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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 - Service Electrician Success: Always Present The Price Before Work
Ever been blindsided by hidden fees after thinking you had everything in order? We've got a story for you. Join us on Electricpreneur Secrets as we dissect the nuances of pricing transparency and its monumental impact on client relationships. We share our experiences, like the time a photographer’s unexpected travel fee left us feeling duped, to underscore why clear communication and documented agreements are non-negotiable. Learn how to adopt a premium service mindset that guarantees a seamless, worry-free experience for your clients, setting you miles apart from your competition.
But that’s not all. We dive deep into project management and the art of managing customer expectations, particularly in the service and construction industries. Ever faced moving targets in project scopes that left your clients confused and frustrated? We have, and we’ll share our hard-earned lessons on providing clear cost estimates upfront. We’ll also equip you with mental strategies to ensure clients are fully aware of their financial commitments, even if it means risking the job. And remember, being busy without financial gain isn't the goal—profitability is. Join us for actionable insights and tools to elevate your sales game, simplify your pricing strategies, and deliver unparalleled service. Trust us, you don't want to miss this episode!
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Welcome to Electropreneur Secrets, the Electrician Podcast. We're here with you five days a week to help you master sales, simplify pricing and deliver premium level service. I'm your host, clay Neumeier, and with me, as always, my esteemed partner and co-host, joseph the sales bot, lecani and Joseph. We've got a special episode today because it's driven from a recent experience we had and just a little bit of a hand slap, we know better, you know better, I know better, most know better, but it's important that we discuss it so that hopefully we can prevent it from happening to anyone else, and especially anyone else's clients. What are we talking about?
Speaker 2:Today we're talking about why even if you feel that the person you're working with is a guaranteed sale why you absolutely have to give a price ahead of time before you turn a single screw. So I actually believe it or not, clay, I have two experiences. One is the experience that you and I went into, which I want to talk about. But two, I have another one which was actually run on an electrical call that I figured would be really good, and they tied together. Is it okay if we touch on them?
Speaker 1:Of course, jump right on, brother All right.
Speaker 2:So the first thing that we experienced was, naturally, you and I were in a room. We wanted to do everything we could to make sure that we had a photographer available. I mean, it's a great event you and I are finally together. Why not make it a point where we capture the moments right, absolutely. And I had done a lot of research on different people that we can work with. I had called multiple different photographers, we had set them up and I found someone who had like a absolute ton of five-star reviews. We had checked with references. People said it was great no issues, no problems, no concerns, no nothing. We show up and he's just like this squirrely looking tiny dude who shows up in like a little car, doesn't really know who we are and his operating seems right from the jump. He seems like a get in, get out kind of individual. We kind of got that feeling that it was get in, get out.
Speaker 1:And just can I interject right there, because that feeling right there is important right and I know we're going to circle back and touch on this again and again and again. As a premium service provider, we need to audit that energy and make sure that we do not have that get in, get paid, get out mentality that was drilled into us in all of our training, especially if you have any sort of project background or direct one-to-one journeyman apprentice relationship for a long period of time. What did that person drill into you? To hurry up, get better, get faster, get it done and get out.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and I was in new construction when I started off, so it was the same model there it was listen, we got to pull this many circuits and we got to do it. At this time, you got to get these boxes up and everything's got to be perfect and no one can have a single mistake. It was go go, go, go go. But premium service isn't that. Premium service is. I'm going to make this experience just beautiful for you and you're not going to do anything, especially not worry, and all you have to do is write the check. We do every single other aspect of this project. That's the ultimate goal and that's not the experience we got.
Speaker 2:Now, once again, I looked at the pictures. They came out great. I mean, the guy clearly knew what he was doing, but the problem was is that we expected a certain rate to be established. As you work with different photographers, there's a lot of different rates, and I'm never going to fault someone for being more. But the thing that I am going to fault this guy for is when we finally did get the bill. More than half the bill was him just driving to the site that we were located at. The funny thing was is that, oh, you want to add something? Half the bill was him just driving to the site that we were located at.
