Contractor Selling

Last month, from my home in Templeton, Calif., I planned a wedding shower for my sister and future brother-in-law, who live in the Chicagoland area. As I started to make all the necessary phone calls to find a venue, caterer, flowers and so on, I quickly realized that even in a down economy, some companies just never get it when it comes to providing good service.  Had the word service become generic like Kleenex or Jell-O?

I called various  companies and explained  this was the first wedding shower I had ever planned for my one and only baby sister, that I wanted it to be very special and, well, perfect.

Share This Article| Rating:

Watch this funny video on  “Confessions of A Boiler Room Junkie” by Gwendolyn Bounds of the Wall Street Journal. Then read her article on how more and more consumers are doing “mechanical makeovers” when it comes to their residential heating and cooling home improvement needs by clicking on the link below the image.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704862404575350720302248474.html?KEYWORDS=In+the+new+dream+home

Share This Article| Rating:

Addition by Subtraction

I recently spent a rainy Saturday afternoon watching a show called “Hoarding: Buried Alive.”  I really didn’t have time to sit and watch TV but I couldn’t stop watching.  Once I was able to get a peak into what looked like your everyday average person’s home I found I needed to see more, like watching a train wreck. 

Share This Article| Rating:

Using A Map To Get Around

One of my favorite pastimes is traveling.  It doesn’t matter where, I just like to get out of the house and explore new places.  As a little girl, my mom would pack some snacks, gather my brother and sister and hop in the car and head off while my dad sat in the navigator seat with his oversized  Rand McNally map in hand.

We took many trips over the years, exploring all corners of the country, sometimes more than once.  We’ve traveled out east along the coast visiting the Nation’s Capital, the Big Apple and Niagara Falls. We’ve been out west stopping to see the Corn Palace, Wal-Drug, Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park. We drove through the Redwoods (literally through a redwood tree) and down the coast to Big Sur. We saw Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon and a re-enactment of the OK Corral in Tombstone, AZ.  I’ve been to Disneyland and Disney World many times over, all along my dad carrying his trusty map.

Share This Article| Rating:

What Does Tentative Mean?

Once in a while there’s a subject that crosses the boundaries between sales and customer service that Joe and I fight over who actually get’s to blog about it.  Today I won.

We are busy people, as I am sure the rest of you are too.  We have been so busy around here lately that we decided we needed an extra set of hands to help with some of the daily chores and hired a woman from My Girl Friday.  Colette.  She’s awesome!

Share This Article| Rating:

A Business Organizational Chart

If you are tired of parts not being ordered, customers not being called, or bills not being paid on time, or the daily “finger pointing” that goes on when you address these issues with your employees, then now is the time to create an organizational chart.   Whether you draw it out on paper or purchase an organizational software program to do it for you, creating a business organizational chart is the first step of seven in this eight- part series to organizing your service contracting office, once and for all.

Share This Article| Rating:

7 Steps to Organizing Your Contracting Office

Whether you already have an office, are moving into a new one or are just moving into an office for the first time after working out of your home, the thought of setting up or organizing your office can be daunting.

We usually find ourselves swearing to “get things organized around here for the last time.” Let’s face it. It can be very difficult to find something we need, like customers’ paperwork, check deposits, time sheets and the many other mounds of paper our business generates. We perform this vicious cycle only to find ourselves repeating the same process the next time we cannot find something.

What is the secret to getting your office set up for the last time? The answer is all in the way you plan to organize your environment.  In the following series, let’s discuss how to get your office set up and stay organized, once and for all.

Share This Article| Rating:

Is Your Service System Too Hard?

Last month we had a momentous occasion in our household.  Wyatt, who just turned one in February, graduated from his first ever survival training class with the Baby Seals Swim Academy. 

We watched our little one transform from being unsure and uncertain of the water and of his trainer, to being confident and courageous in and under the water. He is now willing and able to jump in the water and kick himself right back up to the top where he starts to float on his back, even while being fully clothed. 

What started out for us as a safety precaution due to the new pool in our backyard turned into one of the best decisions we made so far for our little guy.  We want to continue to build his confidence and his skills. 

Share This Article| Rating:

Give Hugs Not Handshakes

When Joe and I first discussed the possibility of me writing a “Dear Julie” blog for our Web site, I thought, “What could I possibly have to blog about?  Who would want my advice?  What if no one sends in any questions for me to answer?  Then what, Make up my own?” I spent many hours thinking about what I would say and how I would say it and still felt I had come up with nothing.

Share This Article| Rating: