.png)
Million Dollar Electrician - Sale to Scale For Home Service Pros
Rewiring Our Mission: (Electricpreneur Secrets)
Helping Electricians Achieve the $1M Service Van so they can experience ultimate control over their futures.
Join Clay Neumeyer & Joseph Lucanie for a new electrifying episode & High-amperage action item each week to spark up your service van sales to $50K, $70K, $100K, $150K months, and beyond!
Million Dollar Electrician - Sale to Scale For Home Service Pros
Replay - Recruiting Electricians & Where Else to Look
What if the old ways of recruiting just aren't cutting it anymore? Join us on this eye-opening episode of Electricpreneur Secrets, where we tackle the modern challenges of hiring in the electrical industry. With the landscape rapidly changing and traditional methods falling short, we explore how the pandemic has reshaped both the demand for electricians and the strategies to attract new talent. Discover why the usual pools of candidates are shrinking and gain fresh insights into new avenues for recruitment that can drive your business growth.
Diversity and inclusion aren't just buzzwords—they're vital components for a thriving workforce. We delve into why giving opportunities to individuals from various backgrounds, including those in rehabilitation, trade schools, and different cultural settings, can fuel innovation and progress in your company. Learn how evolving perceptions of professionalism, from tattoos to gender inclusivity, can help you create a respectful and dynamic company culture that attracts and retains a diverse workforce, ultimately supporting your long-term success.
But that's not all. We share effective, innovative recruitment strategies tailored for the electrical industry. From utilizing services like Applicant Pro to tapping into unconventional talent pools like DIY enthusiasts, we offer practical tips to always be in hiring mode. Hear personal anecdotes on leveraging community messaging, split testing in job advertisements, and networking with other electrical companies. Tune in to discover how promoting inclusivity and maintaining a supportive company culture can amplify your recruitment efforts and accelerate your business growth.
—---------------
Join our community and get access to strategies that’ll help bring your electrical business to the top 🚀 Connect with fellow electricians and tap into a network of support and expertise!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/electricpreneursecrets
—---------------
Subscribe to our newsletter to receive FREE weekly value pieces packed with strategies, and guides to improve your sales, service and pricing 👆
https://www.servicebyelectricians.com/subscribe-to-our-newsletter
—---------------
See us and our wins at https://www.servicebyelectricians.com/
hello and welcome to entrepreneur secrets, the electricians podcast. I just want to like throw a lightning bolt at that point. The electricians podcast we're here with you five days a week to help you master sales, simplify pricing and deliver premium level service. Yes, it is Friday, optional Friday. We chose to come. I got a little extra pep in my step. I'm your host, clay Neumeier, if you've never heard us before, and this is my co-host, joseph Lucchini, and, as I said, we're here five days a week to see you rise, helping electricians rise up, and today is no exception.
Speaker 1:We have a very, very, very, very, very, very, very important topic. How many varies? Did I just say Joe? Six, six varies. So that's how many vary to the nth degree. Seven Important topic it's recruiting. Where can we get people from If you're at a roadblock, if you're at a standstill, or even you know what? We're going to touch on some stuff right from scratch. If this is your first hire or your 30th try hire this month, there's going to be great information in this podcast for you as we talk about tried and true methods. We talk about how the landscapes changed and how that requires a different approach and some new ways to find the right people for your business today and your business in the future. Joe, did I say something that made you upset?
Speaker 2:No, not at all. You see these? Literally my eyes are going wild, which is why, occasionally, we see them in the dark. You know what's going on in my household right now? I have a feeling that it might be coming my way. I think it's just my eyes.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, if you can't see Joe, that means you're not on the inside with us engaging in VIP on the Electropreneur Secrets Facebook community page. But I'll just fill you in. He's tearing up a little bit right now.
Speaker 2:A tad emotional about recruiting. That's got to be what it is right? No, occasionally my eyes just get. They get. My eyes are weird, just like me. What can I say?
Speaker 1:I don't think your eyes are weird, but have you ever been emotional about recruiting before?
