Episode 448: The One Question That Finally Gets Your Clients To Follow Your Process

Todd Dawalt (00:56.974)

Have you ever had a client miss a deadline, delay a decision, or just go completely rogue and then still expect the original completion date to stay the same? Have you ever watched one of your PMs or superintendents spend half the day chasing decisions instead of managing the project? Do you have clients who text the superintendent, call the designer, email the project manager? They play the phone game with everybody.

 

They ask somebody for one little change and then they say, I thought everybody knew. Have you ever thought, I wish our clients would just follow our process? Or maybe you’ve thought, I wish my team would make our clients follow our process. Maybe you’ve asked, how do I get my PMs, designers, selections coordinators to hold our clients’ feet to the fire when selections are late, when decisions are dragging, when change orders are floating around.

 

Where the client keeps going around the process. Maybe you’ve wondered how do we hold clients accountable without sounding rigid, without creating conflict, or making the client feel like we forget that they’re the one paying us? Well, hey, you’re listening to the Construction Leading Edge podcast from constructionleadinged.com, where it’s all about systematizing your construction business to maximize freedom, impact, and wealth.

 

My name is Todd DeWalt, and my team and I have helped around 500 construction businesses over the past 10 years put systems in place to maximize freedom, impact, and wealth. In this episode, I’m going to show you one question you can ask your team that will change the way they handle client accountability. It’ll help them protect the schedule, protect the client experience, and stop pulling you, the owner, into every client conversation. I’ll give you that question.

 

In a few minutes. But first, let’s talk about why this problem keeps happening in the first place. So we’re talking about one of the most frustrating issues that builders, remodelers, general contractors, and trade contractors deal with. And this comes up over and over on our coaching calls and in conversations that I have. It’s clients who don’t follow the process, they don’t make decisions on time.

 

Todd Dawalt (03:21.208)

They don’t make their selections on time. They don’t follow the communication process. They go around your team. They call everybody on your team until they get the answer they want. They miss schedule commitments. And then you are left to absorb the chaos. But a deeper issue is this. How do you get the clients who are paying you hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to do it your way?

 

Not because you’re controlling, not because you are rigid, not because that’s just our policy, but because how do you get them to do it your way? Because your process is what protects the result that they want. And that’s where that one question comes in. Be sure to stick around for a few minutes and I’ll share that question with you. Here’s what this looks like in real life. This is what I hear from

 

The builders, remodelers, commercial GCs, and the trade contractors that I talk to. A client misses a selection deadline, but then they still expect the completion date to stay the same. They take three extra weeks to decide on their cabinets, tile, or plumbing fixtures. And then they’re surprised when the schedule moves. Or they do the end around on the process. They there’s a single point of contact.

 

But they text the superintendent, they call the designer, they email the PM, they catch the carp your lead carpenter on site or your foreman and say, Hey, while you’re here, one more little thing. Now there are five conversations happening in five different places, and nobody knows which one is the actual decision. And you have some clients who take advantage of this and they play the the he said, she said game, or they just keep calling somebody until they get the answer they like. Then they forget everything else.

 

Maybe your as a result of this, your PM or your selections coordinator ends up spending half of their day chasing decisions instead of managing their job. They’re not doing the things that they should be doing and and they’re stuck in reactive mode. And they’re constantly sending these reminders, hey, just checking in. Any update on this? We still need this decision. Love to have a decision by Friday, following up one more time. And that

 

Todd Dawalt (05:44.578)

That’s not managing, that’s that’s babysitting and letting clients get by with it. And then when the selections come in late or decisions are made late, materials get delayed. And when that happens, trades have to get rescheduled. And when trades get rescheduled, the whole project starts slipping and it’s hard to get them back on track. Then the team tries to compress the schedule. Your trades get frustrated, people get squeezed.

 

And everything is harder than it needs to be. See, one late decision is rarely just one late decision. It becomes a schedule issue, a communication issue, a trade partner issue, a profitability issue, and it could be a client experience issue. And the painful part, the really frustrating part, is clients miss their commitments, but your company takes the blame.

