I WPA News
Summer 2019 Quarterly publication of Indiana Onsite Wastewater Professionals Association
www.iowpa.org
Eight Ways to Make New Employees Productive from the Start The Switch
From Employee to Employer
Three Tips to Pick Up the Sales Pace
Plus
Member Profile: Dick Blazer
Volunteer of the Year • IOWPA Scholarship Winners Iowpa News • Summer 2019 1
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IOWPA News Summer 2019
IOWPA News is the official publication of the Indiana Onsite Wastewater Professionals Association, Inc. (IOWPA) and is published quarterly.
Indiana Onsite Wastewater Professionals Association 7915 S. Emerson Avenue, Suite 132 Indianapolis, IN 46237 Phone: 317-965-1859 • Fax: 317-534-3460 www.iowpa.org
In this issue . . . 10 Eight Ways to Make New Employees Productive from the Start 12 The Switch — From Employee to Employer 13 Three Tips to Pick Up the Sales Pace
Publisher Jane Breeding, Executive Director, IOWPA 317-965-1859 indianaonsitewastewater@gmail.com Editor and Ad Sales Mary Breidenbach, Cumulus Design 317-757-8634 • mary@ecumulus.com Advertising Rates: Rate sheet available online at www.iowpa.org or by contacting Mary Breidenbach at 317-757-8634 • mary@ecumulus.com.
Reprint Permission: Please email IOWPA to request permission to reprint. Direct your email to indianaonsitewastewater@gmail.com and include the title of the article and publication date. Views expressed in articles or editorials do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the association or its directors, but are those of the writer. Trade names used in articles are for identification only. No discrimination is intended toward similar products and IOWPA does not endorse the use of the products mentioned. Subscriptions: Subscription is included with IOWPA membership. Nonmembers: $20.00 per year (4 issues per year). For questions regarding subscriptions, please call IOWPA at 317-965-1859.
p. 5
Plus More! 2 President’s Message
4 Member Profile: Dick Blazer — My Life’s Story 5
Indiana State Fair Pathways to Water Quality Exhibit is Expanding
6
NOWRA 2019 Legislative Fly-In
2019 IOWPA Scholarship Recipients
8
NOWRA Membership and Online Learning
Infiltrator Acquires Presby Environmental
Anua Acquires Quanics 9 Promoting Septic Design Services with YouTube On the cover: Dick Blazer seated in excavator is the focus of this issue’s member profile. See page 4 for article.
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2018 Volunteer of the Year: Andrew McAfee
14 SepticSmart Week
p. 11
President’s Message
Dear IOWPA Members, It has not been the start to the onsite installation season that we have been hoping for; however, IOWPA members have been working on some great things. One of the great things is planning the Summer Field Day. We had a lot of good applications submitted, so the committee members have the difficult job of deciding which site/sites are going to be picked for the field day. We have two sites we are considering this year, so if you are willing to donate material for the Summer Field Day Greg Inman please contact me or one of the committee members so we can start compiling a list of materials. All of our IOWPA committees are hard at work planning and working on ways to bring the best education and training opportunities to our members. House Enrolled Act No. 1486 was signed into Public Law 261 by Governor Eric Holcomb on May 5, 2019. This new law focuses on septic Technologies New to Indiana (TNI) and requires the State Department of Health to establish a technical review panel consisting of individuals who hold certain positions or have qualifications relevant to onsite sewage systems or represent an organization to which onsite sewage systems are important. This law will go into effect on July 1, 2019. You can view the details on the Indiana General Assembly website — http://iga.in.gov/.
2019 IOWPA Officers President: Greg Inman (2022) Infiltrator Water Technologies 800-896-9565 ginman@infiltratorwater.com Treasurer: Gary Steinhardt (2022) Purdue University, Dept. of Agronomy 765-494-8063 gsteinhardt@purdue.edu Vice President: Karl M. Glaze (2022) Daviess County Health Dept. 812-254-8674 ehs2@daviesshealth.com Secretary: Kyle Nix (2022) S&M Nix Enterprises, LLC 812-347-2920 kylenix2007@yahoo.com
I encourage you to take the time to visit the IOWPA website — http://www.iowpa.org/ — for up to date training opportunities. Some of these training opportunities will offer continuing education credits (CEU) which are import for maintaining your IOWPA membership. There is an application on the website to fill out if you are hosting an onsite sewage system training class and would like the opportunity for CEU’s to be awarded for the training.
