All In The Family....

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"We really are just one, big family here at __________. Welcome aboard!"

If you've been on this planet long enough to have had multiple jobs, there's a good chance you've heard those exact words. The person speaking those words...whether it be the HR Rep from a multinational conglomerate, or the old man who has owned the "shop down the road" for decades....they generally believe the sentiment behind those words to be true.

No one is naïve enough to believe that getting hired by a new outfit will generate the same emotions as a marriage. No man has ever stated that his best day was a toss-up between the birth of his son and the day he got hired. 

If you're a business owner, you may have uttered these words yourself. Chances are, you believed the sentiment. But why? Why is it important for us to portray the "family" aspect of our workplaces?

The answer should be clear this time of year. Family is everywhere. All the imperfections. All the awkwardness. Followed by that intense feeling of separation when it's time to go back to our "real-life." Our families provide safety. They provide a sense of belonging. Those are the qualities to which we are referring when we mention the workplace family. 

Does your team feel as though they are part of your family, or do they view you as a "just a boss?" Neither answer is necessarily wrong, but please allow us to make our case for the former. Trending Up Digital believes that treating your team like genuine members of your family will produce far more lucrative and sustainable growth than the bossy way ever will.

Like any family, too much "love" can cripple a work relationship. We all know kids who were never disciplined or held accountable for anything. They're nightmares as adults and even more so as teammates. Set standards. Set goals and expectations and be firm. Like the parents of the valedictorian. Strict. Demanding. But so proud of success.

 

Families don't become dynasties overnight and your team isn't any different. Each member of your team has specific skills, fears, weaknesses, and goals. Use them. Some are paralyzed at the idea of sales.. don't send them prospecting. "Get over it" doesn't work these days. Unlike your kids, your team can choose to go interview to live with another family and they will pay him to do so. 

Your family is what makes you who you are. Good or bad. Your work-family is no different. If they don't feel love and safety at "home" they'll seek those needs elsewhere. 

Think about your family this week. Work family and otherwise. Reflect on your relationship with them and let's go make 2023 a Win-Win for ALL of us!

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Sometimes The Win Is In The Breakup...

 

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Putting the word "breakup" in the title of anything this close to the holidays is a bold move, but bear with me. It's not the Hallmark Movie tear-jerker that the headline may lead you to believe. This is a tale of victory. We take a roundabout way to get there, but let us illustrate how NOT working together may sometimes be the best thing for all involved. 

If you're a business owner seeking information about marketing your HVAC company, it is likely that you're a few years removed from High School. Think back to those glorious days when you didn't need coffee to survive, and your back didn't hurt...paradise, right? Remember the relationships? Remember how immaturely you handled them? Unless you are one of the very few people in the world to have successfully nurtured a "sweetheart" into a spouse, you're probably glad you didn't end up with one of those trial-runs. (Guess what....they feel the same way!)

Business is similar. We've all pushed for a contract or a deal that we probably should have just let go. Whatever it is inside us that refuses to read the writing on the wall...that voice that says "ignore those red-flags"...it wreaks havoc on us sometimes. 

Maturity does a lot to silence that voice, but in business, especially in the early stages, saying "no" to a sale is one of the hardest things to do. Being able to see the deal for what it is....that's something that only comes with experience. Painful, often costly experience. 

A customer who demands that you do something to compromise a firmly held belief is not one that you want to base a long-term strategy around. If your pricing is confusing and leaves the prospect with more questions than answers, you're probably not a good fit. Trust can't be established in those scenarios and no matter how hard we try, lucrative business relationships can't happen without trust. 

Trust the experience. Be wise and mature enough to seek the guidance of those who have gone before you. 

The collective leadership, the ones informing the strategies that will guide your company to that version of success you pictured a few paragraphs back...we've navigated our fair share of relationships that hindered our own path to success. We've pushed for sales that ended up costing us more than we made and we've been talked into deals that we shouldn't have considered in the first place. We learned. We analyzed and stored that information for use with YOU. 