Speaker 2:Emotionally. Yes, the thing is is, honestly, recruitment is one of those things that whenever you talk about it, the only emotion that usually comes up is despair, because so many of us are like we know we can scale our industries, we know our businesses can grow, but we almost feel like, as business owners, that we're cut from a different cloth from the people that we hire and, as a result, we can often feel alienated in our own businesses Even further than that. When I said misery, it's because it's so frustrating to say I know what my business needs to thrive and I physically cannot find the fuel to feed the engine.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's tough right, that is a wall, and so to some people this is to such a detriment that they physically cannot continue to prosper and grow their company. To grow these seeds a challenge. Let's just talk quickly about how the landscapes changed, because I think I'm of the popular opinion that at least in my father's day, as as a youth in my grandfather's day, even when a big project came up or work was available, I mean, you'd put a sign in the window and you'd have a lineup of people who would consider themselves lucky to have a job at your business. Today that business would be Service Loop Electrical. Do you think that still applies? Does that happen out there, joe?
Speaker 2:No, because literally what you could do is, if you had that sign open, I could literally have a basket of $100 bills and I'll say anyone who applies, I'll give you a free $100 bill, just show up and I will pay you Signing bonus. Nice, and I still think that that $100 bill would stay without anyone touching it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's tough.
Speaker 2:And a lot of times I feel it's because we're looking in the wrong places. In my personal opinion, I've come to the thought that all of us business owners, especially us entrepreneurs, we're trying to hire from that. All of us business owners, especially us entrepreneurs, we're trying to hire from the same pool. The problem is is that, due to the industry and the culture changes that we've experienced over the years, that pool has gotten smaller and shifted, but we're all still fighting over the fish that are in it. Instead, we should be turning our eyes to other avenues, other resources, other streams, and saying what are we missing? What else could we consider? What stones haven't we turned over?
Speaker 2:Because, the problem has to be solved.
Speaker 1:I love that and before diving completely into it. So if the climate has changed, how do people find jobs now? How do appeal to people if it's not just putting a sign in the window? Where are they? I mean, we can all agree there's a shortage of electricians, like there's not a lot out there. There's more demand than there is supply of people to do the work. That's correct, okay, and since covid, do you think the climate has changed drastically?
Speaker 2:and I can explain why. All right, let's hit it Now. I remember when I was working through COVID. It was a weird time because you had a lot of times some people would let you in the home, others wouldn't. Now I'm in New York.
Speaker 2:We got ravaged when COVID was happening. There were some customers that wouldn't even let you in unless you were in a Tyvek suit. But the interesting thing about COVID was it created a time for pause and awareness. People were in their homes and they said you know what? I've been here for 20 years and I've always hated these living room lights, and I'm going to be here working from home for the next six months. Why the hell should I get new lights? Let's call an electrician. People started to change their homes from this is where I sleep to this is where I exist. I work here, I live here, I love here. This is my space and I should treat it like the base it deserves. So people started to invest heavier into their homes. As a result, electricians became more and more in demand, and the more demand we had, we were trying to hire people to grow and unfortunately we already all maxed ourselves out from the same small pool that we thought had a ton of people in it.
Speaker 1:I want to add to that. I think a lot of people also realized when there was cutbacks, when we weren't sure who was frontline service or who needed to be out there working still, that business is just business and even if you felt like family, the doors shut on you.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:The reality is a business relies on cash flow and there's no cash coming in, CE owners anyone at the top tend to panic and shut those doors and say everyone be quiet. We got to sit on this for a bit. I didn't know many guys that were keeping the doors open, going everything's okay, there's no panic out there. Just come clean the shop. We'll just do inventory for a week. I'll pay you guys. That didn't happen, Joe, so suddenly people realized happen Joe, so suddenly people realized no one's got my back.
Speaker 1:I've got to watch out for me. And more companies were created in that time than ever before.
Speaker 2:It's true, because the thing is, entrepreneurism showed. I think about it how many times when we were kids, side hustles weren't necessarily a known thing. When we were younger, it was are you doing driveways, are you cutting grass? Are you doing whatever? Now isn't the quote in order to thrive, you need two side hustles and a little bit of fraud.
