Ever hear this from your team?
The phone logs told a different story.
20 calls. 5 missed. 10 customers told “not today” when requesting service.
This happens in almost every business.
You spend thousands of dollars on marketing to have your team reject the opportunity.
A customer calls at 4pm with a flat tire (we close at 5pm)
The lazy manager thinks: “That’s only $30… by the time they get here it could be past 5pm and I’m trying to leave right at 5:01pm…”
So they ask the customer to come first thing in the morning.
The great manager says: “We can definitely help. Can you come right now?”
Same scenario. Two different outcomes.
The $30 flat tire seems small.
But watch what happens when you turn it down:
- You can’t help a customer solve a problem
- You miss out on a potential sale of 4 tires
- The front shop team makes less money
- The technicians make less money
- The district manager makes less money
- The leadership team makes less money
- The owners make less money
One person’s actions affect the livelihood of 10+ other families in my business
The compound effect is even worse.
We constantly reinvest profits back into acquiring more stores to create more jobs.
Every rejected customer slows down our expansion.
There’s a fine line between “qualifying” the customer and turning down work.
Unfortunately, some employees don’t understand this distinction.
They think small jobs aren’t worth their time.
They’re wrong.
Worst case: You get a happy customer, a five-star review, and an opportunity for future work.
Best case: That customer becomes a regular who spends thousands annually and refers their friends & family.
Consistently turning down work leads to automatic termination.
Those employees can go work at our competitors 🙂
What can you do today to check your business?
Comb through your opportunities: phone calls, lead requests, etc.
Start digging into the ones we didn’t convert to find out why.
I guarantee you’ll be riled up by the end!
Then figure out why we are turning down work.
Training issue? Short-staffed? Lazy…?
Cheers!
Brian