Speaker 1:The funny thing was is that you want to add something? I was going to say, like how far away was he? I couldn't believe it?
Speaker 2:Oh, you think we're getting, we're getting any hook on this one? No, no, don't worry, we're literally. He lived and worked within 20 minutes of our location. We had already told them in advance. We have all the equipment, we have all the lighting, we have all. Just bring you in a camera and we will have everything else set up. And the guy charged $550 to show up Didn't tell us about it in advance, because the thing was is what he was charging to do the actual pictures was very reasonable. I have no issues for what he was charging.
Speaker 1:It was less than that travel fee, though.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, it was like to do all the pictures. It was 400. To do the travel to get there with one camera, it was $550. It doesn't seem like it really lines up right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so business after the fact big, big, big, no no. Huge, no, no. And you've touched on this before. Maybe I'm jumping ahead, Forgive me, but when you're presenting those options, how important is it to have that and have that record on file with that client in your CRM so that you always have that to go back to? Like? Setting expectations is really the first step to living up to them, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Oh my God. Yeah, because the biggest problem that people run into is they say things along the lines of like oh well, I told you this, but imagine the kind of weight that you'd be able to say not only like, hey, I did do this with you, but once again, let's pull it up just to confirm that I'm not the one who's lost. Then you go to your screenshotted option sheet and you say do you remember these options that we presented? These were the turnkey prices next to each one of them. Do you remember which one you selected? Even better, if you want to hear the all-star action in advance, get them to initial the option you choose to do. If you can do that, that'd be even better, because then you could be like hey, remember this picture right here. You see that circle and the initials next to that. Do you remember seeing this individual copy? And then suddenly it's oh yeah, I do remember that. I'm sorry, I'd confused it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that Absolutely. And just to interject quick, if you were live with us in the Facebook entrepreneur group, then you're also seeing a couple of people saying good morning today. But of course, Edwin, all the way from Italy on vacation, saying that we need to feel like we're at home and bonding with these families as we're serving them. I love that. I appreciate that comment there, Edwin. So thank you for your contribution.
Speaker 2:You got to give him credit. Edwin's an awesome kind of guy to show up, even when he's on vacation in another country. So Edwin cheers to you. Brother, I appreciate you looking out for us and looking out for yourself as well, with the information we're delivering.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that kind of sums up the camera guy a little bit. Did you have anything else to touch on with that experience?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah. So there was another situation that we had when I was just starting off in business where we had certain customers at the time that you just felt were like it's an easy sale or that you know, this person wants to use you. And the problem that I remember running into was I was always under the impression that I had to give a price before we do the work. But he was very insistent that he didn't care. He was trying to show off that he was got rocks. You know what I mean. You know the kind of guy where he was like I'm a financial consultant, I'm not worried about the price. I know that you guys are going to do the best work. I want it all done. Just get it done and we'll settle up when we're done. Whatever it is, I'm not going to worry about it. He was very adamant of I don't care, just get it done. And despite my better judgment, I said you know what? All right, listen, he's worked with us before, so clearly he knows what we're charging. It's not like he pulled me off the street. We've worked and done multiple projects with him.
Speaker 2:So we ended up doing an outdoor project where I remember he needed a. I think it was an outlet needed to be moved, but because of the codes and the standards that needed to be done, he needed to move it more than the six feet, which meant that we had to re-GFI the circuit and we had to extend it. So it needed to get arc fault. He had plaster and lathe walls. The beams were not really conducive. I had to make cuts. So the project became pretty substantial just doing the minimum of what he wanted to safety standard the end. It wasn't a big job tool, it was like an $800 job.
Speaker 2:I was cheap, real cheap back then, but the fact was it was only like an 800 job and I remember telling him that it was that much, thinking like this is gonna be nothing. And he paused. He just deadpanned me. He's like what the fuck did you just say? And I paused. I was like, oh, I was like what? What happened? I was like, yeah, this is just the total it's, and I even said it's only 800.