Speaker 1:I haven't heard that, but that's funny.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because the thought process is that the climate's changed economically as well. People have to realize that. Not only I mean. Think about it. We're facing record high inflation. Why would I go work for someone else when I could get the maximum profit myself, work on my own schedule and work from the comfort of my own home?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And so in the why behind people, really what we're saying here is the why has changed.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's not just dangling the $100 bill, like you mentioned, in the window with the help wanted sign. That isn't quite working anymore. People want to feel taken care of in the way that their personal needs are met, and that's pretty tough to do. Everyone's at a different place in their journey. I mean, have you ever heard, heard this expression? Maybe it was from an old girlfriend or something.
Speaker 1:joe, it's not that you're not right, it's just not right now oh god, it's almost like you, it's me, but that, oh yeah, right now piece, and something I find fascinating is how different we tend to think about staff and prospects or clients, when in reality they're very much the same, especially in this day and age.
Speaker 1:They're people and they want to be related to like people, and so they should be spoken to and treated and cared for like people I completely agree now there's a few places that we say you know what a lot of these all-star players that we need are going to come from, and one of those places I talked about in my interview that you so kindly did with us about 40 episodes ago. They're not teachable, but timable, and that ties into what I just said, and I think this is one place that most of us are not spending enough time working on tomorrow's business. I can get, I'm with you, I wouldn't blame you for wanting today's results for today's problems, for today's business, but isn't that reactive?
Speaker 2:Unfortunately, yeah, because the thing is we're not all fighting over the same industry. We're fighting over the same qualified technician. Everyone's looking for the journeyman with three to five years experience, or you're looking for the guy from eight to 15 years experience to run it. But the funny thing is is that if you were to go to a youth correctional facility or you were to go to a trade school or you're to go to any other of these facilities, you can get someone who's 18, 19 years old, who's looking for the chance to thrive and come up to where you can earn and build that loyalty and train the skill to someone who has the integrity to own it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, very important piece, and I know that some of us right now would be thinking an objection to this. Well, kids these days don't want to work. I want to make a very important distinguishment. That's what we call a generalization. Generalizations kill clarity. Here's the reality. We've said this before and I butchered it on this show before. We've said this before and I butchered it on this show before hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times. Amen. What stage do you think we're in right now?
Speaker 2:generally speaking, honestly, I feel that we are in hard times and, as a result, they're creating better men.
Speaker 1:I feel we're a stage behind that, really Not to interrupt. I think that right now we're actually in kind of this weak time creating hard times. It is cyclical and this happens, and I was listening to a Tony Rob uh podcast and he was talking about, you know, after the world war, that next generation was thought to be useless too. For a period of time they were thought to be weak and useless. A lot of those people came up and fought again, despite what everyone else thought of them, and when there's a challenge, people do rise to it. So that generalization just to be clear is killing clarity. And to sit here and paint everyone with the same brush and say there's not a good soul out there who wants to work hard, that's not going to serve you. You can't do that and still win this game. Would you agree with that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I actually do want to speak to that from a very personal basis. Sure, because I remember, granted, when I started my business, I was 22. I couldn't grow a beard. I had a full head of hair. Just picture a young, scrappy green as a garden hose, joe. The thing is that I was lumped into that same category.
Speaker 2:People in their 30s and 40s were looking at the guys in their 20s and early teens and saying you guys just don't want to work. All you want to do is get on your phones and scroll with the games. Then you get a little bit older and you find out now we're in our 30s and for some reason, people are looking at the new generation saying, oh, the Gen Zers, they just want to be on their phones. They don't want to work. Why is it so cyclical? Why is it that we keep saying to ourselves that the people before us don't want to work but we have it all together? Could it be, in fact, that you know what? We were them, but we need someone to be the one for us be for them like they needed to be for us.
Speaker 1:I agree and I think that, honestly, they're at different stages of their what they value and what they need from life. That's all it is. Give it some time and watch it change. Right, things are definitely different. The landscape has changed and I want to go ahead and start moving us in a forward direction here by saying that I think diversity and inclusion did you mention that one already today?
