March 2016 - ContractingCoach.com

E424: Review First Quarter And Re-Energize

March 31, 2016 TonyB 0 Comments

It’s the end of the first quarter. Time to review our progress, adjust and re-energize.

Review your progress
1. Dust off those goals and take-action items we set in December
2. Look at what you intended to do
3. Give yourself a grade on how well you did
Adjust and correct course – things change
1. Do any of your items need to be adjusted or amended?
2. Are some complete? Some now habits?
3. Should some be dropped off the list?
It’s time to re-focus and re-energize
1. Celebrate your successes and forgive your weaknesses
2. Make the necessary adjustments
3. Clean off your desk and get organized
4. Take your new take-action items and write down you “why” next to each one
5. Re-commit to taking action
6. Don’t forget to do your mini-reviews at the end of each week.

E423: Tracking Project Productivity

March 30, 2016 TonyB 0 Comments

To successfully meet our schedules we must monitor and adjust productivity.

Putting a target on paper is just the start
1. If you plan to finish a task by next Friday you can’t wait until Thursday to determine if you are going to make it
2. You have to monitor and track progress along the way
3. This allows for adjustments
To stay on schedule you have to track the productivity
1. Many projects get into crisis mode as the time runs low for a task because they didn’t track things along the way
2. Want to complete a task by next Friday then figure out how much needs to get done each day
3. I am taking a course that I want to complete in 3 weeks, I sat down this morinng and outlined how much I need to do every day to reach my goal – do the same for your project tasks
Putting it into practice
1. Start with a good 3-week look-ahead schedule
2. Choose a couple of key tasks that will drive the schedule
3. Based on the task, determine the best way to track it – SF / LF / Rooms / Areas
4. Start tracking the first day – make adjustments along the way to be sure and reach your milestones

E422: Strategic Partnerships

March 29, 2016 TonyB 0 Comments

Strategic partnerships can help us grow our business in new ways.

Benefits of strategic partnerships
1. Offer different services to your clients
2. Seek new clients / projects with combined capacity
3. Seek new markets with shared expertise
Growing your market with partners
1. Determine where you want to grow or expand
2. Find partners that offer strengths in those areas
3. Some examples
  1. Combination of earthwork contractor with a utility contractor
  2. A local builder teams with a contractor with expertise in a specific building type
  3. Contract partners with a designer to offer design/build solutions
Start out right with a solid foundation
1. Find partners with similar values
2. Be clear on expectations for all parties
  1. Start with a simple list
  2. Pay attention to the money – that’s where most problems occur
3. Establish some type of written agreement in the very beginning

E421: Ask Coach – Project Promotional Signs

March 28, 2016 TonyB 0 Comments

Putting up job site signs can bring great recognition, just be sure it’s positive.

Q: Should I install company promotional signs on my projects?

A: Yes, 99% of the time it’s a good idea.

Promotion and marketing are important
1. It’s the lifeline of the company
2. It brings in potential customers
3. Signs are a great tool for building awareness
4. The only people who will notice your project are people in the market for you
When they work and when they don’t
1. They work best on projects where the public can see your work
2. They also work well on projects that stand out and people notice
3. They don’t work on messy or unsafe projects
Do it right
1. Use signs that are professionally designed and built (don’t put a vehicle sign on a piece of plywood)
2. Place the in the proper location (safe, easy to see)
3. Keep your sign and your site clean
  1. If the site is not clean or it’s unsafe – take you sign down

E420: Boosting Our Confidence

March 25, 2016 TonyB 0 Comments

Be confident in your actions for they set forth an unstoppable force.

The power of confidence
1. You can be certain of your outcomes
  1. Think about a farmers confidence to plant seeds in the Spring to harvest crops in the Fall
2. Confidence, when done right, helps you expand your business
3. Confidence helps you be a better leader
Success is powered by confidence
1. You don’t need success to have confidence
2. Build a mindset of confidence
3. We need to balance our fears with our confidence
Boosting our confidence – some ideas and exercises
1. Be mindful of your self-talk
2. Plan and prepare for risks
3. Confidence is completely controlled by you
  1. Journal your successes
  2. Morning rituals / affirmations
  3. Tackle the things you fear
  4. Power posture (Ted Talk by Amy Cuddy)
  5. Take action every day

E419: Stand Your Ground And Say No

March 24, 2016 TonyB 0 Comments

Sometimes we just have to stand tall and say NO.

