Communication as a Competitive Advantage

Business Brain, episode 498 for Casual Friday, November 3, 2023. Greetings, folks, and welcome to Business Brain, the show where we take a couple of ideas each episode, we crunch them, we dissect them, we analyze them so that we can each all together tune our business brains to ensure we keep on living those charmed lives here in Durham, New Hampshire on Casual Friday. I'm Dave Hamilton.

I love Casual Friday. I'm Shannon Jean out here in Lafayette, California. And yeah, it's good. I love Casual Friday, but I still want to be productive in one way or another.

I was thinking about it. I find the more casual I am most of the time, the more productive I am. I, like, I, I'm not. There are times when I don't feel casual at work. Right. Like, and I'm not talking about the way that I dress. Although that, yeah, that's part of it. There are just times where I'm under a crunch or whatever and it's, it's not so casual. But I do find, especially when like meeting with vendors and meeting with partners being a degree of casualness and again is it needs to be appropriate casualness, but that, you know, the higher the stakes of a, an interaction, the more important I find it to be casual and, you know, a casual attitude, having.

Yeah, you can kind of lower the temperature if you will, you know, whatever by a casual. Hey, we're just going to try to figure this out.

We're going to work on it together and it's great. Yeah. And that just being. Well, like we were saying at the end of the last episode, having fun with work, even if it's high stakes stuff it like, it can still be fun. It doesn't mean you're not taking it seriously. That.

That's right.

You can enjoy it. And maybe that's the trick is the enjoyment, you know, fun. The word fun tends to get a bad rap. I'm fine with it. But. But enjoy it, whatever that means for you. But you should be able to laugh, you know.

Yeah, exactly.

Laugh about things. So.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So before we jump in, our main topic, I wanted to kind of revisit one of these productivity tips we talked about in the course that I use every single day I have. I call it, you know, bad hd, you know, business adhd. Right. We're jumping around from, from one thing to another and squirrel, you know, and that's why, you know, I started so many businesses and I mean, it's worked out for me, but it can be challenging. And one of the ways that I've dealt with it is I always have short term and long term projects in the works. So there's always things I'm working on today that I need to achieve or this week or whatever. But I also stack up a project or two that are much longer term, months, maybe even a year that I'm kind of really trying to knock something out. Whether I'm writing another book or building something, a website or something brand new. And that helps me a lot because I'm working on my short term stuff and I get bored. You know, it's like I need to take a little break. I can always dip into the longer term project, it'll be completely different and it kind of resets me so that I can jump back into the shorter term stuff that I need to get done. So rather than just stopping and you know, jumping on, you know, X or Twitter, you know, or some kind of social platform or, you know, wasting my time.

Yeah, feeling busy but not productive. Yep.

Yeah, not productive. I can go, hey, you know what, here's my outline. You know, I'm working on this book and okay, here's my outline. Maybe I'll go knock out a chapter and I can type up some. It's, it's amazing how you can really kind of stack up the wins and it's a good system for me. I don't have a big goal out at the end, you know, that I'm struggling to reach every day. I'm actually just achieving things step by step. So. All right, so look, long term projects.

I know that we talk about this in the course, which if you haven't heard yet, we put together a productivity course for you. You can go check it out. BusinessBrainCourses.com free. And the slash free means something you get without giving us your credit card or anything else. Just go sign up. You get the first two lessons in your email box for free. Don't have to leave your inbox. And you can help yourself beat the busy fallacy. And instead of being bus, you can be productive. I have a question for you though, Shannon. Yes, I know that this is in the course, but how do you set yourself up for this larger longer term project like you just said? Oh yeah, you know, I get the little things done, I get bored. Instead of going on social media or whatever, I go and just look at what's next on my list for my long term project. So that means you've got to create that list first. Is that one of your short term projects? Like is that a more Urgent thing to build the list. That's right.

So, like, let's say I'm working on this new book. I've got to create the outline, okay. And so the key is to start. So I jump in and I use. I mean, it sounds.

No, the key is to start. Like if you take one thing away from this episode, that's it right there. Don't stop listening because there might be more good stuff. But. But that, like, that's, that's good. Yeah.

And this outline, it evolves over time, right? Because you think about it and everything. So I keep it in Apple notes because I have my phone with me, you know, all the time, and I could. Oh, I gotta remember, I gotta mention this. Or this came up today in a conversation, so I gotta mention that. So I build the outline. But, you know, the short term is you start it, so maybe you come up. And I only can think of, I don't know, 10 chapters worth of stuff, which is ridiculous because I talk so much and you know, that I never shut up. So you just kind of list those things out. And then I jump back into my other things. And when I'm ready to take a break from the stuff I do every day, I always can go look at this and say, what can I work on? And there's always something to grab out of there. And I have a few projects like that, you know, website. I'm working on different things that are not urgent but benefit from some attention over time. And as you're working towards achieving something new.