Speaker 2:either way, I'm building off it. If you did, I want to give you full credit there because we're on the same page.
Speaker 1:diversity and inclusion is a big piece of how we fix this. It is a massive piece. So you already mentioned like going and presenting in a youth correctional facility, not because today you're going to bail someone out and have them go to work, but that is someone who's in a rehabilitation period. Is there a chance they go right back in? Yes, is there a chance they've had enough and become a better person, like I did? Yes, going to trade schools Is there a chance they don't know enough right now? 100%, without a doubt. If you hire them today, they will come to your company and make mistakes, but you can't show me someone who won't make mistakes under your umbrella, under your company anyway, because if they don't know the way you're running the play right, imagine you're one of our clients with our sales process. Can any electrician come in and run that play today?
Speaker 2:I mean, the thing is, with proper training, anyone can do anything but you have to grow, not today, correct?
Speaker 2:Yeah, of course I mean. Granted, I can hand you a book and you say, all right, read it, but it doesn't mean you're going to absorb it and master it Also. In addition, I feel like how we view people is very important as well. Let's say, an interviewer comes in, but they're covered in tattoos. Now, I'm an inked person myself, as you are as well, but the thing is, when we were younger, this was a taboo moment and people were turned away by oh no, you're not customer present at this point. Now, suddenly, that's not a big problem anymore, is it?
Speaker 1:No, I'm inked too, yeah, and I've always inked responsibly, so no one can even tell until I stretch my arm a little further and then you start to see a sleeve. It's one of the reasons I've always felt that way about my ink. It's not for everyone all the time, and some owners I see that are covered and very proud of their bodies. They like a short sleeve polo and they want to show tattoos all the way down on the hand and up on the neck. Okay, whatever floats your boat. That's much more culturally acceptable today, but there are still cultures that view that as gang sign taboo things that are unacceptable. And that's another place where diversity and inclusion can actually serve your business, especially if you have the respect and the knowledge and beforehand of serving someone like that making sure that you send a suitable candidate for a project, which is a whole other topic that you are so masterful at, really.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, I was going to say. In addition, there's one other thing that comes to mind, if you don't mind going off into this. It's one of the thought of where are all the women in the industry? Because I feel like that's another really big thing that needs to be talked about. Right? My first thought was what can we do to bring on more people, more diverse audience, and it made me really think to myself and say, well, before we can hire women, do we have the culture in our company that would be conducive for that Meaning? Are we ourselves behind closed doors, speaking respectfully about people to where, if they were there, they would be welcome and wanted? I feel like it's a culture shift that needs to happen as well in the industry, because there are people right now that are thriving, but where they're thriving is because the culture has enabled that to be so 100%.
Speaker 1:I would go on a limb here and say that I've been better served by women many times than men. That is not a data analyzed trend or anything. I'm going to go and die on that hill. But they're definitely a player in the service game. And here's the argument I've heard, wholeheartedly honest, transparent, and I get this From an employer standpoint. Technically, a woman costs more to train and hire and the reason is anatomical Because at some point, statistically, a woman will have a child in north america and have to step back from work, and sometimes they won't return for years while they help raise that child. But I want to also state that that is changing. The number of kids per family is changing. The number of stay-at-home dads is increasing. This is no longer something you can assume. In fact, right, some women are choosing not to have kids anymore, adhering to still from our childhoods and our upbringings. We tend to have trouble with belief shifts, but as we look around this changing world, Joe, you kind of got to question it, don't you?
Speaker 2:You really do and you know what, though it's almost one of those moments that I feel we have a choice. At this point, we have a choice of which path we choose to take. We're standing on a fork in the road. I really feel that we, as a culture and as an industry, if we can change enough to say that any person, any individual, could come into my company, regardless of their sexuality, their gender, their background, their histories, anything, and know that they could be welcome, wanted and given a path. I do really believe that the industry would find a way to start filling its ranks, but because we're operating on a framework that no longer is viable, the people that are in that pool drastically become dwindled. I feel that we can change this industry, but we have to be willing to all step up and do our part. Is that fair to say?
