The Mastermind concept was introduced in the book Think and Grow Rich in the early 1900’s. Author Napoleon Hill described it as “The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people who work toward a definite purpose in the spirit of harmony.” In Part 2 of his video series, “Think and Grow Rich Master Keys”, he states that by using the mastermind principle, you can accomplish in 1 year what would take a lifetime to accomplish without it.

Certified Contractors Network first introduced Financial MasterMind sessions for its member owners in 2001. It is being reintroduced beginning at the Fall Conference in September, 2010 with a few changes to the original format. In the past, this mastermind group has been so successful, that many felt that it was the most important part of CCN.

What is Certified Contractors Network’s Financial MasterMind?

Ten –Twelve owners will meet twice per year in a mastermind session
At these meetings, each will get 30 minutes to present their financial statements to the others
The next 30 minutes will focus on the group questioning and making suggestions for improvements

How can I participate?

There will be an application process for participants and we will only take 10-12 members
You must qualify to be a part of this group
Since very personal and confidential information is shared, each participant will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement that will have severe penalties and must be personally guaranteed

Just ask John Keating, Keating & Sons Roofing in Ontario, Canada who just graduated from the March Sales Boot Camp.

John closed the first 3 appointments he went on following Sales Boot Camp!  He said it was just like sitting in the boot camp doing the role play.  Here’s what happened…

John had done the Measure Call prior to leaving for boot camp.  He thought he did a good measure call (John went to Sales Boot Camp for the first time last Spring) and after returning home, he had the follow up call scheduled.  When he went on the appointment, the prospect told him that he had a good feeling about him after the Measure Call but had estimates from 4 other contractors whose prices he felt were very high.  John followed the process with the 4P flip chart and the prospect told him his price was $5000 more than the highest price from the other contractors.

John immediately utilized the word tracks he learned in boot camp and put on his “consultant’s hat” to review the contracts.  It was obvious that the scope of work was totally different.  John continued with the process, used the SCSP and was able to  show the differences and why they were important.  By going the extra mile and doing the right thing (showing the owner that he could solve their problems with the right products and that his company was different than the others) he was able to convince the owner to invest more money into their home so that they got a better job.  And that’s what its all about….Doing the right thing; for the customer and your company.

Did he manipulate the customer? Did he somehow cheat the customer?  The answers to both of these questions is NO!  John convinced the owner that he was truly concerned about solving the owners problems.  He showed them that he was a certified contractor and that he only installs products according to industry standards and manufacturers specifications (which the majority of contractors do not do).  He then showed them that his company was the safer and better choice even though the initial cost was higher. In the end, they would save money as they would get a complete job and wouldn’t have to worry about doing it again.  Clearly John had the owners best interest in mind.

CONGRATULATIONS John on a job well done and for sticking with the process you learned without getting thrown off by the higher price objection!

John realized that he had forgotten a lot after attending the first sales boot camp.  During that boot camp, he was in a work group with others who had attended previously and said they had forgotten a lot.  At the time, he didn’t really understand that but now will admit that attending a second time really brought it all together for him.  He returned to the office and is committed to using the entire sales process and even spent a day getting his answer book compiled.

John, we look forward to hearing more success stories from you – we know there will be more!

Shocked? Don’t be.

Let’s break down that statement and really think about it from the perspective of the Certified Contractors Network (CCN) processes, and your thought processes

Skills - We all know highly skilled individuals who are not appropriately applying the CCN processes. They give the Processes lip service but when push comes to shove they cave in. During the CCN University Sales Boot Camp, and out training tapes we train “the best selling practices” only to see, in some cases, they are not implemented, or they are fixed so they don’t work by some people.

The Boot Camp, and training tapes, can teach you the exact WordTracks, the exact words to say, the exact answers to the Client’s questions, the exact questions to ask, as well as, the exact actions to take and not take – these are proven “Best Practices” by CCN Members to lead to success.

Yet, there are people after being exposed to these “Best Practices” that upon graduation from Boot Camp, or after hearing the training tapes return to their day-to-day and do the same things they have always done wondering (and complaining about) why they don’t achieve success or how unlucky they are.

I have seen intelligent sales personnel fail, and I have seen contractors pile up debt and eventually fail because they won’t apply the “Best Practices” to their business.

SUCCESS IS NOT ABOUT SKILLS!

Product - The Product in the construction business is a combination of contractor services and the product applied. Many sales people try to sell product. They focus on the product, and claim their product; the quality of their craftsmen, their insurance, their long time in business, the materials used, etc. etc. is the reason why the Client should buy from them
There are lots of high-quality contractors producing high-quality product, but why aren’t the sales people making high-quality sales, high-quality personal incomes, and their company is highly profitable?

