What's Your Excuse? I think I Know It!

Here are some excuses you may have heard, or perhaps you will soon.

•          I was stepping out of my trailer and I missed the step and landed on the ground injuring my back.
•         My waterbed busted and my room is flooded.
•         I spent my paycheck on lottery tickets, and I’m out of gas until payday.
•         My wife said she is going to conceive today, and I want to be there when it happens.
•         When I got up this morning I accidentally took two Ex-Lax in addition to my Prozac. I can’t get off the john, but I feel good about it.
•         My car ran out of gas on the way to work so I pushed it to a gas station, but I got a stomach hernia and I have to go to the doctor’s.

Thought you would like to see some of the excuses people use to get out of work. I think I know yours! For most all of us, that excuse is tomorrow. We use it all the time. I'll update the menu price book tomorrow. I'll get that quote out tomorrow. I'll talk with "Joe" about his poor performance tomorrow. I'll look at the company financials tomorrow. I'll return that extra material tomorrow. I'll check tech invoices tomorrow. I’ll do a budget tomorrow. I'll set company goals tomorrow. I'll get back to that unhappy customer tomorrow. I'll call that customer that owes us money tomorrow. Guess what.....tomorrow never comes. It is just our number one excuse to avoid doing the hard stuff.

We all have a mental list of the hard stuff we must do at some time or another. Start off slow and easy. Select one of those tough tasks and do it today. In fact do it as soon as you finish reading this blog! After you complete it, you'll be so glad that one of those tough things is now accomplished. Then while the joy of the moment is still there, ask your secretary, wife, girlfriend, or key employee to keep on you to accomplish at least one difficult task every day. You'll be surprised how quickly you get though the list. Yes, more things come up but our issue is often the mountain looks so very big. What you are doing is breaking it down to small hills or just bumps in the road. They are a lot easier to overcome than a big mountain of tough tasks.

Some people like to use a calendar and put those bumps on a certain day each week or month to accomplish. Example would be to check receivables every Tuesday morning and call customers in the afternoon that are behind. Often these tasks are best accomplished when you have fewer distractions so close you door and only be disturbed if the building is on fire.

Remember, a bump or even a hill is a lot easier to get over than a mountain!

Also Checkout:

Did You Go or Grow in 2013

The Walking Dead

Are You this Committed?

Checkout our new website

Often owners and managers need assistance in using their time wisely to grow the business or improve the business. We can help. Contact us.

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years. He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to grow and prosper. Contact him at Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

a

Did I go or grow in 2013?

As the year 2013 comes to an end and the New Year, 2014, starts perhaps it’s a good time to reflect back on the year and ask myself a few questions. This could go on for quite a few paragraphs so I’m going to limit it to one question. That question is, “Did I go or did I grow?” I saw this dichotomy in a daily Bible reading I do each morning. It applies to our spiritual life but it can also apply to our daily business activities.

Each and every day our businesses have challenges we must face and problems we must solve. We have a tax audit, a key employee quits, an angry customer threatens to sue, the checking account is a little thin, a Technician has an a fender bender or some other issue. We sometimes think it’s only our business or our industry that has challenges but every business both big and small must deal with the circumstances they are dealt. The question I ask myself and I’m asking you is “How do we really deal with those challenges and circumstances?”

Do I just go through the motions, through the challenge, through the circumstance and move on to the next challenge, the next circumstance, the next crisis? If I just go through them I probably am not any better off when the next one appears before me. This does not mean I don’t solve the issue, correct the problem or meet the challenge. What I am asking is “have I become a better owner, a better boss, a better service provider for my customer? Has the problem taught me anything other than becoming more of an angry cynic? Has the circumstance made me bitter? Has the challenge created health issues? Has the crisis affected my mental state?” When we just go through the problems our health, our mental state, and our attitudes are definitely changed for the worse.

On the other hand, when we grow through a crisis, a problem, a challenge, or an issue we look at it with a different frame of mind and attitude. We can ask ourselves, “What can I learn from this? What can I do differently to avoid this from happening that makes real sense?” Look at the crisis or problem after the immediate rush necessary to handle the emergency and find a constructive way to avoid a repeat or very similar happening from causing the frustration and stress. The answer could be a new policy, training, passing some responsibility down the chain, replacing a problem employee or a myriad of other solutions. But you are not going to find solutions unless you take the time and effort to correct the situation so the issue won’t pop-up again. Time and again I hear owners whining about a problem, an employee, a situation but they do nothing to eliminate the issue and formulate a plan to keep the issue from reoccurring. Learn. grow, and change to make things work better within the business.

So make a New Year’s resolution to GROW not go and your life will be a lot less stressful and your business a place to feel good about!

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years. He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to grow and prosper. Contact him at Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

Related Posts 

• The Walking Dead
• Are you Committed?
• Are You Half-Hearted Kamikaze?

What's Your Excuse?

Employee Absenteeism

Employee absenteeism is one of those things that owners and mangers often sweep under the rug. They just

Frustrated Owner

don't want to deal with it or spend the time to solve the root causes. Absenteeism can cost thousands in revenue and angry customers. It is an issue that should be attacked and the root causes eliminated. Excuses can range from the believable to the what. Here are a few of the excuses recently posted by CareerBuilder.