Saying No is something we often don’t do enough of – usually out of fear
1. Fear of scarcity – if we don’t get this job there may not be another one
2. A bird in hand
3. We feel pressured to say yes
Learn to stand your ground
1. Take control of the situation and master your domain
  1. Understand and always strives for what is best for your business
2. Some of the best deals are the ones you didn’t get
3. Remember the 80/20 rule
Follow the Boy Scout motto – be prepared
1. Protect your profits first – make every decision knowing the profits are a priority
2. Be prepared to walk away
3. Always know what is right for your company
4. Check you emotions at the door

E418: Collecting Lien Waivers

March 23, 2016 TonyB 0 Comments

Collecting lien waivers may take some effort but the results are well worth the time.

Liens and lien waivers
1. Liens are legal filings against a property that contractors and suppliers place when they have not been properly paid
2. Lien Waivers are documents that release the rights to file a lien
  1. Conditional – a conditional release is based on a payment
  2. Unconditional – is a full release that should only be signed in exchange for final payments
3. Filing requirements – they vary by location and you need to follow the proper rules – we will discuss filing notices associated with liens on a future Coachcast
Collect lien waivers is you are paying
1. If you are paying any vendors, suppliers, subcontractors, etc. you should be collecting waivers
2. You may already be providing waivers to your clients – are you collecting them from your vendors too
3. If you do this well you can promote it as one of your unique selling propositions
  1. Teach potential clients of the hassles associated with liens and let them know how you protect them
Get the rigth stuff without too much effort
1. Make sure you are collecting waivers with the proper language for your project location
  1. Zlien launched an amazing site for this at https://app.zlien.com/waiver_exchange/
2. You can create standard pay request forms that contain the appropriate conditional waiver language so all pay-aps have a lien attached
3. Collect them for your files and pass along to your clients as well
4. At the end, collect an unconditional waiver

E417: Know Your Potential Customers

March 22, 2016 TonyB 0 Comments

Get to know your target clients before launching your next marketing campaign.

The fundamentals of good marketing
1. The right message
2. The right audience
3. The right time
4. How can you figure this out if you don’t know your customers?
Know your customers first
1. Create Avatars of your ideal customers
2. Develop the full bios with a lot of details
  1. Where they shop
  2. What they eat
  3. What they read
  4. Almost like a dating profile
3. Use this information to target your next marketing campaign
  1. Create a message that resonates with your avatars
  2. Post the message in the right places

E416: Ask Coach – Dealing With Difficult Client Employees

March 21, 2016 TonyB 0 Comments

Take the high road when dealing with difficult managers.

Q: What is the best way to handle a project manager that is doing a bad job?

A: First, protect yourself. Second, try to help them improve and/or let the company know.

We run across them from time to time – those difficult people
1. The PM that is a moron
2. The superintendent that doesn’t know how to coordinate
3. People with an ego bigger than the door
How can we best deal with them?
1. Ask, can you fire this client after this project?
2. Yes:
  1. Document everything in writing
  2. Follow the contract to a tee
  3. Charge them for anything that is wrong
3. No: (this makes it tougher)
  1. Avoid making a knee-jerk reaction and calling management (try to fix in field first)
  2. Document everything in writing – present your concerns in a nice manner (avoid arguments)
  3. This difficult person may eventually see you are there to help and change tune
  4. Approach management after the project is complete
    1. If you approach them during the project they may feel you are trying to get out of something

E415: Keeping A Positive Mental Attitude

March 18, 2016 TonyB 0 Comments

A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances.

How do you look at things?
1. Is the glass half full?
2. Is an issue a problem or a challenge?
3. Are things possible or impossible?
4. How you look at things will have a huge impact on your ability to succeed
The are massive benefits to a positive mindset
1. You have more gratitude for what you have
2. It gives ou confidence to take on challenges
3. Allows you to be creative and find solutions
Learn to keep your attitude meter in the positive 51% of the time
1. Learn to watch your self-talk
  1. Stop every 20 minutes and write down what you thoughts are at that time then review at the end of the day – where there more positive thoughts?
2. Avoid the constant attacks of negative news in te media
  1. Understand that the media is not really focused on educating you on current events, they want to sell ads
3. Get outside in nature
  1. While you are at it skip and whistle

Month: March 2016