Are You a Half-Hearted Kamikaze?

This term “Half-Hearted Kamikaze” comes from Tim Elmore a Christian Pastor and Speaker. I think it is relevant in today’s service business. First let’s look a definition of Kamikaze. As Tim Elmore puts it,” A Kamikaze is someone who (whether for good or evil) puts everything into one purpose.” Wikipedia defines the Kamikaze, literally: "God wind"; common translation: "Divine wind", were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy warships more effectively than was possible with conventional attacks. Numbers quoted vary, but at least 47 Allied vessels, from PT boats to escort carriers, were sunk by kamikaze attacks, and about 300 damaged. About 14% of kamikaze attacks managed to hit a ship.

So what is a Half-Hearted Kamikaze? My definition as relating to business is a service business owner who talks the story of improvement, change, and full commitment but does not consistently strive to achieve the goal of an extremely successful business with time for the owner to enjoy life.

So why are so many service business owners half-hearted? My observations of dozens and dozens of service businesses demonstrate several reasons.

1.   I often see is the owner has little or no experience to run a business. They are great technicians but have little skills to operate a business. They fail to hire the skills needed to operate profitably or to get the skills themselves. It could be as simple as working with an expert consultant to help him.
2.  Another reason is the owner just does not have the drive to take the business to success but is satisfied with a paycheck equal or less than they could make as a technician for a successful company. Perhaps their spouse works and provides the additional income and even benefits for the family.
3. Often an owner becomes distracted by the technical side of the business and shies away from the hard decisions, the “books”, margins, waste, and the changes needed to more the business to the next level. Not necessarily larger but more profitable.
4. Sometimes the distraction is something too big and too close to overcome easily. This could be a sick spouse, parent, child, or his own health. This is understandable and the owner needs to find an individual to operate the business while he gives his attention to the health need.
5. One last one I’m going to mention here is burnout. The business owner is just worn-out from the grind of business. If the business is barely making it, the stress and pressure is great. He needs time away and a regular plan to get some rest and relaxation. If he does not, the business withers away, or he relieves the stress with alcohol, gambling or other diversions to forget the stress and pressure.

The owner probably has little or no retirement fund when he retires. He may take cash under the table thus compromising his integrity. His business may be supported by his vendors who provide credit too easily. He owes more than the business is worth. He may have stress related illnesses such as heart trouble, high blood pressure, diabetes or another health issue. He retires to a life much less than a business owner deserves, if he is able to retire. Perhaps he works at a big box store like Walmart or Home Depot instead of enjoying retirement, hobbies, and the grandkids.

So what’s the answer? Either become fully engaged or work for someone who is and avoid the downside of being half-hearted. Don't be a Half-Hearted Kamikaze, make the decision today!

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years. He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to grow and prosper. 
Contact him @ Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

10 Tips for Health and Happiness for Your Employees

We are all trying to have our employees be loyal and caring with the clients we serve, other employees and the company. One of the tangibles that help employees feel loyalty and care about the two groups of people and the company is a feeling that the company does truly care about them and has a loyalty to them for their health, safety and wellbeing. So often in the hustle of handling the daily issues, we become oblivious of the need for the company to show these to our employees. The telephone is ringing, there is a delivery at the back door, a vendor salesman comes in, or a myriad of other distractions and time consumers.

Having worked with various companies over the past 12 years, I have found health and safety are one of the areas that employees appreciate and add a sense that the company is interested in their wellbeing. It is just one of many issues that contribute to the satisfaction of an employee. Certainly you can do all the right , recommended, best practices listed items for employees and you will still lose some for situations beyond your control and some beyond logic. But that does not equate to not doing them.

You may be thinking “I don’t even know where to start with a health and safety program for my employees.” Here are a couple of easy and inexpensive suggestions you could use:

1.      Order copies of “Clearing the Air”, a pamphlet put out by the National Cancer Institute on ways an employee can quit smoking.

2.      Check to be sure your employees have the personal protective equipment (PPE) they need to do their jobs regularly. Simple things like safety glasses, ear protection, coveralls, gloves, and so on.

3.      Check to be sure the fire extinguishers and first aid kits are up to date and stocked in each truck.

4.      Train your employees of how to find the MSDS information on their smart phones so they can understand what they are working with and protect themselves.

5.      In warm weather such as we have been having, provide them with a small inexpensive cooler filled with ice and cold bottled water. Remind them to drink lots of water during the warm weather, to seek shade, and to take rest breaks.

6.      Download a relevant safety topic from the internet and have 10-15 minutes of your weekly meeting devoted to safety.

