Butting Heads With a Team Member? Easiest Way to Work Through Conflict Together

If there's one thing that I can guarantee that you're going to face in the roofing world, it's that you're going to want to scream or punch or get in a fight with someone on your own team. I'm talking beef. You're having issues, built up resentment and frustration and it is a two way street. So whether you're in leadership or an owner or you're a salesperson, this video is for you. Because I know how it goes. I've been in your shoes. We through the growing pains of the roofing business, which is wildly fast paced, kind of the definition of growing pains. Like what other business can you scale by millions like that? And things break. Production, cash flow, salespeople, roles and responsibilities, communication to customers. There is a weak link and that weak link snaps and then it causes tension. And for the salesperson, it results in a lack of confidence of being able to stick stand there in a customer's home making claims about your company and the work you're going to do. If in the back of your mind you're questioning, is that crew going to show up, is this going to happen again? This creates a level of tension in our own core integrity that slowly poisons our earning potential because we can't sell what we can't believe in. And then it leads us to this point where we almost work our way into a financial situation so we can just have the decision made first that we have to part ways. And I don't want to see that happen. And on the other side, I see owners and managers that have conflict and they don't appropriately work through it and unnecessarily fire someone or they allow it to continually fester. And then there's this nasty culture going on and there's chatter amongst everybody and at the end of the day it's just a gossip fest at the local bar. It's not good. So what I want to share with you in this video is the common pitfalls I see through conflict resolution and most importantly, a really simple framework that you can follow to lead your team. And I say lead for the salesperson and for the owner alike, because it is up to us to be our own leader and approach these conversations from a really good place so we can grow through them. Before we get to it, I just want to say quick welcome or welcome back. Adam Bensman here, the roof strategist. And everything I do on my channel and on my podcast in our training center and when I'm out speaking at events is designed to help you and your team smash your income goal and and give every customer an amazing experience. And I have tons and tons, over 400 and some videos of sales training that you can access by the way, inside our free training center. There's a link in the description. But I wanted to take today to take a step back from the tactical sales approach and talk about the things that come up as a salesperson, inevitably to give you that framework to work through conflict. I strongly believe in my heart of hearts that growth is on the other side of discomfort. It's usually when we reach a wall and that wall or ceiling, so to speak, there's a lot of emotions there. There's a lot of frustration. And there's a big part of us when we're going through this that just wants to be done and leave and escape. Right. To avoid it at all costs. And that doesn't lead to growth. We have to really look at close in the eye and lean into it. And what will happen? This is going to get dramatic. I apologize in advance. What will happen if you ignore it is this. You're going to have something occur, something salespeople, I'm talking to you. I've been in your shoes. You're going to have the crew. It's going to mess something up and you're going to be pissed off. The crew dropped something and cracked a lawn ornament in the garden. And the customer special instructions were that you guys were going to be extra careful and the crew didn't even tarp or anything. You call up your office and you are irate. I did my job. I put it on there on the special instructions. My production manager did not get it on there. Now my customer is pissed off. And you see how you're emotional because it's your customer, which ultimately means it's your fault. Even though you know it was beyond you. But you're the one that's going to take the blame. Then what happens? A week goes by and virtually the same thing happens again. Tension goes up two notches instead of one this time and you are pissed. You follow up with that phone call again. You're irate. What the hell. Then we start selling again. We don't know if we can really deliver our message that we're going to do an amazing job because this has been happening and is it going to happen to them and are you going to look like an idiot? And it goes in your head and starts like hurting inside because you don't feel like you're selling from your heart, but you do anyway. You get the deal. And then it happens a third time. And now you're home at night, your pillow talk is with your wife, talking about how frustrated and pissed off you are that this is going on, it's impacting your customers, it's falling on you, it's making you look like an idiot. You can't feel like you're selling what you do. You don't sleep, you toss and turn, you jump into that office in the morning, you charge in the office, you're blood is boiling, your face is beat red, and this turns into a frickin pissing match. Back and forth, who's right, who's wrong. I hate getting that upset. That's what'll happen. Now, I want to ask you this. After witnessing that just intense emotion, do you think that there's anything good that's going to come from that? No, it doesn't. Because emotions are way too high. That is the absolute wrong way. And what ends up happening is one party, whichever direction it's going, is on the defensive. They feel attacked. And oftentimes the person who's expressing their frustration comes across as really entitled and selfish. Me, me, me. This is what I need. So these two parties butt heads and nothing good comes from it. And now