Visit www.howtogetoffthetruck.com and take a look at my manuals, CD’s and DVD’s. This material is designed to take a one truck carpet cleaning company to a multi-truck turn-key operation within five years or less. The manuals include:

Manual One… Getting Your Employees To Do What You Want When You Want It.

This was made the first manual because most companies have employee issues that either drive the owner nuts or prevent the company from growing. In this manual, Dave gives you THE FORMULA FOR GREAT EMPLOYEES. No question about it, this chapter has all the answers to your employee challenges.
Manual Two… Realtor Referral Marketing.

OK, we know the reason that most people buy the package is to get this manual. That’s all right because this manual alone is worth the price of the package. The realtor market is an absolute gold mine and Dave will show you step buy step how to own this market. Not only does Dave tell you how to do the marketing, he tells you exactly what to say in every situation. Also included in the package is a DVD of Dave doing a realtor presentation that you can use to learn. Plus, the fantastic Flyer, Forms and Resources Manual includes many great realtor flyers in Microsoft®Word that you can adapt and use in your business. Dave’s business in Pensacola, Florida does anywhere from two to five realtor referral jobs each and every day and now you can too.

Manual Three… You Can’t Get There Without the Right Attitude.

Perhaps this should have been the first manual because the reason most people don’t succeed is due to “stinkin’ thinkin’.” Long an advocate of positive thinking, Dave gives you a crash course on how to get your mind going toward success. Dave analyzes forty powerful words and phrases that could unlock the key to making your business grow. This manual is must reading if you want to have a highly successful business.

Manual Four… Carpet Retailer Marketing.

Another great marketing formula which will enable you to get the referral rich carpet retailer industry sending you jobs. Just like the Realtor Referral marketing manual, this manual will tell you exactly what to say whether you are meeting a receptionist, sales person or the manager. You can choose from four different marketing strategies to get the retailers in your area to have their clients calling you for cleaning jobs. A Power Point presentation is included with your data CD that you can easily adapt to your company and start using right away in your marketing visits.

Manual Five… Goal Setting and Affirmations.

Chances are your company is not a goal setting company. Most are not. On group coaching calls with as many as twenty companies on the call, Dave has found that no more than one or two companies have set ninety day goals. In this chapter, you will learn why and how to set goals and find out why it is so important. Affirmations will help you solidify in your mind the dreams and goals that are so important to your success. If you don’t know what an affirmation is, all the more reason to get this package and find out this winning formula.

Manual Six… The Spiritual Dimension.

This manual is optional and if this is not something you are interested in that is fine, we are not here to be pushy. On the other hand, if a spiritual life and thinking is important to you, you may find this manual helpful. Dave was a pastor and evangelist in his former life and has taken many bible verses and applied them to everyday business life. Being in business and using sound biblical principals to help you find the correct path can be a beautiful and refreshing way to go.

Manual Seven… Flyers, Forms and Resources.

A lifetime of great material for your business. All these forms are in your data cd so that you can easily duplicate them and start using in your business. Included are such items as…
Realtor Flyers, Newsletter Template, Employee Correctional Warnings, Maintenance Program, Behavior Standards, Comment Cards, Carpet Protector Conversion Rate, Spot and Stain Warranty for Carpet Retailers, Incentive Pay Rates, Job Descriptions, Company Policies and Procedures, Referral Reward Cards, Employee Evaluation Forms and lots more!!

Prior to discussing what makes it ring, let’s examine who is answering the phone. Surely, you are not letting it go to an answering machine or service during normal working hours. Chances are you may be because if you call the competitors in your area, probably 50% or more are using that archaic system. Don’t do it. Have someone answer the phone live every time it rings during the day. Unless you are answering it live, don’t waste your time and money marketing because you are throwing money away not answering the phone. If you have to answer with a cell phone then go ahead and do that but DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO ANSWER THE PHONE LIVE. Plus, make sure that the person answering has a pleasant, clear sounding voice. 85% of what people hear is through the tone of the voice and only 15% are the words they use! Also, make sure that the receptionist has a script that she uses every single time! Now let’s look at some strategies that should keep the phone ringing.

1. Are you marketing to your present clients in your database? Do you send thank you letters and do you make follow-up calls. Do you have a maintenance program and do you send out newsletters and postcards?  Do you send out 12, 18 and 24 month reminder cards? Are you sending out periodic emails to your clients?

