Feel the Force - Become a Business Jedi

From spending time in the network and talking to a number of people it has become clear that there are too many instances where we are allowing the customer to dictate the type of service we are going to provide. In one recent case we were providing ad-hoc service to a customer. Pestforce had a "contract" with the customer but he didn't want to pay for a regular service. He just wanted to have a visit on request and paid accordingly. The customer was happy with what we did so we were "complacently" happy. Then EHO turned up and the customer pointed the finger at Pestforce as the "appointed" pest control company. We were able to explain the arrangement to the EHO and remove any culpability on our part but a lesson learnt. In so many cases it appears that the service level is driven by how much a customer is willing to pay / has been paying to have professional pest control. Unfortunately this can be a reflection on how much they value our profes...

Getting reviews should be a standard part of your day to day work. It should be second nature to ask for a customer review once you have completed each job. Sure you might get a sense that certain customers may, or may not, take the time to give you a review but you will always be surprised so don't second guess. The key to getting more reviews is to ask the right way and at the right time - as they say "it's not what you do, it's the way that you do it, that's what gets results!!" For many of you, at best, it is an after thought which shows that the "value" of reviews is still not fully understood by many. Reviews are a business asset and carry value - they will make you money - so if you considered the fact that getting a review was like someone giving you free money you might think more about how you go about asking for reviews.  The video carries some really simple advise to set out when to ASK for a review and HOW to ask ...

Generating leads is one of the hardest things to do in business today. Customers hold the power and have information at their finger tips so if you are not showing up in the right places and in the right way then you could be losing out big time!! Every business should have multiple pillars (channels) of marketing that are visible and produce leads (new business opportunities). Some marketing pillars will produce more than others and at different costs, and to achieve the best results you need to invest time and money. In simple terms, doing the right marketing,  the more you invest then the more you will get. In the video below Sean uses the analogy of the business owner being a farmer and how the farmer (you) needs to tend to each field of crops (marketing pillars). And the better you can look after your fields of crops the more they will produce over time. Further still, if you do nothing then they are likely to dry up and die. A lot of what is required is really b...

I have invested a good few hours recently getting under the skin of Checkatrade on behalf of all the franchisees who pay to be listed on the Checkatrade platform. The Checkatrade system is much smarter than most directory listings however, a lot of the advice in this article is relevant to most online directory listings. As with so many things in business (and life) it is not what you do its the way that you do it.... that's what gets results. Getting a listing / entry into any directory, particularly online, is relatively easy. Some you have to pay for and some are free. However, making most of any listing is important. How many online listings do you have and how much effort have you put into them...? Not all directory listings need constant activity but if you have a listing make sure it is full of all the information required. Website address...?, Photos...?, Hours of work...? Others - like Checkatrade - are more dynamic and the MORE you put in the more you are l...

When it comes to maintaining a great presence ONLINE there is nothing better than a local web page that ranks well on Google. However getting to the top of the natural listings is far from easy although we have a number of franchisees enjoying the benefits. There are lots of factors that help individual page rank well and ONE of the most IMPORTANT is keeping fresh relevant content onto each page. This is the reason we created the RECENT JOBS section as this allows you to simply write a short paragraph about the jobs you have done and send them by email to updatemywebsite@theforcesgroup.co.uk. For natural rankings doing RECENT JOBS is one of the most important jobs YOU can do on a regular basis. Quite often this 1 task is enough to help you climb the rankings (or keep you there) but you must be persistent and regular with the content. That's why we say do it ONCE A WEEK at a minimum. Sometimes we need to employ other factors to help the ranking but this is rare. To...

When it comes to making the big decisions many people become crippled by FEAR. Big decisions - like buying a franchise, employing / firing staff, investing in more marketing, getting a new vehicle - can be huge scary decisions and in many instances they are decisions that many people are not prepared to take. The problem with making big scary decisions is that we get wrapped up in irrational thoughts that gather momentum until you cannot see the wood from the trees. I recently listened to Nigel Botterill talk through a process of dealing with FEAR whenever you need to make a big decision. The talk from Nigel was very insightful and I thought I would share the simple steps to remove the fear. 1. Write down all the negative thoughts and worries you have about your decision. By writing them down it will start to lighten your mind and you will start to see how "dumb" some of your thoughts are. 2. Cross out the worries and concerns that are irrational. 3. This will ...

Google My Business can be a brilliant source of new business. All new franchisees have a GMB location set up when they first start. All the basics are completed leaving simple input and posting as the main action for franchisees. Be wary not to mess around with the the Set Up particularly in the Info section as this can lead to your listing being Suspended. Over time and with the right input your aim is to get your listing into the Top 3 on certain keyword searches on Google. This video shows you the importance of Responding to Reviews - you must reply quickly to all reviews. Adding photos and videos to your listing will make it more engaging.