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We work with Contractors, Builders, and 'Trades' interested in DOUBLING, TRIPLING, or QUADRUPLING THEIR PROFITS.

So, what exactly does Q Six Business Growth Coaching do?

FINANCIAL SYSTEMS AND MARGIN?

ARE YOU FRUSTRATED WITH UP AND DOWN CASH FLOW?
DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE KEY NUMBERS THAT DRIVE YOUR BUSINESS?
DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MARK UP?

GROSS MARGIN ANALYSIS

Are you pricing with sufficient “fat” in your jobs to cover your fixed costs and leave a decent profit to you? Have you got a target gross margin for each type of job? Or do you simply use a “mark-up” on your costs?

MONTHLY PROFIT AND LOSS

Do you run a monthly Profit and Loss Statement and compare this to your monthly budget? Your Profit and Loss will tell you whether you’re making money in real time rather than waiting 12 months till your accountant gives you the good (or bad) news.

CASH FLOW MANAGEMENT

Have you struggled to pay wages, merchants or the taxman even though you think there is plenty of fat in your jobs? Plenty of good Contractors, Builders, and 'Trades' fail due to poor cash flow. A weekly Cash Flow Forecast (a prediction of your bank balance) is an essential tool for Contractors, Builders, and 'Trades'who want to sleep well at night!

BACK COSTING

Do you track budgeted costs throughout your large jobs? Can you tell if you are on track? Can you see the consequences of variations to your projected job profit? Without accurate and timely project reporting you run the risk of budget blowouts. And early information gives you the chance to drive the guys hard to pull the project back and keep on track.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Do you have a set of key numbers that you check at least monthly to ensure your business is on track? KPI’s give you an early warning of what areas in your business you need to address. Examples of KPI’s include monthly sales, Gross Profit Margin, the number of new leads, conversion rate, on-site productivity, labour utilisation and client satisfaction.

PRICING SYSTEMS

Do you have pricing templates and use set or unit prices to streamline your pricing and invoicing process? Can your team give clients a price on the spot? Do you check that all charge-up invoices are hitting your target margins prior to sending?

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE PROCESS

Have you got the right Terms of Trade and are you getting them signed by your clients. Do you have a written process to collect payment from clients including following scripts and letters and debt collection? Getting paid is the number one rule in business and slow payers are one of the main stress points for 'Contractors, Builders, and Trades'.

SYSTEMS

ARE YOUR LACK OF SYSTEMS HOLDING YOU BACK?
TIRED OF HAVING YOUR BUSINESS STUCK IN YOUR HEAD?
ARE YOU WORKING TOO MANY NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS?

A-Z OPERATIONS

Have you recorded all the tasks required to operate your business so your team is clear on what needs to happen? Take the top 20% of these tasks and ensure you have clear written checklists so you can guarantee quality service to your clients. For instance, have you got a clear process for ordering materials from your merchant or for maintaining stock levels?

JOB MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

Do you have a job management system that allows your team to enter their times onsite, that interfaces with your suppliers and makes your invoicing process streamlined? Can you schedule jobs, notifying your tradesmen in real time and track stock and onsite assets? Are your vehicles equipped with a GPS to keep everyone accountable?

PRE-JOB CHECKLISTS

Do you have a checklist to ensure that everything is ready for your jobs? Wasting time with builders and other clients who are disorganised will cost you thousands of dollars in lost productivity and multiple trips to site.

ADMINISTRATION MANUAL

Have you recorded all the key office tasks in a manual with “how to” instructions and videos so your office team can operate productivity? What would happen if a key office person left? Could a new person read the manual and hit the ground running?

TEMPLATES

For all repetitive tasks such emails, phone calls and quote forms etc. have you created a standard format template (or script) that ensures things are done the right way each time and saves your operation hours in repeat work?

QUALITY ASSURANCE CHECKLISTS

Do you have checklist for each job from start to finish so your Tradesmen don’t forget anything and you don’t have to check everything on site yourself?

