Restoration Rewind Delta Development Group Monthly Newsletter
March 2017
Convention Month! The countdown to the 5th Annual Delta Disaster Services Franchise Convention has officially begun. We will all be gathering in Denver later this month for a few great days of training, education and networking with your fellow franchisees. As always, we have some great industry speakers lined up. Mr. Nate Seward, will be speaking on some of the latest and biggest environmental concerns we see across our industry. Mr. Seward is President and owner of Criterion Environmental, Inc. Mr. Seward obtained his Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in 1996. Prior to starting Criterion Environmental in 2002, Mr. Seward provided various environmental engineering and consulting services for numerous air force bases, high security government projects and various commercial/industrial projects. Nate maintains some of the highest certifications and licenses available in the environmental consulting and industrial hygiene field. Mr. Seward has performed and reviewed over 9,000 environmental projects in his career including mold/bacteria investigations, asbestos/lead paint and other hazardous material inspections, as well as and numerous types of indoor air quality and industrial hygiene investigations. Mr. Seward is also an EPA certified training provider for the EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Regulation (40 CFR 745). We will also be joined by everyone’s favorite WLS and Environmental Hygienist, Mike Schaan. He will be coming to our convention straight from the IAQ Convention to share what he learns there, with us. He will also be sharing with us some of the unique things his company has seen coming out of the latest grow house epidemic. Delta Disaster Services of Salt Lake Owner, Shane McKnight will be doing a presentation for us on Meth cleanup. He has found a great niche for this in his market area and he has become a great resource for this practice. At this year’s convention, we are also having a marketing breakout session. Jason Kaber is working to put together an 2-3-hour program on Friday afternoon, just for our Business Development reps.
Lastly, we will be welcoming a special guest speaker! This final session will energize and inspire us all as we go back to our businesses to take on 2017.
Don’t forget, there will be demos from Aramsco, business education and training from your Delta staff and of course, the annual awards banquet. Another wonderful event, jam packed just for you.
Make sure to RSVP yourself and your staff with Ragan. Check your email this week for a special message from our guest speaker! See you all in 22 days!
Announcement PLEASE! 2016 financials are due to DDG just as soon as possible. We MUST have all financials to our attorney no later than March 10, 2017. As a reminder, here is a list of the financials that we need: • Please provide a 12/31/2016 P&L with all Work in Process adjustments made. • Please provide a year-end Balance Sheet • Please provide a 12/31/2016 Work in Process report Contact Dixie Feld if you have any questions.
Cash in the Door Based on January Royalties‌ Delta Disaster Services of Southern Colorado does it again with another great month! Great job to Emmis, Rosey and the whole crew!! Delta Disaster Services of Western Colorado is a close second! Are you all going to let D.D.S of Southern Colorado sweep 2017 just let they did 2016? Keep up the great work everyone!
Restoring Success: Is Your Organization Happy? A happy team makes happy customers. Lisa Lavender It was a hot summer day. After over 10 years of working hard in the restoration industry and working his way up, the newest project manager went to his vehicle to head home after a long stressful day. He turned the air conditioner on and a flurry of paper shreds blew about the vehicle. This is how he was greeted by the other more experienced project managers. The quick-witted newbie planned a swift retaliation. His go-to was a thermal fogger. He fogged the vehicle creating an illusion of smoke, recorded it and sent the video to his mischievous attackers, leading them to believe that the innocent prank resulted in his car catching on fire. When all was said and done, there was a lot of laughter.
In the intense world of restoration, details matter. We are moving quickly and sometimes exhausted; minutes make a difference. I highly recommend occasional laughter and frequent smiles to deal with the stress and pace. I have the good fortune of working with someone for 14 years who makes me smile no matter how stressed or grumpy I feel. It is like a magic wand to hear “Good Morning!” from his mouth as he greets you with genuine joy and enthusiasm in his inflection and body language. Just as bad attitudes are contagious; good attitudes are also contagious. Smiles create more smiles and laughter creates more laughter. A happy team makes happy customers. Do you want to work hard, be given opportunity to succeed and have a meaningful impact on the lives of others in a happy place? Create a happy place…a happy place to work. Put on a big smile while you read this list: 1. Hire happy people. People who are happy spread cheer. Although someone may be nervous, part of the art of interviewing is to help a person relax. Ask questions that would bring a smile to one’s face and show enthusiasm. What do you like to do in your spare time? What was your favorite thing about your previous job?
