From the comments that I've gotten from contractors I work with across the country, it's finally gotten hot just about everywhere.
It's time to earn profits and prepare for the slower times. You might think I'm nuts but according to Jim Rohn, "Ants think summer all winter. Ants think winter all summer." When you are busy is the best time to prepare for the slower times.
Here are some things to do:
Always do a thorough analysis. If you are in the business of helping your customers keep their systems up and running (whether business, mechanical, computer, online, etc.) make sure that you (or your employees/contractors) write everything down that they see wrong with a system when they analyze it. That doesn't mean fix everything right then! However, if you do a thorough analysis even when work is busy and explain the results thoroughly to the customer, they can then make an informed decision on how much work to do. It is unlikely that your customer will want to fix everything right then, but they'll appreciate knowing the state of their system. Tip: Save these tickets in a tickler file for work to do when it gets slower later.
Thank the customer for calling (even when complaining). The simple act of saying "thank you" goes a long way towards calming upset customers down and keeping them as customers.
Return telephone calls. Sometimes you get so busy giving estimates and handling the day to day that returning telephone calls is low on your priority list. If someone has called with an issue, you need to resolve it as quickly as possible. The last thing you need when you are busy is for a minor problem to become a major crisis.
Call customers whom you have given estimates to. You might be thinking that you are so busy that you can't take another job. However, if you give an estimate to a customer, you have to call that customer back to see what they have decided to do. You might get the job (the customer might be waiting to see who does call back). You also might get valuable information about your competition.
Continue your marketing. If you don't market when you are busy, then a slow time is guaranteed for your future! Keep things moving by making time for networking, updating your marketing materials, asking for referrals.
These are some activities that you need to continue to do when it is extremely busy. You might think that you can't handle one more service call or one more job. However, you'll always fit in what needs to get done. In addition, when you are busy is the best time to look for work for the times that it is slower.
