Advice....

[Danny]

In one of the other threads Red Baron posted advise that his dad gave him about business. It made me think about advice givin to me by my old man.

When I started selling roofs for my dad 28 years ago, one of his first lessons was: "There are customers who want the absolute cheapest product they can get, and there are roofers who're will to cut corners in order to underbid you - the sooner you can get those 2 guys together and out of your way, the better off you'll be." - Red Baron

"The customers that are the hardest to win are the hardest to lose. Those that you get easy, leave easy also" was something my dad told me. He was one of the original distributors in So Calif to this industry. He gave me this advice when I was young and fresh to this industry and wanted to give up on a customer.

 

[bigleo48]

Danny,

We never seem to have enough smart and wise men such as these! My father died when I was a little kid and so I never got that...but I have met a few and listened attentively.

Big Leo

 

[rph9168]

I learned a lot from my Grandfather. He was a very keen observer of human behavior. He always owned his own business and made it through the Depression. The one that always sticks with me was to pay attention to what someone does, not what they say. I guess that is a lot like saying "talk is cheap" but it is something I always do when I judge a person to be all talk or someone you can depend on.

Another one was to be careful with pipe smokers. He said they tend to just sit and think about what to do rather than getting it done. I remember that when someone's name would come up who had a lot of ideas but didn't follow through he would say, "That guy is a pipe smoker". I have definitely known a few of those.

 

[Danny]

There is always something to learn from those that have been there and done that.