Executive Director: Jane Breeding 7915 S. Emerson Ave., Suite 132 Indianapolis, IN 46237 317-965-1859; Fax: 317-534-3460 indianaonsitewastewater@gmail.com
As of May, we are 755 members strong, but we are always looking to grow our membership. If you know someone in the industry that is not a member, you can send them to our website to learn about our organization.
Board of Directors
Thank you for being IOWPA members. I look forward to working with many of you this summer. Greg Inman Infiltrator Water Technologies 317-452-571 • ginman@infiltratorwater.com
IOWPA’s 2020 Conference
Dates have been selected! January 21-22, 2020
Primo Banquet & Conference Center, Indianapolis, IN
More information will be posted when available but for now please reserve these dates to attend the conference.
EDUCATION • TRADE SHOW • NETWORKING • CEUs 2
IOWPA.org • Ph: 317-965-1859
Will Banks (2022), Ike’s Septic 765-448-1443 • wbanks0610@gmail.com Rick Becht (2020), Becht Enterprises 502-664-2978 • bechtent@gmail.com Mark Bousquet (2020), Black Diamond Exc. 765-588-6400 • blackdiamondex@gmail.com John Hack, II (2022) Hack Excavating, Inc. 765-538-2998 • jhack@tds.net Jon Houseknecht (2022), Sunset Septic & Excavation 219-778-8100 • sunsetseptic@yahoo.com Andrew McAfee (2022), L.A. Brown Company 260-273-9322 • admmcafee@gmail.com Randy Staley (2021), Staley’s Soil Service, Inc. 812-939-2752 Alice Quinn (2018), Indiana State Dept. of Health, 317-518-4388 • alquinn@isdh.in.gov
Proxy Board Members Dick Blazer, Blazer Farms L.A. Brown, L.A. Brown Company Julia Hayes, ISDH John Kennard, Brown County Health Department Mark Miller, Greene Co. Health Department William Pursley, Shelby Co Health Department Jason Ravenscroft, Marion Co Health Department Brant Ricker, Huntington Co. Health Department Pete Sabo, AK Industries Lisa Zeiner, Putnam County Health Department
Iowpa News • Summer 2019 3
Member Profile
My Life’s Story — Dick Blazer My life has been very good and very blessed. I was born in Kokomo, Indiana in a major snowstorm. When we returned home from the hospital the snow had drifted to the eve of the house and when I saw my Dad shoveling all of the snow with his tractor, I knew what I wanted to be — a farmer. I was born on Tuesday and attended church on Sunday, and I haven’t missed very many Sunday services since. I went to Taylor High School in Kokomo and was in the school’s first graduating class. I bought my first tractor at the age of 16 — a new Allis Chalmer D17. I was farming 400 acres my senior year in high school. I would drive my tractor to school (kids were not allowed to drive to school at that time) so I could get to work after school quicker to get more work done. I have been so blessed to have so many opportunities servicing and helping people and organizations. I have served on several Board of Directors in the last few years. Some of these include: the Indiana Onsite Wastewater Professionals Association’s (IOWPA) board as well as serving two years as its president; the Indiana Governor’s Septic Task Force; the Indiana Environmental Health Association (IEHA); and the IEHA Wastewater Committee. During my tenure on the IEHA Wastewater Committee I helped develop the new septic rules for Indiana. I also served as a board member for the Home Builders of Howard County and the Indiana Home Builder Association. In addition, I have been a speaker at several IOWPA and IEHA annual conferences. I have had three loves in my life — the first and foremost is God. I enjoyed working with the youth at Chapel Hill Christian Church for 30 years and serving on many building committees. The second love of my life — Wanda Farley from a dairy farm in northern Wisconsin in the small town of Ladysmith. We met at church and that continued for 45 happy years. Wanda would always bring lunch to every job whether it was farming or excavating. My employees would see her car coming at 11:30 a.m. and knew lunch was on its way. It has been a little over a year since Wanda has been gone. God has been so good to me and has placed numerous people in my life to fill that void, whether friend or family. Life goes on! The third love is telling stories. And there are an UNLIMITED number of those I could share. I have had a few life changes in the past year. I had to have my foot removed. But while I was in the hospital, there was a problem. When I went into surgery, I was 6' 1" tall. After the foot was removed I was 5' 1" tall! Just kidding. After the operation, I couldn’t stand up for some time, but now I am standing tall … at 6' 1". It has been my honor and privilege to have served IOWPA over the years. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. This is just a synopsis of my journey. Dick Blazer
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IOWPA.org • Ph: 317-965-1859
Dick Blazer Whether as an IOWPA member, board member, or president, Dick Blazer has been integral to the success of numerous IOWPA summer field days, educational events, and the growth of the association.
