It is official. College Pro has hired me as a Franchise Manager. My territory will mainly be Troutdale, Gresham, and East Portland.
I have a lot of training to do and a lot of marketing as well. I will start lining up employees fairly soon.
If there are any readers out there who need a painting job done, just give me a call. We provide a service with a smile. With the housing market the way it is, there has never been a better time to invest in your home. Next summer inflation will have hit hard and gas prices are said to hit 5 dollars in 2012! Who knows what kind of effect that will have on all markets. Why wait?
503-810-3555
I never put you on hold.
How will rising oil prices affect the cost of paint? Do you hire Mexicans? How to you determine what rates you charge?
ReplyDeleteI have hired no one. I plan on hiring capable employees who are age thirty or younger and are willing to work within my expectations. I need younger employees so I can play off of the whole "college" selling point. People feel better when they are hiring young college kids who are trying to better themselves and work their way through college. My employees will not necessarily be students but they need to look the part. I will also use my veteran status as a selling point.
ReplyDeleteRaising oil prices will definitely play a role in the pricing of my paint. Raising oil prices will affect just about every industry and market.
My rates will be at a variable rate. If I bid a job for 100 hrs of work and my employees meet that quota, then I will pay them roughly 9.50. If they fail to meet the quota I will pay them 8.50 (minimum wage). This provides incentive. I will bid every job assuming that I will pay the employees 9.50 so when they go over quota it will not affect my profit margin because I will pay the employees less for every hour they work.
I've called several experienced managers in the Portland Metro and asked them what troubles they ran in to. Almost all of them said that turnover is a definite stressor. It seems to me that making sure that the painters know exactly what they are getting in to is crucial. They need to expect to work 40 hrs a week all summer long. No exceptions.
I will only hire citizens.
ReplyDeleteI think that is not a good ideal to use your "veteran" status as a selling point. That is playing off of it. If you only work 40 hrs a week, you will never be successful in life. Sounds like your business plan might work. I support the fact that you only hire citizens.
ReplyDeleteI think it is. I would not be lying to anyone. I am not ashamed of my veteran status. I would not be manipulating any truth. All things being equal, if a customer had to choose between me and another painter and my veteran status was the only different variable in the situation, why would I not use the fact that I defended this nations interests as a selling point?
ReplyDeleteI can see why you add a negative stigma to making this a selling point. But I think someone who is a veteran does deserve a little respect and I don't think it is shameful to use it to my advantage. Veterans volunteer to lose a certain extent of their rights and are at the commander in chief's discretion to take a weapon in to any clime or place. Whether they stay in garrison or go to a hot zone is irrelevant. That veteran volunteered for his or her nation in an era when nationality is losing importance.
Using veteran status is appealing to people's emotions and is irrevelant to your ability to paint a house. It is riddled with logical fallacies. I want to be judged as an individual and not some member of a group. But it might help your business; I don't know what hippies think about veterans.
ReplyDelete95% of business is appealing to people's emotions.
ReplyDeleteIt's riddled with no logical fallacies.
Being a veteran, and playing off of what peoples common perception of a veteran is, is actually a good description of what my work ethic is(I know you will take this sentence out of context). Me doing fours years of active duty in the Marine Corps and getting an honorable discharge tells a lot about me as an individual. There is no logical fallacy.
If I were not to appeal to people's emotions there would be: no colors on my company logos, I would speak to people in monotone directness, I wouldn't start up small talk in order to create a human bond with the customer, I wouldn't send them follow up questionnaires to make sure they are satisfied, etc.
Of course competence is important. I will bring a portfolio of all my work and they can judge themselves if my painting abilities are up to par. But the problem is when there are literally thousands of painters in every zip code and everyone bids the same price, human relations might be the only difference. Ex: Two people come to my door and offer a snickers bar for fifty cents. Its the same exact product for same exact price. I get equal economic utility with either choice. The only difference is one guy smiles and attempts to brighten my day and the other is stern and direct. I would buy it from the nice guy. This is not manipulating the customer. This is presenting yourself in a respectable way.
Again, you took my whole point out of context. I said "all things being equal". This encompasses painting abilities and my individual competence. If everything was equal except for veteran status then what where would be the fallacy in using it?
There must be no emotion allowed. You must purged them from your business plan. I see your point. The person that can manipulate people's emotions will almost always get ahead in the business world. Without this valuable skill, one will not be successful in business. Perception is just about everything.
ReplyDeleteThis is win-win: advertising here brings RTP&RR the big advertising bucks, and the College Pro advertisement is seen by the vast army of RTP&GG readers. Synergies baby!
ReplyDelete