From the CEO – A Message from Richard Hunter, November 1999

As a contractor, when you go to call on customers, are you and your staff dressed neatly and do you look like a team? Does your advertising show off your company to potential business in the best possible light? Do your employees speak politely and address your clientele in a high-class manner?

Why should all this matter? After all, if you’re confident in the quality of your workmanship and you’re installing the best irrigation products that money can buy (Hunter), isn't that enough?

To ensure the greatest degree of success for both you and your business, treat everything you do in a "professional" manner. Being professional demands a certain degree of quality that sets you apart and places you above the run of the mill. Being a professional is simply a combination of good judgment, solid commitment and, believe it or not, common sense. But it is not something you turn on and off – it needs to be there all the time.

When you set an appointment, be flexible and able to accommodate the needs of your potential customer. Prepare yourself with the proper materials for making a strong presentation. Dress appropriately, arrive on time, act in a businesslike manner. Be sure to stress your unique qualifications, emphasize the benefits of an automatic sprinkler system, and present your written estimate with quality references and clear, concise literature. In closing, always ask for the business.

But don't let it all end there. Immediately after your visit, send a thank you letter restating your major competitive advantages.

And when you get the job, keep in mind the best way to get future jobs are through referrals. So, start laying the foundation for getting that next job.

As you go to work for a new customer, leave door hangers advertising your business on the neighborhood doors. Complete your work by leaving the job site in excellent condition, then continue your sales program with follow-up mailings for another six weeks. Remember, a satisfied customer is your best sales tool.

But, above all, get yourself off to a good start. When you hear clichés such as "first impressions are lasting ones" or "what you see is what you get," it pays to pause a moment to see why, even though such statements are trite, there is more than a little truth within each. Try as we all might not to "judge a book by its cover," most can't help but draw conclusions about someone new simply by the way that person presents himself at their introduction. With that in mind, shouldn"t you try your best to make that initial image of you a positive one?

After all, "you never get a second chance to make a first impression."