TEAM

STRUGGLING TO FIND GOOD TRADESMEN, APPRENTICES OR OFFICE PEOPLE?
WANT A TEAM WHERE PEOPLE SHOW INITIATIVE AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY?
NOT SURE WHEN TO HIRE? UNSURE WHEN TO GET SOME MANAGEMENT HELP?

EMPLOYER OF CHOICE

Do you have a strategy for being the Employer of Choice for tradesmen in your area? What do you offer that makes your business stand out from the others to top quality tradesmen? Pay, conditions (vans, uniforms, technology, allowances, incentive programs), better systems, career opportunities, culture and reputation of your business make all the difference.

HIRING PROCESS

Do you have a 10 Step hiring process where you conduct interviews, reference checks, on-site interviews, personality profiles and pre-employment checks such as police checks? Or do you “wing it” and hope that gut instinct will get you through? Having a rock solid hiring process is one of the keys to buying back your time.

JOB DESCRIPTIONS

Do you have a clear job description for both your tradesmen and for the office team? Is everyone clear on what they are responsible for? Have you outlined 5 Key Performance Indicators for each role that you can measure performance against?

TEAM RULES OF THE GAME

Do you have a written code of conduct for how things are done around your business? Are all the expectations you have for your team around job performance to interacting with clients clear? Rules of the game allow your business to operate in a productive manner much like the rules of a hockey game stop it turning into chaos.

TEAM MEETINGS

Are you running a regular team meeting with a set agenda to keep the communication channels open and get feedback and suggestions from your team? Do you acknowledge good performance and plan regular Team Fun days to build the team culture?

PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS

At least every 6 months do you have a formal one-on-one appraisal with both your tradesmen, apprentices and office team? Are the Key Performance Indicators set down in advance so everyone knows what is expected? Do you set career and pay goals for the next 12 to 18 months to improve retention? Making time to develop your team is a key part to productivity and employee retention.

INCENTIVE PROGRAMS

Have you created an incentive program to drive and reward the right behaviour? Are your good guys rewarded for going the extra mile? Publicly celebrating excellent performance is massive for building the right culture in your operation.

MARKETING

DO YOU RELY ON WORD OF MOUTH FOR WORK?
ARE YOU GENERATING 20 TO 30 JOBS PER MONTH FROM YOUR WEBSITE?
DO YOU HAVE DIFFICULT OR SLOW PAYING CLIENTS YOU’D LIKE TO GET RID OF?

WEBSITE

Is your website optimised to convert traffic? Do you have separate landing pages for your different services? Does your site speak to a quality service provider or look ‘a bit tired’? A website will also improve the effectiveness of your other marketing and sales activities. If you don’t have a website, do you know where to start to get a profitable website up and running?

GOOGLE AD WORDS

Are you using Google Ad Words to drive traffic to your website? Do you know down to the dollar how much your leads are costing you and what your return on investment is?

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO)

Do you have a strategy to improve your organic search rankings on Google? Are you targeting the right key words and driving traffic to landing pages on your website? The top four google listings get 79% of the traffic. Are you in the top four?

CUSTOMER DATABASE

Are you building a database of all your clients and regularly contacting them with special offers via email and post? Do you have a system for driving servicing work after your installation work (e.g. gas servicing, HVAC equipment, water treatments etc)?

DIRECT MAIL

Are you targeting your key business-to-business clients with direct mail? High average sale and repeat clients such as builders, property managers, bathroom & kitchen suppliers can form a key part of growing your business.

UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION & GUARANTEE

Have you created a ‘point of difference’ for your business? Do you have a guarantee to stand behind your work? Without a clear point of difference you run the risk of competing on price.

MARKETING 10 X 10

Are you relying on one or two ways to get work? Have you created a tactical marketing plan (Marketing 10 x 10) where you test and measure ten marketing strategies that you can rely on to generate the work flow your business requires?

SIGNAGE

Do you have vehicle, site and building signage that communicates your Unique Selling Proposition and that has a clear call to action?

