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7. BE FLEXIBLE Work-life balance is crucial to a happy workforce. Be generous with time off and understanding about scheduling whenever possible. A mom or dad might be happy to stay late one day if it means they are able to cut out early and catch their daughter’ s netball or son’ s rugby game the next day. Actively encourage employees to take vacations, too. Well-rested employees are happy employees.
8. DON’ T PLAY FAVOURITES Maybe your crew includes family members or friends. Maybe there are just some employees whom you get along with better because you have similar outside interests. That’ s fine, but when it comes to raises, promotions, and job assignments, you must treat everyone fairly. Any hint of favouritism can lead to longlasting resentment or defection.
10. HANDLE ALL DISPUTES IMMEDIATELY AND FAIRLY Nothing hurts morale like a disagreement between coworkers, especially in a small company where employees cannot just be reassigned to a different partner or team. An employee who has a beef with management can also spread negativity through a company like the plague. Nip it in the bud. Listen to all sides, try to get the facts, and settle things fairly. If necessary, bring in a neutral party for mediation to resolve the issue.
If your company could improve in any or all of these areas, take steps to implement changes. Concentrate on making your company a great place to work, and it will help you sail through the upcoming busy season with a full crew. Preventing workers from leaving for greener pastures will reduce the time, effort, and money needed to find last-minute replacements. PA
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9. DON’ T HOG THE CREDIT Recognise employees for their achievements. If a particular employee went above and beyond for a customer, give credit where credit is due. It could make better customer service contagious rather than spreading the“ Why bother?” attitude that comes with the frustration of seeing the boss take credit for an employee’ s hard work.
Judy Kneiszel is a specialist writer focusing primarily on topics around business success.
Improving on your company’ s culture could be the difference between keeping a good employee and having to post a vacancy.
Five things to avoid when selling customers your services
Selling is something you cannot completely ignore in the plumbing game if you want to ensure you maintain a steady workload.
By
Mike Agugliaro
Here are ways to make that part of the job enjoyable and effective. As a plumbing business, you define your work as plumbing work, but the truth is that it is more. To get more plumbing work you have another job as well: sales. The more you sell, the busier you and your team will be and the more money your company makes.
Unfortunately, sales is often considered to be an annoyance, an inconvenience, a hassle, or even an afterthought. Maybe it even feels inauthentic and slimy. You would probably rather be plumbing than selling.
But with just a few simple tweaks to your approach, you can sell a lot more to your customers without all those accompanying negative thoughts. It all starts with dropping the following five things from what you do. When you stop doing them, you will focus your energy on more effective selling( and selling that does not feel slimy) and you will close more deals.
1. STOP TRYING TO SELL If you are trying to sell, you are overthinking it. It should flow naturally. If you are trying to sell, you are going to hate it and the customer will sense that it is forced.
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www. plumbingafrica. co. za April 2018 Volume 24 I Number 2