A new year means a new opportunity to find fresh ways to expand and improve your business. Whether you have been running your own business for decades or you’re just getting started, you likely want to know how to take your team to the next level.
Thankfully, Sherwin-Williams offers several productivity-enhancing tools that can help you make 2023 your business’ best year yet, with unique services that can help contractors recruit talented employees, train them in best practices, and save time on the jobsite.
1. Grow your team
The most straightforward way to expand your business is by growing your team, but finding and keeping good employees is often easier said than done.
“In the professional painting industry, demand for work is higher than ever and our customers need help to source, recruit, and retain talent,” says Belinda Zamora, Marketing Director of Pro Contractor Programs at Sherwin-Williams. “A few years back, we launched the Paint Your Path initiative, a suite of resources for painting contractors, including recruitment tools and training modules for new employees. To compliment these efforts, we are now launching a job matching service to help them find new painters.”
The new Paint Your Path job board acts as a job matching tool for painters who are looking for work and for paint companies looking for talent. Through the site, you can post job openings, set up preferences, manage applicants, and keep track of the interview process.
Zamora says the process is designed to streamline the recruiting process for painting contractors, allowing them to find talent, train them, and get them to work on the job site as soon as possible.
“The job board is part of a suite of recruiting and hiring tools to help painting contractors find people who are a good fit for their crew,” Zamora says. “They can find recruitment, interviewing, onboarding, and training resources to help them build and grow their team. These resources will empower them to use the right recruitment techniques to find quality new team members.”
“With the appropriate onboarding and training, they can set up their new employees for success. In turn, employees stay longer, setting up paint companies to be able to better meet the demand for work.”
2. Train for success
Once you have found the right employees, the Paint Pro Training video portal makes it easy to teach new painters the fundamentals and get them to work.
These online courses, available in English or Spanish, offer training in surface preparation, color selection, brush and roller basics, repair and touch-up, spray application, and much more.
“By offering these courses, we not only hope to build a strong foundation for painters to be ready for their first job, but help our customers continue to provide premium painting services to their customers, and strengthen and grow their own businesses,” says Jeff Winter, Sherwin-Williams’ VP of Segment Marketing.
After all, a strong grasp of the fundamentals can make a big difference when it comes to jobsite performance.
3. Save valuable time
Finally, you can maximize your time on jobsites—allowing you to take on even more projects—with time-saving tools and services made available through PRO+ductive Solutions from Sherwin-Williams. Part of its PRO+ program, the PRO+ductive Solutions initiative highlights a variety of innovative offerings that help contractors complete jobs quickly and save money to generate more profit.
For example, Sherwin-Williams now offers free jobsite delivery service through the PRO+ app. Order what you need through the app and have it delivered straight to your jobsite, allowing your crew to skip the wait time, drive time, and mileage, and keep working.
Data shows that professional painting contractors who used the company’s free delivery service frequently in 2021 on average spent 10 more days painting instead of driving (based on customers with approximately three deliveries per week in a year, based on an eight-hour working day).
Another tool available through PRO+ductive Solutions is the Purdy® 14-inch Roller System, which can help you increase your painting productivity by 55 percent (compared to the completion time using the same Purdy 9-inch roller and frame). Using this roller system can help you operate smaller crews to do more work, finish faster, and wow customers by completing projects ahead of expectations.
And don’t miss the Werner® LeanSafe X3 ladder, which is a traditional stepladder that can be easily moved into a straight ladder position and is also designed to be used as a leaning ladder. As a result, this 3-in-1 ladder provides efficient climbing solutions for multiple job requirements and can save your teams time and hassle on the jobsite.
These are just some of the innovative products and services available through PRO+ductive Solutions. To learn more, talk to your local Sherwin-Williams rep and ask them how you can get more productive this year.
“Sherwin-Williams remains committed to helping solve the challenges impacting painting contractors,” Zamora says.
Read more stories about how to build your painting business in the Pintor Pro magazine archive.
