Money for Nothing
In 1985, Marc Knopfler, the front man for the band Dire Straits, overheard a guy in an appliance store grudgingly admiring the MTV rockers performing on the store display TVs. Knopfler memorialized the reflections he overheard in the grammy winning, number one hit song “Money for Nothing” later that year. The song opens with the […]
Say “yes” to the quote
Are you worried that customers are going to “shop” your repair or upgrade quote around to other service contractors? If so, you failed earlier than you may realize. Getting customers to a “yes” on quoted work starts well before you ever find a problem and send a quote. It starts with trust. I’m not talking […]
Write your Vows to your Premium Program Customers
We’ve mentioned (here and here) how much more profitable it is to sell a premium program that gives the customer better outcomes than it is to negotiate on labor rates. You’ll need a few things to sell a premium program: Technology-enabled differentiators A proactive maintenance and/or inspection plan A defined service level agreement (SLA) The […]
Bust Customer Service Data Out of the Silo
Integration is a popular topic at ServiceTrade. More people are coming up with ways to integrate their customer service data with other operational programs – their website, CRM, accounting, or marketing programs. Once shared across applications, data becomes information that can be used by people throughout the company. Are you thinking about all the ways that […]
Best of 2016
As 2017 kicks 2016 to the curb, take a minute to revisit our most-loved blog posts of the year. Whether they’re new to you, or you need a review, check out these blog posts for inspiration to start the new year. The Google Lesson for Service Contractors Rise of the Machines in Service Industries Photo […]
Trouble selling? Be memorable.
Why is it so difficult to remember even a short speech, but so easy to remember an entire song? For example, what do these 7 digits do for you? 867-5309. Humming yet? Now that I’ve probably lost your attention to Tommy Tutone, I’ll try to make my point. We are creatures of rhyme, story, and […]
Stop Selling Parts and Labor! Sell the Program!
In the first chapter of my book, The Digital Wrap, I quoted Marc Andreessen: “Software is eating the world.” It is not exactly a quote, but rather a reference to the editorial that Marc wrote for the Wall Street Journal back in 2011. Marc is like the godfather of the Internet as he was the […]
Photo Cliches Drive Sales and Retention for Service Contractors
We’ve all heard, and likely loathe, the plethora of bad cliches about pictures. As overused and seemingly meaningless as these cliches are, they hold a literal wealth of knowledge for field service contractors. From new sales to retention, these sayings will drive growth in your field service company: The big picture. Why should service contractors […]
Modern Tools for Service Contractors, Part 3: Outbound Sales and Marketing
Both residential and commercial service contractors rely heavily on new sales for growth. Where residential contractors rely on converting inbound leads, commercial contractors lean on a mix of inbound and outbound tactics. This post lays out a handful of sales tools that are not only easy to use, but also extremely powerful across the entire lifecycle of new sales from […]
What is an Inspection Worth? About 2X What You are Being Paid!
I recently went to Vegas, but I was not there to gamble away my kids’ college funds. Instead, I was participating in the annual western region meeting of the National Association of Fire Equipment Dealers (NAFED). During the meeting, an interesting narrative regarding the value of an inspection job versus the value of repair work […]