and maintain a database of customers and a database of prospects who never became customers.
* Cash is king: have a Cash Now, Cash Flow, and Cash Later plan.

Marketing

* Have an effective marketing system "working" for you.
* Automate as much of your marketing as possible. Use auto-pilot systems to ensure it gets done consistently.
* Get creative to get the best results. Think outside of the box. Look to other industries for successful strategies.
* Sell “under the radar” whenever possible. Avoid being preceived as a saleperson.
* State and elaborate on benefits and value in your ads; talk less about features and more about benefits.
* Always test ads before committing to year-long obligations like the yellow pages. Only run a proven winner in the yellow pages.
* Include testimonials. This is especially effective when you’ve included a picture of the customer who gave the testimonial. Ads containing testimonials consistently pull better than those not.
* Test ads for effectiveness before committing it a long term stint, such as a yellow page book which will hold your for a year or more.
* Find a good mailing list and use direct mail to initiate contact.
* Constantly track and analyze marketing results, making adjustments as necessary.

Sales

* Find a way to overcome the conscious and sub-conscious roadblocks to winning more sales.
* Position yourself as trusted advisor or consultant rather than a painting contractor or salesman.
* Create a value-building presentation your prospects will respond to.
* Use questions to solicit the customers participation in your presentation
* Give the customer enough detail about how you work and what you’re proposing, but avoid too much detail and definitely avoid using a bunch of technical language.
* Use discovery questions as a sales tool.
* Touch on customer “hot buttons” whenever possible.
* Ask for the sale. And then ask again and again and again until you get it.
* Leave behind your credibility kit.
* Use sales scripts to get desired results on a consistent basis
* Bring up and address objections before your prospect does.

Positioning Strategies

* Acquire a strong competitive advantage and keep it.
* Avoid constantly chasing down jobs. Instead, use positioning strategies to put yourself in the preferred position of being highly sought after.
* Relentlessly pursue testimonials. Turn collecting them into a fun game.
* Create a “wow” experience for each customer to ensure repeat business and referrals.
* Make it easy for customers to refer you then reward them when they do.
* Have a referral system then put it on autopilot.
* Use a Consumer Awareness Guide to elevate your status as the “expert”.
* Offer “no-risk guarantees” and back it up in writing.
* Execute 12 endorsement marketing campaigns (or more) per year.
* Send customers a Client Appreciation Newsletter each and every month.
* Never give up on lost prospects. Put them in a follow up campaign.
* Have telephones answered live during normal business hours.
* Return a proposal to the prospect within 48 hours of your visit, if not sooner.
* Always return proposal in person and discuss with prospect or customer; never mail, fax or email.

Profitability

* Sound financial management practices will keep your business going, even during traditionally slow periods
* Do NOT, under any circumstances, base YOUR prices on what your competitors are charging.
* Invoice customers every two weeks if possible, rather than monthly, to keep cash flowing.
* By knowing your numbers, knowing your profit margin and knowing your break even point, you avoid financial crisis.
* Proactively manage your cash flow.
* Never borrow money to finance business growth; only use profits to pay for growth.
* Review financial statements at least once a month.
* Forecast sales and expenses in advance.
* Adjust your strategy based on financial performance.
* Set up a separate payroll account.
* Already have back up finances in place incase of an emergency.
* Do not take pricing advice from people who work for you.
* Do not be afraid to fire profit-zapping customers.
* Don’t pay for the same job twice.
* Find your niche. Be the big fish in a small pond.
* Build a By-Referral-Only business.
* Know the lifetime value of a single customer.

Leadership of Human Resources

* In order to attract high quality workers, operate a high quality business and provide them with the tools they need to succeed.
* The “Team” approach to building a painting business is the best one for ensuring success.
* Train employees to perform at “maximum” levels of productivity,
* Compensate employees in a way that “motivates” them to always give you110%.
* Clearly define the subordinate roles through Job Descriptions and Job Titles. Everyone should know what is expected of them.
* Recognize the value of talent over experience.
* Good habits are an asset to your company and bad habits, although some can be changed, are a liability.
* A team player, a service-oriented person, is better suited for working with your customers than a negative pessimistic loner.
* No matter how talented or skilled an individual may be, if they possess no drive to do a good job, they are worthless to you.
* Have a hierarchy. Someone must be ultimately accountable and in charge. Assign a leadership position.
* Have written Policies and Procedures. Having employees do things exactly the way you want them done, which of course should also be the most efficient way, helps to eliminate the variables that create inconsistencies in performance. If there’s only one “right” way than it will be easy for employees to make the right decisions.
* Provide on-going training for all staff members.
* Raise your level of expectations and notice which employees rise to the occasion.
* To maximize every dollar you spend on wages, employees need to be customer relation reps, quality control inspectors, and sales reps, all at the same time.

How many of these best practices are you using in your business? How prepared are you to weather the storms ahead? What would having a systematic plan in place do for your business?

Imagine having the business of your dreams in just 6-8 weeks from now. It’s possible when you have a proven system to follow… one that has worked for many others before finding its way to you.

Visit www.paintersuccess.com/blueprint for more information.