 

Right. That’s the frustrating part. They drag their feet on the front end and they lose weeks or months on the front end of a project, or they don’t do what they’re supposed to do. And then it becomes your fault, and you have to do heroic things and absorb cost just to get this thing across the finish line. The client delays the selection, they delay the change approval, they delay payments, the client delays the answer.

 

But when the schedule slips, they say, Why aren’t you done yet? and then when that invoice for an extra comes in, they say, I’m not paying for that. That is really, really painful. And then if that’s not bad enough, here’s some of the ripple effects of that. When the client texts your superintendent and they get the answer they want, they learn to text the superintendent.

 

If they ask for a change in the field and somebody says, Yeah, we could probably do that, they learn that the change order process that’s documented is optional. If they miss a selection deadline and nothing happens, they are being trained and they learn that the deadlines don’t really matter. And the more exceptions that your team makes, the weaker and weaker the process gets. And eventually there is no process.

 

Todd Dawalt (08:06.252)

And one delayed decision doesn’t just affect that project. It creates a domino effect on other projects, right? It has a domino effect on your trade partners, your schedule, your cash flow, your profitability, and your team’s capacity.

 

Your trades are getting shuffled around, your other clients may be impacted. I remember having a conversation years ago when I was building a a a custom home and also building a little garage for somebody. And the owner of the garage was frustrated because this big custom home that I was on that the client wouldn’t make their mind up on was taking longer than it should and I I couldn’t get back to this this garage project.

 

So when your trades are getting shuffled around and the customers are getting frustrated, you get pulled back in because the team doesn’t know what to say, they don’t feel confident holding the line, and they don’t want to they don’t want to be the bad guy. So the owner becomes the referee, you become the conflict resolver, the expectation resetter, the decision chaser, the fireman to put things out. And that is just not scalable. And then if you have a team.

 

And if everybody on your team handles client pushback differently, you don’t really have a client process. You have individual personalities kind of making it up as they go. One PM is firm. one may blow up on the client. another avoids conflict, and they’re just a doormat. Another says yes to everything. And then maybe another one just escalates everything to the owner, sends you an email that says, my two least favorite words, please advise.

 

And that inconsistency creates confusion for your clients and frustration for your team. So you and your team may think you’re protecting the client relationship by allowing these exceptions, by saying yes to everything, but in reality, you may actually be training the client to ignore the very system that protects them.

 

Todd Dawalt (10:21.452)

And if your process only works when clients voluntarily cooperate, it’s probably not a process at all. It’s just a a preference or a guideline. So that brings us to the real issue. How how do you get your team to enforce the process? How do you get your team to hold clients accountable without feeling like they’re creating conflict with the client, without being the bad guy? And that’s where that one, there’s one question.

 

That you can ask your team to help with that. But let me let’s take a quick break for something that might c hit close to home for you. If you are a custom home builder, a remodeler, a commercial GC, or a trade contractor, and your business basically revolves around you. If the backbone of your business is your nervous system, then this is for you. I was on a business evaluation call recently.

 

With a builder doing multimillion dollar custom homes and big renovations. And from the outside, maybe on paper, everything looked great. But in reality, when once we dug into it, he was working 60 to 70 hours a week. And he said that he was spending 50 to 75% of his time on low value activities and putting out fires. And when we talked about his handoff from the office to the field.

 

And we talked about his pre-construction process. He gave his handoff a D letter grade. They were starting jobs before scope was nailed down, subs weren’t lined up, selections were half baked, decisions weren’t made, and he was hoping to figure it out as we go. Classic, just enough to start trap stuff. And that led to profit bleeds, mistakes, delays, a couple of near disasters on high-profile projects.

 

That he could not afford to screw up. And when we went through the evaluation of his business, we found hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in hidden profit between the rework, the giveaways, the lost productivity, the schedule delays, and the opportunity cost. Essentially, he could be making hundreds of thousands of dollars of additional net profit, not just revenue, additional net profit. And the common thread was weak pre construction and a weak handoff.

