As a business owner, once you get to the point where you can release the reigns on your sales team, execute from your Director of Operation’s plan, and trust your guys in the field, you afford yourself the responsibility of thinking about growth. Being in this position, you can see possibilities, opportunities, and relationships as potential game-changers instead of necessities to stay in business or keep up with the competition. The caveat is that, in paving, you are only afforded the 3-month off-season to think about growth in-depth. The remaining nine months of the year are focused on finding rapid, practical solutions to problems. So, taking advantage of this time to step back, disconnect, and return with fresh eyes has been different this winter. This year is not about fixing problems. It is about growth through imagination, innovation, and synergy.
Imagination and visualization
From improving the customer experience to using existing products in new ways, imagination and visualization have been a consistent conversation amongst myself and the team this winter. By allowing ourselves to think freely (that which can’t often be done during the season), my sales team, marketing team, like-minded companies, and I have a developed a variety of techniques to reach out and introduce ourselves in these new markets. We will be evolving to meet previously ignored or unidentified clients’ needs and confidently handing them a full maintenance plan with more detail and better customer service than any other paving company. The imagination required to challenge an industry’s decades-old practices is something we see as a separating factor and one that should place us well ahead of our competition.
Innovation
Many ideas never take flight, and for good reason. However, ideas that have merit but no previous trailblazer requires innovation. In the past, the call for innovation would lead to overcommitment. That is why exploring these thoughts during the three-month offseason is much more efficient and effective. Each idea has time to breathe and materialize instead of being forced into a lackluster existence. This upcoming season we look to solve several pain points through custom techniques. Some of those pain points include: prequalifying potential residential clients more efficiently, advertising in new ways, integrating video into our sales process, and providing customized services for companies and industries throughout our local Kentucky and Indiana markets. Learning the best practices and techniques from paving companies around the United States and world, along with the thought of improving the paving industry as a whole, is also curiosity and exploration I enjoy undertaking. In that spirit, we conducted The Paving Industry Report (releasing mid February) and are looking to raise standards through education and knowledge sharing.
Synergy
From inside the walls of ADC to business and community partnerships, the energy and momentum felt by each individual we communicate with have been addictive. Associates and ADC employees aren’t merely tired of sitting around this winter and ready to work again. They’ve been working hard all winter and are preparing to put what they have learned into practice. Confidence between office, sales, management, and crew is infectious, and our people are ready for the season’s challenge. Smaller and smaller are the gaps between the customer and our office, a great future employee and our application process, a frustrated properties manager and a custom asphalt lifecycle plan, and (most importantly) the crew and a top-notch paving job every time.
Anticipating the beginning of the season this year is the most exciting mind frame I have experienced in business. I am prepared for the season while feeling energized that our company is ready to thrive. The imagination, innovation, and synergy roadmap are in place, and we are ready to move forward. My crew, everyone representing ADC Paving, and I, are dedicated to providing unequaled service. We look to make the jobs and lives of the people we serve better, and we aim to make it as stress-free (and even enjoyable) as humanly possible. We hope people will want to remember us and even look forward to working with us again. It might seem ridiculous to look forward to working with a paving contractor, but we enjoy and take pride in our craft. That joy and fulfillment applies to the customer experience every bit as much as the pavement we put on the ground and that is the way we are choosing to grow.
Thanks for your time,
-ADC Paving