You do not lose work because of competition. You lose it because of your own assumptions.

Welcome to Simplified Sparky Marketing. On this podcast I want to open your mind to a different way of thinking. I'm going to relate the first three things back to money.

Rewind many years ago, it could have been about ten years ago. I got a parking fine for parking in a bus zone. I wasn't aware of it at the time. It was actually for parking within ten meters of the bus zone. I was new to the country and I had no clue about this little rule. So I got a fine of, I don't know, it could have been $200, $300. I was about to pay it, and somebody said to me, "Why don't you appeal that?" I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "You can put an application in and appeal it." I said, "On what grounds?" He said, "Well, if you look over there, there's no stopping sign over there by that bus sign." But the sign I got fined on had no stopping signs next to it. So I said, "That's a fair point." I don't actually carry a measuring tape in my car, although at the time I probably did, but that was going to be my argument: to be ten meters away from this bus zone.

So what I did was I took pictures of the bus zone showing the stopping sign ten meters away from it, and I stated that I had no idea how far or close ten meters was, and that I felt it was unfair there were no stopping signs there. I lodged it, they waived it, and I didn't have to pay it. All because I asked.

The next thing is American Express. I forgot to pay back the card a few months ago, and it was to the tune of, I don't know, a couple of grand. It ended up being a $400 fee that any Joe Blow would have paid and been like, "Damn, better not do that again." Straight away I jumped on the chat and said, "Hey look, I've been with you for a year and a bit. I've never once missed a payment like this before. Something came up, I missed it, really sorry. Being a loyal customer, can you honor this and not charge me for it? And I won't do it again." Like a good schoolboy. They came back and said, "Yeah, sure, no problem at all. We've sent that money back to your account, don't worry about it." That was number two.

Number three was very recently. I moved a lump of money out of a savings account, and it exceeded the amount that interest was calculated on. The interest didn't come in that month and I thought, "What is going on here?" So I had a look, and it turned out I didn't keep enough money in. More had come out of the savings than it should have, so I lost out on a bit of money there. Again, I jumped on the phone and said, "Hey look, I've just noticed this has happened. I've been banking with you for years. It was a mistake, I forgot. Can you pay the interest for that month? It won't happen again." They came to the table and said, "Yeah, no problem, we'll pay the interest this month."

That's just three things, all money oriented.

One of the most influential people to my career right now, even making this podcast, is Allan Dib, author of The One Page Marketing Plan and Lean Marketing. I've served under Allan as well. I've gone through all his training, and he's a huge inspiration to me. He changed my electrical business and how I looked at things. I've taken what I learned from him and twisted and altered his style to suit electricians in particular.

In passing, I was chatting to him, a little bit of back and forth. I didn't think I was of his caliber. I said to him, "If you're ever stuck for a guest on the podcast, let me know, ha ha." And he said, "Sure, when can you come down?" I was like, "Holy hell, he's actually taking me on his podcast." This guy hangs out with Dan Martell. If you know who Dan Martell is, he wrote Buy Back Your Time. He's a bit of a big deal. Donald Miller, Mike Michalowicz, all the top dog authors, they're all in a little group and he hangs out with those guys. So I felt absolutely honored. But guess what? If I had never asked him, I would never have ended up on his podcast. Yet to be aired. Stay tuned.

The moral of the story: electricians out there are thinking to themselves, "Why would I bother trying to get in with that school? Why would I bother with that shopping center? Why would I bother with that real estate? They already have their electricians." And that's true, it may be true. They may already have their electricians. But what you need to look for here is opportunity and persistence.

I know a few electricians who have just kept tapping at the door. All it takes is the existing electrician or company to drop the ball: make a bad mistake, not show up, not answer the phone at a vital time. That's when you sweep in.

I've got a mate who's a plumber in another state, and he persisted with shopping centers. It was no after no after no. It took maybe four, five, six, seven follow-ups, until he struck the right time. A week or two prior, their plumber had messed up, didn't show up, left them high and dry. They said, "All right, you want a shot? Come on in." They kept the existing plumber and brought my mate in alongside. He was doing the plumbing, and next thing you know my mate has taken over. Now he's the plumber in there. And not only that, he's gotten in with other shopping centers and other businesses using the same model.

Now, you have to be clever about this. You have to be strategic. You have to have a plan and a system around how you approach it. You can't just keep calling up going, "Any work? Any work?" You have to be nice, and you have to be persistent. It's all about scheduling these follow-ups, into a task manager, into your diary, wherever, and being persistent with following up. Because it's a common misconception that "they already have an electrician in there." A lot of that is in your head.

As I said, it's all about the opportunity. You sweep in when they need you the most. That's when you show up, that's when you bring your A game, you deliver a great service, and next thing you know you're in with that company. That's what it takes: a lot of persistence. Because at the end of the day, you will miss one hundred percent of the shots you do not take.

I'll chat to you next week.