In 1987, I passed the Georgia State Unlimited Electrical Contractor’s License exam; later that year, I flunked the North Carolina Unlimited Electrical Contractor’s exam.
I was so ashamed. But that’s another story. I worked so hard to learn the National Electrical Code that I ended up teaching it for over 20 years and was a paid expert by the State of Georgia State Examining Board.
I think we all know that no great success comes without great failure.
I was teaching a class on preparing for the State Electrical Exam, when one student made the comment up above in the headline. I was taking a few minutes to warm up the class with my humor when he stopped me flat by saying, “I’m paying you to talk smart, so quit stalling and talk smart.” I laugh now, but I was quite taken aback and never forgot how valuable someone’s time is when they are paying you to teach them something that they desperately need.
When I was asked what wisdom that I’ve gained or learned over the last decade, well, it goes back to foundational points:
1. Never let an instructor move to another subject until he/she has adequately taught you the present subject. They are being paid to teach you, so until you have learned it and know it, they haven’t done their job. Make them teach you. This has been one of the foundations of my life. I make them teach me. I speak up, or stand up, or raise my hand and yell, but I get my questions answered, and you should, too.
2. Respect other people who are trying to learn from you. Stop, listen to their questions and show, demonstrate, explain, and ask how much they understand. Give them everything they need to fully comprehend what they need to get from you.
3. From Ross Perot, I learned, and think of at least once a week, “Money, after the bills are paid, is the most over-rated thing I know of.” I’ve never been that good with money, unless you count how well I can spend it. But I refuse to worship it.
4. Take the time to smell the roses. I have made so many mistakes in my life. I have worked three jobs, it seems, most of my adult life. But—I am so glad to say this—I refused to stop playing. My wife and I have raised nine kids. We have struggled, and we have been hungry. But we took those kids to the lake at least once every week of the year for most of the time they were growing up. They learned to water ski, wake skate, knee board, wake surf, and wake board. I even bought a parachute to pull behind the boat (that never worked). But I bought boat gas before I worried about the light bill most of my life. I said I wasn’t great with money, but I am so glad we played with our kids. To this day, I love seeing the small contractor, often the one-man truck, on a Saturday morning pulling his boat to the lake. That is a man who may never have a big company but will always enjoy life. That, to me, is huge. Find time to play, and if you don’t have time, then play anyway; the work will find a way to get done.
5. When I started my business in 1990, my first employee would watch me worry about bidding a job when I didn’t have enough help to actually do the job. But he always said the same thing: “Rodney, get the job, we will find the men to put it in, but get the job Rodney. Get the job!” It’s great advice that I have never forgotten.
6. Treat your employees like family. This means if you have a boat, tell them it’s theirs also. Let them use it anytime. If they need a car to go on vacation, give them yours. They are the reason you even have a car. Help them. Be their friend, and be their friend even when they leave you and go somewhere else.
7. This is the big Kahuna—the big fish, the whale—the one thing that has made my life easy, running a business easy, and it has made the money side of business easy: “Get paid what you are worth.” But you will likely never do it by selling. You must learn how people buy, why they buy, and get out of the way to let them buy.
Here are my three undisputable rules of selling:
Undisputable Rule No. 1: Everybody hates it when you try to sell them something.
Undisputable Rule No. 2: If you try to educate the customer in an attempt to sell or upsell, their sales resistance will immediately turn on, and you will be the bad guy who doesn’t get the sale.
Undisputable Rule No. 3: People will always buy more than you could possibly sell them. Understanding how to present your product or service in menu form will change your life.
I suppose, like you, I have learned much over the last decade or so by hard research, trial and error, dumb luck, or huge error. But learning is what makes tomorrow more fun.
Pricing enthusiast Rodney Koop is the founder and CEO of The New Flat Rate, a home service menu-selling system designed to put profit directly into the hands of plumbing, electrical, and HVAC contractors. He can be reached at [email protected] or by calling 706/581-0622, anytime.