 

Todd Dawalt (12:42.766)

or a pre-construction deficiency. And if that’s you, then that call is what I want to invite you into. If that sounds familiar, I would encourage you to go schedule a free business evaluation call with my team. It’s a 45 minute call. We’ll walk through a simple diagnostic to grade your handoff from the office to the field, quantify those hidden profit bleeds, and then we’ll map out what a real operating system for your business would look like so it can run more profitably.

 

More smoothly and without everything going through you. If it looks like we can help, then we’ll schedule a second call to talk through the implementation program that fits your situation. If it doesn’t look like we can help, no problem, no pressure. This is not a sales call. You’ll still walk away with clarity and a concrete plan. The thing is, we only have capacity to take on a handful of construction businesses each month. So if you want your business to look

 

Very different 12 months from now. Don’t wait. The next step is to schedule your free business evaluation call. And the link for that is in the show notes, or you can go to constructionleadinged.com forward slash apply A-P-P-L-Y and book your business evaluation call. Okay, so let’s talk about three steps. There are three steps to help your team hold your clients accountable to follow the process.

 

Right. We’re gonna get to that question. The question, the one question you can ask your team is is in step number two. But step number one is you need to find what I would call you need to find the parking break. Let me explain. So before you give your team another checklist, a lecture, a reminder, a bitch session about holding clients accountable, you need to ask this question. What what is keeping them from doing it now? You may be like

 

A lot of the teams I’ve worked with, they’re saying, Yes, yeah, we have a process. We need to follow our process. Our process is important. Yep, we’re gonna do that. They shake their head up and down, yes, we need to do that. But then they don’t do it. And is that a competency issue? Are they just lying? Are they afraid? What is it? So you need to find out what is keeping them from doing it now. What’s keeping them from holding the client accountable? And there’s this thing called competing commitments. When an

 

Todd Dawalt (15:08.878)

When people are resistant to change, there’s something called a competing commitment. They may, they may be committed to following the process, but they also may be committed to something else that’s quietly, secretly preventing them from enforcing it. Sort of like if you ever got in your truck and you were in a hurry and you jumped in and started it and put it in gear and it wouldn’t move, you realize the parking brake was on, right?

 

Well, if the parking brake is on, you can push the gas pedal to the floor, you can change the tires, you can change the driver, you can yell at it, you can put higher quality gas in it. But until you release the parking brake, that truck is not going anywhere. And competing commitments work the same way with your people. Your team, the people, a person on your team may be committed to selections deadlines, but

 

They’re also committed to not making the client feel rushed. They may be committed to the change order process, but they’re also, they have this competing commitment. They’re committed to not seeming rigid or difficult. They may be committed to following your communication protocol, but they’re also committed to being responsive and helpful, even if that means answering texts after hours, side conversations, or taking phone calls on the weekends.

 

They may be committed to holding the client accountable, saying, yes, we have to, our clients have to follow our process, but they’re also committed to avoiding conflict. A lot of people hate conflict. They are terrified of conflict. They may be committed to a consistent process, but I had a conversation with a person a few years ago who told me this in a one-on-one conversation. They said,

 

I think having standard processes hinders creativity. So they may be, they may have this belief that having a process will hinder creativity or make the experience feel less custom. There’s a persistent underlying belief, with especially with a lot of custom builders and remodelers who are working with homeowners. There’s this belief that we’re providing

 

Todd Dawalt (17:37.24)

Custom home, a custom remodel, a custom design. Therefore, we have to provide a custom process. We have to let our clients dictate the process. They’re they’re giving us, they’re paying us hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. They’re basically paying the what your team member might be thinking is this person is paying my paycheck. They’re supporting my family. I gotta let them have it their way. And the truth is.

 

Todd Dawalt (18:09.602)

Your team is going to deliver a custom project, give them a custom design following your process. And in fact, your process is the best way for them to get the result that they want.

 

So the leadership question, you need to operate like a really good leader and ask what is the parking break?

 

Good leadership is not just pushing harder on the gas or putting somebody different behind the wheel when the parking brake’s on. Good leadership is finding the blocker, finding the parking brake and removing it. So you need to find out what are those competing commitments that are getting in the way and remove them. And one of the best ways to release that parking brake is the question that this whole episode is about. Okay, so this brings us to step two. There’s one question.