Win-Win Marketing requires that both parties benefit from the relationship. Sometimes the only way to insure that a friendship can remain intact is to abandon the idea of a business relationship. 

Kenny Rogers was right when he said "you gotta know when to hold 'em, Know when to fold 'em....Know when to walk away...Know when to run."

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It Starts At The Dinner Table....

Culture is a wonderful thing. Most of the time. There are some cultures that may interest you about as much as sitting atop a bonfire, but for the purpose of this discussion, let's assume we're talking about the kind of cultures most commonly associated with clever commercials and 'fun-to-say' menu items. Corporate culture is just as important to the continued health and relevance of a company as it is to a university or a sports franchise.

You're the owner of the company. You're the one they follow. It's your culture that they are buying into, so you better make sure you have identified it before they do it for you. Or even worse....before failure does it for you. 

That sounds harsh, but success these days requires more than just a clever tagline or a beautiful logo. Your passion has to be their passion. The people who are out there on the streets, entering the homes of your customers...if they aren't bought in....your passion dies before your prospect ever gets a chance to witness it.

Identify your message. What is that you want to say? What is it that you want your brand to say? Don't just be another HVAC company. Give them a reason to choose you over the other guy. You all have the same tools. You're all working on the same machines every day and dealing with the same issues. Culture is what sets you apart.....if you do it right. It can't be forced. It can't be demanded. It is something that others see you exhibiting and they want to emulate it.

So, what is it that goes into building an effective and prosperous culture for your small business? Do people really care if my team is wearing a pressed shirt, or do they just want their A/C fixed? Both! The answer is a resounding "BOTH" but it is delivered in the form of a check being written to the other guy if you doubt the importance of culture. 

Here we go.....

1. Credibility - If they don't believe you have the ability to deliver what they're out there selling for you, you've lost. Not only will a lack of credibility destroy your Sales Force from within, but word travels at warp-speeds within your Market if you can't fulfill your promises. The US Army Infantry Division has a motto - "Deeds Not Words." Think like an infantryman. Show them your work. Don't tell them about it. Besides...have you ever met a soldier who doubted the credibility of his unit?

2. Respect - We've all worked in an environment in which we felt disrespected in some form or another. It sucks. Does your team feel respected? Are their voices heard? If they feel respected at the "dinner table" then they will act with respect when in front of your prospects. Picture a High School for a moment. Picture any group of 20-30 High School aged students. Among them, you will be able to instantly identify those who are raised in homes where respect is a top priority. The ones who feel respected at home portray respect because it's part of their "culture." Use your dinner table wisely. 

3. Fairness - It's called "The Golden Rule" for a reason. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Sounds biblical because it is. The wisdom in that statement has been around, unchallenged, for that long. Don't play favorites. Don't reward groups when an individual achieved the results and vice-versa. Fairness is the piece that makes Win Win Marketing possible. 

4. Pride - Take pride in what you do. Remember what made it possible for your company to hire a team in the first place.,...pride in your work. Remember how proud you were when you won that first contract? As you drove away from that handshake, did the thought of cutting corners or cheating ever cross your mind? Hell NO!! You wanted to do the best job possible and accept the steady string of referrals that was surely to follow, right? Instill that feeling in your team and your brand will stand out among your prospects. Take pride in your brand. From the way you dress to the vehicles in your fleet....display the pride you have in what you do.

5. Teamwork - Nobody wants to be the one who lets his whole team down. If you are able to instill a genuine sense of teamwork among your staff then you work together rather than against one another. Individual goals are great and should be encouraged, nurtured, and even joined....but they should NEVER be allowed to hinder the collective goals of the team. Act as a unit, win as a unit. You get to be the coach who delivers that rousing halftime speech to propel the team to victory. 

6. Customer Focused - Don't put your team in a position where they don't believe you will protect the relationships they're working so hard to build. Sales takes trust, rapport, and a lot of time....if your team feels like you are only in it for the money and not the people who give it to you, they'll start to side with the prospect in situations where they should have supported you. Always identify the  benefit to the customer when implementing new policies. Your team will resist changes a lot less if they feel like the proposed changes will benefit the customer they have to explain it to.

