The Difference Between a Good Boss vs a Great Boss

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Welcome to Contractor Cuts, where we cover the good, the bad, and the ugly of growing a successful contracting company.
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Welcome to Contractor Cuts.
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My name is Clark Turner.
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And I'm James McConnell.
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Thank you for joining us again in this episode.
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Um how you doing?
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Uh things are not great, man.
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Uh extended families, not doing great.
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Speaking of, can I borrow a couple hundred dollars?
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Money.
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Uh, you know, we've uh we're getting super excited around here about this retreat that's coming up in January.
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Um, like schoolgirls.
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We are just giggling.
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I wish we could.
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I think we should do it every six months, but we'll tackle that next year.
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But it is gonna be awesome.
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If you haven't heard about it or if you you know haven't been yet to one of one of these retreats, this is a big three-day conference.
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We're in a hotel in downtown Austin.
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You we've got a book of rooms that are discounted for you, but um it's something that we spend two days really looking at the last year of the company, what happened in 2026.
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We make game plans, we teach on processes and how do we implement what you need where you're at today in your company.
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We've got we've got three different tracks really within it from startup guys who are still swinging hammers all the way through multi-millions of dollars with employees and project managers and kind of everywhere in between.
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So we've got a track for you.
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Um, if you're interested, go to contractorcust.com.
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We'd love to see you there.
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Um, we've got some really cool kind of giveaways we're doing right now on Early Bird.
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The sooner you sign up, the more stuff we're giving away for you.
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So go and get signed up on the retreat.
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We'll we'll get you taken care of.
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And if you want to hear more about it, go to contractorcuts.com, hit contact us, and I'd love to chat with you.
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But there's a lot of information on there for you.
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So, anyways, turn this into a commercial.
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Anyway, today, party, we are we are talking about what's a good boss versus a great boss.
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And when we're talking boss, we're talking being a project manager running cruise on a job site.
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Um, it is more of a partnership than a boss employee relationship, but you are in charge of your job site.
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As a project manager, as a person running jobs, you are technically the boss there.
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You are the one that got the signed contract.
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You are the one in charge of making sure everyone does their job.
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And so, what part of that do the good guys do?
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And how do we go from good to great in being a boss on a job site and with crews?
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Um, this is an easy jump to make.
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It's you've got to be um willing to put in some extra work and kind of change your mentality.
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And if you could do that, you could become a really good boss, uh, really good project manager on your job sites.
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Hell, you could become great.
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Clip that and we'll use it.
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Um I think the the mindset also starts with my subs are choosing me on every time every time I pick up the phone, every time I call them, every time I'm saying, hey, we're going to uh we got a new project for you.
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They have a choice to work with me or not.
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And what we don't want are the guys that reluctant reluctantly work with me because reluctance is of is of the worst character trades.
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They reluctantly want to work with me because they don't have work and they need the job that just fine, I'll work for you.
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And there's the smudgeness.
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That's the smudgeness.
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The what we want from guys is when they're calling me up saying, hey, I got another job, but uh if you got anything for me, let me know before I say yes to this other person.
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Um, we want to build the loyalty, we want to build a partnership, we want to build that trust to where we're not just a boss, but we're a leader on the job side.
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And they want to, they want to follow you because of the way you act and how you treat them.
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And I don't think we've met a contractor coming into ProStruck that doesn't have the want to be that.
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It's the it's the processes that need to be in place to turn from what you want to actually how you operate.
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And so that's what we're gonna talk about today.
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And also that's what we do in coaching.
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If you want to learn and get these processes, one thing on our workshop day at the retreat, we're doing an elective uh day where you can kind of pick your courses and what you're doing.
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But we're doing how to onboard and really partner with subcontractors.
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How do you make them part of the team and how do you lead them well?
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So, this this podcast is gonna be implemented with processes on the retreat.
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But today, if you're listening, this is the difference of being a good boss versus a great boss on a job site.
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And and just as a precursor, you might be in the position to where you have to be this person, and this just might not be your strength.
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Yeah.
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You might not be the the picture of the leader that you see in your head, but that doesn't mean you can't lead.
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It's it's a uh you don't have to be like this Tony Robbins style uh motivational speaker to to get the best out of your people.
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Yeah.