2. Is your website effective? I include websites as referral marketing because clients that call you from your website have taken a good look at your company by scanning your website. They act like a referral client because they want to use your company. It is vitally important that your website is on the very top of the first page of the major search engines or it is basically useless. Google is used by 65% of consumers so make sure you are one of the top three on that site or at a minimum, on the first page. Also, your website must be well done and appealing to the eye. Spend some money on the production of your website because the on-going cost is very minimal but the results can be outstanding.

3. Is your advertising effective? The wonderful thing about advertising is that you get immediate results. The down side is that it can cost a lot of money and you could get inundated with price shoppers. Yellow pages, newspapers, Val Pac®, coupon magazines, radio and TV can certainly make the phone ring but you must keep a close look at your costs and numbers and make sure you are making a good profit. Tracking of all calls is essential in order to know that each advertising dollar is getting a bang for the buck. A good rule to follow is that for each dollar spent on advertising three to four dollars of work is generated.

4. Are you consistently marketing to referral sources? Realtors, carpet retailers, interior designers, tile stores, dry cleaners, property managers, plumbers, homeowners associations and others are a great source of lucrative referrals but they must be marketed on a consistent basis. Unless you have a system of visiting these and other sources consistently, don’t waste your time and effort. It takes a while to build this market but once you do, your phone will ring often with folks who want to use your company’s services.

5. Hire a Sales Manager. For right now that person may be the owner but someone should be hitting the streets to bring in the bacon. If you are a small company, when you are not cleaning, you should be selling. Most large companies got that way because in their infancy the owner had no inhibitions about working like a dog, not only cleaning but selling, too. Once you can afford it, hiring a sales person can send your business into the stratosphere. A good pay rate for a sales person, of course all areas of the country are different, but a good starting rate is $30,000 plus 3 to 5% of income generated by their work. A good plan, with a good pitch and plenty of follow up and accountability can make for a winning formula.

In today’s economy, one can find plenty of excuses for the phone not ringing. Winners don’t look for excuses, though, they look for answers and then they are willing to go out and do the work to bring in the results. Until you have done the work mentioned above, don’t blame the economy for the silence in the office. The cream will rise to the top when things get tough so make sure that your company is one of the survivors during this current downturn. Make the effort and then you can experience the beautiful sound of the phone ringing off the hook.

___________________________________

Dave DeBlander is the owner of a turn-key carpet cleaning/ restoration business in Pensacola, Fl. He is the author of “How to Get Off the Truck and on to the Beach (or wherever you want to be)” and “How to Develop a Turn-Key Business.”
He can be contacted at www.howtogetoffthetruck.com, www.carpetcarecoach.com and www.davedeblander.com

Unfortunately, we live in the land of stress. I have a good friend who came to the U.S. from Peru when he was twenty-five years old. Although where he came from in Peru was poverty stricken, the people there not only had no stress, they didn’t even have a word for it in their language! Today, twenty-seven years later my good friend Victor has his own computer business and is totally stressed-out.
I have had two businesses in my life, the first a natural foods restaurant and bakery, which I owned for fourteen years and now a carpet cleaning business, which is in its nineteenth year. I can honestly say that I have run them basically stress free even though in those thirty five years I have had my share of ups and downs.
Following are a few tips on avoiding stress while owning your own business.

1. Remember, if you have your health and family, you have everything. Why do those people in poverty stricken lands live stress free? I am not talking about areas where starvation is a possibility but areas where people don’t have much but they appreciate what they have and don’t even realize they have so little. Lesson number one – Appreciate what you have. Chances are if you are reading this in the U.S. you will never have to be concerned about having a meal or a roof over your head. So what’s the big deal? Your reputation? Your pride? Just today I read where a German billionaire committed suicide because of a financial meltdown. He may have been reduced to a millionaire, what a tragedy.  It’s all about how you look at things. I always remember the words of my 93 year-old father-in-law and 84 year-old mother-in-law who constantly tell us that if you have your health and family, you have it made. By the way they are great examples as they go to the gym four days a week and play bridge, read, take cruises and live the lives of healthy people thirty years younger than they are.