 

you can ask your team. So I was in Guatemala recently working with a a large construction company that has about 800 employees. All right. Large commercial, general contractor, multiple divisions. And they were dealing with the same issues we’ve been talking about. So I spent three days working with a couple of days, two days working with about 20 of their leaders and a third day with their their executive leadership team.

 

And at one point we were doing a session on change management and setting client expectations. There were 20 people in the room. And I had picked up on the fact that some of the people had some competing commitments, that they were a little bit reluctant about holding clients accountable to follow their process. They’re a little reluctant about holding or about setting expectations with clients and then holding them accountable.

 

Todd Dawalt (19:59.032)

To those expectations and specifically around change orders, setting expectations around change orders. So we had 20 people in the room. I put this question up on the screen. I said, How does it benefit our clients to follow our process? In other words, what’s in it for our client to follow our process?

 

And that’s when it was like a switch flipped. And I I asked them to answer. And they here’s a few things that they said. They said again, the question was, how does it benefit our clients to follow our process? And they said things like it gives our clients a sense of control. Our clients can deliver on time to their clients. They were working with developers and landlords.

 

There was less there would be less friction. There would be more confidence to make payments. Our clients would have confidence that the project is in good hands. There would be accountability. Our clients would have a clear picture of the project. They would have the confidence to recommend us. There would be assertive and clear communication. And then as we work through it, somebody said, Our clients will be more profitable and they can grow their business when they follow our process.

 

See, your team cannot confidently enforce a process that they secretly believe only benefits your company, or if they secretly believe this process is bad for the client. So for every process you want the client to follow, your team has to connect it to something that the client cares about. Your team needs to understand that your process helps your client with their budget, with their schedule, better quality, communication, peace of mind, confidence.

 

Profitability and a better experience. For example, what’s in it for your client to make their selections on time? Well, if you ask your team, they might say things like, Well, it avoids delays, rush decisions, price increases, rescheduling, and ultimately they get their project delivered faster when they make selections on time. You might ask the question, what’s in it for the client to follow the change order process?

 

Todd Dawalt (22:18.914)

Your team might say things like, Well, they would understand the the cost, the scope, and the schedule impact before the work begins. And that avoids surprise invoices and confusion and yelling and screaming and legal issues down the road. What’s in it for the client to communicate through the proper channels?

 

If talked about that with your team, they might say, well, if if they would communicate properly, fewer things would get missed. Details wouldn’t fall through the cracks. The right people would see the information. We would have a a single source of truth. All decisions would be documented, and they would avoid problems, frustration, confusion, and chaos. What’s in it for the client to follow the pay request process? You could ask that question. See.

 

Your team needs to realize that the process is not j there just to make life easier for the team. It’s not there just to make to increase your profit margins. It’s not there just to make things simpler for the subcontractor. The process is there to protect the client’s budget, their schedule, their quality, and their experience. It is in your client’s best interest to follow your process. Yes.

 

It does protect your profitability. Yes, it does make your business more scalable. Yes, it does help your team. It reduces the stress level, makes things work smoother. But if you want clients to follow the process, your team needs to get it in their head and understand the benefit from the client’s point of view. Everybody’s favorite radio station is W I I F What’s in it for me? And

 

The better that your client, that your team understands what’s in it for your client to follow the your process, the more likely they are to hold them accountable because they’re helping them. It’s like the the scene in Jerry Maguire, where Jerry Maguire, where Tom Tom Cruise is saying to Cuba Gooding Jr., help me help you. Help me help you. That’s what your team is saying to your client. Hey, help me help you.

 

Todd Dawalt (24:36.674)

Follow our process, communicate properly, make selections on time, help me help you. It’s a Jerry McGuire concept. All right. So step one in this framework is find the parking brake, find the community competing commitments. Step two is ask your team this one question that may be like a light switch. The question is: how does it benefit our clients to follow our process? In other words, what’s in it for them to

 

play by our rules. And then step three is you gotta have you gotta have a process. If you wanna hold, if you want your team to hold clients accountable, they need they need more than courage. They need more than rah-rah. So this reminds me of when I was in middle school, I was in seventh grade, I played saxophone in the middle school band. I was the the third chair.