7.      If someone is hurt or there is an accident, discuss it at your weekly meeting to increase awareness of safety.

8.      Have a safety bulletin board with relevant articles, tips, and information.

9.      Provide breakfast at your weekly meeting if the previous month was accident and injury free.

10.   Here is a real winner. You can have them download an app for their IPhone or Android phone from the Red Cross. It’s free! It has short lessons on first aid, quizzes, how to prepare for emergencies, and what they should do in a first aid emergency.

Bergstrom-Elder Consulting can implement a comprehensive safety program at your business to protect your employees, add job satisfaction, and help reduce your insurance costs. Contact us for information.

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years.
He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company
and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to
grow and prosper. Contact him @ Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

Minor Leaguers

Spending the spring in Florida, there is a lot of talk on television, radio, and in the newspaper about the local spring training teams. They cover the players, are their stats, the schedules, the injuries, and the various teams expectations. Among the players are both “big” leaguers and the “minor” leaguers. The big leaguers are trying to get in shape for the season and keep their jobs. The minor leaguers are also getting into shape for their season and hoping to make it to the big leagues. But when I visit service businesses, I find something a little different.

In baseball, players are drafted just as we “draft” new employees into our businesses. Then the differences begin. In baseball, the new player is evaluated on his strengths and weaknesses and assigned to a farm club to improve his skills so he can play at his maximum capabilities. In many service businesses, we send the new “player” to ride along on a truck with another tech for a few days. We get a little feedback from the tech and then put the new “player” out to take care of customer problems and provide the excellent customer service we expect. Somehow we think the new player will do the job as well as we would ourselves.

We need a new paradigm; one in which we have a career plan for the new employee at least 3 to 5 years out. We do this by setting out expectations from the new employee to meet throughout their career at our company. We set increases in their income on gaining new skills that make them more valuable to the company. We expect them to achieve success in state and national accreditation such as a Master Plumber’s license, NATE certification, a manufacturer’s training program, or a degree from a college or association training program.

This career plan needs to be written and specific. It should be clear what needs to be done by the employee to move to the next level. Each level has a pay range, a list of skills need to be in that level, and what training or skills are needed to get to the next level. There is a pay range since an employee may be at a level for several years but after six months or a year has accomplished many of the skills needed for that level. There can also be automatic increases as a Technician becomes NATE certified or gets his trade licensing.

There are numerous benefits to a career plan for an employee. They know what they must do to gain a raise or move to the next level. There is a sense of a future at your company for the employee. There are some written metrics to evaluate an employee by at review time. When you hire a new employee, your company shows the employee is important and there is a future at your company.  You can direct an employee to the skills your company needs to better serve the customer and be more profitable.

Contact me if you would like a sample of a plan that you can use as a template to write your own career path for your employees.

Dan has been involved in the service business for over 50 years operating a successful plumbing heating and air conditioning business and consulting service businesses. He can be contacted at Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

Spring Training

This last week our Grandsons were off for spring break, they live in the Orlando area. In order to give our Daughter a break from the boys, I took them to a Spring Training game. I didn’t want to travel all the way to Lakeland to see “My” Tigers so we went to Kissimmee to see the Houston Astros play the Florida Marlins. They had a special for 2 tickets, two hot dogs and two soft drinks for $28.00. The weather was great and the seats were pretty good. The boys brought their mitts just in case a ball came close. As we watched the game it hit me over the head like a rock! Most HVAC, plumbing, and electrical service companies are perpetually in Spring Training mode.

So you ask what do you mean, Dan? Let me recap a couple of events at the game. To start the game, a young lady sang the National Anthem. She was unaccompanied but should have been. One of the Astro’s star players did not hustle from 1^st and was thrown out at home plate on an extra bases hit to center field. The Astro’s center fielder and left fielder did not coordinate a call for a fly ball and it was dropped for a hit and a run for Miami. A Houston runner was picked off second base because he was not as alert as he should have been. A lot of minor league players were in the game and the regulars did not play up to regular season caliber. I see the same thing in many service businesses but it’s year around! Let me put it into the genre of your service business.

Just as the lady that sang the National Anthem, you have not provided accompaniment for your office staff. They have poor equipment to work on, need more training and practice; they were put into their positions without being evaluated for the quality of their performance. They are there as the lead-in the start of the game of providing world class service to your customers.

Just as the star player did not hustle and score a run for the home team, your star players are not hustling around the bases. They are not completing all six steps of a service call and even worse, they are not providing the customer with options for upgrades and add-ons.

Just as the two outfielders did not call for the ball, your team is not making the calls that will provide the customer with the best possible service. Wrong Tech to the wrong job, poor routing, lack of communication of key information between the office and the field just to name a few of the call for the ball errors in your service company.