2. Learn to shut off the business. As business owners, we can be consumed twenty-four hours a day with the business. By remembering tip number one, put on a different hat and be prepared to enjoy being a parent, spouse, athlete, reader, fisherman, painter, golfer, walker, volunteer, cook or whatever non-work activities you like to do. Another word for this is to compartmentalize. The bills are not going to be paid any quicker if you stay up all night and worry about them. Sometimes in my coaching, I am ready to tell a client that perhaps they would be better off working at Home Depot and that way they could have far less stress. Shut off the work, no matter how much it takes, in the end it will all work out. I once heard a preacher say that he worries between noon and twelve-thirty, so if a worry comes up, he tells himself to put it off until noon. Try it, it may work for you. The worse business situation I was ever in, was when I had my natural foods restaurant and bakery and the IRS was giving me thirty days to come up with the back payroll taxes I owed them. It doesn’t get much worse than that as they made me list all of my assets with the idea that they were coming after them if I couldn’t pay. Even in that dire situation, as unpleasant as it was, I knew things would all work out and I knew that I would still have my health and family, so I lived each day as though it would be alright. It did work out as someone bought my restaurant at the end of the thirty days and I paid my taxes and life went on.

3. Do the best you can and then don’t worry. You cannot do any better than your best. There are two important parts to this statement. Number one is that if you are not doing your best, then you have a legitimate reason to worry. Part two is that if you are doing your best, relax, as there is absolutely nothing more that you can do. It is out of your hands. The key to this is finding a way to do your best and this usually involves discipline and planning. Most people come up short in these two areas but they are not that hard to accomplish. Take the time to sit down and discover what you need to do and make a game plan to get it done. This takes discipline but every successful business person has mastered this skill. Get a coach if you need to or an accountability partner. Quite simply, do your best, you know what that is!

4. Live within or under your means. One good way to improve your life is to get rid of two-thirds of what you have. You can be possessed by what you possess. I love the European lifestyle and my wife and I love visiting Europe every year, not only to see the beautiful sights but to also immerse ourselves in their laid-back lifestyle. Most Europeans don’t have a car, they live in an apartment that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg and spend leisure time walking around enjoying the outdoor cafes and beautiful buildings and scenery. No car payment, no mortgage, five weeks off paid vacation every year with family intact and within shouting distance. Who could ask for more? Don’t get caught up in a race with the Joneses and try to keep as much of the high-end ticket pressure off as you can.

5. Enjoy the Race. Wow, you took the plunge and you are one of the 3% of Americans willing to take the chances associated with owning your own business. If you fail, so what, you tried and that says a lot more about you than most people. Andy Warhol, as crazy as he was, said one of the most profound statements ever uttered. “Business is the highest form of art!” You may not have known it but you are an artist. Now go out and compose a beautiful symphony or paint a Rembrandt or write a Longfellow-like poem with your business and enjoy the journey. Artists generally are not stressed because they love what they do and don’t mind working hard even though they may not see immediate results. What a privilege to be an American and own your own business. 99% of the rest of the world would give anything to have what you already possess.

TURN-KEY (DEFINITION)   fully equipped and ready to go into operation.
Quite simply, this means that if someone bought your business they would be able to open the door on day one and the business would run without the new owner’s input. In other words, this is the American dream business. You own the company, make the profits and don’t have to work if you choose not to. The business could still be considered turn-key if your input was minimal and consisted of your examining the books, holding management meetings, etc. Naturally, if the new owner wished to work in some capacity, that would be fine and the business still considered turn-key. A turn-key business is basically operated and run profitably and efficiently on all levels without the need of the owner’s involvement. Major decisions are still generally the main role of the owner.

Take the test and see how close you are to achieving this milestone. Hopefully, this will show you what areas you need to work on to have your own turn-key business.

(ANSWER EACH QUESTION HONESTLY. SOME QUESTIONS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN OTHERS, SO THEY ARE WORTH MORE POINTS. A SCORE OF ONE MEANS THAT YOU ARE TERRIBLE AT THIS SITUATION AND A SCORE OF THE HIGHEST NUMBER MEANS THAT YOU HAVE MASTERED THE QUESTION ASKED.)

1.  Do your employees do what you tell them to do? There is a reason that this question is the first question. First of all, you must have employees to have a turn-key business. If you sell your business and you are the only employee, they are not buying a business, they are buying a job. Secondly, good employees are the key to a turn-key business. YOU MUST have employees dedicated to their work who are middle and high performers. Low performers will be a cancer and require constant supervision. They must be eliminated. A written policy and procedure manual that explains the roles of each employee is essential. There are many other ways to get your employees as high achievers, such as regular employee evaluations, incentive type pay, great work atmosphere, etc. However you do it, YOU MUST have your employees as a source of delight in your company and not dread.

