Episode Overview
The steps necessary to realize the potential of a commercial contracting trade company are not unlike the recipe for success in a residential business, according to Brian Ruffner and Charlie Warren.
One difference is that commercial work tends to scale higher than residential. Otherwise, the same basic management tenets apply, says Ruffner, CEO and Peak Performance Consultant at No Limit Performance.
“The big thing is you need to be crystal clear on what your vision and your goals are,” he says. “And a lot of times that leads to your strategic plan.”
Warren, CEO at Convex (a commercial-facing company that was recently acquired by ServiceTitan) concurs with Ruffner. Warren believes you have to focus inward when building a team.
“One of the failure modes we have seen inside all these businesses is basically using third-party sales training like outsourced management of the team,” Warren says.
Big mistake.
“It's gotta be internal,” he says. “You have to build those playbooks, spend the time, create the intellectual property…and not just bring someone in [and] tie everyone up in a conference room for two days.”
Ruffner adds two points to that.
“If you're going to hire ‘A’ players, you better have a culture that is going to help these people continue to grow,” he says.
And whether you’re residential, commercial or some combination of both, there has to be a coherent message coming from the top.
“There are no bad teams,” Ruffner says. “There [are] only bad leaders.”
Brian Ruffner and Charlie Warren recently joined ServiceTitan’s Jackie Aubel on the “Toolbox for the Trades” podcast, which included their thoughts on:
[10:20] Common barriers that contractors must overcome to scale their commercial division
[14:25] How to find the right talent to build your commercial division
[22:45] The salesperson’s role in building the commercial division
[26:42] How a growth culture can keep your team engaged and exceeding expectations
[38:11] The right order of new hires for a commercial division
To hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to “Toolbox for the Trades” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, or anywhere you get podcasts.
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