2. It starts at the top. If you are a grumpy owner or manager, take a look in the mirror. You will set the pace for the others. Many of us have rolled our eyes at the complaint, “He walked right by me and didn’t even say good morning!” The real complaint is the spread of misery. Vision a grump, jaunting past a desk, head down, no eye contact, and replace it with a vision of a spirited step, head held high, big smile, and an enthusiastic GOOD MORNING…Have a great day! A smile and a few kind words can create much joy.
3. Keep things in perspective. In the world of restoration, cars will get dented, a vase will get broke, and an air mover will be left behind. There is so much involved in managing the intricacies of a restoration company. I was fortunate to have had a mentor who taught me to put things on a meter to gage their level of importance. I use my imaginary meter every day to control my reaction to the multitude of things that happen daily. Don’t focus on the bad things; focus on the good. Today, in the middle of a class, our water cooler broke. I smiled and got bottled water for everyone. It was a good day.
4. Laugh at yourself. We can’t take ourselves too seriously. Laughter is truly an amazing medicine. We are living in a stressful world. We are experiencing rapid change and evolution; we must do our work well and manage change. At times, we have a dirty job; we have challenging jobs, and sometimes we work with little sleep. Do you have a happy organization? Ask around. Think about some of today’s challenges and if happy really matters. • • • •
Employee Recruitment Employee Retention and Engagement Customer Service Building Relationships
In closing, worry a little, keep your meter calibrated, and stay happy.
QuickBooks Info If you are using a QuickBooks version that is older than 2015, you need to consider an upgrade. The 2017 version has numerous changes that can help you. As a business, you should plan to upgrade your QuickBooks version every two years. The newest version usually comes out in October. However, wait until late February or March to purchase and install it – after most the bugs have been fixed. You will receive a discount on all your Intuit/QuickBooks products and/or upgrades through our National Account Program: Call Dawn Jones, our Account Manager at Intuit. Dawn’s direct line is (520) 848.5625. Discounts are also available for merchant services and QuickBooks payroll module as well. An additional consideration for those who have been in business for four to five years. You may want to start considering upgrading to the “Enterprise” version. There is a data storage limit in Premier and you will likely begin to get close to that near year 4. Feel free to discuss this with Dawn as well. The upgrade is pricey but does come with a three-user license. The Enterprise edition also comes with more reports. Your QuickBooks Premier edition comes with a Single User License. This means only one person can be in QuickBooks at a time. If you wish to purchase additional licenses, call Dawn and she will help you with the upgrade. Another item to consider using with Intuit/QuickBooks is Intuit Payroll Processing. Using their payroll module, allows you to job cost all field labor automatically. This will also allow you to job cost the payroll burden with some minor adjustments in QuickBooks. Delta Disaster Services of Denver has been using Intuit Payroll Processing for ten years and have been very pleased with their services. They also send all tax forms and W-2’s as a part of the service. If you have an interest, please call or email Dixie for some additional information. If you wish to use their payroll, contact Dawn for another discount!
One final Intuit/QuickBooks item is the merchant services for credit card processing. Their fees are typically less than your local bank and the money appears in your bank account the next day. They will also furnish you with scanners for your smart phone or iPad either free or for a nominal fee. Scanning the card will always get you a discount on credit card fees. We also receive discounts as a franchise. Last recommendation is T-Sheets for time tracking. T-Sheets will integrate with QuickBooks and Intuit payroll processing. Delta Disaster Services of Denver has been using it for well over two years with minimal problems. There are some upfront set-up items that must be done, but overall it is fairly painless. Coming soon will be the option for existing franchises to use a third-party service to capture financials and send them to DDG. The totals will be transferred to Delta Development Group which will give us real-time numbers for comparison and benchmarks. Existing franchises will have this option. Future franchises will be required to use it. It is important that your financial and bookkeeping machine flow just as smoothly as your equipment. If you have any questions about any of these modules or how to improve the financial reporting of your business, please do not hesitate to contact Dixie.
