Podcast 126: How To Increase Your Job Profits with Tim Faller

Problems are usually due to a lack of communication and commonly has to do with the handoff of information from sales to production.
The lack of information is typically the reason why production struggles and isn’t as efficient as it could be.
What Tim is hearing is that the field staff feels like they are not getting enough information to do their project effectively.
Lack of management of a client is also an issue that Tim sees.
The contractor controls the flow of the work, the start time, the materials selections, etc.
Tim shares a story that reflects how critical processes are.
Salespeople should have a checklist that is completed for every job. The checklist should be created by the production team. Checklist considerations should include what the salespeople need in order to SELL the job, and what production needs in order to PRODUCE the job. This is often two very different things.
Tim suggests a meeting between the foreman and the lead installer with the sales team, and get the turnover of 3 or 4 jobs at a time.

They can read everything that’s in the paperwork.
What’s NOT in the contract?
Who are the clients? How do they think? Who will be home during the day? How do they make decisions? What are some of their fears? What are some of the access issues we might have?
What are the problematic spots that we might run in to?
Prepare for challenges and be ready. For example, how many layers of shingles will we be stripping? How much rot damage should we be prepared for?
These kinds of questions help bridge the gap between the sales team and production and prevent negative divides. The physical handoff of information from sales to production is important.
The lead on a job should check and confirm all materials before the project starts.
It’s possible that this task might be done 3 or 4 jobs ahead so that we’re all working on this.
This is one of those areas where the lead on the job can double-check for accuracy and request any extra items that might be needed, and take responsibility for making sure that the right materials are on the job site.
Somebody else can order it all, somebody else can make sure it gets delivered at the right time, but a checklist of items and physically seeing that all materials are ready to be delivered to the job site are an effective handoff.

Consider having a pre-stocked trailer on site that allows them to have extra nails, extra caulk, extra flashing, etc. so that they don’t have to run off and leave the job. This can be “indirect costs” for budget purposes.
Debrief – don’t just shrug off an issue after the job is done. When you see a problem, get your team together for a post-mortem meeting and discuss what can be done to ensure that the problem doesn’t happen again.
Dave shares the process he uses in roofing.
One of the biggest challenges a company faces is getting away from the “it is what it is” thinking.
If you have the correct culture in your business, everybody’s working toward the same goal.
Tim provides some tips on managing the client’s expectations.