If your goal is to grow your company, then you have to get sales. To get sales, you have to get leads. Before any of that, however, leads must be quality and everything you do in your marketing efforts stems from the way your business is viewed in your prospect eyes. Building Trust To Create the Perfect LeadThere's a reason word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful business growth strategies; its because it includes trust. Your clients need to trust you before they will spend money with you - and if it comes by recommendation by a friend, then your trust is already built it. In marketing circles, this phenomenon is called "social proof", and it works wonders when getting someone to take the jump to become a client. After all, they have to trust you with their home, that your pricing is accurate, and that your materials are consistent with what you bid. What if you don't have a huge word-of-mouth following? Or perhaps you want to aggressively expand your business beyond its organic reach? All lead generation has to be viewed in a similar light of trust. Analyze every channel that your business currently uses for sales and ask the following question: Does this channel allow my client to build trust with me? Here are some examples of channels that other restoration and remodeling company's have used to build their companies: Business Partnerships - Are your business partners primed with the right resources to communicate your company's vision?Online Advertising - Is your advertising integrated with an informative website, with testimonials, trust seals, and 3rd party verification?Billboards - Does your message resonate with your audience in multiple ways?Yellow Book Advertising - Does your ad have a clear call-to-action; and when they call in, can these people find your website and workplace effectively?Radio - Does your advertisement build trust with your audience. Does it provide an avenue for the listener to take action for more research?Direct Mail - Are you targeting properly? Does your marketing suggest due diligence and non-spammy practices?Commerce Memberships - Do the governing bodies understand who you are, and will they vouch for your services?Peer Networks - Are your peers aware of your strengths, and will they feel comfortable sharing their business with you because you will do a good job? Build trust and gaining "social proof" are some of the most important things you can do for your company if you want to build it to new heights. Who are your company's lead evangelists?

Many people would answer this questions saying, "get a sales person",  or "have our business development team work on the sales".The real irony is that when the responsible party or parties are asked, they always have an answer. The scary part is that most of the time the person asking for the information has no way to verify that what they’re being told is true and/or accurate. Most people giving the answers are convinced they are correct, but they are usually answering the questions from their memory and sometimes with what they think the person asking wants to hear.As we’ve heard all of our business life, everyone in the company should be doing business development in their own way. The person responsible for knowing all that is going on, though, is the owner. The owner needs to set up a manual system that will keep track of all of the company leads. It’s actually a pretty simple request, but most companies are not able to keep track of all of them. This system must be able to complete the following functions:It must be accessible to all members of the company that come in contact with any and all potential clients.It must be used by the owner more than anyone else in the company.The owner must hold weekly meetings with all members of the business development team to review all assigned leads. They must then brainstorm future efforts as to how they need to be handled.The team members must attend the weekly meeting and be must be able to answer any and all questions regarding their leads.The company premise must be that if a lead and the resultant notes are not in the system, than there has been no efforts taken.All members of the team must be held accountable for their leads, especially the owner.Once you have had your manual system in place for three to six months, it may be time to consider investigating software to use. This would allow all members of your team to view everything that is going on or not going on as it is happening. Here’s a look at some software (in alphabetical order) that I see my clients using and getting good results with:ACTClient RunnerDASHJPPLuxorOutlookRestoration ManagerXactimateAs a rule of thumb, it takes three to six months to get a software up and running that will meet your needs. Here are some of the criteria to pay attention to during the selection process:Has the team identified the criteria, in writing, that it feels the software needs to do?Has a team been set up to review each of the possible software available?Have they selected three or four candidates that they feel meet the team requirements?Have the team review the three or four candidates and prioritize the software in the order of what they feel is needed.Ask for a list of users that they can call and ask the following questions:a. Has the software company lived up to what they promised in writing?b. Has the software done what the company needed?c. Has technical support been there when they were needed?d. Does the software connect to other software that your company uses?e. Does the software generate the reports that your company needs?f. Has the software company worked with you to do special reports that you think you needed?g. When did they know and how long did it take to know which software to buy?Software companies want to please you and they also want to make a sale. Please make sure that you get the opportunity to test the software you select and that the price of the software jives with what you deem worthy.

