In the contracting industry, it’s almost as difficult to reach a company owner as it is the President of the United States. Why is this so? I guess some “Guru” decided it was a tactical time management strategy to guard an owner’s precious time and energy and the idea spread like wildfire. The BIG question is has it really helped owners manage their time better or has it crippled their success? Important: The person screening the calls or sorting the mail has a great deal to do with the fate of the company. Think about it, she isn’t an entrepreneur; she doesn’t think like one, she doesn’t understand the complexities of running a successful enterprise and she certainly doesn’t take action like one, yet it is at her complete discretion about what information gets through to the company head.

Many owners are desperately seeking solutions and have come to the conclusion that there just aren’t many great ideas floating around; it’s the nature of the business to have so many problems and such low profitability. The thing is there ARE simple, easy, cost-effective solutions for turning businesses into thriving enterprises; they just aren’t getting through to business owners. Take Sam Walton for example. If he was alive today, he’d probably be the richest man in America. He attributed much of his success to his open door policy. His personal phone number was made public; he had no gatekeeper. It didn’t matter if you were the CEO of a large corporation or the little old lady from Pasadena, he wanted to hear from you. After all, that’s where some of his best ideas came from.

In the book “Passion for Excellence,” Nancy Austin and Tom Peters unveil the secrets of the most successful corporations in America and one resounding commonality was their ability to give their customers exactly what they wanted. They accomplished this feat by simply talking with customers. Every decision-maker in these massive companies, even the CEOs, would routinely sit elbow to elbow with call takers and take calls. Why? To get vital firsthand information from the people who mean the most to the success of the company…their customers. It is amazing how diluted the truth can become when it’s passed through the ranks.

The level of training of the frontline employees, as well as the service personnel, monumentally influences the success of a company. As a business owner, or manager, you may be the most service conscious person on the planet, but if your employees don’t reflect your values, work ethics and soft skills, your customers will never know it. It never ceases to amaze how the majority of the call takers in the industry are, well, horrible, yet, when they are presented with an opportunity to improve themselves in the form of training, they aren’t interested. Of course they aren’t. Why would they pass a call like that onto a business owner when it means more work for them? I’ll just push the “go away” button because after all, I’m in complete control. It’s surprising how many important calls are turned away because it meant more work for the employee.

In industry publications, you’ll see testimonials where business owners are generating $4 million a year in revenues with 26-34 trucks. But, did you know there are some well-trained, well-structured companies with as little as 2 trucks generating $2 million a year in highly profitable sales? Would you like to know what they’re doing and how they did it? Could this information alleviate the stress and financial issues you may be experiencing right now? The thing is we may have already tried to share this information with you, but someone might have felt it wasn’t important enough to pass it on.