Pressure Wash News Summer

CONQUER
Corner
fires up the machine, even if that
person is you.
We can have unrealistic expectations
as to how employees are
supposed to be tirelessly loyal, but
why should they be? What are you
doing in your business to make that
expectation a reality?
During a given week, an employee
will spend more waking hours with
you and your business then they likely
will spend with their own families!
That should make you think a lot
longer and harder with regard to your
employees. What kind of environment
you are fostering in your company?
In my darkest days as a business
owner, that became the burning
question for me. And it surprised me
when I couldn’t come up with any
good answers.
It was clearly time for change.
After a lot of failed experiences,
bumps, and bruises, here are three
things I learned along the way that
changed everything for me and my
business.
TIE YOUR COMPANY’S
GOALS TO YOUR
EMPLOYEE’S DREAMS
IT’S A
MARKETING GAME
BECOME A
HEADHUNTER
Company culture… you know, those
buzz words everyone throws around when
they imagine a Silicon Valley company with
bean bag chairs and ping pong tables?
Here’s a simple but true business maxim
– your company culture is your company’s
personality. Understand that your company
is NOT you. It is its own animal. Its own
entity. It has a personality whether you
created it or left it to create its own.
In order to create a culture where
employees want to give their best and
want to be a part of the vision and mission
of the company, you first must create that
vision. Then you must help your employees
see (and believe) that when they help the
company’s vision, they can achieve their
own dreams as well.
We would sit down with our team and
“dreamstorm,” which involved writing down
100 dreams we would like to accomplish
in our lifetime, both personal and professional.
At the end of our exercise, we would
pick a couple we wanted to start on next.
Systematically, our managers would use
this data to drive incentives, using bonuses
to help them take that dream vacation,
save up for a house, pay off debt, or learn
a new skill, etc.
Connect the dots and watch your
team’s passion for your company’s success
skyrocket.
We all know exactly how to market to
our ideal customers. We might even have a
customer avatar, or profile, that details their
demographic, psychographic, disposable
income, hobbies, or where they live, etc.
You are probably 100% comfortable
setting aside a budget for marketing to get
these customers. You probably advertise in
multiple places and you probably do this
consistently.
The problem is most business owners
never take the time to study and apply
marketing principles to their employees, or
as I call them – your internal customers.
Who is your ideal employee? What kind
of hobbies do they like? What behaviors do
they have? Where are they working right
now? Yes – your ideal employee is already
hired and working somewhere else…(we’ll
talk about that in a second).
Marketing revolves around your message
and your volume. If your message is weak,
or they can’t hear you because you are too
quiet in a very noisy market, you will lose.
The reality is – you HAVE a great business.
There are a ton of employees who
would love to work for a small, family-owned
business with lots of room to grow.
Take some time to lay out a marketing
budget, craft a strong message, test out
different headlines, post EVERYWHERE,
and crank up your volume!
I mentioned your ideal employee already having
a job. Rather than fishing in the pond of the unemployed
or the pool of perpetual job-hoppers, head
out to the open waters of the already employed!
You remember that great restaurant server the
other day while you were eating lunch? Or that
super helpful associate at the big-box store? What
about that guy who ran out from the tire shop and
met me at my door ready to serve and help? Man,
if only I could find someone with great customer
service like that to come work for me!
We used to hand out “Your Awesome” cards
to anyone we thought was a “rockstar.” We would
simply say – “Hey, you are awesome. If you ever
move on from this place, I think you would love
working at our company. We reward high performers
and I think you would do amazing on our team.
Give us a call!”
We trained all our employees to do the same
thing. They would actually get a headhunter
bonus if they recruited someone to our team
that stayed at least six months on our team. This
had a secondary benefit of them pre-screening
employees and ensuring that only the best applied.
No matter where you are in your recruiting cycle,
remember, it all starts with deliberate execution.
Put these critical ideas into action. Don’t L.I.E.
to yourself and Lack In Execution. Go schedule
your first “Dreamstorm” session with your team.
Go post some killer ads and keep them running,
ALWAYS. And never forget that the employees
you’ve always wanted on your team are already
out there and you might just encounter them in
your regular routine today…
Go get ‘em.
10 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 2, NO. 3 | SUMMER 2020