Speaker 1:A hundred percent. And if you happen to be a woman electrician listening to this, we want to talk to you. We want to start a whole realm of unreal successful women entrepreneurs. So it just reach out and have a conversation with us. We would love to see if we can honor you with that. On top of this, I want to go a little bit further into it and really go into some intermediate to expert level.
Speaker 1:Troubleshooting when recruiting is falling flat Because there's this inside the box mentality of what we've seen and everyone's doing, and today, clearly, we're trying to push beyond that, go a little outside of the confines of this and challenge what we actually tend to find acceptable for recruiting practice. What can we go out and do? And so we've already talked about, okay, bridging the gap with diversity and inclusion, making sure you got a place for variety of culturals, a variety of sexes in the workplace and even now going to, like you said, youth, correctional or a corrections facility, corrections programs and even trade schools. So we got youth, we got women, we got various cultures and we've got rehabilitation in here. That's a big spread already. Good job, right, we've done that, but still there's got to be more.
Speaker 1:I agree here I'm going to do a quick plug for um a fishing and be a friend, caleb Applicant Pro. I actually learned about Applicant Pro in our first podcast before Joe was part of this with Guillermo Castillo. Applicant Pro is a bit of a marketing service that'll cast a net for you in up to 4,000 places on the internet to help you find applicants, and I know that they have some other or not they, but there are other competitors. I think Rapid Hire is another one, but Applicant Pro is specifically who we've been recommending and I like to use this metaphor. We talk about fishing. If I just put one line with one baited hook, what are the chances I'll catch a fish today?
Speaker 2:So one-to-one. But if you have more than one net, more than one line, I mean you have a boat yourself. How many times do you cast off? How many ports do you have? There should be at least four to five pot rods being cast off.
Speaker 1:And fishing. We're limited. In recruiting we're not, and so many times when people look for or tell us they're looking for that next person, one question kind of debunks how offset, how scaled their intention actually is. And it's what's your marketing budget? Typically we'll get tens of thousands of dollars. What's your recruiting budget? And it usually is between zero and a thousand dollars. A service like ApplicantPro could be worth just 500 to a thousand dollars a month and put out countless nets for you to catch your fish.
Speaker 2:Go ahead, please. Yeah Well, I didn't want to jump because I thought that was a great one, but there's actually another strategy that actually recruited me way back in the day. But there's actually another strategy that actually recruited me way back in the day. So some of us look at things and we say like, oh well, we're not hiring or we're trying to hire, but we don't know who the right person is.
Speaker 2:I remember back in 2009 when the market crashed and no one was hiring at the time and everything was going to hell in a handbasket. I remember at the time I was in college. I remember I even got a job at IBM. I was really happy. I was like, wow, I made it. I got recruited right out of college.
Speaker 2:But I saw an ad for a company. It was an electrical service company and they literally had it listed as we are looking for people because we have so much work, we don't know what to do with it. And the thing was I paused and I was like, wait a second, you've got so much work you don't know what to do with now, like this time, this time of year, this season, this economy, I got to check out and see what they're doing and I really went and knocked on the door because of it. So another thing that we can all be considering is you can use things that may not be ads as ads If you want to let the community know that you're trying to do something particular, you're trying to advocate for a cause, you're trying to grow, you're trying to expand. Let the team know, let your employees know, let your clients know. Just share the message and hope that it's going to go out there, because people like us will show up. You just got to put the message out there yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1:Great share, great share, okay. So that's like you know what leveraging other people we were talking about the applicant pro putting that out there. I love that you changed that frame of mind and I'm going to go a step further with that in just a second. If you've got a service working for you, then you know you're always looking and we should abh always be hiring guys. Just so many nuggets in this episode. I wish I could say this whole workshop to you in this episode, but it's like a three-hour workshop or apex attraction method. It'll be coming down the road and probably fall. We'll have that offered again. For now we're going to cram as much as we can in here. So if this still isn't working, let's say you've already got nets casted. People aren't coming in and you're wondering humbug now what? Let's look at what's not working versus what is. This is the scientific method. This is why we track KPI and if you've hired a service, they're tracking KPI for you. So there's a marketing term called split testing. Have you ever heard of split testing, joe?
