You probably had to make some changes during 2020. Most businesses had to make adjustments of some kind or another — added safety procedures during service calls during the pandemic, or maybe a change in services and staffing levels.
Whether some of these changes are permanent as we enter a new year is yet to be seen. But the point remains that you addressed those challenges, and did what was necessary to push forward.
Master Rooter, one of the companies featured in this month’s issue of Cleaner, faced all the challenges of last year as a very new company. It’s not what owner Jason Lohoff expected from his first year in business. With almost half of his work coming from commercial drain cleaning accounts — a lot of businesses like restaurants and bars that immediately saw an impact at the start of the pandemic — Lohoff knew he had to act fast to keep his business alive.
He made a couple changes that refocused the direction of the company and redirected advertising dollars online. His plan worked and Master Rooter is thriving. The key was committing to those changes once the new course was set.
You don’t necessarily need to make sweeping, drastic changes to see success. Sometimes small changes can make a surprising impact. Take a look at where you can make small improvements and put them into action right away.
Maybe you want to improve the way you train your technicians, or create a script for how you want each service call to be handled in order to maximize customer satisfaction. The profile on Pronto Plumbing this month gives some great tips for how to do that. Something as simple as asking your technicians to greet customers a certain way can make a big difference, and maybe earn you repeat business.
This month’s Tech Perspective discusses another easy way to improve efficiency and profitability with GPS fleet tracking. Keeping drivers accountable is proven to increase efficiency and can reduce fuel costs. On the plus side for employees, the use of such GPS tracking systems helps verify on-time arrival at customer sites. Money Machines features new asset-tracking technology that means you’ll never waste time again searching for a lost tool or figuring out which truck currently carries which inspection camera.
There are countless small ways to simplify and improve the way you do business, a little bit at a time.
As you flip through these pages, you’ll notice some changes here, too. The contents won’t be different, but the layout has been given a refreshing makeover by our graphic designer, Keri Heibel. It features some bolder graphics and streamlined product pages.
A lot of the changes are subtle improvements. You might not have noticed some of them if I didn’t point them out. But small changes can add up to make a big difference.
I hope you enjoy this month’s issue.
