From vision to execution: 8 critical business questions for service contractors
“Vision without Execution is Hallucination.” I wish I could take credit for the great quote above, but I cannot. Walt Brown, a friend of mine who helps companies implement Gino Wickman’s Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), used that phrase to describe companies who attempt strategic change before they have their daily operations under control. Affecting strategic […]
The Tesla lesson: 4 takeaways for service contractors
I am a big believer in market signals. I think Tesla is one of those signals. As a breakthrough company with a skyrocketing stock value, Tesla is clearly doing many, many things correctly and making very few mistakes. I believe there are some lessons in the Tesla experience that service contractors should be learning. As […]
4 ways service contractors can grow sales without selling
Services businesses are “the gift that keeps on giving” in the revenue department…if managed effectively. Unfortunately, many are not very well managed and somehow lose their connection and relevance with customers. The success of Angie’s List and other similar customer advocate intermediaries is a direct result of service vendors inability to remain relevant and build […]
It pays to know: How service contractors get paid for expertise, not just labor
The best service contracting business model is based upon customers paying a premium for expertise instead of simply paying a markup on parts and labor. When true expertise is offered, the customer perceives that in the long term they will have better outcomes for less money – no callbacks, fewer breakdowns, less energy consumption, higher […]
The labor market is speaking – are you listening?
In early 2001, I had just been appointed to be the Vice President of North America sales for Red Hat. Many of my early meetings with prospective customers were geared toward understanding what was going to drive buying behavior for large scale adoption of Linux technology. One meeting in particular sticks in my mind today […]
Ripe bananas, seat miles, and service labor hours
What do these things have in common? They all represent “perishable inventory.” Ripe bananas have a short shelf life – sell them or throw them out. A flight that takes off without being full means seat miles were available and not sold. A service labor hour without a corresponding service invoice is likewise “perishable inventory” […]
Why cloud applications are perfect for small service companies
If the thought of new software for running your field service business brings on pain, remorse, indigestion, or any other unpleasant malady, this blog post is for you. Software that is well designed and delivered to you as an Internet application (or cloud based application) should not bring on any of these symptoms of distress. […]