 

Third chair alto saxophone player in seventh grade, which was kind of a big deal. There were about eight or nine of us. And I had the third chair spot until a guy named Steve Cox came along and he challenged me. He was the fourth chair, and there was a challenge process if you wanted to move up the food chain. And he challenged me one day to a song he was really good at. And I made the mistake of of accepting that song. Anyway, he took he took my spot as third chair. And

 

obviously it still bothers me. I still one of the regrets. But the thing about that band was the only way the band could play together is if we were all playing the same song, right? If we were all playing from the same sheet music. We also had Mr. Franklin as the director who had this really weird tendency to play everybody’s instruments, which it’s one thing to play, you know, somebody else’s guitar, but when you’re playing somebody else’s saxophone and you know it has a

 

Reed instrument and he would just put his mouth all over saxophones and clarinets and it was really weird. but your team doesn’t need a Mr. Franklin, but they do need a playbook to follow. Okay. It’s fine if you’re a one-man band. If you’re a one-man band, you have everything in your head. You’re the the director, the you’re the entire band, you

 

Todd Dawalt (27:02.262)

Sing and dance and play. But when you have a team, then suddenly it doesn’t work if everything is in your head. Your team needs a playbook. If you don’t have a playbook, it’s just like a band that’s all improv do improvisational jazz. And it’s just it’s great if they’re all experts, but in most cases that’s it’s not like that. So if if you want your team to hold

 

Clients accountable to a process. They need a playbook. And an effective playbook does three things. Number one, number one, it establishes this is how we do it. This is our process. This is how we do pre-construction. This is how we handle changes. This is how we do selections. This is how we do it. And you may be thinking, that sounds like a 90s hip-hop song from Montel Jordan. And you’re exactly right. This is how we do it.

 

It’s not your playbook doesn’t say this is how Bob handles it, and then this is how Sarah usually does it, or here’s what we did on that one job last year. The playbook says this is how we all do it. It defines how you handle selections, change orders, communication, pay requests, approvals, client meetings, and escalations. So you need a playbook that says this is how we do it, step by step in this sequel.

 

Second, the second thing a playbook does for you is it allows you to set expectations with your client early and often. Okay? It’s all about anchoring them to expectations. There’s the psychological principle called anchoring. And we, all humans, have a tendency to get anchored to the first piece of information we see.

 

So we want to use that to our benefit. If you don’t anchor your clients to an expectation, they’re going to come up with their own and get anchored to that. So client accountability does not start when the client is already late or when they’ve missed a decision and they’ve already dropped the ball and mistakes have been made. Client accountability starts really early. It starts in the sales process. It starts, you may even use it in your marketing.

 

Todd Dawalt (29:25.868)

material, but it definitely starts in pre-construction and contract review, selections meetings throughout the entire process, change order conversations and pay request conversations. You set these expectations early. So many people wait until there’s a problem and then say, well, this is what the contract says or this is how we do it. No, no, no, no. You want to anchor them to the expectation up front.

 

The process cannot first appear when the client has already violated it. That is too late. So a decision you need to make is are you going to be a this is how we do it builder or a Burger King builder? The Burger King motto used to be have it your way. And if your marketing and your sales process communicates, you can have it your way, then your production team is going to pay the price later. So you need to set that expectation early and often.

 

And that does again, this does not mean you’re not custom. This does not mean you have to be a cookie cutter builder or production builder, or you can’t customize things. It does not mean you are not creative. A process does not hinder creativity. Let me say this again. Some of you believe well, processes and systems hinder creativity. No, a good process, a this is how we do it playbook.

 

Creates the guardrails so creativity can happen without blowing up the budget, the schedule, the client experience, or burning out your team and destroying your company culture. Third, third thing a playbook does is it includes plays and scripts for predictable issues, right? So your team already knows the conversations that are coming. Clients will be late on selections. They will ask for changes late in the game, they will text people.

