Al Writes

The Dirty Secrets about Side Work

By Al Levi | September 5, 2023September 5, 2023

The Dirty Secret about Side Work is that it has been around forever in the contracting business. What this means for those who are unfamiliar with the term “Side Work,” it refers to a Tech who also has their own business to bring in extra money and they’re potentially taking your calls for themselves or just not being available to you and your company.

To better understand this dynamic, I wanted to share an exchange I had with a contractor about this all-too-common employee-employer issue. (The names have been changed to protect the innocent and the not so innocent.)

Should You Add Another Trade?

By Al Levi | August 1, 2023August 8, 2023

Should you add another trade?

Well, that’s the second question you should be asking yourself.

The first question you need to ask (and answer) is, “Are we paying attention to changing market conditions and monitoring how well our company is functioning with the trade or trades we already do?”

Before making any decision, I recommended doing the “Daily Business Meditation.”

Why YOU Should Become a Better Trainer

By Al Levi | July 4, 2023July 3, 2023

I had a lot of goals when I worked in my family’s plumbing, heating, cooling, and electrical business, but I guarantee you becoming a great trainer was not one of them.

Until one day I’d just had enough. I was so tired of feeling like a hostage to our existing employees who were doing things whatever way was convenient for them. I wanted to be able to take Willing Apprentices with No Skills and turn them into Willing Techs with Great Skills who would do things our way.

How I was going to get us there was a little hazy, but I was determined to figure it out.

What does this have to do with “Why YOU Should Become a Better Trainer”? Everything!

Operating Manuals: Ai (ChatGPT) or AL (Al Levi)?

By Al Levi | June 6, 2023June 5, 2023

Ever since artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT hit the mainstream in the spring of 2023, I’ve been fielding questions about whether it can be used to create operating manuals (aka Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)).

The short answer is absolutely. It can generate text that tells you how to do a toilet reset or replace an electrical box.

There are, however, some issues you should be aware of. To understand these issues, you need to know a little bit about what is behind ChatGPT and other “generative” Ai models.

If you’re thinking that it can be used to generate all your procedures from scratch with zero human intervention, let me explain why you might want to think that through.

Count Loaves of Bread, NOT the Slices

By Al Levi | May 1, 2023April 25, 2023

Hey, I’m not in the bakery business or a supermarket owner, so what’s with the loaves of bread and slices reference?

Ah… we, as owners, are far and away perfectionists so we like to get it down to every little detail, but after a while we can’t see the forest for the trees… oh sorry… there’s another analogy.

The point is… when it comes to running your contracting business, you need to know the numbers you need to know if you want to be successful. The question is, what numbers do you really need to know?

Tax accounting is designed to help you avoid or at least delay paying taxes (a good thing). The problem is tax accounting is not very helpful when it comes to helping you steer your company where you want it to go. To do that effectively, you need real-world accounting.

Can I Really Expect Techs to Ethically Sell a Lot?

By Al Levi | April 4, 2023March 30, 2023

Are you old enough to remember when the only thing you expected your Techs to do was show up to a customer’s house, do only the work requested, and then let you know what that was so you could send the customer a bill in the mail at the end of the month?

Ah, the bad old days…

Why bad? Because the customer doesn’t know the systems in their home the way your Techs do.

The good news is Tech’s don’t really have to “sell,” at least not in the stereotypical way. All they really need to do is communicate what they know and practice ethical selling principles. If they do that, the sales will follow naturally and will be a win for the customer first, a win for the company second, and thirdly a win for the Tech.

What is your Contracting Business’ “Unfair Advantage”?

By Al Levi | March 7, 2023March 13, 2023

Imagine you get in an elevator on a high floor of a building dressed in khakis and your logo shirt. There’s one other person in the elevator. They then turn to you and ask, “Why should I use your company at my home?”

You’ve got that 90-second elevator ride to give them at least three great reasons they should give you a try. Go!

A good starting place is to look at your positive Google reviews. Those reviews might get people to pick up the phone, but once you are at their house, they still need a reason to feel confident in choosing you to do the work!

The 10 reasons below not only can be used to get people to call… they also can help them feel more confident in buying from you.

Not a Giant Company Yet?… You Can Still Do Smart Acquisition!

By Al Levi | February 7, 2023February 2, 2023

If you’re trying to grow your company primarily through marketing (or, what I call organic marketing), you’ll be pleased to learn there’s another tried and true way to accelerate the growth process, especially if you have the right stuff in place.

That way is to acquire other companies. In other words, you buy your way to growth.

Why acquisition? Acquisition is about instantly acquiring a lot of customers who are already trained to buy from that company where organic marketing is just a wish and hope that they’ll see it and respond to it.

You could also acquire the company’s good will and sometimes their assets like trucks and inventory or even their building and key talented people many times.

Hit the Reset on Your Business

By Al Levi | January 3, 2023December 28, 2022

The business you’re running today isn’t necessarily the one you need to achieve your goals. I know this is a hard pill to swallow. In fact, most people in this situation will defend the status quo even though their business may be like a “boat”… full of holes and rapidly sinking.

If this is you, you probably need a way to release your emotional attachment to the situation. Here’s an exercise I recommended to my 1-1 clients and really to every contractor to do periodically so they can more objectively evaluate what is going on—and what needs to change.

Imagine for a moment you’ve closed the doors at your existing company and are going to reopen it down the street as a brand-new company.

The goal is that you end up with a business that works right this time and that requires you do a real self-assessment of your business today:

Building Credibility and Visibility in Your Community

By Al Levi | December 6, 2022December 1, 2022

I once asked a great client about what he was doing to build credibility and increase his visibility in the community his company served.

He said, “We’ve sponsored a giant community carnival. One of our many giveaways was free ice cream and along with that we gave folks discount coupons for our services. It was great! It was a big hit for the community who loved our supporting them and it benefited us as well, by generating trackable lead source quality calls that increased our revenues. A great Win-Win-Win.”

“How’s it working today?” I asked.

He started to laugh and replied, “Well, I hate to admit this but we don’t do it anymore.”

Moral of the story: If you are doing or have done things that you know already work to get you known, give someone ownership of it and check in with them at a weekly meeting to make sure progress is being made consistently.

There are four main ways to do this.