Indiana State Fair Pathways to Water Quality Exhibit is Expanding! The 2019 Indiana State Fair will be August 2 – 18. It is typically very hot during the fair, but the Pathways to Water Quality exhibit is a nice, shady area to cool down and relax, and it provides a model watershed that shows how our Indiana water resources can be properly managed. The exhibit is managed by the Indiana Conservation Partnership and has many partner agencies including the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, ISDA Division of Soil Conservation, Purdue Cooperative Extension Service, State Soil Conservation Board, USDA Farm Service Agency and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services. The onsite sewage system display in the exhibit includes a model home with an open-sided demonstration septic tank, a distribution box, effluent sewers, and a portion of two trenches which are exposed so that the fairgoers can observe all of the system components and learn how the system functions. This year, an open-ended, sand-lined soil absorption field will be added to the display. Sand lined systems have become very widely used in Indiana, so it will be an important addition to the exhibit. It will provide homeowners an opportunity to learn about options and technologies available for their on-site system. The onsite system exhibit will have an ISDH interpreter several days during the fair to discuss onsite sewage systems and system operation and maintenance needs with home owners. If IOWPA members would like to volunteer to be an interpreter at the display, please contact Alice Quinn at alquinn@isdh.in.gov. This is a great way to showcase our profession and provide valuable education to homeowners. In addition to learning about our water resources, private water wells, and onsite sewage systems, visitors can refill water bottles with fresh, cold water from the water well in the exhibit. Please share this information with your friends and family so that everyone will know to stop by the most highly visited exhibit at the Indiana State Fair!
Indiana State Fair Exhibit The 2018 onsite sewage system display in the Pathways to Water Quality exhibit at the State Fair. This year the exhibit will add an open-ended, sand-lined soil absorption field. Please plan to visit the exhibit or consider volunteering to staff the onsite portion of the exhibit. Contact Alice Quinn (alquinn@isdh.in.gov) to volunteer.
Iowpa News • Summer 2019 5
NOWRA 2019 Legislative Fly-in Pete Sabo, AK Industries On April 11th, the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA) hosted its annual Washington, DC Legislative Fly-in where members of the onsite wastewater industry meet with other NOWRA members as well as their elected representatives or their staffers to discuss major concerns for the onsite wastewater industry. As the only NOWRA member representing Indiana or IOWPA at the Fly-in, I was fortunate enough to have a full schedule of meetings with the offices of seven of our nine Indiana representatives to discuss the onsite wastewater industry, voice concerns over Indiana-specific septic issues, and inform the offices of the growth and success of IOWPA and the Indiana onsite wastewater industry. The two issues that I discussed with the legislature’s office were: 1. Indiana taxpayers with onsite wastewater systems are not receiving their fair share of state funds that are subsidizing public sewer systems with virtually no investment in onsite wastewater since 1990. Tax-paying Hoosiers are directly funding wastewater projects through their taxes, but they are not benefitting from allocation of those tax dollars. 2. We asked the representatives to support provisions that request small communities seeking federal assistance to consider alternative wastewater systems like onsite technology. To put this inequity in perspective, 2.5 million (39% of our total state population) Indiana Hoosiers are on septic systems, but since 1990, only $50,000 of the allocated $2.7 billion in Clean Water State Revolving Funds has been distributed to onsite wastewater while the other $2.695 billion has been spent on the other 61% of the state population that is on public sewer. In case you were wondering, since 1990 only 0.0002% of all available state funding has been distributed
to the onsite wastewater industry. This is an example of why NOWRA and IOWPA are crucial for advocating for the industry at the state and federal level. The other main topic of discussion was requesting that our members of Congress and the Senate support funding for onsite wastewater systems through the USDA’s Household Water Well Loan & Grant Program, which provides loans and grants up to $15,000 for homeowners to invest in improvements to their onsite system. We also requested that the Members support the primary vehicle of funding for the onsite wastewater industry — the EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) — which as I mentioned above is nearly entirely allocated to public sewer, not homeowners with onsite systems. Despite this unequal allocation, we still request our representatives to support funding Section 319 of the CWSRF as a means of eventually distributing tax dollars to homeowners that utilize onsite wastewater. Lastly, we requested members of the House to consider joining the Decentralized Wastewater Recycling Caucus to participate in advocating for the onsite wastewater industry on the federal level. I want to invite all IOWPA members to initiate a conversation with their elected representatives and voice your concerns about issues related to our Indiana onsite wastewater industry. Many of the offices were eager to learn about the issues facing our members and they were more than happy to discuss ideas on how to improve the industry for homeowners, regulators, and wastewater professionals of every variety. I also invite you to please consider attending the NOWRA Washington, DC Fly-in with me next year.