Speaker 2:Not particularly, but tell me about it.
Speaker 1:The idea is there's really just a couple of main points to advertising that really drive performance and they break down in in you know finer details, but a couple big categories such as copy and creative. The copy is what we write. The creative is what they see. Sometimes the copy is absolutely nailed and the creative sinks an ad. Just having a picture can change the outcome from an advertisement. Remember how we said we're going to start seeing staff like clients. We're fishing. This is no longer. Open the floodgates and let the dam pour down into my valley. This is now. I'm trying to catch a big fish. Have you ever caught a record fish before?
Speaker 2:Not an actual fish, but I actually can say I caught an employee who I consider to be a great fish using this policy. If I could touch on that for a moment, 100%.
Speaker 1:Let me just finish up on the copy and creative thing oh sure, by all means. The creative might be the picture. The copy would be the words we use. Creative thing oh sure, by all means. So the creative might be the picture. The copy would be the words we use. For example, all of our ads have been looking for a great electrician or good electrician, or a service electrician or a selling electrician. That language implies something. When a reader reads that they, they have an idea, a visual in their head of what that is and they're going to either identify with it or not. So let me flip this up right now For your future business. What if, instead, you said we're hiring great people who want to be electricians? Do you still get the same applicants do?
Speaker 2:you still get the same applicants. You probably get some people who are still electricians, but you probably open more because people who want to be electricians are now coming in as well.
Speaker 1:A subtle tweak like that. So split testing is the ability to say we've got two ads out right and you could have one say we're looking for great people in electrical, and one could say we're looking for great electricians and you're going to get two different types of applicants coming in and you'll be able to compare the two pools and see what's more successful. So split testing is a very patient like. It requires help with this. Obviously you're not an electrician, you're just going to go out there and do it yourself, but by hiring someone like applicant pro another plug, they can help you with that. By split testing you'll get more information from that market. Do you still have that on the tip of your tongue, joe, or are you waiting patiently to speak? I do Go ahead.
Speaker 2:I know it's okay, I have it off the top of my head and actually everything you're saying is great. I love it. It was just when you mentioned the big fish. It really stood out, because how many of us hire our clients? And I want to say, believe it or not, I actually hired multiple clients, because what you're doing is you already have someone who knows you, knows your culture, know your brand.
Speaker 2:Occasionally you're going to find people that normally you wouldn't have sold to because they're so DIY. I remember there was one particular person that I went to and he was a retired guy and he was just really, really good at a lot of things. He was redoing his basement himself, redoing the side of his house and stuff. There's a lot of great stuff. And I literally just called my partner and I was like, hey, this guy has a lot of potential. I don't know if I'm going to be able to sell this job, but I want to actually give him an opportunity for an interview and turns out he actually ended up joining our team. So the thing is is that if you ever recognize that you go to a call and someone's super DIY, maybe that's also an avenue. Maybe you won't walk out with a sale, but you'll walk out with an employee.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and there's some magic words there that are ego boost anyway.
Speaker 1:And it helped you out in that relationship and it's as simple as saying wow with the level of service and communication that you have. I could tell you, meet guys. The reality is that people are going through cycles, right, and electricians are included. It's not always teachable, but it is always timeable. We talked about catching the ones that aren't ready yet. What about the ones that went in business and aren't doing well?
Speaker 1:Can you fault an electrician for sucking at bookkeeping? For not being good at answering the phones, for not being good at scheduling bookkeeping, for not being good at answering the phones? For not being good at scheduling for himself? For not being good at multitasking? With all these hats, there's got to be a bunch of us falling off this right looking for a safe place to land.
