Donnie Shelton - Build: How to build a phenomenal team for your service company

HOW TO CREATE A PHENOMENAL TEAM FOR YOUR SERVICE COMPANY

Donnie Shelton

Copyright 2017 by Donnie Shelton

Kindle Edition

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Publishers Cataloging-in-Publication data

Shelton, Donnie.

BUILD: How to create a phenomenal team for your service company. / Donnie Shelton

Shelton Publishing

1. Marketing. 2. Sales. 3. Business Development. 4. Management 5. Service Business Management

First Edition

TO EMILY, CAROLINE, MAREN, BLAKE AND OWEN. GRATITUDE IS THE KEY TO HAPPINESS AND I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR EACH ONE OF YOU.

PART I: THE REAL BUSINESS OF SERVICE COMPANIES

PART II: THE BUILD PLATFORM

PART III: IMPLEMENTING BUILD AT YOUR SERVICE COMPANY

There is a construct in computer programming called the infinite loop which enables a computer to do what no other physical machine can do to operate in perpetuity without tiring. In the same way it doesnt know exhaustion, it doesnt know when its wrong and it can keep doing the wrong thing over and over without tiring.

John Maeda

Does This Sound Familiar?

From the outside, Bill appears to be nothing short of a stunning success. As a small service company owner, Bill lives in a nice home, drives the latest model truck, and owns an office building complete with the newest technology, finest leather couches, and a small army of employees. Bills friends and family know him to be a hard worker with humble beginnings who has made it. With no advanced degree and limited financial resources, Bill has built his service company to what it is today on nothing more than hard work and sheer dedication. His friends and family are even a little envious because Bill appears to have unbounded freedom and limitless financial resources.

Bill started his career as a service technician at a highly successful service company. Bill quickly rose through the ranks and became known as the go-to guy because he had excellent technical abilities and wonderful people skills. Bill consistently earned the highest sales and highest customer service satisfaction scores. He outworked and outperformed every other technician and was eventually promoted into management.

After outperforming his peers month after month, Bill began to critique his employer. There were so many mundane systems, so many procedures and oh so many checklists. Bill believed that the majority of these systems were unnecessary at best and a waste of time at worst. Plus, guys like him didnt need those things to get the job done. In Bills mind, all those checklists and systems were for people with much less capacity and capability than him.

With his superior technical knowledge and sales ability, Bill eventually became disgruntled with his somewhat stoic and rigid employer and started his own service company. Bill knew that it would be a lot of work to start up his own business, but he dreamed of eventually making more money while also working fewer hours.

Now, 5 years later, at 6:10 a.m., Bill is heading to the office. Instead of living his dream of fewer hours and more money, hes barely surviving a nightmare of long days and high debt. Bill routinely works 10-12 hours a day and when he does go home, he cant be completely present. Hes at home physically, but mentally the business and all of its problems are ever-present in his mind.

Bills dream of more time hasnt panned out as he thought it would. This morning, as he pulls into the parking lot at the office, his mind is racing about his task list that he hasnt touched in over a month and his schedule full of back-to-back meetings. Bill knows that its physically impossible to do all the things that he needs to get done today. Hell, it would take him three full days with no distractions just to clear his task list, not to mention all of the decisions that are waiting for his approval. What scares him the most, though, is the feeling of being overwhelmed and the sheer fact that he has felt this way each morning for the last 5 years.

Bills dream of more money has evaporated too. Bill has had to take out credit lines to fund the operations of his business and hes resorted to using credit cards to pay the bills. Failed marketing campaigns and bloated payrolls have taken their toll on Bills cash position and with his credit tapped out and no savings, Bill has to go to great lengths to ensure that he has enough cash to make payroll. Each week, by sheer strength and determination, Bill miraculously pulls it off only to have the same issue the next payday.

When Bill worked for his previous employer, life seemed way simpler. He was busy, but somehow it seemed like a different busy, one that was a lot less stressful. He never had thoughts like, how can I possibly get everything done? How the hell am I going to make payroll next week? Will all of my employees show up today? Why do I always seem to be short on money at the end of the month? What am I going to do about an employee that I know I need to fire but cant afford to lose right now?

Now that he owns his own company, questions like these never seem to go away.

The reality is that most small service companies operate just like Bills company.

This is to say that most small service companies really dont work at all their owners do. Day after excruciating day, these owners and managers drag themselves to a business that started out as a dream but quickly escalated into a nightmare. Each day is riddled with unmotivated and unproductive employees who show up late and leave early if they even bother to show up at all.

Then there are the customer issues, the financial issues, the regulatory issues, and the issue list goes on and on. Problem after problem, headache after headache, year after year, the nightmare slowly sucks the life out of Bill and the other 90% of service company owners just like him.

Why is Bills story such a common one?

Why is it that most service company owners live their lives like this? How is it that such talented people, for one reason or another, believe that by working more hours and borrowing more money that they can turn a nightmare back into the original dream they once had?

How is it that the minority of service company owners have businesses that provide them with the financial means to live the lifestyle that they desire with the time to actually enjoy their lives? How is it that after work these owners can go home and be fully present with their families with no worry of whats happening at their company or what might happen tomorrow?

What do the highly successful service company owners know that the ones suffering through a nightmare dont? Do these successful owners work harder? Do they have and invest more money? Whats the difference?

The reality is that the successful service company owners dont work harder and they dont invest more money. Their businesses consistently kick off cash to them while requiring a minimal amount of their time.