Congratulations!
2019 IOWPA Scholarship Recipients We are pleased to announce the 2019 recipients of the Ralph Reed Memorial Scholarship. Each recipient will receive $750. Congratulations to all! For more information about IOWPA’s scholarship program and how to apply, please visit www.iowpa.org/scholarship.html. Applications are due every year by May 1.
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IOWPA.org • Ph: 317-965-1859
Aaron Hochstetler attends Purdue Polytechnic Institute in South Bend and is working towards a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology. Member is Manass Hochstetler, Advanced Home Inspections.
Ashley Johnson attends Valdosta State University and studying to earn a Masters of Library and Information Science. Member is Matthew Johnson, Infiltrator Water Technologies.
Haylee Bright will be a sophomore at IUPUI in the fall and is studying Forensic Science. Member is Trevis Bright, Bright’s Sewer & Septic.
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Iowpa News • Summer 2019 7
NOWRA Membership and Online Learning Pete Sabo, AK Industries IOWPA has been working with the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA) for over 10 years, and we are now officially a State Affiliate Member of NOWRA. This is a major step forward in improving the resources available to our members. NOWRA is the only national organization that lobbies for the onsite wastewater industry, which has virtually been ignored by federal funding for wastewater infrastructure. Having a dedicated organization representing our industry’s interests is vital for improving the industry. Less than 1% of all federally available funding has gone to financing any projects related to the onsite wastewater industry. It’s easier to get millions of dollars for sewering new suburbs than it is to get $10,000 for homeowners to fix their septic systems. NOWRA also offers the Septic Locator website (http://septiclocator.org/), which is a searchable directory of onsite wastewater professionals for homeowners to use. This is basically a mini-version of Google’s search engine specifically for the onsite wastewater industry. With IOWPA now being an affiliate member, all IOWPA members will have their company’s information listed on the Septic Locator site. Being listed on this site will also boost our members’ listings on Google searches because they are cross-linked to NOWRA’s Septic Locator website. Another major aspect of our NOWRA membership is utilizing the vast educational resources on the NOWRA website. These resources are now available for all our IOWPA members and include training videos, recorded presentations, and technical information presentations. How does this benefit you? Primarily these courses are good information resources, but secondly, this is an incredible opportunity for our members to take online courses and receive IOWPA CEU hours from the convenience of their own shop. Perfect for rainy days when we’re not out in the field. NOWRA offers two major categories for training, which are: 1. The Online Learning Academy: NOWRA offers over 15 hours of online coursework that covers a 3-hour Intro to Onsite Wastewater, an 8-hour Overview of Onsite Wastewater from A-Z, a 1-hour course on Operation and Maintenance for Onsite Systems, and a 4-hour Soil Evaluation, Treatment, and Dispersal course. Eventually IOWPA will offer Indiana-specific courses, too. 2. The Installer Academy: This coursework focuses solely on aspects of proper septic and onsite industry installations. This offers best practices, safety training, operation and maintenance, etc. This course can also be offered in person, such as at our annual conference. We have evaluated the many benefits of becoming a state affiliate member of NOWRA, and besides the crucial representation for our industry in Washington, the educational resources and the Septic Locator site are going to directly benefit our members by increasing access to educational resources and the ever important continuing education units that are fundamental to IOWPA membership. We highly encourage you to go to www.NOWRA.org and click on the Online Educational Academy links and register for coursework.
