How to Compete for A-Team Hires (and Recruit the Very Best People)
Learn how residential service pros can compete for new hires by offering real careers, strong culture, growth paths, and a winning local reputation.
KickStart: Obsess over hiring ONLY the Very Best People by recruiting them BEFORE you are desperate! Intrigued? Then read on…
I hired (and fired some!) more than 100 employees in my years running residential services companies. After waaaaay too much agony I finally learned the biggest hiring lesson for any business with techs working in clients’ homes…
Never (and I do mean NEVER) engage in ‘Desperation Hiring’. Grabbing the first warm body simply because you’re slammed with service calls will absolutely come back to bite you- BIG TIME! 😦 (Don’t ask me how I learned this!)🙄
💡 Instead, I realized we needed to treat recruiting the same way we marketed to homeowners—as an ongoing, never-ending process. 👍 This mindset transformed my business and honestly, my life!
If you want to build a real, dependable, scalable operation—what I call a Critical Mass Business—you must constantly be scouting, recruiting, pre-interviewing, and pre-testing solid Very Best People (VBP) “career candidates”. Then…
You keep them “on the hook” (warm and interested) while they stay at their current job… until you’re ready to bring them onboard.
But here’s the catch: if you want these A-players to hang out waiting on the bench, you must give them a reason to stick around. Ya gotta offer a better career, not just another job.
Here’s 8 strategies I used to successfully compete for new hires against giants like Walmart, UPS, Starbucks, and even my local plumbing outfit— because every business out there is my and your competition for these VBP! 😦
1. Build a strong LOCAL image
The Very Best People usually have roots in your town. They don’t want to move away. However, they do want to work somewhere they’re proud of.
So, ask yourself:
Is my company active and visible in our community?
Do we have great online reviews?
Does our daily business presence (online too*) make us look like a company people will brag about working for?
* NOTE: A-players will absolutely look you up online even before they agree to an interview—they don’t want to join a business with a negative reputation.
2. Upgrade your “curb appeal”
Your brand and business should feel top-tier from the moment someone sees it.
Clean, sharp trucks
Organized shop
Easy-to-spot, memorable signage
Professional uniforms and photo ID badges
And yes… your team (and YOU too)🫣 all need to look like pros too!
Top VBP talent wants to join a team that looks like they’re winning. The bonus here for you? Potential clients love seeing these bullet points too!
3. Create a real “Career Ladder”
The VBP don’t want to stay stuck at the same level forever. I mean, do you? 🙄 So, can you offer your VBP hires:
Certifications?
Specialized training?
Leadership opportunities?
VBP want to at least have the opportunity grow and advance—help them climb!
4. Prove to them they’ll be more than a number
The big corporations can’t offer true security and an emotional connection. But you can!
Prove to your VBP candidates:
“Here you’ll ‘create your own job security’ just by being awesome.”
“We build and expect loyalty… both ways.”
“We invest in our people who invest in us.”
This matters to today’s workers WAY more than most owners realize. 💖
5. Share a big picture vision they’ll want to belong to. (And buy in to!)
People don’t just work for a paycheck—they work for meaning in their life.
In my company, our rallying cry was: “We Make Customer Cheerleaders!”
My team was believed in and was trained to WOW their client. Your vision doesn’t have to be fancy—just clear, energizing, and bigger than “just show up and bang out the work.”😥
6. Allow your Very Best People to actually earn more
I know… we all think we can’t compete with the big boys.
But focus on this: Mail order maven L.L. Bean once said, “When I pay 20% more, I get 40% better employees.”
Paying more to the right people makes you more money—not less. When you systemize, market well, fill your schedule, AND raise your prices you CAN afford top-tier talent. 💲💲💲
7. Build a stress-free Business Infrastructure
The VBP hate chaos. And let’s be real… at best many residential service companies run on controlled chaos. (And some days the “controlled” part is optional!)
Written systems, procedures, checklists, scripts—these give the Very Best People confidence. Clearly explain how your business measures success so they can knock it out of the park! 😁
8. Add true accountability (the positive kind)
A-players LOVE being held to high standards. Why? Because it separates them from the slackers plus they get recognized and rewarded when they excel.
Your mission:
Set expectations
Track performance
Celebrate high achievers
Coach the ones who can (and want to) improve
Terminate the ones who won’t!
Positive Accountability isn’t punishment—it’s rocket fuel for the right people! 🚀
Steve’s Final Thoughts
Sure, it’s tough competing with other businesses for talent… but you CAN do it when you offer something better: A career, a purpose, a team culture, and a future!
This is how you can consistently compete for new hires against the big guys and still win over the Very Best People.😎