Cyber Attacks in Fire and Life Safety
In 2019, there’s a fresh wave of ransomware hackers targeting US-based fire and life safety contractors that have legacy server systems. Several have been either forced to pay a bounty or face devastating disruptions when the cyber attack is unleashed. If you believe you are safe because no one is going to notice or care […]
The All-in-one Software Fairy Tale
There is no such thing as an “all in one” software application for anything. Like a unicorn, it is a neat idea (who wouldn’t want a friendly horse with a horn) that is nothing more than a fairy tale. Yet it is probably the most popular unicorn that commercial service contractors (and others as […]
Challenging to Win the Information Arms Race
You know the information arms race in your market has begun when both Microsoft and Amazon are advertising big data solutions on Sunday night football. Commercial property managers will surely be tempted to invest in technology to commoditize your services. Fortunately, we have a plan, and Billy Marshall will show you how to challenge to […]
Service Contractors: Grow like a software startup
Every Sunday evening I receive an email from the software investment banking team at Key Bank Capital Markets. The subject line of the email is “Software Valuations,” and the email contains a link to a weekly report that details the valuation metrics of about 100 different software companies. All of these companies are public corporations, […]
Good is Not Good Enough – How Amazon Raised Expectations to Feel Good for Commercial Service Contractors
Several dozen books (at least) have been written about the Amazon phenomenon, and I could probably go on and on myself about the lessons that can be drawn from its success. The lesson for the service contractor is that making your customers feel good about your service will likely lead to greater riches for you […]
Tellin’ ain’t Sellin’ – Every Customer is From Missouri, So Show Them Something!
When your salespeople call on customers, what are they pitching? What do they present when they get that rare opportunity to show a high-profile prospect the benefit of working with your company? While I have not been in the room often when a commercial service contractor is pitching a customer, I have seen hundreds of […]
AI, IoT, M2M, Big Data – The Alphabet Soup of Technology Jargon You Need to Understand (Part 2 of 2)
This week’s post is a continuation of an introduction to AI, IoT and Big Data with the help of the 1984 movie The Terminator. Re-read that post here. Let’s rearrange the AI, IoT, and big data alphabet soup of technology jargon to come up with a simple question that helps you cut through the hype […]
AI, IoT, M2M, Big Data – The Alphabet Soup of Technology Jargon You Need to Understand (Part 1 of 2)
In 1984 I was seventeen years old and working as an usher in a movie theater when the science fiction thriller The Terminator was released. It was a surprise hit, and I must have seen the movie a couple of dozen times. In case you are not familiar with the movie, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a […]
Jeff Bezos’s Advice for Service Contractors
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is the wealthiest person on the planet. He owns about 17% of Amazon, and that stake is worth about $115 billion. Amazon was founded in 1994, so Jeff has amassed this fortune in just 24 years. Wow. I bring up the example of Jeff Bezos as a wealth-building machine […]
Consistent Results are Worth Billions, Part 2
Read part 1: Fraud Doesn’t Pay, But Consistent Results are Worth Billions One day you will want to have some outsider set a value for your business as part of an exit strategy or for the purpose of passing the business to a new generation. What management metrics will you use to guide your efforts […]