Howdy Everyone! Welcome to the first official Bulletproof Handyman Business Newsletter! Hopefully you all received your invitation. I’m excited to start producing these even though I’m not certain that I’m going to be eloquent enough with my writing to be of value to you but I intend on giving it my best just like I do everything else.

Free T-Shirts For Jobber Subscribers

The first order of business is to announce that I got a great deal on some T-Shirts which I’m going to be giving away for free to the first 25 respondents who signed up and purchased a Jobber Core, Connect, or Grow Plan. This can be a previous purchase or a new purchase as long as it was done through my link. https://go.getjobber.com/bulletproofhandyman Just email me at [email protected] and tell me what email address you used for Jobber so that I can verify it. The shirts are going to be ready in about a month, as they’re from a local company that is cutting me a deal to do them at cost in exchange for some Handyman work. I’m sure that down the line I’ll have some for sale, but these 25 are just a happy little accident from a company that happened to need a Handyman.

Secure Your Domains / Social Media Handles ASAP

Whether you’re just starting your business, or just dreaming of some day, or already running your business, now is the time to make sure that you’ve secured your domain name and your social media handles. Once you’ve landed on a name for your business one of the first steps is going to be to register with you States Corporation Commission so that nobody else can use your name, if you plan to be an LLC, which most of you should be. Additionally if you haven’t already, you should be creating a G-Mail account with your business name. You’ll use this account for literally everything else throughout the process of getting your business up and running. You’ll use it to start your business checking account, to communicate with your accountant, to open accounts at dozens of online and local parts suppliers, to start your Home Depot Pro account, to communicate with property managers and other clients, and the list goes on and on. Once you have your email address and domain name reserved you can use the email address to start networking on every single social media and every networking platform. Even if you don’t think you’ll need a YouTube, Facebook, TicTok, Instagram, Linkedin, etc… you’ll still want to make sure that nobody else is able to secure your business name on those platforms because you never know what your business will grow into in the future. Luckily, these are all free for the most part. Just get the handles reserved on every platform and then you can figure out later if you’ll be utilizing them.

Start Practicing With AI

Obviously you won’t have it written with quite as much creativity, but as you can see, AI is capable of understanding what you want and delivering it. As Handymen, we may not be as impacted by AI as many other career fields, but it is time for us to start getting comfortable with it because your competition will be figuring out how to use it to market themselves and to communicate more effectively with your clients than you do. Play around with it and ask it some questions. Believe it or not, Chat GPT can already give you better advice on running a small handyman business than most handymen. Or, try typing up an email to a potential new property management client introducing yourself but instead of sending it immediately, run it through ChatGPT and ask it to re-write the email from the perspective of a professional experienced handyman who is trying to pitch his services to a potential new client. Just give it a shot and see how it does, I think you’ll be impressed. When it comes to business logos AI can also be extremely useful. I created mine with an AI website. It took one hour, gave me a product that I was 100% excited to have, and only cost in the ballpark of $100 for dozens of different sizes, styles, and color combinations. It was a whole branding package done for $100 that previously would have cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars and would have taken weeks to develop with a professional. Finally, image generators are also doing outstanding work. When it comes to marketing, you can have these free image generators crank out dozens of drafts for you until you find one that looks perfect on your brochure or business card. These are just the most obvious and immediate uses. Mark my words, it won’t be long until they’re able to find clients for you, help you estimate jobs, order parts and materials, and a thousand other useful tasks.

Tips For Increasing Sales On Site

Often we’re on the job arriving at a property for just one small item. While this is great for maximizing profits by charging a $125 trip fee for a 5 minute job, there is always more work that could get done and therefore more money to be made without making more trips. One of the first things I do when I pull up is check the mailbox, fascia, garage door weather stripping, gutters, window screens, and general condition of the front of the house before I’ve even made it to the door. Once at the door I use the doorbell and I listen to see if it’s working properly. When I go into the home I shut the security door and entry door and test the knobs and deadbolts to make sure everything is smooth. Once inside I keep my eyes peeled for anything else out of place that wouldn’t be a tenant responsibility. From here you have two options. You can call the Property Manager and ask them to approve the extra work on the spot, or you can go home at the end of the day and submit an estimate to repair the extras on another future trip. Other common items to look for would be any water fixture that may be leaking, a wobbly toilet, vanity pop up drains that don’t pop up and down anymore, and evidence of leaks on the ceilings throughout. The more you get into the habit of looking, the easier and faster you’ll find these extra items. Try not to be calling the PM every single time for the same items, as you don’t want them to feel like you’re trying to dig up more work, but rather keep your eyes open for the things that really do matter so that you can maximize the value of your trips.

Secret Trick To Gain Loyalty

There is a simple trick you can use to make sure that your Property Managers never want to let you go. Sometimes you’re going to find that your tenants are grateful and relieved to have had you deliver such a professional service quickly and efficiently. Often they have been through hell and back trying to get even simple repairs completed in the past. If you find yourself in a position where the tenant is singing your praises, take a minute to ask them to give you a review on Google or elsewhere. Specifically, don’t ask them to review or rate YOU. Ask them to write a 5 star review for the Property Management Company while mentioning you by name in the review. Most of the companies I’ve had as clients take their online reviews very seriously and they will likely notice and appreciate their glowing reviews that you initiated.

Don’t Say The “M” Word

What is the M word? MOLD. Do yourself a favor and take the liability of MOLD out of the system. You’re going to run into dozens of examples every year where the tenant is concerned about MOLD, and the Property Manager may be as well. The bottom line is this… You’re not certified or licensed or otherwise to speak about MOLD. If you tell a tenant that there is no mold to worry about and you’re wrong, then you may be liable. If you tell a tenant that there is MOLD to be worried about then you’re going to have an angry Property Manager. You’re not the expert and you should be happy that you aren’t. My policy any time a tenant or Property Manager asks me about potential mold I tell them the same thing… “I’m not certified or licensed or otherwise educated to be making any statements about mold” I tell every tenant to contact the property manager for questions about mold and I tell every Property Manager to consult with a mold expert if they have suspicions. This can become a huge liability and I suggest you stay out of the conversation entirely.

Answer Your Phone

Last for this newsletter, but definitely not least… ANSWER YOUR PHONE

Seriously guys, answer that phone every time if it’s a property manager. No matter how hard you try, there will be times when you fall short, when you do less than a good job, and when you just fail to take care of things in the fashion that you’ve trained your property managers to expect. In these cases, they’ll likely call you and you likely won’t want to answer the phone. You’ll think to yourself that you can just text them in a few minutes with the excuse of being tied up under the sink. Don’t do it! Just answer the phone and be honest. The truth is that if you’re putting in the effort that I preach on this channel then you’re still appreciated even if you’re not perfect. I promise you that your Property Managers will be just as impressed with you taking responsibility with humility as they would be had you never faltered to begin with. Apologize for the mistake and guarantee that you’ll make it right ASAP, at no charge. This will bring them the comfort of knowing that they have a professional who stands behind his work. The same goes for emergency calls. If they’re calling at 10pm during a thunderstorm then you already know you’re getting wet tonight. Don’t let the phone ring to voicemail and pretend like you were already asleep. They know better. Be the guy that answers and takes care of them. It sucks, but it’s one of the best ways to garner that loyalty that will keep you swimming in work orders for years to come.

Suggestions? Requests?

Let me know what else you’re pondering and I’ll be sure to put it on the list for future newsletters!

Thanks!

Ray Duke

[email protected]