SALES

ARE YOU SICK OF LOSING WORK BASED ON PRICE TO CHEAP COMPETITORS?
WANT A SYSTEM TO QUALIFY YOUR CLIENTS ABILITY TO PAY BEFORE DOING THE WORK?
WANT TO STREAMLINE YOUR QUOTING PROCESS TO SAVE TIME AND GET MORE QUOTES DONE?

ENQUIRY SCRIPTS

Do you have a script for answering the phone to ensure a great first impression, that all the correct information is gathered and stored and that your potential clients are qualified on their ability to pay?

QUOTE REQUEST FORM

Do you use a standard template with all the key questions for gathering information when you visit a potential client so that creating your quotes is a quick and simple process?

TESTIMONIALS

Have you included testimonials in both written and video form from satisfied clients to provide “social proof” of your service levels? When you talk about your service clients see it as sales. When clients listen to testimonials the credibility factor is higher.

ONSITE INSPECTION CHECKLIST

Do you have a system to check all the fixtures and fittings onsite so you can identify opportunities for more work on each job? Adding a few hundred dollars to the sale will result in thousands (and in some cases) hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra sales.

COMPANY PROFILE

Do you have a company profile you can give to clients and prospective clients when they enquire? Having a company profile will enable you to position yourself as professional, an expert in your niche and create a point of difference.

FOLLOW UP SCRIPTS

Do you have scripts to follow up your quotes and create scarcity and urgency in the script to encourage your prospects to book their job in now? A follow up process can boost your conversion rates by up to 29%.

PRICE BOOK

Do you have a price book for retail clients so you can give a price on the spot and complete the job then and there? Are you using ‘pre-builts’ for your larger quotes to speed the pricing process meaning your builders are more likely to accept your quote?

SERVICING PROCESS

Do you have a process for servicing the installation work you have previously completed? Gas appliances, chimneys, heating and ventilation systems and water filters among others as examples ,all require servicing. Without a database and follow up system you miss out on sales and the opportunity to visit your clients and help then with other work they may need doing.

LEADERSHIP

WANT TO GET CONTROL BACK OF YOUR TIME?
NEED A STEP-BY-STEP PLAN TO TAKE YOUR BUSINESS TO THE NEXT LEVEL?
WANT TO SET EFFECTIVE GOALS AND GET OUT OF THE RUT?

MEASURE YOUR PRODUCTIVITY

Have you ever recorded over two weeks what you spend your time on? Without an accurate picture of what’s happening now you can’t make changes. Most of our members are astounded at how much time they spend on the low value $20 an hour tasks such as administration.

STARTING WITH THE END IN MIND

Would you start a project without a clear plan of the outcome? Q Six Business Growth Coaching members learn how to plan what their company will look like in 3 years’ time when the business is operating at its full potential. Do you know what turnover you need, what profit you require, how many and what kind of staff and what type of work you’ll focus on? One of best ways to stay focused is to have clear, written goals that you refer to daily. Your goals act as an anchor and give you a strong “Why” when you find yourself getting side-tracked.

CREATE A DEFAULT DIARY

Have you created not-negotiable blocks of time to work on the $200 an hour tasks such as pricing, marketing, sales, project management and improving your systems and team? Without a structured plan for your time you run the risk of jumping from one crisis to the next. Not a recipe for getting the best from the day.

SOMEONE TO HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE

Do you try to keep things to on track and despite your hard work the same challenges and tasks stay on your to-do list? Would an elite athlete expect to reach their potential without the feedback from their coaches and support team? With the pace of change and competition in the trades industry an outsider’s perspective makes all the difference. Whether that is a more experienced Tradesman or a specialist Trades Coach, you might survive but will you reach your potential? An outsider will tell you the truth. And as they say the truth will set you free!

REGULAR ACTION PLANS

Have you created a list of the key challenges (not just on site) you want to knock off in the next 90 days? What systems, marketing, financials and team improvements would have the biggest impact in the next 90 days? 90 days is an ideal time frame as it give you long enough to complete but not too long to lose momentum. Are you creating action plans for your key guys and support staff to drive change throughout your company?

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