Yeah, I like it. Hey, I mentioned that we've been having some projects done around the house over time here. You know, like, we had a couple of bathrooms done. Our kitchen is almost done today. The day that we're recording this marks the eighth day that we had not heard from our contractor. Yeah, and. And it's like where we need him for about two days and we're done. Like it. It's the project. Yeah. Yeah. And he's just been a ghost. And so. And this is not been typical of him throughout it, but he's, he's a, A, A fairly good contractor. I have some nitpicks about the way he does work, but that would be true with anybody. I'm a picky person. I'm aware of this. But he's done some great work for us. We had him do two bathrooms and a kitchen, so we've given him a lot of work this year. But communication is just one of these things that. Especially in that field. And I don't just Mean contractors, builders. I mean, electricians and plumbers and all of the tradespeople. Communication is just not something that many of them understand. Some of them do, yes. But it is. It's super frustrating. And so I finally. We've been texting him and calling him since last week. Nothing. And it was like, hey, you know, the countertops are in. We're going to have the plumber tomorrow. We're going to have the electrician the next day. I don't think he believed us when we said we were going to be able to do the. What I just said, you know, have countertops, electrician, and plumber in three days in a row. That seems. But we did it. My wife is, like, really good at convincing people to come and do work for us. I mean, we pay them, so, you know. Sure, yeah. But so we got it done and, you know, through this, we just didn't hear anything. It was like, when are you going to be able to be here? When are you going to be? So finally today, I messaged his, like, company page on Facebook and I. I heard from him right away, and I gave him an out. I. Like, we were. We're pretty pissed. Like, we were hours away from trying to find somebody else to just finish this job for us. Right? Like, you know, it's. It's gotta end. So if you're gonna ghost me, well, that sucks. But, like, life moves on. We're not just gonna sit here for years waiting for you, you know?

Exactly.

And so I texted him this morning, and then, I don't know, four or five hours later, I messaged his company on Facebook and he responded immediately. And it turns out he's traveling. He's like, oh, yeah, I'm not in the state. I don't have my work phone with me. But I gave him that out. Whether. Or his work phone with him, I don't know. But I wanted to give him a path where he could respond and save a little bit of face. And so I said, that's.

That's smart. I like that.

Yeah. Yeah. I don't. I don't need to berate the guy. I'm. I'm gonna. As I said to my wife, we're gonna pay the cost of these delays either way. Like, they have been in. That has been forced upon us. Right. The delays exist. We get to choose what. When we take the, you know, the flip side of that. Now I can go and berate this guy, and then that's where I am. You know, that's where I'm. I'm getting my payment, right? It's like, okay, I'm going to feel good about berating this guy. Not that I would feel good about it, but, you know, then that's that, and then it's over. But I want him. I want him to feel guilty. I want to get. Yeah, you know, we're action. Right. I don't really care if I berate this poor guy. And so regardless of whether he deserves it, in fact, especially if he feels like he deserves it, then I don't want to berate him because he's going to beat himself up. And then I get the benefit of that. And so I just said to him, like, look, hey, I don't know if something's wrong with your phone or whatever. I figured I'd try you here. And he wrote me back immediately. Yeah, he's out in, like, Las Vegas helping somebody with a haunted house and doing a thing. And it was like, okay, but. And he's like, I won't be back in the state until Thursday. Okay. You know, can you come Thursday? Nope, I can't come until Saturday. All right, so it's Saturday then. You know, like, just trying to lock them in.

Yeah.

And it's just, like, fascinating. Now, contrast that with a painter that we are talking to and. And have subsequently hired to paint our kitchen once our contractor finishes. You know, that part of it. And this guy came over, and I don't know if he listens to this show or has stalked me. And if he has, I like it because it means he cares about how to sell to the customer. But through the communication, it came up that we were like, well, he's like, when, you know, what's your schedule? Here's what my schedule looks like. And we were like, yeah, you know, we're waiting for our contractor. He's like, oh, yeah, you know, it's a real shame so many people in this business don't understand the value of communication. I'm like, oh, this guy. And then he said, you know, I've always seen myself as a painter who is in the customer service business, not. Not in the painting business. And I'm like, oh, my God.

Ding, ding, ding.

Like, how did this guy know? You know? And. And so we hired him, obviously, because he knew how to sell to us. Whether. Whether he specifically targeted us that way or not, I don't know. But he also made it really made a point of ensuring we knew that he grew up in our neighborhood and knew other people in the neighborhood. Like, he was really good at the communication game. And he said, look, we're going to stay in touch with you. He's like, sometimes the schedule is going to change and that's unfortunate, but the best thing I can do is to just keep you posted. And it's like, yep, that's true, I think. Yeah.