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There's there's a level of uh you know, like Clark said, it's you're building this rapport, you're building all of this like positive equity, and it takes time, it's a relationship.
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Uh I think on top of that, the other thing people are scared of is monsters under their bed.
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Monsters under the bed.
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And that's next week's up good monsters versus great monsters.
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No, uh, I think what people, what I hear in coaching a lot is not just I'm not sure how to do it, or I like the self-confident side, but also I don't like these guys know more about construction than I do.
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I've been doing this for four years, but like I got a guy working for me has been doing this for 30 years.
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And so when I try to tell him what I need, he's like, all right, son.
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And it's just like this dynamic that I can't, I can't break.
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And it's nothing in what we're talking about today is you just need more knowledge in construction because you can be a leader and put together put together a team and lean on your team's knowledge and verify it, make sure it's good and have a set accountability as how the job and that what they're gonna do is done without me actually having all the knowledge.
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And so today we're talking about these are actions, mindsets, bases of where you need to be at, not hey, go learn more, and then you'll be a better leader.
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Because knowledge of how to do something doesn't make you a great leader.
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It's doing these things and being in a mentality of this isn't just a tool for me to get this job done.
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This sub is a partner of mine.
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We're gonna make each other a lot of money.
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He's gonna make my job easier or harder, and I'm gonna make his job easier or harder.
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If we can both work our hardest to make each other uh better, we're gonna both win.
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That sounds like a marriage.
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Let's do it.
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So, number one, a good boss uh pays.
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They they pay me, they're not ripping me off.
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That's that guy's great.
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You know, he's that guy's good.
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He pays me, right?
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Yeah, yeah.
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We gotta keep her.
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Uh a good boss, like, yeah.
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Yeah, James, James, I like working for James.
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Yeah, I mean, he's doesn't rip me off.
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He said he was gonna pay me, and I've gotten paid on every job we've worked together on.
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It's a really high bar.
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It's it's sad that it is sometimes.
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I don't, you don't rip me off.
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A great boss pays on time every time, and I am the one leading the conversation.
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So there have been times early on where I'm waiting for a check from that client.
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And if that check doesn't come in, I can't pay my crew.
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I don't have the dollars in the account.
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In that situation, I'm not holding my breath hoping that they don't contact me on Friday and that by Monday when I get the check, I can give them their check.
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Instead, I'm calling them on Wednesday saying, hey, just want to just partnership here, bud.
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We're waiting on a giant check from this client.
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I told them it has to be here by Friday or we're not showing up Monday.
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If that doesn't come in, I have nothing to give you.
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Um, all my money is tied up in this.
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Uh so if that comes in by Friday, we're good.
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I got your money, but I just want to give you a warning.
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Like, I'm trying to move things around, but let's make sure that we get X, Y, and Z done so I can make sure we collect that check on Friday so I can get you your check.
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Right.
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And so having those conversations where you're not having to chase me down or worry about your money, that's that situation I just laid out, it is going to be what it is on Friday.
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And giving my crew a heads up Tuesday or Wednesday that there's a chance of that helps them mentally prepare, move things around, not go ahead and commit things financially for themselves for Friday, but knowing like building them in.
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Again, I don't want that to ever happen.
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I don't want to be out of, but like that mentality of, oh, this isn't my money, this is our money.
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And it's a it's a human thing because it's like the smarter play, if you, if this is uh Machiavellian construction, is you don't tell them a thing.
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Yeah.
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Because as soon as you tell them that they have leverage on you, they can walk away from the project, put you in a bind.
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But like the right thing to do is hey, just a heads up, I fully intend on paying you.
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I am incapable of paying you until this check comes in.
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I would love for you to stay on.
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I hope you see my track record.
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I've paid you on everything.
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The money's not there until this check comes in.
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Are you are we on the street?
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If for some reason it doesn't come in Friday, I'm gonna move some stuff around and I'll have you money by Monday, Tuesday out of my personal account, but they will pay us and we're not showing up Monday if they don't.
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And so we're gonna, you know, having them part of the conversation because like James said, if this is the only job they're working for, you're probably shooting yourself in the foot.
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If I'm trying to have a long-term, long-lasting relationship building this crew as part of my product, I gotta be honest with them.
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Um I also gotta have a game plan.
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I can't be like, well, they gave us a deposit and I spent it.