(score yourself from 1 to 20)  ___________
2. Is your marketing is consistent and effective? No matter how profitable your company is now, it must be looking to the future because things change. A good marketing program makes sure that the company’s number one source of clients is well marketed to and that would be current clients. Additionally, other markets which exist have a well thought-out marketing strategy THAT EXISTS ON PAPER, NOT IN SOMEONE’S HEAD. There is a Japanese company that plans 100 years into the future. Now that may be extreme but does your company have marketing strategies six months into the future, let alone a year or two years or five years? To achieve an excellent score on this question, your company would have its marketing strategy on paper, planned out for at least one year with dates for implementation, cost analysis for each strategy and the personnel lined up to do the marketing.

(score yourself from 1 to 20) ____________

3. Is the office is a well oiled machine? Do you have the personnel to answer the phone effectively and keep all the books up to date and current. Are all sources of business  tracked so that you know what marketing is working and what is not? Are budgets made and adhered to and can a financial picture of the business be looked at on a daily or weekly basis? Some turn-key businesses can still have the owner involved in bill paying and bookkeeping because the owner wants a tight control and, of course, that’s OK if the owner so desires.

(score yourself from 1 to 20) _____________

4. Can you can take long vacations and return to little or no work? This is not really
something that you can work at, it is more of a result of having all the other
systems in place. This is a good way of judging just how well your business
is running without you.

(score yourself from 1 to 10) ______________

5. Does someone else besides you runs the day to day operations of the business?
Call that person an Operations Manager, a Team Leader, a Supervisor, whatever, that
person runs the show. THIS POSITION IS ESSENTIAL in achieving your turn-key
operation. A multi-millionaire business mentor of mine once told me the key to
business is to have good people run your business and pay them well. This position’s
importance cannot be overrated. A good Operation’s Manager can be a huge
problem. That person MUST BE GREAT!!! He or she is a large part of making sure
that the employees are stepping up to the plate and doing their work well, which has
already been mentioned as the number one issue when achieving a turn-key
business. Quite simply, you can score yourself on this question by answering the
question, do you have a great Operations Manager?

(score yourself from1 to 30) ______________

6. How’s your attitude? Do you believe that you can achieve a turn-key business?
Do you know yourself well enough to know that deep down inside, you are capable
of doing the hard work and making the sacrifices needed to pull this off? Are your
people skills good enough that you can assemble the team necessary? If you
make some mistakes and fall are you willing to wipe yourself off and get going again
no matter how difficult that may be? Do you like what you are doing and enjoy the
idea of putting together the elements needed to achieve this goal. Are you excited
about his endeavor, yet realistic about the chances of bringing this about. A positive
attitude is absolutely essential in creating your turn-key business.

(score yourself from 1 to 40) ________________

7. How profitable is your business. This question goes without needing to be said as
A highly profitable business is essential to being turn-key. Many businesses are not
profitable due to their pricing being too low. A high profit margin cures lots of ills and
enables a business to incorporate features such as higher wages for employees,
money available for training, better equipment, dollars for marketing, etc. not having a
good profit margin is like being in a straight jacket.

(score yourself from 1 to 40) _______________
YOUR REPORT CARD

180     A+     CONGRATULATIONS – YOU ARE LIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM. THIS PROBABLY MEANS THAT YOU ARE ALREADY OFF AND RUNNING AFTER YOUR NEXT DREAM BECAUSE YOU ARE A HIGH ACHIEVER. ENJOY THE JOURNEY, YOU DESERVE IT.

150 – 179     A     WOW, GREAT SCORE, YOU ARE JUST A STEP AWAY. WORK ON THE ONE OR TWO ISSUES WHERE YOU FELL SHORT AND SOON YOU WILL BE AT THE PINNACLE OF BUSINESS SUCCESS.

100 – 149      B     DON’T BEAT YOURSELF UP BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW THAT B IS NOT A BAD SCORE. MAKE A WRITTEN PLAN AS TO HOW YOU ARE GOING TO WORK ON YOUR WEAK AREAS AND THEN GO TO WORK. YOU MAY NEED TO BUY SOME BOOKS OR JOIN SOME GROUPS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW YOU CAN IMPROVE YOUR BUSINESS.