 

After hours and outside of the process, they will question and drag their feet on pay requests. They will ask for things, they will ask for extras for free. They will underestimate the schedule impact of their decisions. These things are going to happen. And your team should not have to invent language or be creative in the middle of an uncomfortable client conversation. That is how exceptions get made. When you put your when you’re you put your team in a

 

Todd Dawalt (31:48.194)

In a place where they have to be creative or they have to make a decision based on what’s going on. That is that’s not putting them in a position of strength. Andy Culp, longtime client, was on the podcast recently and he talked about how he spent an entire year with his team how figuring out how to operate from a position of strength. Okay. So your team should not have to make these things up on the fly, they should have plays.

 

So build the scripts. A couple of years ago, I had a sales guy that I hired, brought onto the team, and I had a pretty extensive sales process. We’re all about systems and processes here. So I had a pretty extensive sales process. And there were some steps like follow up with prospects after a certain point and contact them. And I thought that was descriptive enough, but it wasn’t. And

 

Bill, either consciously or unconsciously had a tendency to find those gaps and those gray areas and use them to his benefit. So what I realized was follow up with a prospect wasn’t detailed enough. The play that’s now in our sales playbook looks more like on day one, send them this email, word for word. On day three, at this certain time.

 

Call them and say these words. So you need scripts, specific plays, right? Think about a football playbook. If you look at a football professional football playbook, they don’t just say get open. They don’t just say run the ball. It’s very specific. So have scripts, have plays for late selections, for change orders, for side channel conversations. For example, here’s one you can use. If

 

If you want to funnel all communication through JobTread or Builder Trend or Rezio or your software, which I highly recommend, here’s a script. Here’s a play you can run. When somebody goes, does an end around, you can send them a message. Hey, to make sure nothing gets missed, we need project communication to stay in the system. That way the whole team can see it, decisions are documented, and we don’t lose important details in text threads or side conversations. So I’m gonna copying and pasting your text here into this thread.

 

Todd Dawalt (34:10.616)

For pay requests, have a script. Our pay request process is designed to keep everything predictable and transparent. Here’s when you can expect requests, what they include, and how payment timing affects schedule and process and progress. When somebody asks for something for free, or they ask for an exception, have a script. Hey, I understand what you’re asking. The reason we follow this process is to protect your schedule, your budget, and the quality of the final results. So if you would submit this through the proper channel. Think about it.

 

If you went to a website or assembly instructions for something complicated, there’s an FAQ section. The frequently asked questions. If it’s a frequently asked question, let’s change that to from frequently asked questions and let’s come up with the frequently answered questions and give your team scripts so they don’t have to be creative. If you know the question’s coming, go ahead and answer it. That’s the playbook.

 

It gives your team the words, the process to follow before the pressure hits. And that, my friends, is how you stop making you, the owner, the default solution to every uncomfortable client conversation. So imagine this. Imagine you’ve got these things in place. Imagine your client seeing your process not as red tape or bureaucracy, but as the thing that protects their budget, their schedule, their quality, and their experience.

 

Imagine clients making selections on time because they understand, because they want to, because they understand how it affects them. Imagine having a this is how we do it playbook that your entire team, sales team, project managers, pre-construction, estimators, designers, coordinators can reinforce consistently. Imagine your team leading your clients through the project instead of waiting for the client to have it there.

 

Imagine being a this is how we do it builder instead of a Burger King builder. And beyond that, imagine that your company is known for a clear professional process that clients trust. Think about the effect on your trade partners. Some people think processes are they’re gonna hurt us and it’s gonna make it more difficult. No, no, no. The right clients want.

 

Todd Dawalt (36:35.83)

A process. They don’t want to lead their projects. In fact, when clients are leading a project, it’s often a sign of low confidence. So imagine being known and differentiating yourself from your competitors because you have a process. And then think about the effect on your company culture. Think about your team. Your people are confident. They know the process. They know what they’re accountable for. They know what they’re allowed to say, what they’re allowed to say no to, and they know.