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But if I get this other job to sign and I get this other job's deposit, I'll be able to pay you for this job.
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That you've already shot your, like, you're running your business wrong.
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And so, yes, that's going to scare any sub of yours.
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If you've got a game plan and it's from the what you're doing right now, we're just gonna collect it, and XYZ happens, you should be good.
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Um, but I think paying on time every time.
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And also, uh, the other side of this, even if you've got a ton of cash in the background, having a crew having to chase you down, or when I say, Yeah, I'll get you paid Friday, and then I'm unavailable to answer calls on Friday, and then Monday over the weekend, Clark, you got to my money.
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Hey, when am I getting that job?
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You don't like that's the wrong way to run things.
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Like, I told you I'd get you paid, I'll be after money.
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I told you I was I'd walk in the job on money, I would bring your check then.
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Well, buddy, three days is a lifetime if you're paycheck to paycheck.
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And so not getting paid on Friday and me not worrying about you'll get paid next week is in the in the sub's mind is oh, I don't like this guy.
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I don't trust this guy.
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He's he's messing with my money.
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I'm gonna hunt my money down and I'm not showing up again after that.
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Right.
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And so we don't know that's going on in their head, but it is so important to be a man of your word and follow through with what you say and not make them chase you, but bring them the good and the bad news about the pay.
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But set also part of in our system, we pay once a week every week.
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I pay every Friday, not every third Friday of the month, not every other week, not once a month.
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Every Friday you get paid for the previous week's work that you did.
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Uh, and so we've set it up to where we should always be ahead of the cash flow.
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All right, so that's number one.
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Good pays, great pays on time every time with no chasing.
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Uh, number two, good gives work.
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Great thinks weeks ahead of visibility.
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A good PM says, here's your work order for this week, go get it done.
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A great PM, a great boss running a job says, Hey, I've got this for this week.
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What's your next three weeks look like?
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I've got a couple coming up.
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One is a 99%, I just need a signature.
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Another one's 50-50, but if that lands, we're three weeks out.
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And I'm starting to think long term.
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A, this is giving them confidence that they don't need to go hunt down jobs.
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And B, they see that I'm thinking about them and I'm getting their buy-in and I'm understanding their calendar.
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And for me, I'm not gonna show up the following week and be like, okay, I got you this for this week.
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And they're like, oh, I've already got another job, bud.
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Okay, well, I had you scheduled, I thought.
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Well, you're gonna tell me what you're doing, right?
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And so we've all had that conversation with crews when they've gone uh booked themselves elsewhere.
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If I'm talking two, three, four weeks ahead, they have confidence that I've got work coming for them.
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And I have confidence that if they do book themselves elsewhere, I'm gonna know that and can make that make that that alteration now in the schedule then instead of the day we're supposed to start.
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And if you don't want them working for other people, have the conversation about going steady.
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It's true.
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They can wear your letterman jacket.
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Yeah, it'd be great.
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It'd be great.
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Uh number three, good good.
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I don't know what to do with you.
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What am I gonna do with you?
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You are just a scamp.
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All right, good bosses tell you what went wrong.
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Hey, this didn't go well.
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Hey, this isn't good.
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I don't like this.
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A great boss tells you what went right and then coaches the wrong.
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Hey, I love this.
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That's awesome.
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This is great.
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Are you rolling or are you spraying the paint?
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Because I think if we get you a paint sprayer, you're you're gonna knock this out so much.
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Like whatever the quest, whatever it is, I want to let them know what's good and also the bad, but let me coach you up on what I wanted to see.
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Not criticize what it is, but coach you up on how to do it better and how I want to see it next time.
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Um, again, this goes to knowledge level.
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If I've been doing this for two years and he's been doing it for 30, I'm getting curious.
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Hey, that really doesn't look good.
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Could you like talk to me about how we can smooth that out?
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Talk to me.
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I am a roller, my father was a roller, and his father was a roller.
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And if you think that I'm gonna start spraying now, you're out of your mind.
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You're out of your mind.
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I'm not outfitted for spraying.
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Look at the side of my truck.
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It says hand painted and rolled every time.
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Every time, every time.
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Um, all right, number four, a good uh boss has a favorite crew.
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A great boss has a bench of them, right?
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I've got, you know, I don't just have my go-to crew, I've got an extended amount of a bullpen that I can call on when needed.