60 – 99     C     NOW THAT YOU ARE AWARE OF YOUR SHORTCOMINGS… REJOICE. GET SOME HELP, MAKE A PLAN, CHANGE YOU ATTITUDE AND MAKE A DECISION THAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO THIS NO MATTER WHAT.

0 – 59     D     IT’S OK, IT REALLY IS BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE THE MAJORITY OF BUSINESSES ARE. IF IT WAS EASY, EVERYONE WOULD BE DOING IT. JUST BEING AN ENTREPENEUR PUTS YOU AHEAD OF 97% OF THE REST OF THE CROWD SO DON’T FEEL SO BAD. TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND MAKE A DECISION. ARE YOU GOING TO BE A WORKER DRONE THE REST OF YOUR LIFE OR ARE YOU GOING TO BE PART OF THE ELITE GROUP THAT LIVES OUTSIDE THEIR COMFORT ZONE, DISCIPLINES THEMSELVES, WORKS HARD AND EFFICIENT AND IMPLEMENTS THE GREAT IDEAS THAT THEY RECEIVE FROM OTHERS? IT’S DECISION TIME. WHAT WILL IT BE?

CONCLUSION

Just by searching the web and examining the question of having a turn-key business shows that you are way ahead of the game already. If it is in your heart to achieve this most admirable goal, why not go for it. We are so blessed in the U.S. with opportunities galore and an infrastructure that enables us to achieve our wildest dreams. Get some help, make a plan, keep a positive attitude, discipline yourself and start to enjoy the wonderful fruits of your labor.

The trick to being the highest priced company in town and having plenty of business is getting customers to fall in love with your services.

An ecstatic customer wants to give you money and does not let price stand in the way. They love to refer you and tell all their friends about how wonderful you are. The following example illustrates what I am referring to in a very poignant way.

Last week I went to two different stores to buy a suit. First I went to a store that had a buy one, get three free suits. What a deal, I thought so I went there first. I walked in, searched around for a salesperson for a minute and finally found one. I told her that I wanted the buy one get three free suits deal and she asked me my size and took me over to the five suits that were my size. Not much of a selection. She then disappeared and I took one suit off the rack to discover that the price was $395 and the suit was a piece of junk. I immediately walked out the door. Then I went over to the other store, which I am happy to mention was the Men’s Warehouse. What a different situation. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by a very friendly lady who asked me my name and told me her’s was Gladys. She then asked if she could take my measurements, which she did. She then walked me over to Jonathan and said that he could take care of me. Jonathan was most pleasant, extremely knowledgeable and directly pulled out two suits my size that I loved. This store’s sale was buy one suit get one free. Jonathan gave me some very stylish shoes to wear because they were having a tailor measure my pants length. While I was getting the pants measured, Jonathan was picking out four shirts and four ties that went with the two suits. When the tailor finished with me, Jonathan asked if he could show me some other items at no obligation whatsoever. I said sure and he positioned the shirts within the suit jackets so that I could see how well they went together. I was impressed and amazed and thoroughly enjoying the whole experience. In the end, I bought the two suits, the shoes, four shirts and three ties, a pair of suspenders and three silk shirts and pants that they had on sale. My total bill came to over $900 and I loved it. I told them how I was impressed with their whole presentation and that they now had a lifelong client who was going to tell all his friends. When I called my wife and, bless her heart, she didn’t mind me spending that amount, I realized that I now had a story to tell my staff concerning how to do business. I am happy to say that in telling my staff this story, I was reiterating that our company gives the same great service and that is why we are so successful. We are the highest price in town and many times I have heard clients say, “Boy, your prices are high but we would not think of using anyone else.”

In the carpet cleaning world a few simple things will stand you out from the crowd.

1. Always give a follow-up call a day or two after the job. Clients are 90% more likely to refer you if you do this one simple step.

Thank you letters and monthly newsletters or postcards are essential for running an upscale carpet cleaning business.

2. Even if it is not your fault, graciously offer to go back out to fix any problem. Makes some lemonade out of that lemon and kill ‘em with kindness, they will love you for it.