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IOWPA.org • Ph: 317-965-1859
Infiltrator Acquires Presby Environmental Infiltrator Water Technologies, a leading manufacturer of products for the decentralized water and wastewater industries, announced on April 17, 2019 that they purchased Presby Environmental, Inc. Presby Environmental manufactures the Enviro-Septic®, Advanced Enviro-Septic®, EnviroFin™ and other wastewater treatment technologies. “We are excited to be able to expand our products with the proven Presby Environmental product line. The family of Presby Environmental products compliments Infiltrator’s core business and helps to strengthen our industry leadership position. The combination of Infiltrator and Presby Environmental supports our vision to reimagine and revolutionize onsite water management,” said Roy E. Moore, Jr., President & CEO of Infiltrator Water Technologies.
Anua Acquires Quanics Anua announced on May 31, 2019 the addition of Quanics products and offerings to Anua’s Clean Water lineup. Anua and Quanics have great synergies given their complementary technologies and market presence throughout the United States. “We are thrilled to bring the Quanics products and online store under the Anua banner. We are also very excited to work with Harry and Jan (DeNoers) going forward. The ability to tap into their knowledge and enthusiasm is invaluable for us,” says Colin Bishop, CEO of Anua. “Jan and I are excited about Quanics being in the hands of a growing company with capable leadership. We know our loyal Quanics customers are in good hands and look forward to seeing continued growth under Anua,” says DeNoers, CEO and president of Quanics. Quanics manufacturing will continue in the Crestwood, Kentucky, facility.
Promoting Septic Design Services with YouTube Scottie Dayton, Onsite Installer
This article originally appeared on www.onsiteinstaller.com. It appears here with permission from COLE Publishing, Inc.
“I don’t have to say a word to sell my design services,” says Stuart Meade, owner of Meade Septic Design in Goshen, Indiana. “My educational videos do the job for me.”
notes on topics to cover and shots to get, including b-roll, the extra video overlaying the audio. He usually has a camera in the truck to shoot secondary footage.
The success of those videos led Meade to present “How to Promote Your Business with Video” at the 2017 Indiana Onsite Wastewater Professionals Association conference. “Content is everything, but it can be hard because viewers want to be entertained and receive valuable, relevant information,” he says. “Occasionally valuable information means giving away something profitable.”
When a new project is ripe in his mind, Meade spends the first day writing the script from his notes and determining where to shoot and how to do it. Day 2 is the shoot. “A shovel is my helper,” he says. “I stick it in the ground and pre-focus on it using multiple cameras on tripods. After 20 takes, I’m comfortable enough to be myself, which is important.”
Meade’s webpage on “How to Install Your Own Septic System” is an example of giving something away. “It upset installers, some of whom even sent hate emails,” he says. “We know people who operate heavy equipment will do it anyway, so my objective was to help them install correctly and safely.” Meade allocates three days to produce a video, but he is always working on developing potential ideas. He makes
Meade wears a wireless microphone clipped to his collar for professional-grade audio. “A video camera’s built-in microphone is not going to pick up sound from 15 or 20 feet away, especially on windy days,” he says. Day 3 is postproduction. “When editing, keep videos short and succinct with simple transitions between clips,” Meade says. “If you had to shoot in wind, do a voice-over using a quality microphone. Furthermore, don’t drown out the narrative with a music
track, a common mistake.” According to Meade, doing everything right the first time is important because taking Check it out! IOWPA member, down videos Stuart Meade is on the cover for additional of the June 2019 issue of editing deletes Onsite Installer! Go to the view www.onsiteinstaller.com/ to view online. counter and comments. “Allow comments, because they engage viewers and help video ranking,” he says. “And reply promptly.” New technologies such as steady cams and slider camera tracks have increased video sophistication, and viewers now expect highquality video. To keep up, Meade purchased a separate gyroscope stabilizer for the camera, enabling him to shoot steady shots while walking around.
