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Articles by Danielle Putnam
What a Test Hole Taught Me About Pricing and Integrity
In the attic, on a Georgia summer day, I stared in disbelief as he began to drill a hole in the side of the ductwork. “What are you doing!?” I proclaimed, in a tone attempting to hide my shock. I meant it more as an, “Oh, that’s interesting, what are you doing that for?” Not wanting to lose all credibility, I didn’t want to admit that I didn’t know what a test hole was. As a non-certified, non-HVAC technician, what business did I have being in the attic anyway?
Addicted to Winning / Second Title to Come
Get Addicted to Winning This was my personal trainer’s response to my question last January, “Can I lose 15 pounds by March?” She was so confident in her ‘No, it can’t be done’ comment that I couldn’t help but ask, why? “Because, I know you, you eat too much cake,” was her conclusive answer. She seemed to know that I wasn’t ready to accept where I was and take the necessary steps to make that kind of change. Who in your business knows you well enough to give an honest answer about your goals?
Danielle Putnam: Remote work in the skilled trades
Let’s be honest. The trades are the inventors of 'remote work.' For decades, we’ve been dispatching remotely while technicians are awarded company vehicles to drive home each evening. They begin their mornings from the comfort of their own homes by receiving their work log for the day through walkie-talkie, text, email, slack, pager… remember those?
Nonfiction Book Review: Let’s Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped the World by Danielle Friedman. Putnam, $27 (352p) ISBN 978-0-593-18842-2
Danielle Friedman. Putnam, $27 (352p) ISBN 978-0-593-18842-2 Journalist Friedman takes a jaunt through the history of women’s fitness in her astute and entertaining debut.
Goldfish and Business Myths
My dad went to the pet shop and purchased 15 goldfish over the summer. He doesn’t have an aquarium; he’s never been into ‘fish,’ but he thought his grandkids (who happened to be spending a lot of time at his house over the summer months while out of school) would enjoy swimming in the hot tub with the fish! As you could guess, in Georgia in the summer, the family hot tub becomes a cold tub and is used more for a grandkid splash pool on the deck.
Am I Priced Right for Covid-19?
Ever find yourself wondering, “Am I priced right?” As my attorneys like to say about everything that I ask them, “Well, that depends,” as I roll my eyes and say, “Will somebody give me a straight answer please?” The CEO of Ferrari was once asked how many of a certain type of model he was going to produce. His response? “Exactly one less than the market will want.” Now, isn’t that interesting?
Passing The Money Passes The Responsibility: Who’s In Charge?
Years ago, when my sweet husband and I were first married, our first home was a charming little bungalow tucked into the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains on the north side of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Over time, my commute to The New Flat Rate down in Dalton, Georgia became too strenuous, and we uprooted to move. We kept the bungalow and turned it into a southern charm, luxury AirBnB vacation rental. Fast forward a few years to last month.
Developing Trust With Home Service Customers in Three Simple Steps
A story about helping an overwhelmed customer consider his options illustrates some helpful advice to service contractors. Danielle Putnam | Sep 11, 2019 One of my trainers told me a great story the other day. He was doing ride-alongs with a company to train their technicians on our system. The customer had a plumbing issue and he had called every company in town to see who would get there first and who would get the sale.
CEOWORLD magazine
Born into the trades, my statistical likelihood of pursuing a life as a woman in a male-dominated industry was pretty high. As the second oldest in a lineup of nine children, my older brother and I were the first in the family to go to work with Dad. At the age of seven, I remember going door to door and passing out flyers.
Just What is the Glass Ceiling, and is it Really Stopping You?
Woman vs. Man. Seriously? No way. It’s not Woman vs. Man. Oddly, the question of a glass ceiling is posed to me quite often, because I’m a woman in a male-dominated industry – the trades. I’m often asked if being a woman is the glass ceiling and how to climb the corporate ladder with men. As I write this, I smile because the glass ceiling is so silly. The glass ceiling metaphor — an invisible barrier. Often this metaphor is used to describe scenarios involving women. It’s only about woman vs.
Three Reasons Why You Need to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Will Smith says it best in his talk about skydiving on YouTube – “Sheer bliss is on the other side of complete fear.” In this YouTube video, Will is talking to a group of teens, and every time I hear the story, I relate. I went skydiving when I was in college, then twice more after college. The fourth time, well, I didn’t go.
Risk and Adaptation Are the Keys to Market Success
You must earn your ending. The eulogy, the bonus, the Pulitzer Prize. The day your business sells, and you retire on an island. The day you graduate from install helper to lead installer, you move from helper to technician. Customer service help desk at Home Depot to entrepreneur — your pathway, your ending, must be earned. As a young college kid and then later as a young adult, I jumped out of an airplane.
Want To Change Your Life? Say Yes To Opportunity!
They say success happens when preparedness meets opportunity. That is usually true. If you say yes, to the opportunity knocking on your door. You can wait for that opportunity, or you can choose to create your own. Perhaps we all could relate if I start by saying, “Who do you know that is still looking … still waiting, for Mr. Right to simply show up on their doorstep?” At one point in life, I was one of those people.
It takes gusto to be a woman in a man’s industry
The weather was dreary, cold, cloudy, wet. Sitting in my office, searching for a creative marketing idea, I gladly welcomed the disruption of my dad walking by the open office door and tossing a ball towards me, or what seemed like a semi-round ball anyways. Upon catching the ball, I realized it wasn’t a ball at all but a Tyvek suit.
The blindside of hiring employees
Terrell Owens, a former American wide receiver who holds the second most receiving yards in NFL history said, “If you align expectations with reality, you will never be disappointed.” We are told if you expect greatness, that’s what you will get. But, what happens when you don’t? Being a business owner, this has played out so many times for me in staff recruiting. I want to build my team with exceptional people, but I don’t always hit the bullseye. Expose expectatio
Tech’s aren’t chickens, and neither are plumbers!
This morning on my commute in I listened to a TED Talk podcast about the subject of the “Pecking Order” in relation to “super” chickens. Now, don’t take me wrong or misinterpret my sincere respect for our industry and our technicians and plumbers … they are undoubtedly far superior to chickens. However, I couldn’t help but associate our desire to hire, train and cultivate “superstar” technicians and plumbers in the same way that farmers want superior chickens. Believing they’ll both alw
The Door is Open for Women in the Trades
HVAC and women are not commonly connected in conversations; however, they’re also not as uncommon as one may think. As you know, reality and statistics show that the number of women working in the service industry isn’t anywhere equal to the number of men.
Always keep the customer’s agenda in mind
Recently I began the song and dance with a salesman and his manager about joining their membership for marketing services. In the beginning stages, I made it crystal clear that the timing of this exchange may not be favorable, but that I was still interested in engaging in their proposal. Timing is imperative to sales success in any situation, especially when it involves expectation. In this instance, there was a definite expectation of a sale, so the power was in the timing. Popular NowIs ...
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