Another thing I need to stress is that change is coming in the way you provide benefits to your employees. I know some of you have others that handle that for you; I get that… we all do. Yet, I want you to pay close attention to this as well.

First, we all may be changing our business models in the next few years as potential legislation could require us to pay for more benefits than we do now. The member benefit program NSCA created, SystemsPlus Insurance Solutions, projects the average family medical insurance plan will cost around $25,000 per year. No worries, you say, because we only cover a portion of the individual. But, that will change if the law requires you to cover 65% of the family plan and currently you cover nothing for families. That would hurt your profits tremendously if you weren’t prepared. So, please pay attention to that.

Also keep an eye on sales compensation plans. Remember to encourage hard work, but only reward results. I’ve spoken with some members who are stuck in that slow sales cycle bind of the draw against commissions being way out of whack with earned commissions. Don’t get stuck with an under-performing salesperson overdrawing the account. You know what will happen there…  Go check that out soon.    

Let us know what you would like to read about in these blogs. We have market research, trends, specific construction spending levels by market, code updates, etc. I want to make sure these are both conversational and critical to your business. I’ll keep rambling about important business metrics next time. CW