I have been offering a free 30 minute consulting call to contractors since I began my training and consulting practice over 7 years ago. I do this because I feel it’s what I owe the industry for all the help I received through mentors over the years and for what my business afforded me in the way of the lifestyle I’ve been allowed to live.
It’s also been a great way to take the pulse of what is and isn’t happening around the country from coast to coast from big cities to little towns in a bunch of trades.
One frightening trend I see is the “Overwhelming” of contractors by access to too many sources of information from too many varying sources.
Let’s face it. The internet is a powerful tool for knowledge. But how do you know if you’re talking to an expert or a knucklehead?
You don’t!
Even if you’ve been wise enough to have one to one consulting or join an industry education group or association, it’s easy to get into overload. Which thing do you do first? Can you pull pieces from multiple places and make them all work?
No! There is a real danger from too many sources of knowledge and too much information when trying to make them all work together. A lot of the time the information or process can be in direct conflict with each other.
Here’s what too much advice from too many sources is like….10 chefs in a kitchen all trying to bake a single cake at the same time. It’s going to be a mess if not a slugfest and the results won’t be too tasty.
An example of overload became screamingly clear to me after a recent free 30 minute call. This contractor said he was working with four consultants at the present time and that he’s had other consulting advice from other consultants and industry groups over the last ten years. Plus, he is active in an educational association.
My question to him was, how is it all working out and why are we speaking?
He said, “We’re speaking because it isn’t working all that well and we’re still missing a lot of critical pieces”
I explained that all information and programs he has don’t necessarily go with each other because they were created apart from one another. The example I gave is the specific scripts for CSRs [Customer Service Reps] and DSRs [Dispatchers] I have work because they’re integrated to the Technician and other manuals I create and they won’t align easily with all the scripts he has now that he likes and hates. I bet our scripts actually would contradict one another.
The tough work is to find a filter. Your goal is to get great advice, from a great source and make sure you have a trusted mentor, advisor or consultant to make sure that the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle all fit together they right way so you create the picture of your company you’ve always desired.