American Contractor Shop Talks with John Dye
The Best Way To Get GREAT REVIEWS
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John Dye:
All right, welcome back to the American Contractor Show. This is kind of a remote episode. I'm on the road right now and I'm in Colorado here in Denver at the Commercial Roofing Academy, which is a really cool event. And, we'll talk more about that later. But, um, today though, I also did something pretty crazy. Michael Athens showed up and like, next thing you know, I'm buying Knives . But no, I really, I've been wanting to do this episode because I've been watching what you guys do and I look at what we do as a business and, you know, your message and what you said at Storm into the New Era was really awesome. And, so for us to be able to take this opportunity to do something special for our clients is awesome. But first off, thank you for hanging out with me today.
Michael Athens:
Yeah, my pleasure.
John Dye:
Yeah, man. And you guys are, I know you work for, for Cutco or work with Cutco and, phenomenal product. I mean, I was, we were just talking about my history with Cutco and how it's like, you know, I think everybody that it, that's ever done sales has probably gone through the Vector marketing Cutco program at some point or another, but it's, it's a cool deal and, to have you here and to talk a little about this. This is cool. And so I'll let you kind of, kind of break it down what you guys do and how, why you do it and how it works. And we'll kind of talk a little bit about, what we did.
Michael Athens:
.
Yeah. So just kind of as an overview, we found that there's such a big opportunity for contractors in whatever field, you know, whatever, whether it's roofing, whether it's remodeling, whether it's builders, whatever it is to, to really build a client relationship better than the standard out there. You know, most people don't really, you know, when they think about contractors, they don't have this great view of like, "Oh yeah, they were amazing and I'm, they're people that I think about often and they're someone that I would consider like a trusted advisor that I can go to whenever I need." And so it's like, okay, how can we use gratitude to change the perception in your client's mind of who you are for them, and that you're going to be there for them when they need the next job, the next project, whatever it is. And how can we do something that really cements you in their mind as a trusted partner that's there forever?
John Dye:
I agree. And the way I see it a lot of times is once you get to that level, like there's gotta be little things that you can do to set yourself apart. Especially if you're a contractor and you're working in a pretty saturated market, you have a lot of competition, you have a lot of stuff going on. If you're able to do something like what, what we did with you, you can really set yourself apart. And just to, to be clear, like what we just did was, we set up a program with you to get our customers after we build a roof, some knives, some cool knives with our logo on 'em and engraved and all custom for them. And, um, and it's pretty cool because you guys also do like a letter with that as well, right?
Michael Athens:
Yeah, exactly. So kind of like the overview of what we do, like on a more tactical level is, when you look at most of the gifts out there that, that people are giving in whatever industry, it's mostly gift cards, gift baskets, bottles of wine, something like that. And the problem is that even if the client enjoys it, it's gone within a couple weeks. And so we wanted to find something different. And so we were like, okay, what's something that we can give to someone that they will use and love every single day for decades? Something that's really of value so that it's meaningful to them, and something that we can also brand for a couple different reasons, not only top of mind awareness, but it also gives you a tax deduction, which we didn't actually even talk about.
Michael Athens:
So we work with a couple different products, but the main one, like you talked about is Cutco. And so for anyone who doesn't know Cutco is essentially like the Rolex or the Tiffanys of the kitchen because everything's super high quality. They've been made in America for the past 70 years. Everything's Guaranteed Forever. And then they're used everyday. You also might know KA-BAR which is the military knives. Cutco makes KA-BAR for the military. So I'm sure a lot of your audience would, get a kick outta that.
John Dye:
That's cool.
Michael Athens:
And the strategy that John's talking about is like, how can we surprise and delight your client after the job's done? And what it looks like is, two weeks after the job's done, when, you know, most people are expecting nothing from a contractor. Hopefully you've done a good job, you've done what you said you were gonna do, and the job's finished. And so they're not, they're now a satisfied client.
John Dye:
mm-hmm.
Michael Athens:
And it's our opportunity to turn them into a raving fan client. And so like what we got set up with you is that two weeks later, a gift will show up. And it's engraved with "Handcrafted Especially for the Jones Family" on it. So it feels really personal to the client. Then we have your branding on the back so that way you get the tax deduction and that you're, constantly in front of them whenever they need you.
And then, like you talked about, that letter is really important. So it'll say like, "Hey Susan, thank you so much for the opportunity to work with you. I know your home is the most important thing you own. And so I'm honored that you trusted us to steward your home for you. You know, I don't know if you're familiar with Cutco, but it's guaranteed forever. And so I want you to know that I'll be forever at your roofing for all your roofing needs." And then the biggest thing for the ROI for you is the end where it says, "PS give me a call so that I know you got this."
