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The weather is warming up, the ACs are turning on, and we’re heading into a very busy time of the year in the trades. Are you ready?
We welcome returning guest Chris Hoffmann, CEO of Hoffmann Brothers! Alongside Chris Yano and Chad Peterman, the trio discuss winning strategies to take full advantage of the ramp-up in calls. Listen now!
Are You Ready for the Busy Season?
Hoffmann Brothers is definitely doing things right. While Chris will say it’s “controlled chaos,” the business has been growing and scaling massively – now over $100M in St. Louis and expanding into two new territories. As they gear up for the higher call volume that summer weather brings, what strategies are they implementing to ensure they are ready to crush it?
The first thing Chris mentions is counterintuitive at first. Instead of downsizing your workforce during the slow season, he believes it makes more sense to make that the time you go after the best installers you can find. While it will cost you to carry them during the shoulder season, you’ll recoup that in spades by having the capacity to get to more jobs in the summer.
They also implement a “sixth day” bonus, where installers can volunteer to work an additional day a week to handle another job and receive a generous bonus. This helps Chris be strategic about handling any backlog that might accrue. Not only that, they’ve set up “flex crews,” which are often techs who used to be installers that can be tapped to turn to installs should volume necessitate it.
There’s a whole lot more valuable advice in this episode, so don’t miss out!
- Strategies to capitalize on the busy season
- How the military creates powerful leaders
- Incentivizing labor with better compensation models
- Price book strategy: high vs. low perceived value
- Training and staffing in shoulder seasons
- A “pay plan” model for staffing
- Adding value for the customer
- And more!
Check out our previous episode with Chris Hoffmann!
Remembering Those Who Gave Their Lives
As we gear up for the busy season, we take a moment to commemorate Memorial Day and remember those who served our country with their lives. It’s because of their brave sacrifices we’re able to even have these conversations today. Chris Hoffmann is a former Marine who gives a lot of credit to the armed forces for creating incredible leaders, and we recognize the many, many veterans who serve the trades today.
You don’t have to do everything, but you gotta do something … NO. ZERO. DAYS.