Iowpa News • Summer 2019 9
Eight Ways to Make New Employees Productive From the Start As you ramp up for the 2019 busy season, follow these tips to get crew members following your mission and selling your services. Cordell Riley, Tortal Training, www.tortal.net
This article first appeared in Pumper Magazine and is reprinted here with permission from COLE Publishing. The days and weeks after employees start at your company represent a time of unique opportunity. Can you teach them new systems and skills? Of course you can. But have you also stopped to consider all the other important goals you can reach during the onboarding period? To name just a few, you can: • Grow and encourage adoption of your culture • Get new hires to understand, promote, and believe in your brand • Sow the seeds for outstanding customer service • Cultivate the kind of spirit and energy that customers will value and love • Hear creative ideas from new employees who have a fresh perspective • Build retention by proving that your company is a great place to work • Set up communication channels with new hires that will improve operations throughout your company. Those are only a few of the opportunities you have during employees’ first weeks at your company. But how can you take advantage of them? Here are eight approaches that work: 1. Have a well-defined onboarding system
Many companies just wing it, with negative results. Still other companies see onboarding as little more than filling out forms and showing new employees around the shop. Because new hires start their jobs without a deeper understanding of what is expected of them, they make mistakes that quickly become costly habits that must be corrected later on. Many problems can be avoided if you set up a structured onboarding system that functions as high-level training. On their start days, new hires can meet individually 10
IOWPA.org • Ph: 317-965-1859
with the owner or their manager to fill out forms, for example, and learn about your company, its brand and its values. After lunch, they can be trained in the basic skills their jobs demand; watching training videos, engaging in work simulations and working alongside current employees can work well to reach those goals. And after day one, they should attend regular follow-ups to address problems and reinforce basic concepts and skills. The strategy is to clearly define the skills and behaviors you need and to create a concise mini-curriculum that tracks to them. 2. Set up genuine mentoring relationships between new hires and successful current employees.
Remember, mentors’ goals should not be to get new hires to imitate what they do, or even to adhere to company systems. Their purpose is to discover what new employees would like to accomplish at your company and to help them reach those goals. In short, mentoring is not about the mentors or strictly about your company, but about the employees who are being coached. 3. Find ways to de-layer and free up communications.
Invite new employees to brainstorming sessions where their new ideas are collected, posted, discussed — and put into action when appropriate. Also consider setting up systems so employees can present suggestions directly to the owner or top decision-makers. Without the ability for their suggestions to be heard, you have created a communication structure that carries a risk of demotivating front-line and entry-level personnel; just one supervisor who stifles new ideas can do great damage to your company. 4. Don’t do training on the cheap
If you are only handing out employee
handbooks and having new employees fill out withholding forms, you are missing out on some great opportunities. For example, if you train new crew members to think about ways to sell your company’s services, that could build untold new revenue. Or if you set up mobile training that sends out pings to remind employees to use specific skills they learned in training, you could increase your training ROI dramatically. The lesson? Spending a little more to deliver great training is a money maker, not an expense. 5. Within your budget, customize training for each employee
Even “standardized” training can be enriched by creating individualized training elements for each new employee. You can evaluate the skills of your new hires during training and address them directly, for example, or help employees overcome anxiety about performing certain parts of their new jobs. Investing just a little time to give training extra value can go a long way toward getting new employees up to speed faster. 6. Stress and reinforce your mission statement, vision statement, and strategic company plan.
The onboarding period is a time to share the big picture about your company and to get employees to buy into your most important goals and priorities. Instead of waiting for employees to discover these critical priorities, start talking about them soon after new hires come on board. 7. Consider creating a career plan for new employees.
You won’t want to do this for seasonal or short-term employees. For employees who you would like to stay with you for the long term, consider creating individual careerdevelopment plans that spell out what they need to do to be promoted within your organization. You could say, for example,
that your company will provide technical training to help them move up into more challenging duties. Millennials, especially, are more likely to stay with your company for the long term if they know the ropes and understand what it takes to build a longterm relationship with your organization.
