Why am I not making enough money?  I consistently worry about saving money for the next big purchase.  I wish I could find a way to charge the right price and still make enough money for the purchases I need to make to grow the business.

Here are three things to start doing so that you can increase your profits.

1. Do you have a sales process in place for the people that sell for you?  The second part is probably more important than the first, is it written down?  The reason you need it written down is so that people can refer to it and follow it.  Also, so you can have some consistency in how you approach your customers and so you can train/coach your people to that process.  By having a process, you and your team can be more successful, and therefore more profitable.

2. Are you sure you are charging the right price? This can be confusing because you might think, I am charging just what the market can bear, or my competition is charging this, so we must do likewise to be competitive.  That is not the right answer.  What is your overhead, your true costs on everything you put into a job, down to the screws and mastic, and your actual labor?  What kind of net margins should you make to stay in business?  You need to determine your value in the market, not the value of the market.  If you are worth X, then charge X.  With the proper pricing tool and proper method, you can see what you should be charging on each job.  Once you determine your price, build the value of your product and service, then go sell it.  Do you have the proper pricing tool to help you get the profits you think you are getting or wanting?  PricebookPlus is a great option to help manage the data, decrease time spent on the job, and increase profits.  Contact them directly here for a free demo.

3. Are you holding your sales and install teams accountable and to the same standard? If you tell the salespeople that you have a higher standard for them than your install team then you have created a problem.  Likewise, if you hold your install team to a higher standard than your sales team you have created a problem.  This goes back to the second point about proper pricing.  If you are doing top notch work that looks and operates differently than your competition, then you should charge more for that level of service.  Everyone on your team, from the customer service reps that answer the phone to the service tech that goes to the home, the salesperson, and the install team that shows up, all need to exude the same level of customer service to every customer that you service.  This will also drive profits when everyone is doing their job properly and you are taking care of customers.

How can we contribute with any one of these areas or all three?  Maybe you would like know what else you can do to grow your business, contact us today for a free 30 minute consultation.