An Amazingly Simple Technique That Will Help You Solve the Most Difficult Problems in Your Contracting Business

April 17, 2018
Category: Be a Highly Effective Owner,General,Problem Solving

Are you having trouble finding the right salesperson or operations manager? Do you have a particularly difficult problem in your business or your life you don’t know how to solve? Have you tried everything that you can think of but nothing seems to work? Are you frustrated and ready to give up? DON’T!

Before you throw in the towel, there’s one more thing that I want you to try that can make an amazing difference:

TELL EVERYONE!

That’s right. Tell everyone!

Let’s say, for example that you’re looking for a salesperson with experience in selling commercial business through property managers. You’ve advertised through Indeed, The Ladders, and LinkedIn, and while you’ve gotten some resumes, it’s been weeks and you still haven’t found the right candidate. You’re frustrated and wondering whether that perfect salesperson even exists. You’re wondering if it’s time to give up searching.

This is when I say don’t give up! Tell Everyone!

Keep advertising, but also spread the word by telling everyone you know. And I mean everyone!

Think about all the people you talk to on a daily basis. People at your suppliers, at church, at a cocktail party, at your kids’ sporting events or birthday parties, on the phone with family or friends, etc. You’re in contact with a lot of people who might help you—every day. And most of those conversations will start the same way: you’ll say “Hi Joe! How’s it going?” and Joe will reply, “Great! How’s it going with you?” Now, if you’re like most people, you’ll probably say “Fine” or “Great” and leave it at that. But that’s a huge missed opportunity.

Here’s what I want you to do instead:

Tell them a little bit about what’s going on in your business or life and then tell them what you need. For example:

• “I’m great, Joe! Business has never been better. In fact, I’m hiring a sales person who specializes in selling to property managers and I’m having a heck of a time finding the right person. You wouldn’t happen to know anyone would you?”
• If Joe doesn’t know anyone, ask this important follow up question: “Can you suggest anyone else that I should talk to?”

There are two keys to this technique which improve your results.

First, be as specific as you can be about describing your needs. The more specific you are the more likely you’ll be to get exactly the help you need—and the less time you’ll waste chasing down useless leads.

Second, if the person you’re talking to knows someone to refer you to, get the contact information of the referral and, if at all possible, try and be the one following up. Taking responsibility for following up will make it easier on the person who’s referring you and will increase the chance you’ll actually talk to the referral.

Amazing things can happen!

I’ve seen amazing things happen when my contractor business coach clients use the “tell everyone” strategy. For example, I have a client who found the perfect sales person through a casual conversation with an acquaintance at church who connected my client with his brother-in-law. The brother-in-law had just moved into town and had the exact sales experience my client had been looking for.

I personally have experienced the magic of telling everyone. I love to run and I used to run marathons, but the excessive running resulted in chronic tendinitis in both of my ankles that was so bad that I couldn’t run at all. For two years I tried to find a doctor who could help, but nothing they tried helped.

Then through a casual mention of my ankle problem during a conversation with a mother at a soccer game, she told me that her neighbor, who’s a doctor, had just developed a new treatment for tendinitis. The soccer mom not only introduced me to the doctor, but she also got the doctor to fit me in his crammed calendar the next week. His treatment worked and I’ve been running ever since!

Why it works

Telling everyone works for two reasons:

First, it works because we all have a web of connections—relatives, close friends, co-workers, peers, contacts, friends-of friends etc.—we can tap into to massively expand the possibility of finding the solution to our problem.

Second, it works because most people want to help, if they can. It makes them, and us, feel good when they can connect us to someone who might be able to help us. The more people you tell, the higher the probability you’ll get the help you need. It’s that simple!

Give it a try!

Add this simple technique the next time that you have a problem that you’re trying to solve. You’ll be amazed at how much it can help! I know many of my clients have tried this and have seen amazing results.

Looking for other simple, but powerful ways to improve the success of your 7-figure or larger contracting business? Let’s take some time and talk about your goals and how I can help you achieve them with actionable advice you can start using right now! Give me a call today at 856-751-1989

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