Speaker 1:Joe, can I just tell you, when my first company, my concrete business, really struggled and I lost my shirt, I was salivating for a check every two weeks, the first job I had. I couldn't wait to hold that check again. See, that check that's going to come in bi-weekly Every two weeks. I'm going to get my filthy paws on that and all I got to do is show up. That's what it feels like when you fail at business. Leverage that. How are you leveraging that? Are you including other electrical companies in your network. Are you dripping on them?
Speaker 1:And, like joe said, I would venture a guess and say your marketing for electricians is not complete unless you have at least talked to the people in your client base as well. There's just no way you could ignore the people that spent their hard-earned dollars. They're stakeholders in your company. They are it's like a public stock investment In a way. They're not going to see profit returns, but they'll get dividends of service if you do that right, and one of the best ways they can feel a part of your company is by contributing to your future staff. You can build a tribe with this, joe. We're like advanced level here. But this is a whole other layer, baby, do you feel it?
Speaker 2:I do. I feel like there's another episode coming out of this one I know.
Speaker 1:I know because I've got one more place to go. Do you need to stop me for anything, or should I continue this monologue here?
Speaker 2:I can run it. Dude, run the play.
Speaker 1:I love it I'm gonna tell you guys something that not a lot of coaches, trainers, people will ever touch or say it's called pr, pr. Let me ask you, have you ever heard this? All attention is good attention.
Speaker 1:I have actually yes it's not necessarily true, correct. You can definitely cast shade on yourself, but you should and we did an episode on this before take a stand for something and at times stand against things, because those are the kind of things that make it newsworthy. And if you're truly out there grinding and cannot find qualified help, that can help you perpetuate a business. Isn't that a news story? My multimillion dollar company is crashing because there is no electricians to be found. A media outlet will pick that story up. People want to read that. They like negative news. You can literally go out and do press releases and put your story out there and attract people from a variety of an audience, a much bigger and varied audience and get real attention on radio, on TV, in newspapers, in local classified businesses, on Facebook. You can pump that, go ahead.
Speaker 2:In addition to all that, you can also double it as an ad, not just for your people, but for your culture. You say we are a company that thrives when we're in an inclusive environment and that we truly want to give back to our community in the best ways when it comes to quality, reliability, customer service and value. But our hearts are breaking because, even though we have this vision, we are struggling to find people that are willing to hold the mantle up with us. Do you feel like you could help with that?
Speaker 1:let's tie a couple pieces together. We talked about women in trades. That's a big movement. A lot of people are passionate about that. That's a great thing to put out there and literally here's an idea. Passionate about women in trades? Us too. That's why we're looking for our next all-star women electricians. Experience or not, apply either way, we're interested in women who are interested in trades. Amen, great ad split. Test it. Try it with a couple different headlines. Doesn't need to be passionate about women in trades. How about? Are you a woman looking to get into the trades? Are you a woman in trades? We support XYZ women in trades movement. Predictable um advertisement headlines that could lead you to new candidates. So, if what's working or what's not working, if what you're doing is not working, try that, because I guarantee you haven't put that out yet. I guarantee it you'd probably be right. All right, we just filled this entire freaking hour with this stuff. Joe, do you think we helped push the box? Do you think we helped push some boundaries on what recruiting can be and what it is?
Speaker 2:And that is the neurodivergent community, because there are so many of us that are out there that are just as capable, but we need to be known or be told hey, we have a culture and an environment that's conducive to your needs and if you want to serve your community at the highest level, we want you part of our team as well, because I guarantee, if someone like myself shows up, I would love to know that you've got a culture that's accepting of me. If I don't have to educate you on what I am, I want to be part of that team. So when was the last time you were part of an autism walk or something like that? You can advertise in uniform. That's another great thing you can do to get attention.
Speaker 1:Yep. Connect with people first. Red first reduces risk. For the smaller community it does, because if they feel comfortable and like they can work in that trusted place, that trusted environment that embraces a different way of thinking, then it feels safer. Exactly. And and that said, I got to close with this comment guys, before the action items, don't lead with money. A, don't limit the money you're making available to invest in the right people. The climate's changed. If you have to charge more to keep all stars, sorry, charge more to keep all stars, because the way I see it, if you don't get them, then you're stuck doing the dishes in your company for the next 10 years. If you want to grow, if you want to scale, you've got to charge whatever it takes to build this business, and if it doesn't work, no one can fault you for that. If you went out and did everything you could, no one can fault you for that. We don't have a crystal ball. We just have doing everything I could and not doing everything I could. Does that make sense, joe?