 

They’re gonna get backed up. They know somebody’s not gonna chop their legs out from under them. They and they’re able to address issues on their own without getting you involved. And the what that does for you is you’re no longer getting pulled into every uncomfortable client issue because the team knows what to say, the client knows what to expect, the process is clear, the playbook is documented, and you get time back. That is the big win. And that’s

 

That’s this is the big difference between a company that’s just winging it, where the backbone of the business is the owner’s nervous system. It’s the difference between that kind of company and a company that’s being led by a real operating system. This is a an operating system. And that aligns with what construction business owners tell us they want. They want an operating system, they want a business that runs on an operating system.

 

That gives them more freedom, stronger teams, less chaos, repeatable processes so that they can streamline the business, scale the business, do whatever they want to do next. So here’s that framework to recap. Step one, find the parking break, identify the competing commitments that are keeping your team from enforcing the process. Step two, ask your team that one magical question.

 

How does it benefit our clients to follow our process? What’s in it for them to follow our process? Connect your process to what the client cares about. Step three is to build the your This Is How We Do It playbook, right? So again, the goal is not to cram your process down your clients’ throats. It’s not to force them into something. The goal is to help your clients understand that your process protects what

 

Todd Dawalt (39:00.44)

They care about the most. It’s in it, it’s in their best interest to follow your process. And when your team believes that, they can enforce the process without feeling like the bad guy. They can lead the client confidently instead of reacting to the client. So, two things before you hit stop and skip to the next one.

 

Let me ask you something. If you own a construction business and you’re starting jobs before scope, subs, and selections are true truly dialed in, how long can you keep scaling like that before something starts to break? Do you have a playbook that your team can follow? If you think about your business, is it designed to achieve your long-term goals? Is it designed for stagnation? Or if you’re being honest,

 

Is your business unintentionally designed to fail without you? In other words, if you were to be pulled out of your business, would your business fail? These are things we’ll unpack on a business evaluation call for folks who qualify. In about 45 minutes, my team’s going to help you grade your handoff from the office to the field, put some real numbers to your hidden profit bleeds, and then sketch out what a repeatable operating system would look like in your business.

 

From pre-construction through completion. If it looks like we have a fit, then we’ll book a follow-up call to talk about the right implementation program for you. If it’s not, no problem. You’ll still leave with clarity and some next steps. So to book your free business evaluation call, if you qualify, go to constructionleadingedge.com forward slash apply, or just click the link in the show notes to book your business evaluation call. One last thing.

 

Here’s your five-minute action step, right? If if you stop now and you don’t take any action the last 40 minutes or so, may have been educational, maybe a little entertaining, but not a good use of your time. So change only comes from implementation, and implementation comes from taking action. So here’s your five-minute action step.

 

Todd Dawalt (41:13.962)

Answer this question. What is one thing you can do in the next in less than five minutes, maybe as soon as this is over, to take the first step toward implementing this or solving this problem? You may want to ask that question of your team. You may want to pick one client-facing process that your team struggles to enforce. And then yeah, right. Maybe it’s write this question at the top of the page. What’s in it for the client to follow this process?

 

Maybe you need to convince yourself of this first. But what is your five minute action item? What are you going to do with this in five minutes or less to take action and start making some progress in this area? That list that you come up with can become the beginning of your script. And that script becomes the beginning of your playbook. Maybe your action item is you need to schedule a call. You realize we have no playbook. The problem is not that our people don’t care or they’re incompetent. They just don’t have a playbook.

 

Follow. And if that’s the case, we can help with that. We have AI-powered tools to help you create your playbook quickly and painlessly. And we’re going to guide you through that process step by step. Hey, if you got some value out of this, do me a favor. If you’re watching on YouTube, leave a comment. If you’re on Spotify, leave a comment. Let me know what was most valuable for you. Whatever you’re watching or listening on, if you could.

 

Leave a rating and a review that helps spread the word, and it would mean a lot to me. So until next time, my name is Todd DeWalt from constructionleadingedge dot com. Thanks for listening.