And so where most contractors are out there being scared of receiving a call two weeks later from their clients. Yeah. Like, all right, what if we changed that script where you were expecting a call of gratitude two weeks after every job from every single client that you can then use to ask for referrals if you're, you know, depending on if you're like a home remodeler or you know, kitchens, bathrooms, whatever those things.
Or a lot of my contractors recently are putting QR codes on the letter where it's like, "Oh, hey, you got it. Awesome. How does it look? Have you used it yet? Have you cut yourself yet? Just kidding".
John Dye:
it's possible.
Michael Athens:
Yeah. Right. , we call that christening the knives. It does happen to everyone . but then it's, "Hey Susie, you know, testimonials are actually really important to me and my business. There's actually a QR code at the bottom of the form. Would you mind scanning that and leaving us a quick review? It really means a lot." And we've seen companies double and triple the amount of five-star reviews they've gotten in their entire career in like a six month period just by having this conversation after closing. Cuz everyone wants to give you a good review when you do a good job, but life gets in the way, you know?
John Dye:
Mm-hmm.
Michael Athens:
there's kids and there's school and all these different things. But when we go out of our way to give something first before asking, um, it sets up an imbalance in the law of reciprocity . And we kind of use that to our advantage where it's like they really want to go outta their way to help you at that point, and they feel obligated. So when it's a simple task like leaving a review, they'll go and do it. And, you know, I'm sure your audience knows how important those reviews are. Like to be the number one spot on Google is like every one star increase you grow for your business will on average grow your revenue by 9%.
John Dye:
Wow.
Michael Athens:
Like, it's huge. And so when we can just like create a different shift in that conversation of when you're asking where it's not just like, Hey, you just paid me a bunch of money, can you review me?
John Dye:
Yeah.
Michael Athens:
It's like, hey, you know, I just wanted to appreciate you hear something so, you know, I'm here forever by the way, this would help us out. Like it's just, it works so much better and people are so much more open to it and, and actually follow through on it
John Dye:
And I, and I've gone through that before where, but it's always been like, I bought a house or something big, got a new mortgage or whatever, and then I get this gift and I thought, man, that's a cool gift. You know? And, and that's, this is kind of the same concept, but it's accessible to contractors. And you know, when we started talking about it, I was like, I was just thinking in my head, you know, we may do what we would consider to be smaller jobs and bigger jobs and whatever else, but just the fact that I was thinking, I was like, the ROI is so high on this and really what I'm investing is very low to thank my customers for allowing me to be a part of it. And I'm thinking in my head too, like of other things that I pay for on a job cost basis that's fixed in, I can, we can swing this.
Like this is an easy deal and I think the return is amazing. And not just that, but we'll be top of mind for that homeowner forever. Like, they're gonna always know who we are. They're gonna love us forever. And to me that's, that's all part of it. And the other cool thing that I thought that was really interesting about your guys' program is that you have like a form. So as soon as the job's done, we can build this right into our process that as soon as the job's done, a couple buttons are clicked on a form and it shoots it to you guys and you guys do the rest. We don't have to actually handle the knives and take it like you guys ship the knives directly to the homeowner, right?
Michael Athens:
Yeah, exactly. Cuz I mean, that's the biggest thing is like. I'm sure your entire audience is going like, Yeah, I would love to do that, but I don't have time to figure out gifting for 300 jobs in a year. Yep. Like, that's too much to do. It's too much. I would've to hire someone specifically to go and do this. And so like you said, we just systemize it.
So like for example, our average contractor buys like 12 months worth of gifts and they just estimate what that is. So whether that's 12 or 512, and then basically we hold 'em at our engravers ready to go, but bill you monthly over the next 12 months at zero interest. So it's easy on your cash flow. And then like you said, you just have a simple portal online where you click the button, you tell us the name, you tell us the address, what are we engraving? You click submit and you're done. So less than 10 seconds a gift is personalized and sent on its way. Like, and we can even go even crazier than we did for you. Like, I don't do it as much as roofing, but in some of my other industries like remodeling, real estate agents, lenders where like, not only are they setting a gift right after they finish the job but then they want something to arrive on the one year anniversary..
John Dye:
mm-hmm. That's a good idea too.
Michael Athens:
We'll just have that happen automatically so they can tell us today and a year later
John Dye:
It's all automated.
Michael Athens:
It's fully Automated.
John Dye:
That's, that's a big deal. Like if you can take this one thing and, and just plug this into your business and it's just a bottom line expense, like you said, it's a write off anyways, but it changes the entire conversation. You know, I've already, in my head, I've already made a list of which customers that we've done work for this year that I'm like, we gotta send these people a gift. Like right now. Like, we're gonna go in there and start doing it as soon as it's ready because it's just, it's such an easy way to say thank you and saying thank you is been, uh, it's like a lost art in our society. I feel like.
Michael Athens:
Yeah. .
