Know Your Worth to Get Paid Your Worth

Editor’s Note: Bill Stanley is not only a successful entrepreneur in the paving industry, building a successful company and raising the next generation to love and carry on the family business, but he’s also a willing educator. It’s a pleasure to share with you his wisdom, gained over decades of hard work and business acumen, in this new column in the pages of AsphaltPro magazine.

If we want to attract the next generation of asphalt professionals and secure prosperity for paving companies in the future, we have to recognize the role perception plays in our profitability.

I was raised on blacktop. My dad owned a small driveway paving company in the ’60s, and as soon as my brother and I were out of diapers, we got to go with Dad in his truck. My first job was getting paid $2 a day to keep the job site and tools clean. By the time I was 13, I couldn’t wait to show the incredibly hard working men on our crew (my heroes) that I could also be a man.

When I met my wife, her dad wasn’t thrilled she was marrying a paver. As much as people tend to brag about their children’s accomplishments, I’ve never heard a parent brag that their kid was a paver (or married to one). In my case, as many of you have, I’ve proved that this industry can provide a good living.

Should your company be more profitable? Should your employees be making more money? My answer: Yes and yes.

But, that experience illustrates a valuable lesson. Because those same people who have that perception of what a paving contractor is worth? Those are often our customers. Clearly, they have a price point in their head of what our time is worth—and trust me, it’s different from mine.

This is a perception we need to change. It’s our responsibility to our families and to the future generations of hardworking men and women this industry desperately needs.

Perceptions, Pride & Getting Paid

Have you ever been on a paving project and a neighbor comes up to your crew and offers them a case of beer to fix a pothole in his driveway or parking lot? Nothing upsets me more! Can you name another industry where beer is offered as payment?

Our crews, like many other crews across the country, are hardworking and highly skilled professionals that we compensate fairly for their time, effort, and expertise. We show up to the job site in clean, well-maintained equipment to perform a technical task to perfection using the latest technology. We spend our days building the roads our country relies on. We do not work for beer.

In 1776, the United States had two maintained roads. One from Boston to New York, large enough for a horse and wagon. The other, from New York to Philadelphia, just wide enough for a horse. These roads played an important role during and after the founding of our country. In the 1800s, muddy roadways covered in animal feces began to be replaced with paved roads with a crown and gutter, improving sanitation and community health while also increasing trade and economic growth.

During WWII, the construction battalion (CBs) were among the first units in Europe, building the roads and airstrips that were so important to an Allied Victory. Dwight D. Eisenhower saw the importance of roads during the war and afterwards set in motion the construction of 41,000 miles of highways, saying that these roads were not only America’s arteries, but also its lifelines to prosperity.

Our industry has played a key role in the prosperity of our country. It’s important that we remember the role we continue to play and ensure we value ourselves well enough to share in that prosperity.

American Pavement Specialists is a family-owned asphalt paving company that offers paving, milling, reclamation and grading services in Connecticut and New York.

 A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats

When American Pavement Specialists started sharing about our company online, we were quickly hit with questions from people who wanted to know our game. At first, I struggled with this because I grew up in an era when the mantra was “Don’t give the competition anything, not even a kind word.” It took stepping out of my comfort zone to realize the only way to increase profits for the future of my family was to bring the competition along with us. Hear me out.

I consider what we provide our customers to be a premium service—the Cadillac of asphalt paving. There are some customers who are willing to pay our prices, and there are others who won’t. Some people are willing to pay 20% more for a Cadillac rather than a Chevy, even though they’re made by the same company. But very few people would be willing to buy a Cadillac if it cost 70% more than a Chevy.

Even paving companies like mine that consider themselves the premium offering have to keep the low bid in mind, because if the difference becomes too great the price of that Chevy will be too attractive even for the folks on the market for a Cadillac.

That’s why it’s been important to bring our competition with us. That’s why it’s important to realize we are all in this together. Not only do we need to change the perception of our industry to attract the next generation, but also because it’s key to increasing our profit margins. I want to see the whole industry—from the Chevys to the Cadillacs—earning what they’re worth, so they can not only survive for another season but thrive for many years to come.

3 Actionable Steps to Show Your Worth

Based in Danbury, Connecticut, American Pavement Specialists was founded in 1993 by Bill Jr. and Colleen Stanley. Bill can still be found on many of APS’s job sites today.

Answer your phone.

Your first interaction with a customer will often be by phone. When you pick up the phone, you are already being sized up and your worth calculated. Does your phone manner exemplify your value? Do you exhibit your knowledge and experience?

Sizing up is a two-way street.

It’s important to listen very carefully, especially when a client says “I want to pave my parking lot or driveway” versus “I need to pave.” The person who wants a new lot probably called you because you came recommended, they did their homework, or are familiar with your company. The person who needs a new lot (maybe because people are complaining or because their insurance company is requiring them to pave it) is likely looking for the cheapest price. Customers who need that lot are looking for someone to tell them what they want to hear and quote a price they like. That doesn’t mean you want to (or need to) be the person who gives it to them.

When I meet a potential customer, I try to exhibit what I’ve learned in the past (almost) 50 years, with honesty and humility.

Don’t undermine your fellow contractors.

Every day I hear customers say X Company said this and Y Company said that. Many contractors will immediately discount the expertise of their competitor. I never, ever do this. Not only does it undermine their expertise, but by extension, it undermines my own and our whole industry’s. When customers try to get my opinion on my competition, my answer is always, “I’m here to present to you my firm, my proposal and my quote. That’s it. It’s your decision to hire who you feel most comfortable with.”