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Fix Sales First: The Key to Growing Your Commercial Service Business

⏱️ 42:52 🎤 Jackie Aubel, Jennifer Shushanan
AUDIO EPISODE
Fix Sales First: The Key to Growing Your Commercial Service Business
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Chapters

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  • 0:00
    Do What's Right
    Jennifer shares the best advice she ever received: 'Do what's right, even if it's hard,' a principle she applies to both her personal and professional life.
  • 3:42
    Getting into the Trades
    Jennifer's journey into the trades began with a family-owned plumbing business before transitioning to HVAC and eventually becoming a service manager.
  • 5:40
    Lessons in Management
    As service manager at Jacob's Heating, Jennifer learned the importance of fostering positive workplace relationships, improving communication, and developing solid workflows and procedures to scale departments.
  • 13:34
    Growing the Department
    Jennifer transformed Jacob's Heating's service department from $600,000 to $2.3 million annually by addressing team morale, optimizing pricing for profitability, and focusing on efficient service delivery.
  • 32:04
    Joining BDR as Coach
    Mentored by Brent Jacobs and Bruce Wiseman, Jennifer was inspired to join BDR as a coach to help other companies achieve similar success, leveraging her passion for fixing things and helping others thrive.
  • 38:16
    Foundations for Commercial Service
    Key elements for building a robust commercial service business include optimizing labor, actively seeking clients that match team skill sets, pricing services profitably, and being a reliable provider.
  • 48:17
    Fix Sales First
    Jennifer emphasizes the BDR philosophy of 'fix sales first,' ensuring contractors set their pricing correctly to achieve profitability and overcome the fear of charging what they're worth.
  • 53:11
    Commercial Maintenance Strategy
    Jennifer outlines a five-step strategy for securing commercial maintenance agreements, focusing on target market definition, capability review, geographic focus, and creating marketing lists.
  • 1:10:41
    Farming for Replacements
    Contractors should proactively farm commercial accounts for future replacement opportunities through regular account performance reviews, understanding client budgeting cycles, and presenting multi-unit replacement strategies.
  • 1:26:39
    Sales Process and Follow-Up
    Jennifer advises service managers to understand and build a strong sales process for commercial maintenance, manage salesperson activity, and diligently follow up on all recommended repairs and quotes due to the 'fifth to twelfth contact' rule.

Speakers

J
Jackie Aubel
Host
J
Jennifer Shushanan
Senior Service Coach at BDR

Key Takeaways

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Prioritize building positive workplace relationships and fostering open communication within your team to improve morale and gain buy-in for changes.

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Document workflows and procedures meticulously; this standardizes operations, improves scalability, and streamlines training for new hires.

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Ensure your pricing structure is set for profitability by understanding your company's individual costs, rather than solely focusing on competitor pricing.

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Strategically target commercial clients whose needs and equipment align with your team's specific skill sets to maximize efficiency and customer satisfaction.

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Proactively conduct annual account performance reviews for commercial maintenance agreements to track profitability, identify open repairs, and forecast future replacement needs.

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Understand when your commercial clients do their budgeting and planning to position your company as a strategic partner for equipment replacement, offering phased or off-season options.

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Develop a robust sales process for commercial maintenance, manage salesperson activity metrics (contacts, appointments, proposals), and emphasize persistent follow-up on all recommended repairs, as most sales occur between the fifth and twelfth contact.

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