John Dye:
So no one does it that well, so, and but, but on the flip side too, the five-star reviews, I think it'll be awesome. And so I really appreciate you, uh, coming to this event, hanging out, coming over and, um, selling me a bunch of knives.
Michael Athens:
John Dye:
No, I think it's awesome. And I think that, uh, you know, if you're listening to this and you're thinking, Man, how can I really set myself apart from my competition? This is the best way to do it. And, you know, a raving customer, a raving fan is gonna tell a lot more people. And that, that whole, that all comes back to, I teach about this a lot in, in sup and when I teach supplementing, but it's all about, gravitational marketing. I believe this, this through and through. But, um, by gravitational marketing, I mean that people will gravitate towards you cuz they found someone that they really trust and love. And when people find someone that they really trust to take care of their solu, to take care of their problems and offer them a really quality solution, they tell everybody, cuz that's, that's just the way people are.
But if you just took care of their problem and you know, asked them for a five star review and bounced, Yeah, you just got kind of like every other contractor. So if we can do just that little bit more to make it feel better for our customers, it's well worth it. And I think if you're listening, think about your customers and your customer profile. And it could be, I mean landscaper, you could be a drywaller, you can be anything and if you're offering someone a service in their home, this is, or even commercially whatever, think of your clients that you work with, whatever industry you're in, connect with Michael and get that going. So how do people get up with you man?
Michael Athens:
Yeah. Um, so the, probably the easiest way for your crowd would be the BestContractorGifts.com.
John Dye:
BestContractorGifts.com. Yeah, I'll put that in the show notes here too.
Michael Athens:
Yeah, and you can see a bunch of reviews of other people and how they're using it. Like you said, we work both commercial, residential and kind of have different strategies around each. Especially right now with the holidays coming up, we have a lot of our top commercial people figuring out their, their holiday gifts and all before we go, I'll give a great tip there as well, which is, if you are doing holiday gifts for residential commercial, either way try to do something for Thanksgiving instead of Christmas.
John Dye:
That's a good idea.
Michael Athens:
Like, just, just that simple piece like we'll have you stand Out so much more.
John Dye:
You show that carving set, man, you give that to a customer on Thanksgiving, man, that's killer.
Michael Athens:
Yeah. So find something that can stand out cuz everyone else is giving like not only family, but all of the other businesses are, are gifting during the holidays or during Christmas specifically. So if it's too late for you to figure something out before Thanksgiving, then give a Valentine's Day gift, give a 4th of July gift, give something that's not gonna be what everyone else is doing will help you stand out more if you are doing the gifting program.
John Dye:
And This is just a little bonus, but I was just thinking about this and we may have to talk about this after this, but if, let's say I had a situation where something went sideways on a job, which is this happens, right? Like customers, things happen, jobs go bad, um, whatever else. I think it would be really cool to give them like an extra special gift. Can we, can we do something like that if we wanted to set that up?
Michael Athens:
Yeah, definitely. Okay. And we can also, you know, for you, we have for most of the clients, we have kind of our standard printed note that I was, um, talking about that has the QR codes and all that stuff. Right. but some of my people like essentially have extra set up where we can do handwritten notes. That's cool. It's like, you know, an extra four bucks so we can get you set up with some of those. Yeah.
John Dye:
I think for like those situations Yeah.
Michael Athens:
Where it's like, hey, you know, uh, I just wanted to reach out to you, you know, I know it was a rough process on the way through, you know, we got it done in the end for you, but I know that wasn't easy on you and I just want to appreciate like how much it means to us that you stuck with us through the end.
John Dye:
I love it.
Michael Athens:
So here's a little something to say that we'll be there forever for all your future needs. Give me a call if there's anything you need. And like, just making it that handwritten note was like, Oh wow. Like,
John Dye:
Yeah, they makes all the difference.
Michael Athens:
They, they really cared. They didn't just go like, "Oh man, that sucked. And then moved on and took my, you know, took their check." They were like, Oh, they, they actually care. They felt that and took accountability for, For what happened.
John Dye:
It's a good idea. I'm just, just full of 'em today. Apparently. I don't . Michael, thank you for, uh, for hanging out dude and for being a part of this and, uh, for being at this event. I really appreciate you and what you're doing and I think it's a, it's a much needed service for all construction industries, all people in all types of industries I believe. So thank you for that. And make sure to connect with 'em BestContractorGifts.com. That's gifts with plural, right?
Michael Athens:
Yeah. Let me check just to make sure it's right,
John Dye:
Yeah, but it's BestContractorGifts.com and it's a great, great tool for you guys to use and to, to definitely, definitely take advantage of it. I mean it's, it's really awesome. So, um, yeah, I see it right here, man. Perfect. Gifts with an edge. . So thank you guys for listening today and, we'll be back soon with another Shop Talks episode, but we're not in the shop so we're, we're at CRA but this is all cool too. Thanks man.
Michael Athens:
My pleasure. Have a great one.