Just as the runner was picked off because he was inattentive, you and your team members are letting others pick off your customers because you have been inattentive. In fact you are so inattentive your customers don’t remember the company that serviced them and they don’t have an easy way to find you. You haven’t kept in touch with them, you don’t have regular newsletters for them, no postcards, no stickers on equipment, no outbound calls to them, no referral program. Perhaps you online presence is so weak, they can’t find you on the internet either.

As the team owner, general manager, and coach, it’s your responsibility to get your team into regular season mode each and every day. You need to get out of spring training mode and get your head into regular season play. Time to move forward to prepare for each day as at least a regular big league season game if not a game seven of the World Series.

Dan has been involved in the service business for over 50 years operating a successful plumbing heating and air conditioning business and consulting service businesses. He can be contacted at Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

Little Things

I'm sitting in the terminal at Detroit Metro Airport waiting for my 3 hour delayed plane without any other flight options. I decided to check at the Delta service center an hour or so ago and see if there might be a connecting flight that would get me back to Orlando sooner than my 3 hour delayed flight. There were no alternates that would work. The agent was as helpful as she could be for a tired flyer. I even got an exit row seat! Then the little thing caught my eye. On a table between the agents there was a selection of soft drinks, bottled
water and the "Delta" snacks. Those consist of peanuts, pretzels or
some small cookies. It's a small thing but it shows some concern for passengers
who have flight delays or cancelations. I'm not happy with a flight delay but
the bottle of water helped ease the anxiety of the moment. I was up a 5:15 this
morning and arriving at about 1 AM the next day does not make it easy to have
the best of attitudes. As I am sitting and waiting, it brings to mind little things
we can do to relieve some of the anxiety our customers have.

When our Techs go to a customer's home it is like we are invading their castle. The moat
is filled and the bridge is drawn. The defenses are in place. The troops are at
the walls with their bows drawn and the cannons readied. We are not best buds.
But could this change if we came with a peace offering? What if we brought the
newspaper or a packet of flower seeds or some other small thing? Would we be
looked on differently? Would the draw bridge be lowered, the arrows be returned
to the quivers, and the cannons put on standby? Often it's the "little
things".

After the call is completed do we call and thank the customer? Do we send them a token of
our appreciation? It could be a couple of movie tickets, or an air conditioning
cover, or an extra filter. There are hundreds of ideas that could be used. The
cost can be related to the size of the service call or installation. Even something as simple as a couple of garden hose washers or a universal aerator would work. It's the "little
things".

Your employees are also customers. What "little thing" have you done for
them? When they do an exception job do you ward them with a thank you and a
token of your gratitude? A couple of movie tickets or a gift certificate to a
restaurant can do wonders to keep up the moral of your people. Be sure to
remember the office people as well as the field people.

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years.
He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company
and for the past 11 years has helped small companies in the service business to
grow and prosper. Contact him @ Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

Six Reasons We Fail at Achieving Our Goals

I read an interesting article by Michael
Hyatt in which he asked these questions, “ Think of your biggest goal right now. What
is at stake if you achieve it? What is at stake if you don’t achieve it?” It
made me think of the results of our actions. We often have a goal that we want
to achieve but for some reason it just never happens. I think into my own life
and see big goals that I achieved and those that have not come to pass. What’s
the difference in those that were accomplished and those that were not? I have
listed several reasons I have not met a goal I had envisioned. Maybe some of
them are your reasons.

1.
In the famous Aesop fable a grasshopper has spent the warm months singing while the ant (or ants in some editions) worked to store up food for winter. When that season arrives, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger and upon asking the ant for food is only rebuked for its idleness. I too have wastes the “summer” away instead of doing the hard work to achieve the goal. I was just plain lazy.
2.
The goal just seemed too big to ever conquer.
This is often the issue we may have with losing weight or making a change in
our business. The real issue may be the spoon is too big. We just want to solve
the issue or attain the goal in one quick act. You don’t run a marathon in one
step, a 5K or ever run around the block. You do it in many steps.
3.
What an embarrassment if you fail! Friends and
associates find out you failed and immediately you are embarrassed. You’re the only person to ever fail to meet a goal, NOT! We should be embarrassed for not going for our big goals.
4.
We are actually afraid of the consequences of
our success. What will I do? How will I handle it? What if, what if, what if?
It’s a lot easier just to dream about the successful goal accomplishment than
to deal with the success once it is achieved. Or is it?
5.
When we have run out of options, when there is no other course, when time has run out, and the results will be dire, we strive for the goal. We need that push over the edge to get there. We have no more excuses. We go for it. This choice is often fatal to our success. We may have waited too long to go for the goal and there is not time, or enough resources, or enough energy to accomplish the big goal.
6.
Just in a rut from the day to day grinds of life. Getting up in the morning, traffic, customers, employees, money, details, family, appointments, activities, and all the other day to day stuff just wears on the spirit and the

body over time. It’s easier to avoid taking anything else on even if the

results would be awesome.