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Um, and how do we get that?
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The Yankees.
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We are the Yankees of construction.
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I don't want the Yankees or the Dodgers.
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We're the Braves of construction.
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Uh, but it's one of the big issues I see with guys that makes them a bad boss, but really harms harms your company is when I say when they're coming into coaching, I start, okay, tell me about your crews.
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Tell me about who you have, who you need, where you're at, what's your bench look like.
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They've usually got every seat filled.
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I got my electrician, I got my plumber, I've got this general crew guy.
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It's like him and his brother that kind of do everything, demo to whatever else I need.
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I've got my HVC guy.
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That's great.
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We don't, we can't grow because the guys you have are maxed out with your million you're doing now.
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To get to two million, you've got enough guys to do a million.
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So we need to double the amount of crews to grow.
00:16:18.319 --> 00:16:18.719
Number one.
00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:22.559
Number two, what happens when your electrician gets in a car accident?
00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:26.159
What happens when he screws up two jobs in a row and we got to replace him?
00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:32.159
You are now calling him again and hoping that he does right because I don't have anyone else to call.
00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:39.199
Um this makes you uh really bad at running a job site because you don't trust your gurus.
00:16:39.439 --> 00:16:41.279
And you're blind to the market.
00:16:41.439 --> 00:17:08.000
Like if you're not, if you're not getting outside bids from your normal crews on all of your projects, you're just you're flying blind and you're trusting that you're getting good pricing when the pricing might have slipped and you might be paying homeowner pricing because you never had the the define the relationship with the crew about what the value you're bringing and the value they're bringing and why you guys are going to basically be sharing in the total cost.
00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:13.200
Uh and you've been paying homeowner pricing, and you're wondering why you're missing bids.
00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:17.839
And if you think it's bad now, wait till you hire a project manager.
00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:27.519
Because, like what James was just saying, I mean, we could tell story after story of PMs that have worked for us that hey, I've got my sheetrock guy.
00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:31.680
Well, your sheetrock guy is twice the price as the other sheetrock guys I've worked with.
00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:33.440
Hey, I've got a new window guy.
00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:36.000
His name's Anderson, and he's killing it.
00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:39.599
He like he responds to every call and just takes the job over.
00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:47.839
But yeah, he's charging, you're we're not making anything on it, and we're not landing any jobs because you're trying to mark up the most expensive markup that's already there.
00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:58.559
Um, having that bullpen and having a systematic way of how we build that, how to onboard, how to vet, how to date these subs, having that all planned out.
00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:01.519
Once you hire a project manager, we teach them that.
00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:04.160
It's not just, hey, I need you to find some painters with us.
00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:06.640
And why don't we talk to some guys?
00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:08.640
We have a game plan that they have to follow.
00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:12.560
And so it's not a matter of I want to go out and find crews.
00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:16.720
It's hey, we need you to find one more HVSC crew.
00:18:16.800 --> 00:18:20.000
You've you've got one that you've used, and he's dropping the ball.
00:18:20.080 --> 00:18:22.480
Let's find a couple more and start testing out some.
00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:34.160
So uh a good boss has that one favorite crew, a great boss has built out this full bullpen that I can call on and say, Hey, I need your help.
00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:34.640
I need this.
00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:35.680
Hey, we've got a job.
00:18:35.840 --> 00:18:39.200
My paint crew is actually going out of town for a month to go visit family.
00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:40.880
I need, can you step in?
00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:44.080
Maybe we can start you and run two crews at this point.
00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:48.480
Um a good boss fires your crew.
00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:50.880
And when they screw up, they mess up, we got to fire them.
00:18:51.120 --> 00:19:08.880
A great boss knows the line between coaching them up and letting them go and having a lot of um setting the bar in the onboarding process and the pre-construction process with your crews that when they screw up and when you've got to let them go, they know it.
00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:10.480
It's not a shock to them.
00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:15.120
They know what the bar is and they have to choose whether they're gonna hit the bar or not.
00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:19.519
Um, if you just show up and hey, you your stuff's all over the place.
00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:21.600
This is the third time I've asked you to clean up.
00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:22.240
Get out of here.
00:19:22.320 --> 00:19:33.519
That's that is your fault because what we have is on your onboarding, we have a end-of-the-day checklist that I need you and let me show you a picture of what my job site should look like and what they normally look like.