·        Employee's false teeth flew out the window while driving down the highway

·        Employee's favorite football team lost on Sunday so needed Monday to recover

·        Employee was quitting smoking and was grouchy

·        Employee said that someone glued her doors and windows shut so she couldn't leave the house to come to work

·        Employee bit her tongue and couldn't talk

·        Employee claimed a swarm of bees surrounded his vehicle and he couldn't make it in

·        Employee said the chemical in turkey made him fall asleep and he missed his shift

·        Employee felt like he was so angry he was going to hurt someone if he came in

·        Employee received a threatening phone call from the electric company and needed to report it to the FBI

·        Employee needed to finish Christmas shopping

·        Employee's fake eye was falling out of its socket

·        Employee got lost and ended up in another state

·        Employee couldn't decide what to wear

If you liked those you might look at egroware’s list of 101 excuses for missing work. It is hilarious to read the excuses people give for missing work. At the same time it is a real problem for contractors who are trying to run lean and not be over staffed.

Combating Absenteeism

There are many legitimate reasons an employee needs to miss work. They could include illness, an accident, a family situation. These need the understanding and compassion of a business owner. It is the unexpected absences without a reasonable excuse that I’m discussing here. Let’s look at some thoughts that might help reduce absenteeism in your business.

1.      When hiring, check with previous employers about a job candidates attendance record and if the previous employee considered them a reliable employee. Would they hire the prospective employee again?

2.      Have a firm but fair policy in your employee handbook. Follow the handbook in all cases or you may be subject to legal issues.

3.      Eliminate sick days with pay. Change them along with vacation days to “personal days” which the employee can use as needed. Be sure to use them for each absence.

4.      Have a policy of no holiday pay if an employee misses the day before or day after a holiday without previous approval.

5.      Track absences and make it part of the employee’s evaluation when it comes time for increases.

6.      Have an annual award or incentive for perfect attendance.

7.      Require written approval (7 days or more in advance) for vacation or days off when it is a none emergency. Also the approval must be done by a manager or the owner.

Don't just sweep absenteeism under the rug. Put some controls into place and plug a hole of lost revenue and customers. 

Also Checkout:

Cruise Thoughts

Is This Customer Service?

Checkout our new website

Often owners and managers need assistance in using their time wisely to grow the business or improve the business. We can help. Contact us.

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years. He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to grow and prosper. Contact him at Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

You Don't Care!

Employees wear these pink bands

I have been in the plumbing, heating, and air conditioning service business for more than 50 years. My Dad was a plumbing service contractor who worked out of his home. I helped him as a high school student on weekends and during the summer months. I grew to love the business and the ability to help customers by solving problems they could not solve themselves. Why do I tell you this? It is to let you know I have been around the block a few times in this industry. I have seen and heard a lot. I have been with thousands of customers from little old grandmas to auto industry leaders. All have a concern for the integrity and character of the company they use for service and the Technician who arrives at their home or business. So let’s focus in on a way to improve the perception of your business in the eyes of your customers. Remember, Perception is the customer’s reality.

As I search the web for contractors’ websites, receive their email newsletters, or review their customer newsletters, I find a need to improve on the message that the company I’m looking at has integrity and character. If you Google the word plumber what do you see? Many of the images are of someone’s butt crack. If you watch television and there is an investigative sting operation, it’s an HVAC company. We lack professionalism, trust, character, and integrity in the eyes of many customers.

As a customer searches for a service contractor, they have a lot of anxiety about the choices before them. They look for a local contractor, one who’s name they recognize, one some friend or neighbor recommended. Often they are confused and have that helpless feeling. They are pretty sure they are not going to be happy with the outcome of the service, the Technician, or the price. There are many ways to help change that perception including clean well maintained trucks, neat uniformed Technicians, well done website with pictures of babies and moms, friendly Customer Service Reps, booties, and a host of others. But let me give you one more.

A client, Thornton and Grooms, is active in the community. They do most all the activities other

Notice the Pink Shirt

contractors are involved in such as home shows. But they also give back to the community through their “Hearts and Heroes Award” donations to charities, service and installations for the needy, and major campaigns. One such current campaign is focused breast cancer awareness and assistance with “The Pink Fund”. Each of these are company-wide efforts which give the employees a sense of belonging to a caring firm and it helps to show that it’s not about butt cracks and rip-

Another Pink Shirt

offs. The concept is always to provide the best service but to also include the “We care” in everyday business. It helps to give the customer a secure feeling about the business. Click on the Hearts and Heroes Award or The Pink Fund above to see how they use this concept. Then look at the banners that run across their Home page.

Are your future customers confident that You Care when they see you marketing or does your image lack a solution to that customer concern?

Also Checkout:

Cruise Thoughts

Is This Customer Service?

Checkout our new website

Often owners and managers need assistance in using their time wisely to grow the business or improve the business. We can help. Contact us.

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years. He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to grow and prosper. Contact him at Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.