I Got a New Truck - Now Everyone Wants a Raise

Question

This happen to anyone in here? haha man I tell you what.

I've been driving second hand cars for basically my whole life. I sold a couple work vehicles and finally splurged on a nice pick up so I have something to pull a dump trailer then all of a sudden everyone wants a raise.

This post is more about me thinking out loud but let me think through what's occurring for that kind of cause and effect.

I always thought I paid well but first thought was ... do I pay well enough?

My gross profit is mostly around our goals as a company (50%) so maybe I need to raise prices to help my guys out more.

Or maybe:

1) My relationship with my team has become transactional. Everyone is always there for the paycheck but I've been neglecting the relational aspect of the company. Less team get togethers as of late. Less checking in with everyone to see what's up with their lives. From their perspective, well if I have to be here, I should be making as much as possible.

2) I don't have incentives in place so they can earn more outside their hourly. I've been wanting to do this for a while but this is a sign I need to do this now. Maybe we've reached a breaking point with this.

3) I'm doing something to embolden them to ask for a raise immediately after a big transaction

Funny thing about it is I'm leasing and the lease payment isn't that much but I was curious if this happened to anyone before and how they dealt with it.

proinspector · Answer

If you can, depending on your team size, absolutely do things that are off the clock to build relations. a BBQ at a state park or something. Also, if you are growing then definitely come up with a bonus incentive plan that includes rewards for quality work and longevity. People stay where they feel appreciated more than the pay. Maybe the rewards are gift cards that align with a team members hobbies or likes... which you will discover during the team building/social company events.

Shoot, some of my best childhood memories come from company picnics that i attended with my dad who was the employee.

wiringbyron · Answer

I love your number two idea there it’s time for a quarterly bonus plan. You can say to them hey you guys wanna make more money well, here’s a way you can do it. It was probably one of the best things I ever did for my electrical company. Check out my episode on the masters of home service podcast. You should see One on bonus plans.

hugehomepros · Answer

I listened to it and I love the idea. Maybe it's my business brain trying to make it equitable in the business also so I couldn't wrap my head around budgeting for a quarterly flat raise but giving everyone a flat incentive definitely would make it easier. I agree that you have to make it easy to explain 1000%. Once Upon a time I did a profit share thing and I would send these spread sheets out and no one knew what they were looking at. haha

There's a software called protiv that does all the calculations for you, has a dashboard that everyone can see. It basically takes your budget from a custom field in jobber and makes it so you split the excess budget with the guys working on the job, divided by hours worked and weighted by wage (if you want). I'm going to re-engage with them!

bemidjihandy · Answer

Maybe I need to raise prices, but 50% seems high. Unless you're doing a lot of the billable work.
But yeah, building a community that's fun to be a part of will go a long ways. have weekly/bi-weekly company meetings to share wins and stories?

Give away gift cards at those meetings.

Start talking about how your new truck is a lease and how you can't wait to actually buy one could help too...

wiringbyron · Answer

50% margin is very normal&nbsp;

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I Got a New Truck - Now Everyone Wants a Raise

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