It seems that the current trend in the industry is to grow one’s business by opening an additional office in another town, the logic being that if your existing office is doing $1 million, then opening a second office will bring in an additional $1 million.Uh huh. Having watched this process occur over and over, it appears that most of the time, it doesn’t quite go that way. Actually, what seems to happen most of the time is:The owner starts working more hours.The owner starts spending more time at the new location.The owner starts spending less time at the first location.The first location starts to lose direction, momentum and money.The second location has to hire some, if not all, new people.The second location needs additional equipment.The second location takes jobs at below normal pricing to get started.The second location starts to be a drain on the cash of the first location.The headaches increase at both locations.The risk has at least doubled for the entire company.A restoration company needs at least 10% of its sales volume in cash to keep the company running smoothly (I strongly suggest keeping 20% liquid). Unfortunately, most company owners believe that they will “lubricate” the new office out of their existing operation’s cash flow.What usually happens is that both existing and new become starved for cash. It’s the equivalent of “leaning out” the economic engine to the point of starving both companies of cash, and both locations will come to a screeching stop.Think back to the time when your business was smaller and a lot simpler to run. If you went back and analyzed it, you would find that, for the effort you were expending, you were actually making the maximum return on your efforts. This is known as the “sweet spot” in business and is the lowest stress point in a business.Stress is a major factor that affects health. The higher the stress level, the higher the potential risk to your health. A lot of owners do not get an annual physical. As a result, they are unaware of what stress is doing to them.When they finally do have a health issue, it’s much more serious than it would have been had they been getting regular check-ups and addressing issues as they occurred. I believe that, for the risks a working owner takes running the business and the stress being shouldered, he or she needs to earn 10% of their total sales in compensation and 10% of their total sales in net profit.I know, you are a lot less stressed when you have what you consider to be a “comfortable” cash cushion. A word to the wise: dealing with banks, when you need money, they will not lend it to you. When you don’t need the money, they will lend you all that you care to borrow. So have the ability to borrow the cash you need before you need it.The most stress that I see is when companies grow their volume and outrun their available cash. It’s very easy to get ahead of your cash when you do not control your receivables. Where there is much less stress is when the owner grows and controls their profitability.Let me ask you, which company you would rather have?A company that does $1 million and pays you $200,000.A company that does $10 million and pays you $200,000.I don’t know about you, but I would much rather make the same money running the former; it’s easier to run a smaller company!A lot of owners believe volume is synonymous with intelligence, meaning that he who has the largest volume in the business is the smartest person in the business. Ego is a very necessary requirement to be successful in business; it’s just as necessary to learn how to control it. For example:A young and very aggressive Harvard MBA who had no industry experience was determined to show his business network how it was supposed to be done. He refused all help, bought the company and proceeded to add multiple additional locations around his state. His avowed goal was to grow his volume at a rapid pace.As he grew the volume, the easy part, he quickly discovered was that insurance companies are slow to pay companies, and that he was unable to borrow enough additional money to operate the business on while he was waiting for payment. The standard bank line of credit is based on collateral and/or a percent of your receivables, usually 70% and for a term of time, usually 60 days. What he discovered was that when he needed additional money, no one was willing to loan him any. In spite of his Harvard MBA and his motivation, he ran out of money and both he and the company went bankrupt.Example two: A company’s owners decided to grow their profitability and let volume happen out of the effort. Their prime motivation was very simple: they “wanted to be able to sleep at night.” They worked constantly at every job being produced at their bid margin, believing it wasn’t worth taking a job that they could not make money on. It did not go perfectly, but it did go forward and upward. They have quadrupled their volume at their desired profit margin. They have also saved a sizeable amount of money and are able to build a new building this year.What am I trying to tell you? You need to grow your profitability first, your volume second and your ego third.Wishing you good profits, good volume and a good business life!