PoolCreationsInc.com | Making a Splash by WOWing Your Customers with PoolCreationsInc.com Founder, Jeff Landburg

Show Notes

 The founder of PoolCreationsInc.com explains how he has been able to build and grow one of the most successful pool companies in Oklahoma by systematically wowing his customers and tightly managing his team.

1. Yes, yes, yes and yes! Thrivetime Nation on today’s show we are interviewing Jeff Landburg who is the co-founder of Pool Creations. Jeff, welcome onto the Thrivetime Show…how are you sir?!
2. I know that you’ve had a ton of success at this point in your career, but I would love to start off at the bottom and the very beginning of your career. What was your life like growing up and where did you grow up?
   1. I grew up in Catoosa, where we still live today
   2. We were a low to middle-income family
   3. We learned early on that anytime we wanted something we would have to work for it
3. What did you learn at UPS?
   1. I learned how to manage a company effectively
   2. I learned that I did not want to be a part of corporate America
4. What did you learn digging ditches?
5. When did you first figure out what you wanted to do professionally?
   1. Whenever I graduated high school I went into the military
   2. The more I looked at a career in the military the less I thought it was best for me
   3. I started working with a pool company that my brother was working for and rose to the role of foreman
6. NOTABLE QUOTABLE – “Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your product and service, and that bring friends with them.” – W. Edwards Deming (Was an American engineer, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant. Educated initially as an electrical engineer and later specializing in mathematical physics, he helped develop the sampling techniques still used by the U.S. Department of the Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.)
   1. Bite off more than they can chew
   2. Competition is fierce and people play low-ball
   3. Not good at managing their people
7. Construction Manager – Stays in touch with the contractors and the subcontractors
8. Construction Supervisor – Works with the employees and makes sure the team on site to make sure the job is being done correctly
9. Crew Leaders & Helpers – Jeff employs 17 high quality crew leaders & helpers. He goes through 10 guys to find. Promote from within. 
   1. The ratio is about 1:1 between crew leaders and helpers.
10. What would you say to any contractors out there who have made a mistake?
    1. Own the mistake and make sure that you are exceeding the expectations of your clients
11. How did you start your first company?
12. How did you go about funding your first company?
    1. Since I had been in management at UPS, we cashed out the stock we had accrued while at UPS
13. How did you go about getting your first 10 customers?
    1. I started out sub-contracting for other pool companies doing smaller work
    2. A couple of months after doing that, people started talking about us and next thing you know we had a pool sold
14. When did you first feel like you were truly beginning to gain traction with your career?
15. Jeff your customer service is incredible…how would you describe your approach to sales?
16. Jeff, when you worked with us you did a great job setting expectations and then delivering on what you said you would do…how is your process like for staying on top of your projects and preventing them from drifting?
    1. It’s important to have the lines of communication open with the clients
    2. Things happen, but as long as you are communicating with your client you don’t have those awkward moments
    3. You have to be proactive, not reactive
17. Every reference that I called about your business was super happy…on a daily basis how do you stay on top of and manage your projects?
18. What are some of the most fun projects that you have worked on throughout the years?
19. I know that you are a serial entrepreneur who has experienced massive success and super low points…walk us through the highest high and the lowest low of your career?
20. Today, I’d love for you to share with the listeners about the kinds of projects that you are up to?
21. How, you come across as a very proactive person…so how do you typically organize the first four hours of your and what time do you typically wake up?
    1. I wake up every morning at 5:30 AM
    2. I try to get to the office at 6:15-6:30 AM
    3. The crews get to the jobs at 7AM so that time gives me a chance to catch up with email and plan my day
22. What are a few of your daily habits that you believe have allowed you to achieve success?
    1. We listen to our employees a lot to find out what works and doesn’t work in the field.
23. NOTABLE QUOTABLE – “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” – Proverbs 13:20
    1. We go to different shows around the country to stay on the cutting edge of pool creation industry
       1. The Carecraft Annual Meeting is the big show we go to every year
24. What mentor has made the biggest impact on your career thus far?
    1. The owner of the pool company that I worked for in Tulsa
25. What has been the biggest adversity that you’ve had to fight through during your career?
26. What advice would you give the younger version of yourself?
    1. I don’t have any regrets and I wouldn’t go back and change anything.
27. We find that most successful entrepreneurs tend to have idiosyncrasies that are actually their super powers…what idiosyncrasy do you have?
28. What message or principle that you wish you could teach everyone?
29. What are a couple of books that you believe that all of our listeners should read?
    1. The Bible
    2. The Shack

Website: http://poolcreationsinc.com/

Phone Number: 918-289-0779