00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:34.560
Let's talk about the differences.
00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:36.560
Let's look at the trash, let's look at where we put the materials.
00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:39.120
Let's look at and so we coach them and get buy-in on that.
00:19:39.360 --> 00:19:44.240
We always say, with our work orders, I want you to, there's a few things you need to know.
00:19:44.320 --> 00:19:52.880
Number one, accepting of this work order includes I need you to have enough dollars to be able to hit the hardware store for the odds and ends that you need.
00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:54.640
I'm not gonna be your personal shopper.
00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:58.400
Number two, there's 10 to 15 minutes at the end of every day for cleaning.
00:19:58.560 --> 00:20:01.279
Both of those things are assumed with every work order I send you.
00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:06.800
And so when you look at the dollars, know that those two things are expected part of those dollars for you to do.
00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:13.920
So when I send you a work order and I say, hey, the job site looks like trash, you say, Well, you're not paying me to run a broom.
00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:14.640
I am.
00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:16.640
That's part of my work order per ho agreement, right?
00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:25.120
And so having those conversations and setting the bar instead of just going in and firing them, because half the time when you've you're when a crew's messing up, it's your fault.
00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:35.120
It's you didn't set the bar, you didn't give them a clear work order, you didn't hold them accountable, you didn't do a front-end walk with them, you didn't set when I need you here and when you need to leave by, all of that stuff needs to be put in place.
00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:43.279
And you'll be shocked by how crews rise to the occasion because they've got uh this whole process put in place for them.
00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:54.880
Um, so yeah, don't just go in firing them, go in and try and coach them up, know where they're at, understand, hey, this I've set a bar, we've talked about the bar, they can't hit the bar, I gotta let them go.
00:20:55.360 --> 00:20:58.240
Verse that guy's screwed up, he's out of here, I'm gonna replace him.
00:20:58.560 --> 00:21:02.160
Uh, those are two wildly different reasons to let a crew go.
00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:12.960
Last one a good PM is liked by his crew, a great PM is trusted by his crew.
00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:14.240
And those aren't the same.
00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:19.360
There's we've all got guys in there our lives that we like, and we've got ones that we trust.
00:21:19.840 --> 00:21:26.960
Um how, James, do you think you build that trust with your crews?
00:21:27.120 --> 00:21:33.279
When you've ran crews before, what's what do you think is taking you from being liked being to being trusted?
00:21:35.360 --> 00:21:44.000
Um I think you can be liked quickly.
00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:55.759
The trust takes a lot of time, especially in this industry, it takes a lot of time uh for crews to actually trust you because there's been a lot of damage done.
00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:59.600
Not by you necessarily, but by the abusive ex-girlfriend.
00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:01.440
Yeah, the abusive ex-girlfriend.
00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:10.720
Um and the like kind of quickly fades away as you know, and it it's like any relationship.
00:22:10.800 --> 00:22:15.440
You're gonna be certain things will play out, and you're like, I didn't really like that.
00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:16.880
That rubbed me the wrong way.
00:22:17.120 --> 00:22:25.680
Like you're gonna have to have those conversations because you're talking about poking at what they do for a living.
00:22:25.840 --> 00:22:26.000
Yeah.
00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:33.360
Same thing as if somebody came into your job and was behind your back and talking over your shoulder, saying, You should really do it like this.
00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:34.720
Yeah, you should really do it like that.
00:22:34.800 --> 00:22:36.480
It's like, uh I don't like that.
00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:50.800
But if that advice in that direction keeps showing up and the outcome of executing those requests is positive, that's building trust over time.
00:22:51.200 --> 00:23:01.920
So like setting them up, setting them up really well on a project, doing the front end walk, the 50 point, whatever, whatever, it's could be really annoying for guys because it's not what they're used to.
00:23:02.080 --> 00:23:02.240
Yeah.
00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:08.560
But painting the vision for Them and getting them to understand, hey, here's what we're trying to do is something different.
00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:10.880
We're at we want people to have a different experience.
00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:14.800
We want to change the way people feel about the contractor-client relationship.
00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:22.080
And part of that is doing these things that kill all of the arguments and frustrations before they start.
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:26.960
And what I'm trying to do is help you do that so that it works best for both of us.