2018 Volunteer of the Year: Andrew McAfee
8. Evaluate whether you are acting like a great employer.
Andrew always sees things that need to be done and then does whatever it takes to make it happen. I am sure IOWPA will see many more examples of his servant’s heart in the years to come. Congratulations Andrew!
L.A. Brown I was proud to present Andrew McAfee with the 2018 Volunteer of the Year award. He was nominated for his hard work in designing and building the display we had at IOWPA’s 2018 conference.
This is something you should always do, not only when you are training a new class of employees. Take the time to benchmark your company climate, benefits, quality of work/life balance, and other factors against other companies. Unless you have the best of everything, you cannot expect your employees to commit their hearts and minds to working with you for the long term. You see, retention starts with you, not with your employees. Unless you commit your efforts to becoming an “employer of choice” — a company people talk about and would love to work for — you are damaging your profits, operations and, ultimately, your success.
If you know of someone who has gone above and beyond to make things better, please nominate them for the 2019 Volunteer of the Year award. Please send your nominations to L.A. Brown at labrownco@sbcglobal.net.
Award Recipient Andrew McAfee recieving the Volunteer of the Year Award from L.A. Brown.
Special Request
Do you have photos related to IOWPA? If so, the IOWPA Communications Committee would appreciate if you would share them with IOWPA. We sometimes come up short on documenting our great events, field days, gatherings, etc., and we could use your help. Photos from the distant past to today — we’d love to see them and possibly use them in our communications. Please send photos to: indianaonsitewastewater@gmail.com. We thank you in advance!
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Iowpa News • Summer 2019 11
The Switch In the last article of The Switch, L.A. Brown gave his perspective on changing from employer to employee. I would say that our situation is similar to a father releasing the reins and letting the son run the family business. There are times of frustration when decisions are not made the way “Dad” would have done, while the son is trying to let “dad” work how he wants. Instead “dad” really wants to be told what to do and how to do it, in respect for the son. At the end of the day they are still family and both wanting the best for each other. L.A. is not my dad but he does have a similar place in my heart. When I was sixteen years old I began working for L.A. I remember not long after I started working, I wrote down some life goals. In that list was the goal of being as proficient and knowledgeable as L.A. and Ron Payne. Ron was an older man I had the privilege of working with
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From employee to employer Andrew McAfee, Owner of L.A. Brown Co. for a few summers while school was out. L.A. and everyone in the community highly respected Ron and his knowledge of literally everything. Years passed, Ron retired, L.A. slowed down to work for some ministries, and I started working for the railroad. After several years of life on the rail, I knew it was not for me and my family. I really wanted to get back to digging and helping people solve their drainage issues. L.A. probably would have retired and dissolved his business if I did not have an interest in the industry. After I started back full-time he included me in making decisions, taking phone calls, and lining up our work. Grooming me for what was coming — making the switch from employee to employer. I could have gone to work for another company making just as much if not more
money. I could have gotten a job where I have set hours and time off or a job that would offer good benefits, like affordable health insurance, a 401k plan, and paid vacations. Something in me wanted to go a different route. Kids who grow up on a farm tend to keep the desire to continue farming. A lot of hard work and often little pay go along with farming, so why does that entice those people? I think our breed of people really enjoy working. It’s not just to get a paycheck. It’s something to be proud of, to put your name and reputation on, and to pass down the values to your children. The switch for me has not been without issues, concerns, or frustrations, but what part of life isn’t? The switch has allowed me to further trust in God with my work, life, and family. I can only pray that God will help me to be successful and make the right decisions.
If you or someone you know made “The Switch” and are willing to share your experience, please email us at indianaonsitewastewater@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from more people. Thanks!
