Tracy: What is it you can look a business owner in the eye and say “I can help you” and how did you discover this magic?
Sylvia: I didn’t mean to specialize. It just kinda happened. I never set out to learn what fascia and decking are, to know what an excavator and a rake is, or to know the difference between a horizontal and a tub grinder. When I was taking accounting in college, they never taught me what a DOT number was. I fell in love with the type of people who run these companies and began learning new ways to help them with the office work that they don’t have time for and usually don’t like. I didn’t set out to discover the magic, I just realized one day that I had it.
Tracy: What is your current offer and what is your magic?
Sylvia: I remotely manage an office staff that works for small construction/service businesses. My clients receive a secretary, a bookkeeper, payroll specialist, and an office manager as their new staff and they do not have to rent and manage an office space, pay for desks, computers, filing cabinets, internet, electricity, etc or manage the staff. Because these expenses are shared between several clients, depending on the needs of the company, the cost can be half and sometimes a fourth of what running an office one’s self would be. The Magic is that I am experienced in this industry, I know what construction/service businesses need, and how much they are asked to deal with. I know their concerns. I know that they may be the best roofer, grinder, dirt-panner, hauler, remodeler, etc., but they are tired and frustrated with having to be a secretary, a bookkeeper, a marketing specialist, and they are tired of being on the phone with vendors, sending invoices, contracts, lien releases, payment applications, and thank you notes to clients. The magic is that you don’t have to worry about office work anymore and can focus on gaining new clients and servicing old clients more efficiently.
Tracy: What is your prospects biggest or most common problem?
Sylvia: My clients are running their companies out of their trucks. They are turning off the bulldozer or standing on a roof to answer phone calls. They have copies of almost all of their paperwork in their trucks instead of at their desks. When my client gets home at night he is drawing up invoices or sending off emails with his contact information to potential customers while eating his dinner, all the while he is wishing he had time to take a typing class or had somebody to type for him. He is reading newsletters from the BBB while getting ready for work in the morning looking for new social media techniques even though he doesn’t have the time to get on FaceBook. He turns in a box of receipts to his CPA a few times a year and she charges outrageously for cataloging, and data entry, as well as filing. My client spend too much time on office work instead of getting new customers and would benefit from strategic consulting, financial analysis, and good, fast customer service.
Tracy: What are the 2-3 most common questions your prospects ask?
Sylvia: 1. How long does it take to get set up? Some services begin right away, like secretarial services. Other services, like bookkeeping take a few weeks to establish, but these services aren’t utilized by my clients everyday. 2. Can you do accounts payable and receivable? We absolutely can. Invoicing through Quickbooks allows for receivable. Because we invoice for you we are able to do collections for you. Payables are only handled by your office manager who is under strict contract to only make payments to vendors that you designate with your bank. 3. What if I’m traveling? Because of the nature of our clientele, S.R. Office Management is well aware that you might be traveling. Although we only want to work with clients whose tax home is Houston TX, we are comfortable and experienced with running your office obligations while you are on the road.
Tracy: What is the most common “Do It Yourself” solution your prospects might try?
Sylvia: When doing it yourself I strongly suggest employing a bookkeeper. You should still be doing your own document creation, web maintenance, client relations, and payroll. But you will pay your CPA a lot of money at the end of the year for something that a bookkeeper can help keep up with all year long. Also, when a lending company or client wants to see your financial statements, you can just call her and have her fax or email them to you. These statements are great for your own reviewing and can offer great insight as to where your money is going and where it should be going. If you insist on doing bookkeeping yourself (and please, please do some bookkeeping), use QBO- Quickbooks online and take a tutorial class. I also strongly suggest that you purchase templates for invoices, lien releases, etc. online. Making these professional documents yourself takes a lot of time and frustration. Finally, I will beg that you spend more time on bookkeeping than on building your website, logo, or wrap for your truck. While these things may seem to tell your customers so much about you and thus should be perfected, most of my clients get caught spending many many hours (and frustrating their designers) looking for perfection in something that their customers are merely going to glance at. Your logo or truck wrap is not on display in an art gallery and no one is going to stare at it for half an hour analyzing the meaning (think about how long you stared at the Pepsi logo trying to understand the company). Spend more time with your customers, perfecting your service, and what’s leftover apply towards better bookkeeping and office organization. A good organizational system can be invaluable to the efficiency of your company. You may wonder how finding an old document easily really helps your customer, but after you spend several hours looking for it you’ll realize that that time could’ve been better spent. Look into cloud storage and become VERY friendly with your scanner. Why would working with a professional, like yourself greatly improve their chances for success? It took me years and hours to give earn the micro-specialized training that I have- office management in the construction/service industry; a service like mine saves you time and creates efficiency. It also protects your company with proper paper trails. Our owner previously owned a general contracting company, and understands the needs of the construction industry. We have more than five years of experience in providing top-notch office assistance to satisfied clients.