00:23:27.120 --> 00:23:27.279
Yeah.
00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:37.039
The more times I have a client frustrated with me because of something that's going on on site, the more conversations you and I are going to have about what you're doing wrong.
00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:39.440
Like it's that's just how it's gonna go.
00:23:39.600 --> 00:23:48.640
Like I we need to find a way to execute this together and go along the process, follow, follow the rules and follow the all the things that we try and put in place.
00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:53.680
And it's gonna be a better process than if we just all come together, like, all right, let's go, let's do it.
00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:57.440
Well, and on I love what you're saying with with that.
00:23:57.759 --> 00:23:58.080
Thank you.
00:23:58.560 --> 00:24:06.560
The the uh the round table conversation on how to execute something specific.
00:24:06.800 --> 00:24:13.519
Um, there's a thousand ways, not thousand, there's ten, twenty different ways to do anything on a job site.
00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:19.519
There's a there's not there is a for sure wrong way to do stuff, but there's multiple right ways to do most things.
00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:20.000
Yeah.
00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:29.279
Um, and so again, the spectrum as as a project manager or their boss is on the far left side, it's you gotta do it my way.
00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:30.480
This is how I want it done.
00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:32.080
Execute the way I do things.
00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:36.560
And on the far right is like, well, I sent them the work order and I do you know how to do it?
00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:38.080
Cool, just get it done, I guess.
00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:39.840
And what we want to do is meet in the middle.
00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:42.480
Like, hey, curiosity, not conflict.
00:24:42.560 --> 00:24:43.759
Hey, help me understand.
00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:46.080
I think what I see you doing is XYZ.
00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:47.440
I usually do it this way.
00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:52.720
What are your like, let's talk about the best way to do this because I'm cool with if it works the way you're doing it, I'm cool with it.
00:24:52.800 --> 00:24:54.320
I need to be able to explain to my client.
00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:56.880
Educate me, help help me understand why you're doing it that way.
00:24:56.960 --> 00:24:57.120
Yeah.
00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:01.600
And that's where the back and forth where I can be like, but what about, and how about this?
00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:03.200
Okay, so can we do it my way?
00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:05.759
Because I don't like those open-ended answers, right?
00:25:05.840 --> 00:25:17.840
And so we're gonna round table those discussions of execution as opposed to strong iron fist, everything happens my way, or just I don't know what's happening and I have no control of the job site.
00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:20.960
And when the client asks me a question, I'm like, I don't, I don't know why he did it that way.
00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:24.640
Let me go, let me go, I'm gonna ask him right now.
00:25:24.800 --> 00:25:28.080
Hey, why why did you do it like that?
00:25:28.560 --> 00:25:30.720
We didn't like it the way it came out.
00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:31.200
Yeah.
00:25:31.360 --> 00:25:33.120
So it's it's I I think you're right.
00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:42.640
I think all of this also, everything that you said and what I just said, all boils down to showing them respect as a crew, not just a tool.
00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:49.519
Um I also think with everything we're talking about, it's easier to be a good boss when you've got money to pay them.
00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:58.400
Uh, and not just dollars versus no dollars, but I want to pay a little bit and better of a crew, a little more money to give me a lot better of a product.
00:25:58.720 --> 00:25:59.600
And less of a headache.
00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:00.640
And less of a headache.
00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:08.000
And we all want, I mean, there's not a contractor out there that if I said, hey, would you like to do high-end jobs with nicer crews that know what they're doing?
00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:09.120
Everyone says yes.
00:26:09.519 --> 00:26:15.279
But at the end of the day, we say we send a bid out and the client wants the$80,000 kitchen for$30.
00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:18.080
Well, I can use this guy and I could use that guy.
00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:21.360
He's not really licensed, but this is out in the country, they don't care, right?
00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:34.480
And so all of a sudden, I've got, I've sacrificed my quality of crew because I just want to land a job, and now I've got to use crappy crews and I'm losing them and I'm turning over and I'm losing my reputation.
00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:46.960
So the the premium on a loyal good crew and understanding the difference of homeowner pricing and paying something for a nicer product uh pricing with the crew that you're with.
00:26:47.200 --> 00:27:00.800
Um I'd close I'll close this out with saying I feel like more contractor sub-relationships die from neglect than conflict.