Got questions? You should! Let's get together and discuss them.

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Friends Say "No" Too...

 

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To say that we are living in a new age of Customer Service is a gross misrepresentation of how drastically things have changed over the last decade or two. 

Yes, the Internet is arguably the greatest invention in the history of mankind. The advances that have been made possible with the omnipresence of information is  incalculable. But not all that came with the internet is good. 

Everybody thinks they're a star. Everybody thinks their opinions are to be taken as gospel. The internet provides safety where perhaps it shouldn't, but for businesses and the way we do things as owners therein, the last few decades have meant constant adaptation. 

One of the most glaring examples of this change is the fact that a "no" isn't always received in the same manner in which we have grown accustom. In the old days; in offices full of papers and pencils and machines no longer identifiable, rejection was quick. It stung. The ones in which a lot of effort had been poured and a lot of strategy had been laid....those really stung, but you got your answer at the presentation table and you moved on. 

Today, that's not the case. Your "presentation" is only a small part of the information you are expected to provide prior to the sale. Here's a few of the other ways in which you are expected to deliver "Decision-Making Materials" to your prospects today:

• Your Website must be informative - They'll spend a lot of time on your site before you ever get a chance to talk to them. Stay up-to-date on what information is being relayed by your competitor's sites because the differences in the two could be the deciding factor. 
• Social Media is a given. Your business can't survive without it, so find a voice and speak it often! That sounds silly, but the more material (Content) you put out there for your prospects to consider, the longer they spend seeing "Your" message. It doesn't matter if it feels like you've posted the same material a million times. Keep posting it in as many ways as you can think of. You never know which one will grab their eye.
• Google is the King of the web. Playing by their rules and taking advantage of the many, many resources they make available to you is essential to your success. Advertise where people are. Google IS where people are. 
• Google Maps - That's how they find you when they're actually out on the road looking for "you" or someone like you. Let that one sink in. 

Think about it...all of those ways that potential clients research you and form an opinion of you prior to your first meeting. If you have incoherent messaging across your Online Presence you're probably going to lose a lot of sales for which you never even knew you were in the running. 

If, after all of their research, you are still given an opportunity to sit down and present your case as to why you should be the HVAC company they trust for their 9 locations with 13 rooftop units each and a yearly maintenance schedule that brings a smile to your face as you read these words...your follow-up game better be the strongest of anyone they've talked with yet. 

You better make sure that you keep your name and your plan in the front of their brain without annoying yourself into a blocked contacts list. 

Let Trending Up Digital help. 

Sit down with us. In less than an hour, and in plain language, we can show you exactly what you need to improve and how you need to improve it. No industry jargon....just simple A,B,C scoring systems. 

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What Makes Trending Up Digital Different?

Let's face it....Digital Marketing Agencies are not an elite group. There are literally hundreds of us in every city and as business owners, we've probably heard from or of all of them. Like restaurants, there are many in your neighborhood that you will never try for one reason or another. They don't serve cuisine you're into. They have an ugly sign...you hate their parking lot....they are rumored to have started a cult....whatever the reason, it comes down to personal choice.

You spend your money at the places that you feel comfortable in doing so. When it comes to the money of our businesses, most of us are even more cautious. So why is Trending Up Digital Services so confident in our ability to lead YOU and your business into a Win-Win Marketing partnership? It's our experience. 

Every agency you meet with will have experience in marketing and the concepts therein, but we are confident that very few if any of them are licensed to possess the kind of specific experience we have. Furthermore, even fewer of those have gained the kind of perspective from that experience that the collective leadership of Trending Up has been able to obtain. 

Our founder, Rich Giles, has spent many successful years as a Business Broker. Early in his career, Rich noticed that an overwhelming majority of the business owners he met with who stated that they were "not yet ready to sell their company" felt that way because of problems and issues related to marketing. 

