Builders: Questions to ask a business coach before paying a cent! Do you specialise in builders business coaching?
the-successful-builder-Builders: Questions to ask a business coach before paying a cent! Do you specialise in builders business coaching?
Hiring a business coach to help you ignite your building business? Should be an easy task! But not all coaches are created equal.
Ask yourself, “When I engage a new sub trade, do I accept just anyone?” Or do you have a standard you expect sub-trades to measure up to before you let them loose on your customers?
So with a business coach. You want someone who is good in your industry - and who can apply the general business principles to your unique business. A generalist may get you results, but nowhere near the results you might get from a specialist.
In this article I will outline reasons why you need to hire a coach who specialises in building businesses, and I’ll give you some questions to think about when considering a business coach.
1 Does your coach know building and construction?
There is no question that 80% of any business is much the same as any other business. All businesses create or deliver products or services to customers who pay them money. Profits are reinvested or returned to shareholders.
But it’s in the 20% difference that success or failure lurks.
It’s overlooking the finer differences in the construction business that can spell disaster. What if your coach can’t really imagine the impact rain days can have on productivity and thus profitability? Or what if he doesn’t understand the way sub-trades prefer to work?
2 Does your coach understand the building sales and quoting process?
People in many industries prepare quotes and conduct sales. But most larger sales are business to business. However, in construction (and especially in residential construction), builders work on deals over several months, and regularly worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
And it’s NOT business to business! It’s Mr Builder to Mr and Mrs Home-owner. And it’s THEIR home! And it’s full of emotion.
And to make it worse, many quotations and proposals are prepared at the end of the day (after being on the tools or project managing jobs) and must be presented in evenings or weekends! Understanding the unique sales process a renovation proposal traverses is essential to keeping the conversion rate high.
3 Does your coach realize just how fine the margins are in construction?
Every builder knows what it’s like to “go over”- to spend more than quoted and make a loss. The thing is margins are small in construction and a building business needs to be a finely tuned to make money. There are many small things that taken alone don’t amount to much, but when put together can be the make or break of a building business. Also there are heaps of little overlooked places where profits can be captured. It’s really profitable to have a good sense of these
Here’s an example
Jack (not his real name) owned a building business that was just not getting off the ground. His pricing was good and he was winning jobs, even where he was not the cheapest quote. Yet his company was losing money. Back quoting identified that jobs were “going over,” but there was no obvious failure. A skilled builder business coach helped him shrewdly allocate skilled and un-skilled labour across teams, conduct daily on-site personal goal setting, get individual accountability for use of materials and capture even the smallest of variations. These together with many other “small” changes, moved the company into healthy profit.
It's just simply better if your prospective coach specialises in coaching building businesses.
Talk Back
So how have you gone about sales in your building business?
I’d love to hear of your experience of professional salespeople?
Post your comments below.
Graeme
P.S. Whenever you’re ready….here are 4 ways I can help you grow your building business:
1. Grab a copy of my free book
It’s a road map of a successful 15 minute sales call that’s guaranteed to increase your conversion rate. http://thesuccessfulbuilder.com/book-15-min-sales-call/
2. Join Trade Mates and connect with builders who are scaling too.
It's our new Facebook community where smart builders learn to get more income, time and freedom. View our free business resources for builders. Ask questions of like minded business owners and business coaches. Give your knowledge and expertise to help others. - https://www.facebook.com/groups/TradeMates/
3. Join My New Group
I’m starting a new group called “OnRamp” to kick start sales and marketing in your business. If this sounds like you, message me with the words, “OnRamp”, and I’ll get you all the information.
4. Join Loft Members
If you’d like help to get off the tools, make more money and get your life back...just message me at graeme@thesuccessfulbuilder.com and put “LOFT MEMBERS” in the subject...tell me a little about your business and I’ll get you all the details.