3. Don’t hesitate to offer up-grades (up-sales), otherwise you are not giving good service. I needed those shirts and ties and shoes and if Jonathan had not offered them to me, I would have walked out without taking care of my needs. Jonathan knew more than I did about what I needed and you need to make sure that your technicians and sales people think the same way. Not offering up-grades is not giving good service. Naturally, it must be done in a professional manner and not pushy.

4. Look professional and act that way.  Which store mentioned above do you think had the best dressed employees. You bet Jonathan looked sharp. Your techs and salespeople must be dressed to look like they offer the best service at the highest prices. Proper language is vital, too, as you want to speak the language of success. We never have problems, we have challenges.

Additionally, vans are cleaned every day and offices are clean and classy, looking like a lawyer’s office.
Oh yes, don’t forget, with very,very few exceptions, the customer is always right.

5. Get involved in the community in which you live. Join the local
Chamber of Commerce, Better Business Bureau, Realtor Association, Junior League and other community organizations and be an active member. Over time people will get to know you and appreciate you for what you do for others. Of course, they are a great way to network, make friends and generate business. Become known as a class act that always is positive and kind and makes people glad to be around you.

6. Be THE LEADER in your industry in your community. When people have a tough cleaning situation or question, you want to be the person they think of calling. This is accomplished by getting
the essential credentials for your business. In the carpet cleaning business that means IICRC certifications in all areas and becoming a Master Cleaning or Restoration Technician. Your advertising and print material ought to reflect the fact that you are the best.

7. Have a website that looks like a million bucks. The web is so vital these days to business and it is a reflection of what your image is all about. Don’t short change this necessary part of your business. Your advertising and print material ought to reflect the fact that you are the best. Newletters and flyers on glossy paper with lots of color ought to be the norm and when people look at your information, they must be thinking, “These guys are first class.” Your technicians ought to be handing the clients professional looking booklets filled with great information when they begin their presentations at the beginning of the job.

A satisfied customer is likely to tell three people about your service, while an unhappy customer will tell as many as twenty. I know that I will probably personally tell about twenty people about my great experience at the Men’s Warehouse and now with this blog, the news will get out to thousands. It just goes without saying that giving exceptional service goes a long way towards making a company exceptionally successful!

He is a fabulous technician who can do a great job cleaning but he can’t up-sell a thing.
She is really good in the office but she just won’t do what I tell her to do and insists on doing things her way.

He is a good technician but he always gets to work ten minutes late.
On and on it goes. Recently I have heard some really disgusting tales about technicians from some of my coaching clients. One owner told me that he has a problem with a technician because the technician spends too much time on the job texting. Just the other day an owner told me about a technician that starting getting tattoos all over his body and was using offensive language in front of the customers.

Owners must decide to deal with the pain their employees are causing. There will be pain in either decision. Unfortunately most owners make the decision to accept long term pain over short term pain. Long term pain in this case seems not as painful as short term but it never goes away. In not dealing with the problem and letting the employee stay, the owner has made this decision because they don’t want to deal with the short term pain of firing someone and then having to find and train a replacement. The short term pain is very painful at the time but it goes away and hopefully fixes the problem with a new and better employee.

A business will never get to a turn-key level if it employs low performing people. It is as simple as that. One thing positive about with this bad economy is there are plenty of good people looking for work and there is no excuse having a Bozo for an employee.

Low performers must go. You know who they are. This is how to deal with them. Bring them into the office and tell them what they have been doing wrong. Unlike the middle and high performers, they receive no praise. Give them examples of what they have been doing wrong and tell them they have thirty days to improve and correct their mistakes. Tell them you will be watching them like a hawk. At the end of the thirty days, one third will move up, one third will quit and one third will be fired.

Middle performers need to be praised and coached. They can be influenced by the low and high performers and you want to see them move up. Most employees are middle performers.
High performers want and deserve praise and they want to show off their abilities. It is very important to rid your company of low performers because the high performers will become disgusted at seeing the low performers getting away with bad performance. It is important to remember…

YOU PROMOTE WHAT YOU PERMIT.

Once a company is rid of the low performers, the work atmosphere will change and the high performers will begin to take more and more responsibilities in the business. As this process continues, more can be delegated and eventually you can live the American dream and have others successfully run the business. Firing people is never pleasant but I have never heard of anyone firing an employee too soon.

Don’t be held hostage in your own company and decide today that you will not tolerate anymore long term pain. You owe it to yourself and to your middle and high performers to establish a work atmosphere that is pleasant and profitable.