Some business owners needed to boost their sales in order to boost their attractiveness to potential buyers. For others, staffing issues kept the For Sale sign out of the proverbial front yard. Maybe it was their overall online presence that needed enhancement. Any marketing agency can say "we will drive sales" but how many of them would you trust to help you navigate those waters? 

We have that experience! Win-Win Marketing is a unique concept that requires Trending Up to be so much more than just a "part of your marketing puzzle." We ARE your marketing puzzle. We're the box you toss the puzzle pieces in, we're the closet you keep the box in....heck....we're the store you bought the puzzle from! 

We win when you win. We win when your marketing department comes in under budget. We win when you hire 2 more people to handle the increased inbound call-flow. We win when those 2 new-hires are offered permanent positions on your team. 

Trending Up is not interested in quick-hit results that overwhelm more than they produce. An explosion of sales is great on paper and would certainly increase the invoice Trending Up could send you, but we want sustainable growth. We want growth that you can handle. Growth that will produce new advocates within your community. We will offer strategies that take into account the future of your company, it's employees, it's customers, and it's reputation. 

There are no cookie cutter approaches. What works for your brother's company might not work for yours. You have different teams and different budgets. You probably have different goals as well. Don't trust the success of those goals to a company who's never been to the destination to which you are trying to take your company. 

We want to be your Marketing Team until you are ready to ultimately let go of your business. Whether that's a brokered sale or a simple retirement in which you hand over the keys to a family member....Trending Up's targets will always be much further down the road than the other guys. It's how we think. It's who we are. 

We're ready when you are. Let's go get some wins!

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Would You Buy Your Company?

 

Once we get that first sale....or land that first client, our minds tend to get rather laser focused. As business owners, we go from "will this work" to "it worked...now what?" in the blink of an eye. Once the ball gets rolling, we're not stopping to go back and set things up "the right way." We're too busy building upon the success of the first sale to create another. 

At some point, regardless of where you stand today; you're going to part ways with the company you are currently working so hard to build and maintain. Those relationships you are nurturing with the intensity of a first time parent....they're the seeds that will help grow your company into something worthy of all your front-end investment. 

That part about "parting ways" with your company stuck in your brain, didn't it? Much like buying or selling a home....we tend to look at the destination rather than the journey. The new home will be great but first, there's the loan application process, the physical move as well as the nightmare of transferring all the utilities and bills, etc. Those visions of family traditions unfolding in that new home hardly seem worth it when you're loading up the truck, but once all the boxes are gone and the dust has settled....you get the picture. 

Selling your HVAC or Plumbing business will be a similar process when you are ready. In the meantime, there are a number of things you can do to enhance the "curb appeal" of your company. 

First, let's be honest about something. If you don't put the time into maintaining all the components of your business, no one will want to buy it. Your fancy logo....your 50 page website....your 75,000 followers....none of it means a thing unless you have a book of business. The old adage "sales cures everything" is as true today as it was when your Grandfather said it. Get your CRM setup and get familiar with it from the very beginning. Those names are what makes up a significant portion of your future value so treat each one of them like a winning lottery ticket. 

Second, you need brand recognition. Nothing increases your brand like Social Media, but it is a beast. Doing it with any measurable level of success is even more of a beast and quite frankly, it's not one that most business owners have time to do on their own. 

Third, you need to be visible. When people go online and search for "HVAC near me" your company needs to pop up near the top of those results. If they can't find you, they can't hire you. If they don't hire you, they can't leave you five-star reviews. These are all critical in determining how that eventual "parting of ways" goes. Will it be a happy, fortune-filled event, or will it be an enemy you fend off until it finally defeats you? Let's make it a party, okay?

Trending Up builds all of our Win-Win Marketing Strategies around the idea that one day you will be "parting ways" with the company you're currently hiring us to promote. If we do our job correctly, you'll be parting ways with a big check in your pocket. We like big checks as much as you do. What we like even more is watching you build up the value of your future check a little each day. 

Let's go get some wins!

www.trendingupdigital.com

800.852.8676