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| Hello to all out Active Licensees! I hope this message finds you all doing well and business is booming! |
| | We are about 3 weeks out from our Atlanta event and my number one questions is what have you done to build your broker business? How have you progressed, improved, and positioned your business? |
| | As of right now, it looks like this month, July, will be our best month to date in my broker business. Obviously, we still have another 5 days, but it is looking good to hit this milestone. How did we do it? Like you, once upon a time, we "started with one" - one contractor, one store, one customer. |
| | One thing I want to remind you of is the importance for you/your contractor to always, always, always inspect furniture and large items before they are loaded. We just had a potential issue yesterday where a customer purchased some furniture from Ashley's and when loading it on the truck, our contractors noticed some damage. He took pictures, notified the store manager who came to inspect and even took their own pictures, and then notified the customer. |
| | The store tried to convince the customer to take the damaged piece for a discount, but the customer rejected that option in favor of waiting for a new piece when a new shipment arrives. |
| | Needless to say, had our contractor not inspected everything, taken pictures of the damaged piece, and then notified the store manager (very important), we all know everyone would have blamed our contractor for damaging the piece in transit. It definitely would have developed into a "he said she said" situation with our contractor receiving the short end of the stick. |
| So, some key take-a-ways from this issue: - Make sure you train your contractors to inspect everything before loading. If items are in boxes, inspect the boxes to ensure they don't appear damaged. Don't even drive off the lot with damaged pieces
- If items are already bubbled wrapped by the store, just do your best to inspect the items through open areas and, if necessary, ask questions from staff who wrapped the items
- Have your contractors take pictures! Everyone has a cell phone so there is no excuse not to take pictures to cover everyone's butt
- When damages are discovered or any possible issue develops with a customer's order, make sure the contractor stops, brings the issue to the attention of the appropriate manager, and, if necessary, the customer. If the store can't replace the damaged piece because they are out of stock the customer will need to decide what they would like to do
- Don't put your contractors in un-winnable or poor situations. IE: As I mentioned at the seminar, don't even accept "loser" work orders - deliveries of excessively fragile or expensive items, pieces that are too heavy, or anything having the potential to put your contractors and you at risk
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| | Obviously, nothing I have shared is complicated. Definitely train and stress to your contractors the need to take care of the details and use common sense without overcomplicating what doesn't need to be complicated. |
| | Remember, "One!" One contractor, one store, one customer at a time, and just keep putting one foot in front of the other moving methodically forward. Before you know it, your business will start to snowball by serving one satisfied customer at a time. |
| | Also, continue to reach out to and work with your assigned Regional Director. All of my RD's have a great deal of experience. Leverage their knowledge and experience. It's critical! |
| See you at the Top!
Joel E. Davis
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