Yeah. I always joke, you know, that answering the phone is really a competitive advantage because.

True. Yeah.

So many of us are, we call, you have to leave a message or, you know, okay, somebody get back to you. Or if you're trying to get a quote for something, especially in the service industries.

Yeah, right.

And, you know, if you can create the system that someone can actually answer the phone, you know, you're just going to be heads and tails. People are going to, you know, beat a path to your door, you know, take my money. Because when someone's calling you, they're ready to spend money. Right then.

Yes.

So. And if they don't get you, they go down to the next business. And if you want to stand out, answer the phone or hire a, you know, an assistant or a, even a.

Va, you know, management. Yeah.

An off site company that's going to answer your phones, whether it's domestic or here. I know a lot of folks that do it in the Philippines. Route your calls through there.

Yep.

Very inexpensive and you can capture data. What are you looking for? Great. Okay. Hey, let me have one of my technicians or the quote person. They're going to call you back. But that point of contact is, is everything. And everybody you talk to has the experience you just described.

I know it's crazy. And I. Everybody, you know, my wife and I were talking about it, kind of talking each other off the ledge, you know, of dealing with this guy. And I said, yeah, you know, it's. She's like, I can't believe that he just wouldn't take his work phone with him when he goes on a trip. And I said that that's crazy. Well, I agree. She's like, you would never tell you he's not. Or. Well, that's the part. And I said, look, we have to look at this guy. Because there are. Whenever I'm going into like an immersive trip, it might be a trade show, it might be a vacation or whatever. There is a point at which I have to choose to start punting things. It's like, well, I know that there's a limited amount of time that I have left in the office before I go do this other thing temporarily, and then I'll be back. And so at some point this thing that I'M leaving to do will become my priority and I just have to choose, you know, that point in time. And, and after that I'm not going to be as responsive, as productive on the things I normally do. Right there is that moment. The difference is, you know, I would never just leave things unattended. But that's because unlike my contractor, my business does not have a finite limited upside. Right. You know, there's always more business that we can do here. There's always growth with him. He is a one man show. So he is already maxing out his, his earning potential and he knows that when he's going to travel to wherever, it doesn't matter. Las Vegas or Los Angeles doesn't matter. He's not going to be earning money, you know, or he is because it's a job and that's already set in stone. And so ignoring a phone call, answering what's, what good is it going to do him in his mind to answer the phone? He can't do. He can't be in two places at once to work. Now, you and I both know that there are answers to that question. One is you. By simply by communicating, you keep your customers happier. And you know what, what I noticed happening to Lisa and I, my wife and I is we've had this guy doing work at the house all year. You know, we, he started in the spring with one of the bathrooms and, and obviously here we are in the fall finishing up the kitchen, hopefully. And we've been very happy with his work, but clearly there have been things about it, you know, little careless things where, oh, he nicks walls regularly. Those conversations started happening in the last week amongst Lisa and I because we couldn't hear from this guy. So, you know, now his stock went down in our minds and it would not have had he just, you know, kept through just to the end. I mean, he's literally got two days left of work and he's probably done, you know, 35, 40 days of work for us. But that last day and a half, man, that's the one that's going to cost him. Us not just picking up the phone and calling him. The next time we may use him again. But we're going to research three other people before we do. Whereas otherwise we would not have had this not happened. And, and then of course the flip side is that he could hire other people, so.

That's right.

And expand his business.

Yeah, yeah. Community. The title of this, you know, this episode is communication as a competitive advantage.

Absolutely it is.

It's not Very difficult. And the technology that's available to you to, to make yourself stand out, do it now because many other people are not doing it. And it's, it's just talk to your friends. You know, we're all in the problem solving business, right?

If.

And so when you talk to your friends and you hear them anytime somebody, especially service industry contractors, this is just the story you hear over and over. And there's gotta be a way to solve for it that can make your business stand out.

I totally agree. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, think about what we talked about in Wednesday's episode, asking for help, like answering the phone, even with this guy, right? Like, once I finally got him and he's like, oh, you know, here I am in. I'm not in the state. I can't work for you today. Okay. Like, I can understand that. I, you know, I'm going to be back Thursday. Great. Can you work for me Thursday? No. Okay. I can also understand that it doesn't mean that it's my preference. I'm not thrilled about it, but I understand the laws of physics. You can only be in one place at one time. So when can you be in my place? Saturday. Okay. Well, then we'll see you Saturday. It's really simple. And yes, you delivered me, quote, unquote, bad news, but it's information, and that's really the key. That's what we wanted. So. Yeah, it's fascinating to me that your idea of communication is a competitive advantage, man. That's the, that's the key. Yeah. Yeah.

Tell us, Tell us your horror stories or your success stories. You know, feedback@businessbrain.show. it's just crucial for success and we want to learn from you just as much as you might be learning from us.

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