There are lots of ways to make a profit in the construction business. They include cutting costs, reducing overhead, improving field productivity, accurate estimating, reducing field mistakes and having an excellent training program. All of these will give you a small improvement in your bottom line, but not enough to make a significant difference.
The easiest way to make more money is to create it! Profit starts with revenue. The more profitable revenue you create, the more profit you make. Revenue comes from customers. Profitable revenue comes from satisfied customers who want what you provide and will pay a little extra for your excellent service. To make more profit, you must find and keep more profitable customers. Are customers your #1 focus? Do you have a business plan to take care of your customers and put them first? Studies show it costs and takes five to seven times more money to find new customers than to keep existing customers satisfied. Maximizing profit is dependent on satisfied customers—current, repeat, loyal and future.
Are You a Money Maker?
Are you focused on making or saving money? What do you spend most of your time doing? What are your top priorities? Do you really care about your customers and what’s best for them? Do you keep your commitments? Return customers calls immediately? Man jobs properly to finish on-time? Do you keep your customer’s job sites clean? Schedule jobs based on what’s best for your customer or what’s best for you? Visit jobs on a regular basis before customers call to schedule you? Do you check-in with customers before, during and after projects to see how you performed in their eyes?
Money makers are focused on making money. Money is made by taking care of customers. Look at the hotel business. The large successful hotels are 100% committed to giving their guests a great customer experience from the minute they enter the front door until they checkout. They treat customers as guests and strive to give them what they want. This customer focus creates profitable repeat loyal customers. It also stops customers from shopping price when choosing a hotel chain to frequent.
What’s Your Focus?
What do you do to give your customers a great customer experience? Those who make customers their number one priority make 100% more money than those who provide mediocre service. Most small business owners and managers focus their energy on getting work done and saving as much money as they can. They don’t focus on making money by creating profitable revenue and satisfied customers. Meeting their customer’s needs and providing great customer service is an afterthought in their everyday activities.
Do You Lose Customers?
Have you ever been to a store and waited in line to pay while the clerk talks on the phone? What do you do? Scream and yell. Wait patiently. Tap on the counter. Look for another clerk. Give them a lecture on customer service. Ask for their supervisor. Studies show that 80% of customers have stopped using a store forever because of long lines or long waits. What ticks off your customers?
- Not returning phone calls or emails quickly.
- Over-promising and not delivering what you guaranteed.
- Not sending enough workers to job sites to stay on schedule.
- Not ordering the materials until too late.
- Missing scheduled installations.
- Leaving a mess during and after your crews leave.
- Not doing your own punch-list.
- Not properly funded.
- Crews not trained.
- Foremen not able to make decisions or commitments.
It Pays to Please!
According to surveys satisfied customers will pay up to 10% more. They also tell two to three people about your great work. But the bad news is that dissatisfied customers will tell 10 people how bad your company is. This makes it imperative to remember that satisfied customers are the #1 reason for your daily activities, your job, and your company. Your customers are not interruptions, distractions or problems. They are why your company is in business!
Time is money. How you focus your energy will decide how much you make. Meaningful time satisfying customers is big money. Make it your priority to invest at least fifty percent of your time focused on satisfying customers. This will return more profit than you’ll ever make ordering materials, scheduling crews, or supervising operations. Rearrange your calendar, put customers first, and watch your bottom-line grow!
George Hedley, CSP, CPBC, helps contractors grow and profit as a professional business coach, popular speaker and peer group leader. He is the author of “Get Your Construction Business to Always Make a Profit!” and “Hardhat BIZSCHOOL Online University,” available on his website. Visit www.hardhatbizschool.com for more information.
