by Marvin Joles
We’ve been waiting for the snow to melt here in Wisconsin. We want to see the pavement and the damage that was done. We want to see how our work held up. We want to get the trucks loaded with the tools and equipment we need to do the work we do. We want to do material inventory, so we know what we need to order. I mean, we want to do literally anything besides talk about what we want to do once the weather breaks.
To those of you who don’t have to deal with the “seasonal” aspect of the asphalt industry, we see you and we envy you … but maybe also we don’t, a little. We spend efforts in the “off season” preparing for the time crunch that the warm months will put us into, to hit our quotas. I personally am thankful to have this time to prepare, but understand that if I wasn’t in this climate, I wouldn’t feel in such a hurry all the time during my asphalt season.
The springtime, though, is a time where certain preparations or actions need to take place, to keep the ball rolling for us at Wis-Coat as it has now for 20-plus years. I have a few key things that our team has done over the lifespan of this business to ensure we jump off to a success. We have a long list, and I’m sure you do, too, but let me share my top three with you.
1. Reach Out to Your Previous Residential Clients
If you have been able provide asphalt maintenance to residential clients in the past, you should have records of when they were serviced last. If you haven’t been keeping track of the who and when of these pavements and when they are being serviced, start now.
We reach out to our clients every two to three years on the maintenance side. We for sure connect with them every two years, and if they don’t need service, we reach out again the following year. Keep a spreadsheet, use your CRM software or even envelopes and copies labeled by year if you aren’t to the software stage yet. These customers are essential for building your business and being the foundation of your workload every year, until you start to get big enough to have “carryover” from the fall.
We call these clients, communicate by email and send a “reminder” postcard. We want to be sure they know it is time to take a look, and that we want to be the ones that do it. They have trusted you and your work in the past; it’s very easy to establish that again this go-around by reaching out.
2. Figure Out Your New Material Costs
Prices fluctuate. They have actually fluctuated more in recent years than others. So, reach out to your suppliers and see if they have prices yet or at least an idea of what they will be for your sealer, asphalt, crack sealant and striping paint. Don’t take for granted that what you paid in October is what you will pay this April or May.
If you read this magazine, you are definitely at the stage where you should be job costing to the best of your ability. If you are quoting projects that are competitive, chances are the material costs are high, and being off just a little can add up. These numbers could not only cause you to lose a bid by being too high but could cause you to miss out on your expected margins by being too low — meaning your efforts would have been better put elsewhere on a different project.
3. Test Your Equipment Fully
Ever been out on day one or two of the season on that big project you have been waiting to get to right away when the weather breaks, and you go to start the crack-sealing machine … and it doesn’t fire up? What about when you have the parking lot cleaned and sealer agitated, then you go to open the valve to spray and nothing comes out? How about when the hopper is fully loaded and you go to run the extension out to get to that 13’ width and the hydraulics don’t work? It’s the worst, that sinking feeling.
Avoid this by running your equipment fully during testing. Put it through its paces by running every part of it and double checking that everything is in working order. Heat up the crack sealing machine and pump it all the way out of the wand. Put water in your sealcoat trailer and run it through the spray wand, spray bar, return, etc.
Run some millings through your paver. Make a pass or two, scoop it up and do it again until you feel it’s all good. Get the water or mineral spirits pumping through your line stripers and paint some fake lines.
Whatever it takes for you to not have downtime early is going to ensure that jump you have been looking forward to is a good one. The adage that “time is money” still rings true, and “downtime is money” does as well, just in the other direction. We don’t want that, none of us do. Here’s to hoping the spring goes smooth and is productive.
As always, if you have any questions, insight or criticisms about this article or anything in it, please feel free to email me at marvinjoles@gmail.com, and of course, reach out to me using any form of social media (@marvinjoles).
Stay In The Mix. – Marvin
Marvin Joles is the owner of Wis-Coat Asphalt Maintenance. Visit his website at: https:/marvinjoles.com