Tracking 2017 Objectives So, you set your company goals for 2017 and it is now the beginning of the third month of the year, have you evaluated yourself yet? Are you on track or off track? What type of follow-up system do you have as an owner and what type of follow-up reviews are you having with your Managers, Supervisors and staff? Do not let well thought through plans go by the wayside. Have at least a quarterly review to make sure you and your staff are on track. We suggest at this review you discuss key objectives with all your employees and in private meetings, with your Managers and Supervisors. Accountability is important. Keep the objectives and goals in front of everybody and hold everybody accountable. Celebrate your victories. And make readjustments for targets you did not reach. And more importantly find out why those targets were not met. Keep it going ‌. 10 more months to the finish line!
Marketing corner Handling Objections Every day we handle objections from customers, referral sources, team members and such. Those who can effectively overcome these objectives, reap the rewards for doing so. Below is a great article to take you through the steps for handling objectives. Ultimately getting the person to identify you as part of the solution not the problem. Enjoy! Jason Kaber. A couple of years ago, I was asked by a senior leader to design a program that would help the sales team qualify more deals. The biggest obstacle to closing new business was how the team was managing customer objections. As the customer mentioned an objection, some reps on the phone would become defensive and start to justify the merits of our company or product. Others just took the objection at face value, hung up and moved on to the next customer on their list. However you look at it, these are missed opportunities. Objections are inevitable but should never be seen as a door slamming closed in your face. The key is to understand why the customer is objecting – you must take the time to uncover this if you hope to move forward in a mutually beneficial way. While customers may object for many reasons, let’s take a look at few common causes: •
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May simply be lack of knowledge: “We don’t need a mobile solution.” • May be a specific, warranted concern: “Your price is higher than everyone else.” • May represent a hidden agenda: The customer has a preference or incentive to use a different product but doesn’t say that outright. May be a perception issue: “The Cloud isn’t secure.” We may not be clear about their interests: “That’s not a priority for me this year.”
Take action: Think about the objections you receive in your line of business. Write down an example for each of the above types of objections. The techniques in this article will assist you with these and many more that you’re likely to face. You may not overcome them every time, but at least you didn’t give up before even trying. Now that you have written down the most common objections, here are some of the top tactics for handling them:
Tactic #1: Gratitude Say “Thank You!” Always thank your customer when they put an objection in front of you because this is an opportunity to address it and move on with your deal. In fact, ask them about all of their concerns and objections right up front and you’ll receive even more opportunities to turn the table to your advantage. Don’t forget, an objection is better than a “no” because it gives you some place to begin the conversation. I can’t tell you the number of times a simple thank you has helped to diffuse a situation with an angry or upset customer and get me on my way to solving their problem or getting them back on the happy train. Tactic #2: Empathize Empathy is a way to connect with your customer on a personal level, show you care and that you’re listening. All of us have had to say “no” at one time or another, and in business, you’re not always speaking to the decision maker. Often, they’re just the messenger so don’t shoot yourself in the foot by getting defensive. After thanking the customer for bringing the objection to your attention, empathize in a way that will help further diffuse the situation. For example: I hear this a lot, I’m sorry you feel that way, it sounds like this has been very frustrating, I hear what you’re saying and I think I can help. By empathizing with the customer, they’re more likely to open up and share more. Tactic #3: Let the Discovery Begin Now that you’ve begun to diffuse the situation, take your time to uncover what’s really going on. Good customer discovery always focuses on asking open-ended questions. If the customer can respond with a “yes” or “no,” then you’ve got to rephrase your question. This is a lot harder than it sounds and it takes practice to develop this ability. You can test yourself at home or with a friend – have a conversation with someone and only ask them openended questions. If you get stuck, just do what every 4-year-old does and ask “why?” -you’ll be amazed at how powerful that little question can be! Building rapport is equally important during the discovery phase. Check out the recent blog article titled “Your Best Sales Prospecting Asset is You” for some great tips on building rapport and trust. Tactic #4: Ask, Probe, Confirm Now that you’ve got the questions flowing, it’s important to keep the conversation moving further and deeper. As the customer responds to your open-ended questions, you should probe further by asking more questions about what they’ve just said. If at any time, you don’t understand something, ask them to clarify. A great example of this tactic is when the customer mentions an acronym or other words specific to their
