2016 • ISSUE 1
STORIES Building Your Business One Idea At A Time
Inspiration For Motivation Here at DSG, we hear a lot about how tough it is to hire good people. In some markets, it’s tough to hire any people. The shortage of workers in the trade industries has made it more important than ever to get the most out of the people you have. That can be a challenge in itself, though. Push your team too hard or in the wrong way and they will jump ship, landing in the waiting arms of another contractor who is desperate for help. How can you motivate your people without irritating them? The key, it turns out, doesn’t lie with your workers – it lies with your leaders. Here are a few of the ways that good managers inspire their teams to do their best.
WIN-WIN INCENTIVE PLANS
Many workers believe that they are just a number on a spreadsheet, and
that their boss makes decisions based solely on what is best for the bottom line. One way to address this is to acknowledge the importance of profit, and to illustrate in concrete terms how a successful bottom line benefits everyone. You could use anything from a comprehensive profitsharing plan to a simple bonus system based on productivity. Employees like to know that if they help the company to thrive, they receive a portion of the rewards. Inversely, if the company stays flat, your obligations are minimal.
GOOD COMMUNICATION
Check your management style. Do managers listen to their employees, or simply boss them around? Great employees can think for themselves, and they chafe when their input is not taken into consideration. Talk with your people. You don’t need to do everything they suggest, but using one of their good ideas has the double benefit of potentially improving your business and recognizing a smart employee for showing initiative. Who wouldn’t appreciate that?
Our Helena, MT, Location
In This Issue • How To Stand Out • DSG Scholarships • Energy Audits • Trivia www.dakotasupplygroup.com WORK HARD AT HAVING FUN
Even a small business has a corporate culture. How would you describe yours? Is it all business? Managers often cringe at the idea of company picnics and break room birthday parties. Statistics show, however, that the culture in a small business is significantly more important to company morale than compensation. Being fun can be hard work (especially when you have a lot on your plate), but it is critical to keeping your team motivated. It’s easier to keep great employees than it is to find new ones. Help them to understand that you’re all on the same team – and that they are critical to the company’s success – and you can all succeed together.
STORIES | 2016 • ISSUE 1
TOM’S CURRENT How To Stand Out? The Answer Starts With A Question. Has anyone ever asked you why you do your job? If they have, it’s possible that you responded with, “to make money” or “because I have a mortgage” or “how else could I afford my fishing habit?” without putting a lot of thought into it. After all, money is the reason everybody works, right? Oddly enough, people who are the most successful at their jobs – whether they are contractors or businesspeople or schoolteachers – will rarely list money as the motivator for what they do. This isn’t an accident. You see, the more people focus on money, the more they act just like all of the other people who focus on money. On the other hand, those who focus on something other than money tend to stand out from the crowd.
The more people focus on money, the more they act just like all of the other people who focus on money.
STORIES | 2016 • ISSUE 1
“Why do you do what you do?” as it turns out, is a very important question. It’s more important than “what do you do?” which is almost certainly the same as your competitors (“I’m a contractor”) or “how do you do it?” which is also hard to answer in a unique manner (“I do great work”). Indeed, ask successful people why they do what they do, and they will offer answers like, “I want to make people’s lives better” or “I want to change how people think about this business” or “I want my customers to succeed.” Think about your “why,” and then make a commitment to pursuing it. If you show passion for a “why” that your customers care about, you will stand out from the crowded field of competitors who focus their energy and resources on the “whats” or “hows” that everybody already has in common.
Want to know more? Drop me a line at trosendahl@dsginc.biz or pick up Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why.
SUCCESS CONNECTOR FINDINGMYTRADE.COM
DSG Provides Scholarships For Aspiring Electricians, Plumbers And Other Trade Professionals!
Want to help us power the future of the trade industries? By visiting www.findingmytrade.com, you can: • Donate to the DSG Education Connection Fund
At DSG, we know that careers in the trade industries are some of the most important jobs that exist • Access a presentation that today. That’s why every spring can be used to help you recruit Education we give away thousands of high school students to join dollars in scholarships to the trades Fund APPLY high school seniors and BEFORE college students who are going to school to learn a trade. APRIL 30! If you know a young person who is thinking about entering the trades, encourage him or her to apply for a DSG Education Connection Fund scholarship. It’s easy to apply, and it’s a great way for students to get a head start on their future.
CONNECTION
Education
CONNECTION Fund
Just go online to www.findingmytrade.com to learn more!
POP Quiz 1
3
What NBA superstar holds the record for grabbing 55 rebounds in a single game?
2
What pioneering tool company coined the name SAWZALL® in 1951? (1) Wilt Chamberlain
(2) Milwaukee Tools
Two quarterbacks are tied for the record for most fumbles in a season. Name one.
4
All scenes that take place inside The Matrix are tinted what color?
(3) Kerry Collins (2001 Giants) and Daunte Culpepper (2002 Vikings)
(4) Green
STORIES | 2016 • ISSUE 1
Box 13573 • Grand Forks, ND 58208-3573
Marc Hardesty from Radiant Specialties in Kalispell, Montana, holds up a 29-pound northern pike.
DSG DOES MORE DSG Energy Audits: An Easier Way To Sell Lighting Retrofits Lighting retrofit projects continue to be driven by a need to save on energy costs. While these jobs are profitable for contractors, they are also timeconsuming to bid. Fortunately for contractors in the Midwest, DSG’s Energy Audits can take a lot of the work out of estimating the costs of these projects. DSG Energy Audits begin with one of our lighting experts surveying the job site to take inventory of fixtures and discuss your project objectives. Then, our experienced team of estimators goes to work to produce lighting and energy assessments, complete with photometric layouts, lighting level comparisons, energy usage comparisons, payback time frames and potential utility rebates. In addition, we’ll look for ways to increase energy savings for your customers by incorporating solutions like daylight harvesting and occupancy sensors. Finally, we’ll incorporate your costs and markups and provide you with a professional-looking presentation that you can then share with your own customers. Best of all, these energy audits are of no cost to DSG customers.
Let DSG help you turn your next lighting retrofit project into your next success story. Contact your local DSG representative today! STORIES | 2016 • ISSUE 1
With DSG Energy Audits, we can help you find ways to satisfy the most common lighting project demands: IMPROVED energy efficiency
REDUCED maintenance costs ENHANCED light quality and distribution
REBATES from utility providers
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