I’m as human as anyone and suffer from these six reasons for
not successfully conquering every one of my big goals. If I stop for a minute
or two to see why I have not met them, I can lift myself up to meet the next
big goal and sometimes realize that the “big” goal was not necessary for me to
be successful or to be happy. Think about it and let me know your thoughts.

If the people are sleeping, wake up the pastor

I saw this phrase somewhere and could not get it out of my mind. Sure I have seen the occasional church member dose off after a sleepless night. I even remember Wally who sat in the back row, always in the same seat of our small church. His wife made him come to church, I am sure. His head would bob from side to side or his chin would be touching his chest. Once or twice a year his head would bob back and hit the light switch. Out would go the lights and his wife would elbow him to wake him and reach behind him to flip the lights back on. Of course the title above is referring to a church setting but aha, on day I had an epiphany. It is the same principle in business. If the team is asleep, wake up the boss.

Over the years as I have attended meeting and seminars with contractors, I have heard that the employees just are not doing their job in the way the boss wants them to do it. They are lazy, they are stupid, they don’t care about the customer, they don’t care about the company, they, they, they. It goes on and on. Bosses are part of society today which likes to point the finger at someone else and not recognize the three fingers pointing back at themselves.

The boss needs to wake him or herself and actively make the changes within the business that will produce the results needed to make the business profitable and sustaining. It all begins with planning. A plan has goals, with each having finite measurements, and a time frame for completion. This requires the boss to sit down and think of the 10 –12 achievable goals that would make the greatest impact on moving the company forward. Then those goals need to be communicated to every employee. They should be posted if possible. Everyone should know their part in the plan and that they will be held accountable to achieve their part of the plan. This also requires the boss to express the option for an employee to come to him if they need help to meet their tasks. Weekly, biweekly or monthly updates need to be disseminated and posted. As a goal is achieved and maintained for a reasonable time, the team should celebrate the victory.

To help in this pursuit, BEC Group has provided a pdf goal sheet on our website, http://www.sayyestosuccess.com/, which you can download and use as a tool to start your awaking process. And remember this is a process not an end goal because if you don’t keep at it, you’ll be back to putting your team to sleep.

May your New Year be the best year of your life!












I saw this phrase somewhere and could not get it out of my
mind. Sure I have seen the occasional church member dose off after a sleepless
night. I even remember Wally who sat in the back row, always in the same seat
of our small church. His wife made him come to church, I am sure. His head
would bob from side to side or his chin would be touching his chest. Once or
twice a year his head would bob back and hit the light switch. Out would go the
lights and his wife would elbow him to wake him and reach behind him to flip
the lights back on. Of course the title above is referring to a church setting
but aha, on day I had an epiphany. It is the same principle in business. If the
team is asleep, wake up the boss.
Over the years as I have attended
meeting and seminars with contractors, I have heard that the employees just are
not doing their job in the way the boss wants them to do it. They are lazy,
they are stupid, they don’t care about the customer, they don’t care about the
company, they, they, they. It goes on and on. Bosses are part of society today
which likes to point the finger at someone else and not recognize the three
fingers pointing back at themselves.
The boss needs to wake him or herself
and actively make the changes within the business that will produce the results
needed to make the business profitable and sustaining. It all begins with
planning. A plan has goals, with each having finite measurements, and a time
frame for completion. This requires the boss to sit down and think of the 10 –
12 achievable goals that would make the greatest impact on moving the company
forward. Then those goals need to be communicated to every employee. They
should be posted if possible. Everyone should know their part in the plan and
that they will be held accountable to achieve their part of the plan. This also
requires the boss to express the option for an employee to come to him if they
need help to meet their tasks. Weekly, biweekly or monthly updates need to be
disseminated and posted. As a goal is achieved and maintained for a reasonable
time, the team should celebrate the victory.
To help in this pursuit, BEC
Group has provided a pdf goal sheet on our website, http://www.sayyestosuccess.com/, which you can download and use as a tool to
start your awaking process. And remember this is a process not an end goal
because if you don’t keep at it, you’ll be back to putting your team to sleep.
May your New Year be the best
year of your life!