Residential Metal Roofing Executive Report

Building An Organization Of Systems

Issue #100 | April 26, 2018 | Todd Miller

I hope this finds you well. In this issue of the Executive Report, we will continue our series on “What Does It Take To Be Successful?” Throughout 2018, this series will take a look at core attributes of successful home improvement contractors and, in particular, successful residential metal roofing contractors. In previous issues, we have looked at Professionalism, Commitment, and Leadership. In this issue, we will look at how to implement Systems that will run your business without you always having to be there!

As a quick reminder, Isaiah Industries’ Mid-Year Training is May 7 – 9 in Piqua, Ohio. If you would like to learn how contractors sell quality residential metal roofing, or if you’d like that training for your salespeople, this is the event to attend. We will spend the first two days in fast-paced training on the in-home sales process including building relationships, needs analysis, solution presentation, features and benefits, and closing. We will also train salespeople to sell themselves as we believe that is the most important thing they have to sell. The third day is an optional installation overview. Free online registration is available now – we’d love to have you attend!

Systems Focus

So, we’ve all heard of business owners who actually get 8+ hours of sleep a night, can take long vacations, and can spend time working “on” their businesses instead of always “in” them. But how do those of us who spend most of our time watching over everything and putting out fires get to that point of not being a slave to our businesses? After all, we started a business at least in part for a degree of independence, not to feel tied to it 24-7!

Think for a moment about McDonalds — one of the most successful businesses in the world. How do they do what they do? When we think of McDonalds, we may not think of it as being world-class cuisine but one thing we do think of it as being is consistent. We all know exactly what a cheeseburger from Mickey D’s tastes like, and we know it will taste exactly like that whether we buy it in Los Angeles, California or in Goshen, Indiana. Right?

Keeping in mind that McDonalds has one of the highest employee turn-over rates of any company in the country (150% annually!), how do they do what they do? How do they maintain that level of consistency, especially when always onboarding new team members? Their key to consistency is having defined and documented processes for everything that happens inside of each McDonalds. By following those processes exactly each and every day and each and every transaction, they deliver consistency. And any business – including yours — can do the same. Through documented Job Responsibilities and Action Plans for each process in your organization, you can bring that same level of consistency to your contracting business, ensuring that customers are consistently delighted with what your company does.

Here’s an idea to get you started … make a list of all of the things in your company that frustrate you. Then examine each one not to point fingers or to place blame but to look for how a well-defined process could end that frustration. Then, get your team together, define and document the desired process to end your frustration and achieve success, and hold folks accountable to follow that process. This is called an Action Plan.

Work on some low-hanging fruit first and then, once you see some success, you can tackle bigger issues. Once your Action Plans are created, those feed into developing Job Responsibilities for each team member, showing what they are accountable for as well as the level of quality they must maintain.

Another place to start in systematizing your business is to read “The E-Myth” by Michael Gerber. It’s a great book to help you get started building systems in your business. I am also happy to talk you through things whenever you wish.

When I teach on business systemization, folks often worry that it will create a heel-clicking, militaristic atmosphere. But quite the opposite is true. Systems in a business put everyone at ease by removing the guesswork from things. No longer does anyone need to worry over who is going to do which things and to what level of quality … because the systematized Action Plans and Job Responsibilities define all of that.

Thanks so much for being a loyal reader of the Residential Metal Roofing Executive Report. As we embark on our “second hundred” of these ongoing reports, we have never been more excited about delivering information that helps you in your life and in your business. Please reach out to me anytime. I hope to see you at the Mid-Year Training.

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