Speaker 2:It does. It's almost like a black and white thing. That's comforting in a way it's. Did I do everything, or was there a stone I left unturned? How many of us can look at ourselves in the mirror and said I've truly done everything. There's nothing left I could have done? Because that's bullshit. They guarantee every one of us could have done something more.
Speaker 1:And in that case I would say, joe, I can't fault you for that and you owe that to yourself. In the mirror, colonel saunders kfc went a thousand and nine times before someone got the chicken recipe and he became the most widespread known north american chicken joint in history. It wasn't on the first try, it wasn't on the second try, it was a thousand and nine tries before he finally realized he had done everything and it connected with someone. Recruiting might kind of feel like that for you. To finish what I said earlier don't lead with money, lead with vision. Give people an idea of the kind of place they could see themselves inhabiting long term and feeling good about, because at the end of the day, money is not what makes people happy and people know that right. That's why you got kids just wanting to live in a van down by the river. That used to be a Chris Farley joke. I saw that in a meme. Actually Used to be a bad thing to end up living in a van down by the river. Nowadays people aspire to it.
Speaker 1:But I can't blame them. Why not get out see the world? Why not explore a bit? If that's where you're at in your value cycle, if that's what you want currently, then do that. If they want to explore, the chances are they don't want to be locked down right now, which is perfectly okay. We can't change people's minds. We can't change what they think. We can only attract the people that think they might fit great with you, and the best way to do that is to show them what that might look like. Agreed, is it wrong of me to want that for all of our viewers, listeners?
Speaker 2:No, it wouldn't be wrong, clay, it wouldn't be wrong at all.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that we got to crank out a couple of action items. So action number one you got to check that recruiting budget. If you're looking for someone right now, how much are you spending? Compare it to your marketing Liking what we said today, that clients and staffing kind of a similar approach here how big can your business grow if you don't find these people? If you need people, you're going to need to spend a bit and get help finding those people. Applicant Pro might be a great place to look you guys. So that would be my action item. Joe, do you want to take All-Star? Do you have anything on the tip of your tongue?
Speaker 2:I do have some off the top of my mind. All right, and that is for the All-Star action. This is something you can do to find people. Today. Every single one of us has got that customer, that client who was just very DIY or was the kind of person that impressed you. You know the one that they said I changed all the outlets before you got here that guy, call him. Call that person today and let them know. You know what I was thinking of the job we did earlier and I really feel that you would have been such an amazing fit to work with our team. Would you at any point have considered going and actually lending your skills to a professional outfit? Just the thought of being able to get on the floor and say I can do this today and get a potential yes or no, I think is worth picking up the phone, especially if there's no other avenues you have 100%, in fact, because it's All-Star.
Speaker 1:Can I add a little something to that? Add some spice, brother, I want you to also drip that everywhere you go. Drip your vision, drip your progress towards your vision. That is entirely how we organically market our ServiceSoup electrical mission and vision and this entire enterprise, and it manages to keep us busy more than full-time. Joe, I guarantee if you're listening to this, you'll be able to find someone on social media alone, if the efforts were correct. I have no way of enforcing that guarantee because this is a one-way communication. That's my disclaimer. But you get what I'm saying here. The people out there find the channels they're in. Like joe said, I could be a client. So, guys, drip vision, drip progress, communicate what you're looking for. As jim rohn said, if you need water, you better go to the ocean with a bucket, otherwise the kids will laugh at you.
Speaker 1:Big episode. Thank you, guys. We're here with you five days a week. This has been optional friday and there was nothing optional about this how to recruit your next staff. We're here, as always, to help you master sales, simplify pricing and deliver premium level service. I'm clay. This is joe. You guys have a fantastic weekend. We can't wait to join you again next week. Take care,