Speaker 2:He's like only he'll actually believe it or not he left, left on site. He came back. He didn't see us do any of the work. He was like I just needed to now move three feet to the left. He's like that's all I needed to do. Where do you get off charging me $800 for that? And I had to explain to him all the work that we were doing and all the different things and he was like you know what I'm going to pay it because I've got it, but I just wish you could have told me in advance so I had known what I was going for and, believe it or not, he ended up never wanting to work with us again, strictly because he was like you know what you guys do great work and everything was good, but you should have told me in advance.
Speaker 1:So really important piece there that was a happy repeat client Relationship burned, likely to leave a burning review because you gave him what he wanted, but what he wanted was outside of clarity and outside of a process that aims to serve them and us. The shortcut never pays off it never does.
Speaker 2:and the thing was, I remember feeling uncomfortable with it, like I really remember feeling like you know what? I probably should. I was like 23. I didn't know, I didn't know business at the time. So I said, sure, this guy clearly knows what he's doing. I'm going to offer it that way. But because of that situation I told myself I will never, ever, ever have a situation again where I'm not telling a customer in advance what the price is In addition to it. This also opens us up to say how could we collect a deposit if the customer wasn't aware of what they were in for? Wouldn't that also be a factor to consider?
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely. Yes, it definitely should be, and we hear this on the inside a lot right. Yes, it definitely should be, and we hear this on the inside a lot right. It's one of the problems we can solve so quickly by making just a simple adjustment in your process, your sales process, and getting those deposits up front.
Speaker 2:You're right. So let's take this call down and break it down to a little bit of what was actually going on, because I know we have to wrap up relatively shortly because it's going to be a little bit of a shorter session. But the thing that we need to understand is that your customer is no different than yourself, and I didn't understand his circumstance until I experienced it for ourselves. This time, like him, or like us, we were highly recommended. He had worked with us in the past or knew people that we had worked with, so he was already familiar with us, just like we were familiar with the other photographer's work. He became highly recommended and had tons of five-star reviews. So did he?
Speaker 2:The product that we delivered was great. We know he did great work. He did good work. So what was the similarity? The similarity was when we didn't explain in advance what the price was, we opened ourselves up to get chopped away at the knees. Because when do you argue an objection? You argue an objection before you physically start turning tools. Because if that objection doesn't get solved and you've already dumped into the work, theoretically, what's convincing them to pay you? Why should they If they're not satisfied?
Speaker 1:Ticking, ticking time bomb, you're right. And for all those electricians and entrepreneurs just to bridge this over to the project side and construction side this is even more difficult to manage. That's why change management or MOC, management of change, as many call it is so, so imperative and critical. I mean, in many ways that becomes the most important thing. And I know we don't talk about construction and projects a ton here, but to honor our audience, excuse me and understanding that many of you are in that place, there are many people that maybe are just interested in service listening to us, many people that are in a transition to service listening to us. So I want to give you that little tidbit to. Those expectations are a bit of a moving target that can be really difficult to manage with a scope that is moving Exactly.
Speaker 2:So, at the end of the day, what we need to remember is that if we don't understand where our customers have been, we don't know how to get them out of those situations. So, believe it or not, it's actually. I'm grateful I've messed up, as I'm not grateful to pay the bill, but I am grateful that I was put in this circumstance, because now I can better understand what my customer is going through. All these years later, I'm looking at it and being like you know what? I get it, even though our work was great, even though I trust our reputation, even though I knew that we did great customer service.
Speaker 2:When he's not expecting the bill and then we come in higher, he immediately goes into damage control. If I had just addressed it first, I know I could have been like, hey, this is what we're going to be at and this is why. And then he could have either told me don't do it or do it, and I would have had all the argument and all the firepower to handle it then. But because we didn't, we had to go into damage control, and it's never a fun look. Nor does it ever actually keep a customer coming back.
Speaker 1:Exactly Huge lessons here. I appreciate those shares, Joseph.
Speaker 2:My pleasure.