Sales people claim, “But my company is different…. we are truly better…than the pickup truck bandits”

It is probably true for you, and of course you need a belief system and passion that it is true. You must have a solid belief in your craftsman and the building products you sell. But, the key to success is not the product. If high-quality product  (contractor & materials) was the driving force that made clients buy then every salesperson representing a high-quality contracting firm would be highly successful, and they are not.

It is a huge mistake to think you can win business by telling Clients how great you and your companies are. You are telling the Client exactly the same thing the competition is telling them.

Do you think the competition is telling the Client that they are lousy contractors and use inferior products?

Who should the Client believe? With everyone telling the same story (both quality contractors and sub standard contractors) how much lack of trust and confidence do you think there is in the Client’s mind as a result?

In today’s market you don’t have to be or work for the highest-quality contracting firm and sell the best building products to win – you cannot be a lousy contractor with an inferior product, but you don’t need the best. There are many contractors that provide GOOD craftsmen and GOOD materials that are winning BIG!

SUCCESS IS NOT ABOUT PRODUCT!

So if it is not Skills and it is not Product then what is left that makes success. It must be hard work. We all know someone who works incredibly hard, they work long hours, maybe even hold multiple jobs and yet they are barely making ends meet. They work hard! And yet, they are not successful.

“The wealthiest people I have ever met have not worked a day in their life.”

Robin Leach, Lives of the Rich and Famous.

Does this mean that all the wealthy were born wealthy? Not really. A great book on wealth building is “The Millionaire Next Door.” The book explains that over 85% of the millionaires in today’s world are “self-made” and living a relatively modest lifestyle. They began with absolutely nothing. They also typically put in an inordinate amount of hours. Seem incongruent? Maybe these achievers have a different definition of the word “work”.

SUCCESS IS NOT ABOUT HARD WORK!

So what is the answer? The answer lies in “getting back to the basics”….the basics of ALL behavior, all results, all success…. Your Belief System, or your Paradigm!

For example, take a poor golfer and give them the best Big Bertha driver made (high quality product) will the Big Bertha make them good at driving off the tee? Of course not, however, you can give a shabby driver to Tiger Woods and he will drive the ball far.

Some people will say, “Tiger has great skill, and he has worked hard at his sport for years.” They would be absolutely correct. But we are talking about his Belief System or his Paradigm. What makes Tiger Woods great?  Why did he work so hard at getting great? The answer has to be his Belief System, his Paradigm.

It is his belief in himself, his focus, determination, commitment, persistence, and self-image, which I believe leads to No Option Behavior.

He doesn’t allow himself to think about slacking off. He doesn’t allow himself think about not playing his best possible game. He doesn’t allow himself to think about the problems or challenges of the day that could take his mind off his ability to play great (present circumstances aside).

All thinking that comprise the “inner game” of success drives all the behavior and results in the “outer game” of success.

How hard have you been thinking about your sales career? How much practice have you put into your career? How many sales books have you read? How many sales tapes have you listened to……really listened to? You know the tapes that you stop, and write down the steps towards success that are discussed on the tape?

Or, are you one of those “experts” that knows it all. You know the type, they claim to have 25 years of experience, but they really only have 1 year repeated 25 times. They haven’t done anything in years to improve their skills. They just repeat and repeat the same old behavior. They may sell some work, but they seldom have the sales skills to get the right price. They “buy work” with their schmoozing and low price, rather than “sell work” with the CCN processes.

How often have you gone the extra mile during the Measure Call to differentiate yourself and prove you are the Wizard to the Client? How many times have you cut corners in the Measure Call trying to squeeze in a couple extra measures so you don’t have the time to bond with the Client and go the extra mile for them?

How intensely do you debrief your initial Measure Call Questions and determined:

1) What are the going to buy?

2) Why are the going to buy now?

3) Why will they buy from me over anyone else?

4) What could cause them to not buy?

How many times have you cheated and just ran on Robot Mode?

How many times did you stand tall and work through your fears about the 4P Flip Chart and use it anyway? How many times did you chicken out using the 4P Flip Chart because you though the Client would think it was hokey, or you would look foolish?

How many times did you not use the SCSP, because you thought it would blow the sale, or you thought you could grab a little extra money by not telling the Client about the savings?

How often do you stick to your guns and follow the CCN Processes step-by-step? How many times have you shortcut most of the CCN processes thinking you had the sale in the bag, only to lose it?

“Success is not the result of making money…. making money is the result of success.”

“Results follow action and actions follow thought”

(Short cut the actions…short cut yourself)

“What you think is what you get”

“Control your thoughts, and you can control the results”

Your work, your skills acquired and applied, and most of all your results, are a direct reflection of you.

Master your “inner game” and the “outer game” has no choice but to follow.

The results you have today are nothing more than a visible mile marker of your previous thoughts.