knowing like, conflict, it's gonna happen, that's something that you can count on and pretty much guarantee on. We just gotta figure out, well, how are we gonna work through this? Together. Through it together. Now, the best way to do it is very simple. Stick. Step number one is to be proactive. The minute something comes up, when it becomes a festering thought, we need to air it out. Being proactive so we do not wait till it happened 15 times. We do it right away. Now I want to give you a framework to follow for this conversation. Step number one is to use framing, meaning to give the recipient, whether that you're the salesperson speaking to the owner manager, or. Or the inverse, you're the owner manager speaking to the salesperson. To provide context. Here's what I mean. This context is going to kind of set the intention for the call and remove. Excuse me. Set the intention and remove tension. I apologize. Set the intention for the call while removing tension. Here's an example. Adam, hey, can I chat with you about something that's been going on, something that's been bothering me that I think we can work together on to find a solution so we can better fulfill our shared mission of serving even more customers and doing an even better job. Okay, again, let's break it down. The framing was to approach the conversation saying, can we talk? Something's upsetting me, and I would like to find a solution so we can, this is the important part, align even more united around our mission that we're sharing together. And this goes from a me conversation to a we conversation because it's about the greater good. That's. Step number one is to use framing. Step number two is we state the problem as objectively as possible. Salespeople and owners. I know there's so much money on the line, but we just need to check our emotions a little bit and describe the situation objectively. Adam, here's what's happened. I've had three customers now in a row with special instructions that I documented on the contract to take care of precious lawn ornaments and garden decor. And the crew didn't use anything that has now impacted the referrals that were going to come my way. And in fact, one of my customers even called the person they referred and told them not to go with us. That's describing the situation objectively. I documented it. It didn't get followed through on. Okay, step number three, explain the impact thoroughly. The reason that this is a problem is not only has this cost us three mistakes that we have to pay for, that has bogged down my time to go babysit those mistakes. It has also cost us a referral, someone that called and canceled. And if we really tally all of that up, just in the. In these last three, that cost me personally a sale that cost the company the three repairs at 200 bucks a piece, 600 bucks, and it cost me the company the referral. So I guess we both share in that one. That's objectively speaking, the impact. So again, step one, use framing. Step two, define the problem objectively. Step three, describe the impact. What is going on, and how will this impact the company? Okay, now your fourth step is how we're going to open up that conversation. And it's this simple. My best advice is to say, I think I have a solution here, and then present the solution the way you see it, and then you ask for buy in. And when we take this approach of using framing to set the intention of the call and unite around our shared vision, and then explain the problem objectively by checking our emotions. Describe the impact of how this is going to hurt our business and our ability to achieve that mission, and then voluntarily present a solution to showing that you have given this some positive thought and outlining steps forward to then ask, what do you think about this? Now you're in a rich conversation to truly move through this problem and conflict and come out of the other side even stronger together. Heck, salespeople, I empower you because you might find ways to help continually improve the company and gradually work your way up through the ranks. In owners and managers, you get to lead by example and set the precedent of how conflicts resolve, how within your company to grow through tension and create those bonds. Because we all know when we're in the trenches, when we're in it with people, we're bonded with them. And there's no greater feeling than going through this tension. And I had this with one gentleman on our team that I almost fired twice for professionalism. He irked me and crawled under my skin. I just, I couldn't teach him what I thought was common sense. And he later became one of our top sales people. He was fighting ranks for numbers one and two and we were absolute best buds. Like literally having beers together, looking back, thinking how silly all the times that I almost had to fire him. And those are rich moments. And it gives everyone deep meaning in their job to find significance in the ability to grow both personally and professionally, which to me is the most rewarding part. So there you have it. Tension butting heads. It's gonna happen, my friends. My hope is that this simple framework is gonna give you a path to follow to move through it and grow together to and come out on the other side even stronger. So you each and you and everyone on your team can smash your income goal and give every customer an amazing experience. That's all for this video. Just because our time here is about to wrap up doesn't mean your and my time has to. So you haven't hopped in our free training center quite yet. Hop in here right now and I think you're going to love it. You'll get access to my pitch like a pro. Roofing Sales training video library. My roof claims crash course, my 10 closing techniques for every situation, my recommended reading list, and even getting on the wait list for my brand new book called the Roofing Sales Survival Guide. So click right here to hop in. Or you can hang with me here on YouTube and hop into this video and I'll see you in the next one.