Speaker 1:You know what? I want to roll this right forward into our action items, because there's a bit of length for this. Really, we've touched on a few things that I want to retouch on here. One of the most important things that, guys, if you're in the service world already, if your crm is doing some of the heavy lifting for you, then you know in that framework of your crm it's going to have a bit of a forced play on your process and that means if, as long as you're using it and using it diligently, that your quotes being made on that crm and that means that quite often on the client hub they're accepting your quote there. So you do have that continuity between pricing, expectations and delivery.
Speaker 1:But it doesn't mean it's infallible either. You have to make sure the information's there. If you're presenting six options, like like we suggest, like we want you to do, then that information likely isn't all in your CRM. So, as Joseph pointed out, getting those initials on it, getting that some form of acknowledged acceptance from the client as to what they are to expect and what you can expect to deliver, and not only deliver but exceed, as we talk about an abundant exchange, knowing what needs to be and is going to be expected is as important for just meeting expectations as it is for exceeding expectations. Would you agree with that?
Speaker 2:Thousand percent, clay, I think you said it actually very, very well and I have an all-star action off the top of my head. If you said it actually very, very well and I have an all-star action off the top of my head. If you're down, let's hit it All right. The all-star action is a mental exercise that I want you guys to start doing. The reason being is I can remember what I was feeling when I was with this client. I remember thinking this is an easy sale. He's already worked with us, he's liked working with us. There's no reason why he shouldn't. I know I can do the work today. I'll know do a great job. So I had all the factors to believe. When the customer said I don't care about the number, I believed him. I really, really, truly did. I wasn't trying to be malicious or anything.
Speaker 2:So the all-star action is this you need to be willing to lose the job in order to give him the number in advance, and that is a hard mental exercise to do, but it is essential.
Speaker 2:The reason why it's essential is this there is nothing worse than being busy and not being profitable.
Speaker 2:Imagine, let's say, the customer were to tell you you know what I think the work you did was great and I think everything came out really really well, but I didn't expect to pay this price and, as a result, I need to negotiate this with you because I don't feel like you're being fair with me. Nothing is worse than being unproductive or unprofitable with that time that you just spent, and if you're trying to maintain the relationship, it's very likely that if you can't do damage control, you're going to end up giving money back, and then you'll still lose the customer. So why would you risk turning tools to not make any money, to not leave anyone satisfied and to not get any continued relationships? The best and the first all-star action I'm going to give you here is this Do not under any circumstance move forward with any customer, no matter what they say, unless at the very least they have an understanding of what they're financially committing to. If they don't, it is both bad service on their end and, even more so, on yours.
Speaker 1:Yeah that's huge. That's huge and I'm going to just pepper a little something extra because we mentioned the project guys. I mentioned the pain points, but I didn't give it any fruit to work from. So I want to help you guys out too, and thank you for the contributions in the Facebook group. Live with us, kelsey Drew, robert Gailey. You guys are all appreciated and we love having conversations with you guys.
Speaker 1:Here's the thing on the project and we mentioned change management, just as you mentioned the profitability and the requirement for all our efforts to get paid but to be profitable for the sustainability of your business. Again, it's even more important on projects because we're tracking that scope. So here's what I've seen, guys, is when things change, we get the verbal OK to proceed with the corrective action or the additional action. Multiple changes I mean I've been on projects that see proper formal RFIs we would call it request for information from engineers and actual change orders amount to triple digits. We're talking hundreds, hundreds. You cannot track that verbally. So, from the smallest project to the largest, I urge you guys, please do use your email for that, get it on paper, get documents signed, track those scope changes, because you too cannot afford to not be profitable on any changes, especially with the likelihood that you're estimating, for those projects had to be competitive to get the work in the first place. Exactly.
Speaker 2:Huge topic.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for joining me with that one today, joseph. I think we brought a ton of value. As we do five days a week, guys, we're here to help you master sales, simplify pricing and deliver premium level service. This has been another episode of Letrepreneur Secrets. I cannot wait to see you guys again. Looking forward to it, take care, cheers.