Three Tips to Pick Up the Sales Pace Brian J. Greenberg, E-commerce and Marketing Specialist This article first published by Pumper Magazine and is reprinted with permission from Pumper Magazine and COLE Publishing. In a recent Gallup Poll, sales professionals were ranked lower on honesty than members of Congress. This exemplifies why consumers are increasingly looking to their peers, rather than companies, “gurus,” and other experts for advice on what to buy, eat, listen to, read and watch. Amazon, for example, can attribute much of its success to mission-critical consumer reviews — raw peer-to-peer interaction that carries an enormous amount of weight in the hearts and minds of wary consumers. As more people participate and contribute to social media, consumers are getting savvier by the day. The companies that thrive in this extreme vetting environment are the ones who boast salespeople who don’t actually sell. So many success and marketing books are published each year, and most of them are fluffy and useless. When added to the thousands of marketing articles that also come out annually, there is a ton of information to sort through to the point of information overload. This as online entrepreneurs and business owners face a tremendous number of obstacles when it comes to marketing their companies. I know because I’ve been through them all and, in working through these adversities, I have developed a precise method to achieve long-term online marketing success. Here are three methods you can use right now to start to close sales without actually selling:
1 Garner reviews on both your website and third-party websites that you do not control.
From my experience, people have an aversion to asking for reviews from customers. It is an uncomfortable part of the conversation if not handled correctly. There is a right way and a wrong way to do it. The most critical key is timing. The best time to ask for a review is after the service is complete and the customer is entirely satisfied and happy with the product or service. Customers appreciate the
question; it shows them you care about their happiness. After they have confirmed they are happy, it’s time to ask for a review. There is no need to be pushy about it. Plant the seed and let them know you will send them an email with a link to where they can post their feedback. It is as simple as asking: “Is it all right if I send you a feedback email?” After the customer confirms, you have a commitment. When sending the feedback request email, include a link directly to the URL where the customer can post a review. Make it as easy as possible. It is best to get feedback on your website first because it is feedback you control and have the option to not make public. If the customer provides a five-star review in your review system, then email them again with the exact comment they posted, and include links to third-party sites like Yelp, the Better Business Bureau and Google Business. 2 Leverage your online reputation for building trust with potential customers.
If you have garnered reviews on your website and third-party websites, you are halfway there. It pains me to see companies with great reviews not make them visible on their sites. I think people consider it a form of bragging to display reviews. It is certainly not. From my testing, the last thing a customer does before making a purchase is a Google search for your company name followed by “reviews” or “complaints.” People want to verify that you run an honest business. I have found that displaying links to thirdparty review sites on your website shortens the sales process. People do not need to spend time searching your company online or contacting references. Potential customers will know you value your reputation. By leveraging your online reputation, you have built trust and conveyed accountability. This is the cornerstone of becoming a salesperson who doesn’t sell.
3. Delegate, systematize, and automate so you can shorten the sales process and sell while you sleep.
You have built up reviews and have them prominently displayed on your website. To keep the reviews coming in, it is vital to make obtaining five-star reviews a companywide initiative that you can delegate. We have all our salespeople and customer service representatives ask customers to leave feedback. We have found it helps to incentivize employees with bonuses tied to reviews they bring in. Reviews are a big part of shortening the sales process, though there are other sticking points. Make your frequently asked questions and terms and conditions visible to potential customers. Systematically answer their questions and concerns. What is the time frame for providing service? Who do I contact for problems? To reduce resources needed in landing new customers, automate as much as possible. Email software such as ActiveCampaign can send out a drip of emails. Upload sales data to QuickBooks accounting software. Utilize a ticketing system like Zendesk to answer customer service requests. A multitude of software solutions are available to businesses to make the process more manageable. BUILD THE ASSETS
Establishing an online reputation is like building assets that produce dividends. Every time you contribute to your assets, you are adding to a foundation that will continue to bring in revenue for the long haul. I have two golden rules: The first is to treat your customers with the same quality of service that you would like to receive, and the second is that happy employees mean happy customers. With these fundamental concepts, businesses can build lean enterprises that will serve their customers, employees, and profits in the most successful manner.
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Indiana Onsite Wastewater Professionals Association 7915 S. Emerson Avenue, Suite 132 Indianapolis, IN 46237 Phone: 317-965-1859 • Fax: 317-534-3460 www.iowpa.org
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It’s IOWPA’s goal this year to continue building on the success of SepticSmart Week and offer more educational opportunities, subsidized services, or community engagement endeavors to raise awareness about the Indiana onsite wastewater industry. If you’re planning something for Septic Smart Week in your local area, please let IOWPA know so that we can help publicize your event. Also, if you’re interested in hosting a SepticSmart Week event but aren’t sure what options are available, please reach out to IOWPA and we will help plan it with you.