If your performance is not up to your expectations then change your thoughts today.

Remember the definition of insanity “Continuing to repeat the same behavior, but expect different results.”

If you are cheating on the CCN processes, and walking away from sales calls without the order, then think about what that cheating is costing you. Get back into the Sales Boot Camp Manual, get back into the tapes.

Get into HOW

H = Get Honest with yourself about your current results.

O = Make yourself become Open to new ideas that can improve your performance.

W = Be Willing to step out of your box, your set of limitations, your current thinking, and try something new.

Become the champion you really are.

Register Now

Today is a good time to review your goals. How did you do in the first month? We all need a little kick-in-the-butt once in awhile so………..during 2010 CCN  is going to check with you….remind you, and challenge you to stay your course. The future can be what you decide it to be!

WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BRING?

One of the most powerful ways to achieve your goals is to review them each morning. Spend the first 15 minutes of the day reviewing your goals and setting priorities for the day. Try this for just one week and see the difference this simple discipline makes. We become what we think about. Control your thinking and you control your destiny.

Do you want to breakthrough and get your team to the next level?

Have you ever noticed that people that ask questions learn more?

Whenever you find yourself stuck, particularly if you are repeating a pattern and want to change it, try asking yourself some new (and better) questions,

More importantly, have you been providing your stakeholders the opportunity to ask questions of successful people in your business because your team is the horsepower that drives the business?

Question – Who are you taking to CCN’s Winter Conference in Miami, FL February 11^th  – Feb 13^th  so they have an opportunity to go to the next level?

Some questions your stakeholders might ask at the Conference.

1.  What is the most important thing I can do today?

2.  Since I don’t seem to know how to do this, I wonder who might know the answer? Who can I call for help?

3.  Even though I can’t do it all today, what step can I take to get started right away?

4.  Who could coach me, or teach me, about this?

5.  Since what I’m doing isn’t working, what other methods could I try? What other strategy might give me a better approach?

A good question at a CCN Conference is worth a thousand pieces of casual advice. A great question can instantly have a contractor break out of limiting beliefs and old habits. In almost any area of life, if you are not getting the results you want, try asking different, better, questions, empower your stakeholders to ask better questions and take your business to the next level.

CCN’s Conferences have proven to be the MOST REVELANT and REWARDING learning opportunity in this industry. Bring your current and future leaders and watch your company shift into high gear.

Production Training

Blue Collar Management Boot Camp is designed for production managers, foremen, and office managers who want to learn more effective and cohesive production management processes; as well as company owners who want to improve the quantity and quality of work performed. Attendees will learn to establish performance standards and skills to increase their level of accountability, minimizing the day to day involvement of the business owner.

Key areas of training are:
• Understanding the roles of the Sales, Production and Administration teams.
• Hiring and recruiting production personnel
• Paperwork Process for effective customer management.
• Schedule Management
• Quality Control – Total Quality Meeting
• Production Goal Setting and Performance Management
• Customer communication
• Dispute resolution
• Additional Work Orders

Participates will leave the course with the necessary tools to create the ultimate customer experience, reduce customer complaints, minimize free work, and increase cash flow. It’s the sales department’s responsibility to get the truck in the driveway, its production’s responsibility to make the customer happy and deliver “100% customer satisfaction”.

What can you expect to gain from Blue Collar Management Boot Camp
In most companies, productions goal is “We’re working as hard as we can”

1. You’ll stop doing work for free
How much money do you lose because the crew doesn’t know how to say NO when the customer ask for those little “extras” that are not included in the contract? At Blue Collar Management Boot Camp, your production managers and / or project managers will learn proven word tracks to turn these profit leaks into profitable Additional Work orders

2. A process to resolve customer complaints without giving away your profits.
Complaints are not always bad and during this boot camp you’ll learn how to turn those lemons into lemonade. Incorporating the value of 100% Client Satisfaction doesn’t mean that you “fix” everything for free and it doesn’t necessarily mean that the complaint is due to contractor negligence. In this boot camp, you’ll find out how to easily resolve most customer complaints through the CCN 10 Step Dispute Resolution Process.

3. A process to help set the customer’s expectations before the job starts
Many customer complaints result from unrealized expectations because they have essentially bought a concept rather than a tangible item. The best way to prevent complaints from occurring is to set the expectations up front. During Blue Collar Management Boot Camp, you’ll learn how to conduct a pre-construction meeting that will not only set you apart from the competition but reduce complaints following job completion.

4. A process to continually improve job quality
The goal of every contractor should be to achieve 100% Customer Satisfaction by delivering an ultimate customer experience. This requires the dedication of the entire company to continuous improvement to find out what is being done right and what is wrong on each job. During this boot camp, you’ll learn a process to inspect what you expect, resulting in happy customers and profitable jobs.