In the last Hotmail newsletter, I gave you the first half of the 109 things I learned at Mechanical Systems Week. The week was great… Great for networking. Great for product/service sourcing. Great for learning. Here’s part two of the list of things I learned.
1. Facebook is testing Facebook Offers, which will be free, but is not available to home services yet.
2. Lots of contractors seem to be tying Twitter posts to Facebook or Linked In.
3. Delegating social media is like delegating your marriage.
4. You should not delegate marketing or the checkbook. If you do delegate them, watch them carefully.
5. The same marketing principles that apply to a website, apply to a Facebook company page.
6. One of the best aspects of Facebook is the ability to tag pictures of company employees, because these show up in their timelines.
7. To create more employee Facebook photo opportunities, do fun company activities, take lots of pictures, and post them to Facebook.
8. Busy owners can perform social media from their phones while waiting (e.g., waiting for customers, waiting at the supply house, etc.).
9. First step to a successful exit strategy is to GROW your business to sell.
10. Second step to a successful exit strategy is to OPERATE a successful business financially.
11. Third step to a successful exit strategy is to MASTER the balance sheet.
12. Fourth step to a successful exit strategy is to INVEST in the key components of the business.
13. Fifth step to a successful exit strategy is to UNDERSTAND the valuation/set expectations.
14. The key components of the business are branding, a focused work mix, a professional team, assets, the workplace, and people.
15. For the 8th year in a row the Service Roundtable had the largest group at Comfortech/MSW!
16. People who earned $1 per hour in their first job, saved money. Gen Y does not.
17. Gen Y works hard… from 9:00 a.m. until 9:30 a.m.
18. Get Y starts their first job about five years later than Boomers. They do everything about five years later.
19. You know you are a Boomer if you own a highlighter.
20. How you are raised is the greatest influence on how you perform in the workplace.
21. We have different relations with technology based on our age.
22. For the first time ever, four different generations are sharing the workplace.
23. Gen Y cannot read cursive.
24. Gen Yers think they're special and unique. They have a 12th place ribbon to prove it.
25. At age 18, boomers went to work or school and then, work. At 18, Gen Yers go to school for seven years and then, moved back home.
26. Entitlement is a learned behavior.
27. Gen Y is in adultolesence. When surveyed, Gen Yers say adulthood starts at age 30.
28. Gen Y is not tech savvy. Gen Y is tech dependent.
29. The tech savvy generation is Gen X. GenY doesn't know how things work.
30. In order, Gen Y likes to communicate with text, email (though the Gen Yer only reads subject line), and social media.
31. Gen Y considers a phone call an invasion of privacy.
32. Gen Y struggles with face to face communication.
33. Gen X is naturally skeptical (actions speak louder than words).
34. Gen X is the most loyal generation, but the loyalty is to individuals, not organizations.
35. Traditionalists, the generation preceding Boomers, tends to have a strong military connection and are comfortable with delayed gratification.
36. Gen Y trusts traditionalists and feels a little sorry for Gen X.
37. Give Gen Y specific examples of the performance you expect. Gen Y lacks real world experience, so the obvious isn’t necessarily obvious to them.
38. Show Gen Y pictures & videos. They are visual learners.
39. The text number, 32665, is the short page for Facebook. Text “fan” plus YourFacebookPage and you will be a Facebook fan. Try it. Text “Fan ServiceRoundtable” to 32665.
40. Gen Y decides on the 1st day whether they will stay somewhere long term.
41. Charlie Greer is definitely a Boomer. He likes his pens… fb.me/PWUspwPP
42. Out of 100 homes in America, 60 contain homeowners mad about home comfort problems.
43. The keys to business success are marketing and leadership.
44. The key to leadership is allowing yourself to be led.
45. There's no one thing about marketing, there's a hundred things.
46. You have to brand your company all of the time or people will forget your name.
47. Hire a consultant who is an expert on marketing to women.
48. The average, industry wide, is a 65% conversion rate for CSRs.
49. Could door hanging magnets generate calls? One contractor gets 30% of his calls come from refrigerator magnets.
50. The Internet is now attracting price shoppers.
51. Customers calling off magnets are higher revenue with better conversions vis-a-vis search engine marketing.
52. Leaders influence their staffs.
53. The importance of coaches & mentors cannot be stressed enough.
54. Everything starts with your thoughts. It starts with believing you can do it.
Learn More at the Get & Keep Customers Roadshow. This half day seminar is coming to Chicago (10/9), Milwaukee (10/10), Boston (10/16), Hartford (10/17), Cleveland (10/23), Columbus (10/24), and Pittsburgh (10/25). It’s coming to Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, St Louis, and Kansas City in November. The seminar runs from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and includes lunch. Speakers and topics include • Matt Michel on “4 Dozen Simple Ways to Get and Keep Customers,” Brigham Dickenson on “How Your CSRs Can Close More Calls,” Jeremy Lowe on “Pricing Strategies to Boost the Bottom Line,” Jeff Evans on “Creating HVAC Customers for Life,” and Dave Moore on “New HVAC Technology That Will Make You Lots of Money.” For each location, up to 10 contactors can attend FREE if you mention CB Hotmail when you call to register! Call 877.262.3341.