company or business process. Experts say that it takes at least 4-5 layers of questions to really uncover the pain or nature of the objection. Take your time and keep asking questions until you truly understand the reason for the objection and they’ve satisfied your curiosity. Finally, restate what you heard in your own words and ask them to confirm that you’ve understood them correctly. Barry Rhein published a great whitepaper about the power of open-ended discovery questions titled “15 Sure Fire Ways to Qualify any Prospect.” Tactic #5: Show Them the Value To keep your customer around for the long haul, they must see value in your product or service. The purpose of good discovery is to understand what’s important to them, why it matters, and what their business would be like without your product or service. When you uncover a pain, your next step should be to quantify what that pain is costing the business. If the customer continues to object or restate the same objection, then you’re not asking the right questions to align your value to their pain. Pain can cost a company in a different ways; lost revenue, wasted time, customer satisfaction, employee turnover and more. Guru Ganesha Khalsa of Sandler Training fame provides a great example of aligning pain to value using this example: By taking the pain point and expanding on it, the rep can then encourage the customer or prospect to quantify the problem in business and personal terms thereby convincing them that purchasing a product/service to resolve the issue is worth the investment. Tactic #6: Back It Up with Proof & Customer References Now that you’ve gone through steps 1-5, it’s time to back up your statements with industry research, customer references or customer success stories to prove the value of your product or solution. For research, find out what analyst firms say about your industry or product and incorporate this data into your conversations. I’ve had great success getting new customers interested by mentioning what leading industry analysts say about our products. Customer references are another great tool because those stories often represent a pain or objection that was overcome with success. I challenge everyone I mentor to learn at least 3 new and relevant customer stories a month. Overtime, your stories will set you apart from others and give your customers another reason to trust you with their business. I’ve never seen another company sell it better through customer stories than salesforce.com. Take a look at the customer stories on our website and see firsthand how you could leverage the value of references for your business.
Managing objections requires practice. Take these 6 rules and apply them to your business. You’ll see very quickly that they do work. We saw immediate increases in qualified leads and higher close rates in a very short time by employing these techniques because we were able to demonstrate how our product can be used to overcome real pain in their business. Peter Drucker once said that “The quality in a product or service is not what you put into it, it’s what the customer gets out of it.” Think about what’s in it for the customer, take what you’ve learned from your discovery and wrap your solution in terms of values and benefits that will uniquely help them – this is how you delight your customers. Please share your own tips and techniques for managing objections in the comments section below. By Daryl Spreiter, Senior Manager Onboarding, Curriculum & Coaching at salesforce.com
Profit and Loss Reviews per Job What good is solid job cost accounting if it is not utilized?
We suggest on larger jobs, those over two months in duration, that you review a profit and loss statement on at least a monthly basis to make sure all costs are accurate. You can review these costs with what has been transferred over into the Actual vs. Budget sections in DMS as well. Use the P&L to make sure that all the detail from QuickBooks is job coded properly and is accounted properly. At the conclusion of a project, in particular construction, you should wait at least 30 days to make sure all costs are attributed to the job, then do a very thorough final, Profit and Loss review. Begin with your top line income numbers. Has everything been accounted for? Look at the original estimate? Is it correct or was it modified during negotiations with the insurance company? Are all of your supplements included and accurate? What about change orders? Make sure your income is in line. Also, make sure that you acknowledge any credits given back to the customer for work not done. Review all of your job costs. Make sure that all of your sub-contractor invoices are accurate with what you had agreed to. Pay attention to any labor and materials for any in-house personnel as well as purchases that you made on behalf of a subcontractor. Compare them with Xactimate to make sure that you are within the 80% material budget, particularly if they are larger items.
Make sure your bottom line net income is in line with our expectations and yours. If it is not within acceptable margins, there must be a reason for it. There may have been a negotiating issue on the income level. There may have been supplements or change orders. You final Profit and Loss reviews on both Mitigation and Construction jobs are critical to running a profitable Delta Disaster Services. Make sure you are reviewing these reports regularly.
And we will leave you with this