00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:12.240
Um, and even if it is conflict where I just this guy's annoying and I fired him, it's because I neglected all the other stuff I should have done, building that relationship and setting the bar and doing all that.
00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:14.320
The I send him a work order.
00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:16.240
He should know what he's doing.
00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:20.000
Um, that mentality is what's gonna kill your relationship with your subs.
00:27:20.080 --> 00:27:20.960
He should know what he's doing.
00:27:21.039 --> 00:27:23.120
Yeah, he he's probably a really good electrician.
00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:30.880
He's not good at showing up on time, he's not good at cleaning up out for himself, he's not good at um talking with my clients and saying dumb stuff to my clients.
00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:39.600
Like, let me set the bar of what, how, how we show up, when we show up, what you can and can't do, get your buy-in and hold you to it, and all that stuff's gonna go away.
00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:41.680
And if it doesn't, then I'm gonna find another crew.
00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:42.240
That's fine.
00:27:42.480 --> 00:28:02.960
But the the neglect of helping and guiding and setting expectations and then firing and get rid of a crew because they didn't hit your expectations that they had no clue were there is what's churning out these uh replacing crews all the time, or only the crappy crew stay around because they don't have work, so they'll deal with your crap because they don't have any other jobs.
00:28:03.120 --> 00:28:04.160
Those aren't the crews I want.
00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:09.840
I want the crews that have four options and they're choosing me because we're the best company to work for, because I'm loyal and I'm good.
00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:11.840
I'm a good great partner for them.
00:28:12.080 --> 00:28:18.640
Um so yeah, if you want, we've got a full onboarding of subs and kind of how to do this, all the paperwork.
00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:20.000
If you're in coaching, you get all that.
00:28:20.080 --> 00:28:25.680
If you're a growth partnership, you you receive an executive, you receive all this paperwork and training on how to do it.
00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:28.880
And it's not just you taking our cookie cutter paperwork.
00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:34.720
It's we sit with you and custom build your sub onboarding of how it's gonna work for your company.
00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:36.400
We've got a framework of how we do it.
00:28:36.560 --> 00:28:43.120
We have our seven documents or, but we take that and we edit it to your company and we make it to where you're gonna implement it with your crews.
00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:47.360
And then we have a really good onboarding program of how to do it with your current crews.
00:28:47.600 --> 00:28:52.480
It's not a band-aid where everyone starts Monday new ways, but we got to ease into those processes together.
00:28:52.560 --> 00:28:54.320
So if you want that, go to contractorcats.com.
00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:55.279
We'd love to talk to you.
00:28:55.440 --> 00:29:00.640
Um, but yeah, really try try this week to be a great boss.
00:29:00.800 --> 00:29:07.120
If you've got subs, what can you do differently from this list that we talked about that really can step up your game?
00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:13.440
And on this list of the six things we've got listed, you probably do four or five of them really well.
00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:15.519
What on here really hits, right?
00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:18.480
You great pays on time every time with no chasing.
00:29:18.560 --> 00:29:22.960
Uh great gives three weeks of visibility instead of what's happening tomorrow.
00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:29.759
Great tells you uh what went right and coaches you through it as opposed to just picking apart the job site.
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:33.039
Great has a bench of people, a bench of crews.
00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:36.400
Great knows the line between coaching up and letting go.
00:29:36.560 --> 00:29:39.360
And great is trusted, not just liked.
00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:47.360
If you can hit some of those and start rounding the edges on how you are as a boss, your company's gonna grow.
00:29:47.680 --> 00:29:49.680
So try to get into this stuff.
00:29:49.759 --> 00:30:00.880
Try to work on one of those things this week with a new crew going to find crews or with your current crews, really improving that relationship to increase the value of the product that you're selling.
00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:02.320
Because those crews are the product.
00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:06.160
Those that's the those crews are the milk that's in your grocery store.
00:30:06.320 --> 00:30:08.800
Um, that's what your client's receiving that you're selling.
00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:12.720
You're in charge of making sure the quality's there and it's a great price for everybody.
00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:14.320
So, all right.
00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:15.920
Thanks so much for joining us this week.
00:30:16.080 --> 00:30:20.720
If you have any questions, you want to reach out, go to contractorcuts.com and we'll talk to you next week.
00:30:20.960 --> 00:30:21.360
Bye.