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Let Simple Sayings Be a Contractor’s Guide to Success
By Erik Anderson

• There is no argument in matters of taste. This is the translation from a Greek saying my father taught me.
• Volume does not put food on your table, profit does. Learned the hard way!
• The hardest thing to overcome in sales is what’s between your ears. This is another one I learned the hard way. For example, it can seem inconceivable to you that you could raise your markups by another 10% — until you see your competitors doing it. You can do it, too; you just have to overcome your own irrational fears.
• If you get every job you bid, you will soon be out of business. The owner of a commercial construction company I worked for told me this. I was often upset when we went to a bid opening and we did not get the job. He made a very good point.

• Never pass up the opportunity to meet with a person face to face. Don’t send proposals in the mail or via e-mail. Meet every customer, vendor or subcontractor in person.
• Stories sell, facts tell. If you tell a whale of a story to get a job, you had better be able to back it up with your work.
• You can’t sell a one-legger. You need both decision makers at your sales call. If not, one person will always say they need to talk to the other person. You never even had the chance to sell to the other person.
• Plan your work and work your plan.
• A clean job site is a happy job site. Your customers will be among the first to notice.
• Your company should be like a duck, calm on top, paddling like crazy underneath. If your company is well managed, this will be true.
• You can’t take your money to your grave, but you can take your honesty and integrity. The goal of your company should be success that comes from being sincere with your customers and those with whom you work. If you have that kind of success, the money will be there. If money is your only focal point, you may be cutting too many corners to get there.
• Don’t be late, don’t be early, BE ON TIME.

Erik Anderson, GMB, CAPS, CGB, is vice president of sales and marketing for Anderson-Moore Builders, Inc. in Winston-Salem, NC. He currently serves as first vice president of the Home Builders Association of Winston-Salem. For more information, send him an e-mail.

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