March 13th, 2007 → 11:23 pm @ terry
My activities today certainly help confirm the flexibility of the field services business. I had three completely different routes today. My day was arranged this way in order to allow for some additional activities I wanted to accomplish today.
I started by traveling to Dauphin Island Alabama to meet with a homeowner that works nights. Our appointment was for 8:30am and I left much earlier than normally required for this trip so I could drive a little slower in the fog. I made my appointment on time and inspected four more properties along the route back home. I was back home for the telephone interview I had arranged last week. You will find the interview on TheRepReport™ before the end of the month. (1•35)+(4•7.50)
While I was driving back from the island, Vickie had scrutinized the undone inspection requests and identified an area with more than it’s normal number of sale date inspections so a route was prepared and I left after the telephone interview. Since I had another appointment I wanted to make at 1:30pm, this route was also short. (16•6.50)
I was finished with the second appointment at 3:15pm. It does not start getting dark until after 7pm now, so it should be easy to make up for the time used up with my appointments. The third and final route went extremely well except for getting pulled over by the police. The policeman saw Pakak hanging his head out the back window and since he too is a Siberian Husky fan, he did a nice u-turn and pulled me over. Blue lights, sirens and the whole show. We spent twenty or thirty minutes discussing Sibes and I was on my way once again.
Kind of proud of my accomplishments today. The last route was finished a little after sunset. (42•6.50)  Vickie and I uploaded reports and pics for about an hour and took off for our evening outings.
Time to finish the blog post and call it a night.
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March 13th, 2007 → 12:09 am @ terry
I have been known to read a book on occasion. I have read a lot of Jay Abraham’s books. I can’t say I agree with all he has to say but I attribute that primarily to the fact that he and I have different personalities.
I am convinced that the exact same plan studied and observed by two different people will appear different at the onset and be accomplished differently. So, I don’t let my disagreement with some ideas keep me from adopting others.
Jay Abraham places a lot of emphasis on developing a statement of your company philosophy. Jay calls this statement “Your Unique Selling Proposition”.
One does not need to read too many pages in Jay’s books to discover that Your Unique Selling Proposition is an attention getting idea, hopefully unique to your industry, that sets your business apart from all of your “me too†competitors. Jay proposes that your entire marketing and operational success should be built upon your Unique Selling Proposition.
Your Unique Selling Proposition can involve any part of your overall business plan – fees, services, turnaround time or contact ratio.
Some field service companies position themselves as having the best inspection or preservation personnel. Their Unique Selling Proposition is “experience.†Other companies may offer lower fees and their USP is “low price.†Another company may decide they don’t want to be known for low fees or their number of services, so instead they offer the highest contact ratio at a higher, but still reasonable price. Quality is this company’s USP.
The possibilities for building a Unique Selling Proposition are many. Obviously, it is best to adopt a Unique Selling Proposition that fills a need – a need that you can fill without fail.
When I ask a new field rep to tell me exactly what her company’s Unique Selling Proposition is, most cannot tell me. Why is this? Because most of them are in too much of a hurry to “go into business” to think through a Unique Selling Proposition or prepare even the simplest business plan.  Most of them are in a hurry to get on the phone and tell all the companies “me too.â€
I have said before that without planning most field service reps will just get by. A lot will not even do that well! Why should a new field services business get a lot of business if all they have is “me too”? Look at it from a National Company or Regional Company’s perspective. Why should they take a chance on an unknown when their income can be greatly influenced by performance?
How do you find Your Unique Selling Proposition? I suggest you first visit and talk with various business owners in your town. See if you can identify an unfulfilled need in your town. Next, analyze what is unique about you. What is your experience? What do you bring to the table? You may find the one niche that you can build your business foundation on.
If you can’t deliver, don’t say you can. If you can do it, then do it. Then you will have a business.
Why am I on my soapbox tonight? Last week I mentioned that I was assisting some new reps get started. The different results from their efforts were astonishing. That’s the right word – astonishing!
One new rep has been in business for less than a month and she is asking how to go about hiring sub-contractors. Another jokingly said she was disgusted with the business – there was just too much business for one person. And regrettably it appears we also have a failure – not really from lack of ability or lack of effort, but because she ran out of time before she started.
How was my day? Quite busy. In the south end again! Tomorrow too! (48•7.50)
March 8th, 2007 → 12:02 am @ terry
I spent about four hours on the phone today. That’s a lot of time. The unique thing about it is that it was for only two conversations! When I did finally get off the phone, I had thirteen voice mails. So, if you called today and did not get me, let’s try again tomorrow. My day was really hectic. Still having trouble with the server in the office. I had to break my day up again. Two routes, (36•6.50)+(34•6.50).
This may be the shortest post I ever write but I actually think the brevity will help drive home the idea I want to get across.Â
First, lets set the background. Two conversations. The first with Steve who is tickled that he just got four or five assigments. He is just starting. The second with Jack who jokingly complained of having more business than he can handle. He and I started talking around October of 2006 about him trying this business out.
I wanted to pass on the following information to Steve and Jack and you will receive some benefit too I hope. Isn’t it strange that the four hours of conversation can be summarized with:
The primary way to find information about opportunities for a local business trying to serve the needs of other community based businesses is to get out in the community, spend a lot of time talking with business owners and and identify needs that are not being met.
You will be building a knowledge base, you will be building a network of prospective customers and and you will be building referral sources.  Figure out the greatest needs that are within the grasp of your company and your expertise and build your business around those needs.Â
There will be more about this later. See ‘ya.Â