Bob Mallory
Contributing Writer
Nexstar

In 2009, the economy tanked, causing a ripple effect that swept the country like a devastating tsunami. Members of Nexstar felt the pinch, like everyone else. Since I’m responsible for communication within our organization, I called a few of our member companies to report how the recession has impacted their markets and what they’re doing to stay profitable.

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I surveyed three Nexstar members and asked them what they did to survive 2009 and how they plan to rebound in 2010; Mark Presgrave of My Plumber in Manassas, VA, John Conway of Conway Services in Memphis, TN and Bryan Hargis of Hargis Electric in Paris, TX. My Plumber was the largest company in my impromptu survey and Hargis Electric the smallest. Here’s what the owners had to say.

To survive 2009, all three said they turned to diversification. Presgrave said their HVAC and rooter business saved them as their plumbing division was flat. Conway saw his company on the edge of the cliff and started a plumbing division, an in-house proposal follow-up program, and closed their new construction operations. Hargis has been steadily moving into service and away from new construction. All three had to refocus on who was most likely to buy their products and services. In each case, intensified training became the conductor of their refocus.

Conway said one of the first things he did early in 2009 was take a hard look at his company’s service offerings and where he was investing his assets. “I decided what was going to stay and what was not going to be here any longer,” says Conway. “I stopped pursuing those things that were going away. We became very goal orientated. Our driving force became the daily numbers—sold hours for service and sold days for HVAC.”

Presgrave began the year with an increased presence among his customers and prospects. He heightened his company’s direct mail, changed the graphics on their trucks and advertising to stand out more in their highly competitive market.  My Plumber started an outbound calling program and reinstated the availability of coupons on their website that they discontinued three years earlier. The most notable change, Presgrave says he did for My Plumber, was to instill a proactive approach to their customers by everyone in the company. Their objective was to stake out their customer base with constant reminders declaring My Plumber was who to call when they need service. “This is a very big machine that needs to be fed a large diet of sales to breakeven,” Presgrave notes. “If I am off just two consecutive weeks in sales, I have to redo my budget.”

What Then for 2010?

For My Plumber, two tactical objectives were identified for this year. They will be a continued proactive presence in their marketplace and intensive training. Something My Plumber has never had is space. This giant company had been stuffed into what looked like a doublewide trailer home. That will soon change. Presgrave is closing on a new 55,000 square foot building that he says will have a spacious training center. “That will be a big morale booster. The building will give us ten times the space we have now,” declares Presgrave.

Presgrave says he is filling a new type of sales position he is calling a relationship manager. This will be an outbound calling position to customers and prospects to remind them My Plumber is ready to respond to their needs with an expanded line of services. A target audience for this marketing tactic, says Presgrave, will be small commercial companies like movie theaters and strip malls.

My Plumber has taken the proactive approach to a new level. They call customers to say it’s time for a checkup. Half the customers are confirmed. When a customer is not home, they will leave a message saying a technician will be coming to their home during a window of time at a certain day. “Surprisingly,” Presgrave exclaims, “most will be there waiting for us when we arrive.”

Presgrave says they are stepping up their training. They are doing Nexstar Service System training in-house (The Service System is customer satisfaction training course for technicians), company-wide and executive meetings have been ramped up. They are training technicians to ask customers what else they can do for them. Technicians are encouraged to help customers with their decision-making process by making recommendations. Presgrave says he has a new mission statement on his desk. It says; “Over prepare, then go with the flow.” He says, “It means prepare for every which way a scenario could go. Then you’re always prepared for whatever might happen.”

Conway Services has billed themselves as the premier heating and cooling service provider in the Memphis area. Training is a fundamental part of their operations. They too have recently built a new state-of-the-art training center for both customer and trade skills. “We run the three-day call board, just like Nexstar Business Coach Jim Hamilton has taught us,” concedes John Conway. “Everyone knows there better be 28 calls on the board every morning before I come into work.” Conway says he looks at his operations and says to himself, If Jim Hamilton were running this operation, what would he do? “If Hamilton says to do something, we do it. No questions asked.” Conway Services is projecting 12{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} increase in growth over 2010, putting revenue over $6 million and double digit profit. “We continue to run the company by the numbers,” exclaims Conway. “Every month, I set the goals for each department.”

Hargis Electric has been in a state of change ever since joining Nexstar. They proved it last year by earning the top ranked member spot in Nexstar’s Select Service Award of Excellence. They expect more of the same in 2010. “We are very happy to be in Nexstar,” comments Bryan Hargis. “Believe me, what Nexstar has taught us has made us so different than anyone else, nobody comes close. Customers love us and keep coming back for more!”

Bob Mallory handles communications for Nexstar. Nexstar delivers rapid results guided by experienced coaches, surefire systems and incredible peer connections. For more information, go to www.nexstarnetorkcom.