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Month: December 2013

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I was recently consulting with a carpet cleaner and looking at every aspect of his business. After discussing what was different about his service from his competitors, his sales systems to convert a prospect to a paying customer, his systems for referrals and his advertising and marketing amongst other things, he said “Yes, yes, but all I want is for the phone to ring more!” It’s the view of many carpet cleaners.

All very good. But if you don’t have everything else in place to provide exactly what your customers want, the marketplace will just find out that you can’t deliver what they want. And if you advertise to get the phone to ring and it does…they’ll find out even quicker! Presumably there was a reason why this cleaners’ phone wasn’t ringing more.

Just getting the phone to ring may well get you an initial customer. But if the experience was not as expected they will not use you again or refer you. And repeat customers and referrals are the lifeblood of any business. Especially carpet cleaning.

So before you want the phone to ring, take a look at your carpet cleaning service from the viewpoint of your customer.

Is there a good reason for them to phone you in the first place as opposed to phoning your competitors? This is the first thing that should be addressed. It’s often been called a Unique Selling Proposition. I sometimes prefer to call it a Unique Buying Advantage. It’s the unique clear reason why your prospect has to call YOU. There’s two mistakes often made here.

  1. Selling by Price. If you can run profitably at the lowest price (and want to) then by all means just tell your marketplace that. You’ll have an instant competitive advantage. You probably don’t need much of a sales system either. Just tell them you’re the lowest price. However most customers aren’t looking for lowest price. They know there’s usually a reason for it. And often it’s poor quality. And don’t forget, there will be someone cheaper sooner or later.
  2. Selling by Method. “We use a truck-mount” is not a differentiator if your competitors use one too. But pre-vacuuming with a water filtration vacuum cleaner that improves indoor air quality might be!

It’s much better to design your business for the kind of service your prospects actually want and then charge a premium price for it. So if you can get carpets dry quicker…design your business around this benefit and then promote it to those that want it. If your customers don’t have to move any furniture at all…design your business around this benefit and then promote it to those that want it. Everything comes back to your Unique Buying Advantage. And make sure everything delivers on this promise.

So first give your prospects a good reason to phone and then deliver what you say you will. Suddenly you have a good (and unique) reason to communicate with prospective customers.

Once you have this clarity and are delivering exactly what your marketplace wants…and you can communicate this clearly…suddenly your phone will ring more.

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If I had to use only one marketing strategy in my business, which one would I choose?

Without doubt it would be to send a monthly newsletter to my client base. Why? Because newsletters, pound for pound, dollar for dollar are one of the most effective marketing tools available.

Let's just consider the reasons why every carpet cleaner should be sending a monthly newsletter to their customers.

Reason 1: Newsletters help you retain your clients.

How often have you heard people say that they've had their carpets cleaned before and were "very satisfied" but just can't remember the name of the person or company they used. This is a tragedy. One of the most costly expenses in a business is the cost of getting a new customer. And now when it's time for the carpets to be cleaned again, the customer can't remember who cleaned them! Newsletters help keep you ;top-of-mind' with customers. When your newsletter arrives they are immediately reminded to think about whether their carpets need cleaning again. Newsletters also get in 'under the radar'. They are not perceived as a sales pitch and can therefore be used to educate and inform about other services without the usual resistance to a sales message.

Reason 2: Newsletters help with referrals.

If your newsletter is interesting and of value to your customers, they may pass it along to friends or relatives. In fact, just seeing your newsletter can prompt friends to ask what it's all about, perhaps leading to a conversation about the need for cleaning carpets. And of course, your name will be on hand to pass on.

Reason 3: Newsletter help build your brand. 

Brand-building is normally too expensive for a small business to use as a standalone strategy. This is because the usual way for a business to build a brand is by means of image type advertising which is very costly and the results uncertain. However, sending a regular newsletter automatically builds your brand name. I like to think of my ˜brand" as the likelihood of my clients using me again and of referring me to others. I know that technically a brand is the sum total of every experience with my business and how my clients and prospects perceive it. Or something like that! Branding of course is all in their mind. Therefore a regular newsletter has the potential to affect how clients and prospects think about my business. And that's very powerful!

Here's an example of the cost-effectiveness of sending a regular newsletter:

A lady who had not used our services for a few years recently responded to an offer in my newsletter. I estimate that she has received about 75 newsletters in that time. If the cost of sending a newsletter including printing, paper, envelope and stamp is say 50p (here in the UK) that means I've spend less than £40 to re-gain her. (Work out YOUR cost of acquiring a customer and you'll be very surprised!). The PROFIT on the job will be in excess of £200. That's a return on investment of over 5 to 1. Even sending a newsletter for many years without response can pay off eventually. Most of our clients respond long before seven years, making it even more profitable.

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There's a statement that many carpet cleaners dread...

"I've had other quotes and they're much cheaper than you."

I had it myself recently when upon arrival at a job the elderly lady asked me to confirm the price and then said that her son had obtained cheaper quotes. She then told me that he would soon be arriving to question my price.

He arrived just as we were pre-vacuuming and asked us immediately to stop work. Although the lady was a repeat client, her son was very concerned about how much she was spending on having her carpets cleaned (which by the way was only £144). To say he was very agitated is an understatement. He had obtained three other quotes that morning, all of them around half of our price.

Now how would you have handled this? The tendency for many carpet cleaners is to agree on a price reduction immediately. However, what message does this send to the client? Surely that we were overcharging to begin with! And don't forget: business is all about profits and margins. No margin = no profit. It's then only a matter of time before the business folds.

So what can we do when a prospective client questions our prices? The first thing to remember is that people buy value and not price in most cases. That's why the Ritz-Carlton can charge £35 for a fillet steak and why BMW can get people to part with over £30k for a 3-series when a cheap and cheerful Ford would easily get them from A to B. People will pay more for what they perceive to be better value

Of course, if your clients are only concerned about price it may be better to sack them and get clients that will pay more for a quality service.

So what did we do on the job? The lady's son thought she was buying a commodity, that all carpet cleaning is the same. Now that's the last thing we want to be as then price is the only consideration. The only time that people buy on price is when they think that everything else is the same. It's critical that you differentiate your service. And you must be perceived as being different in your prospects mind.

So we calmly explained to him what is different about our service and built up the value in his mind. Once we had done this, he was happy for us to continue. It appears that she had been the victim of some unscrupulous salesmen recently and the son was simply trying to protect his mother.

We mustn't be timid in explaining our prices to prospects. We must be able to confidently justify our charges compared to other cleaners. And do this in a way that prospects can perceive as "better value" for them.

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Should a small carpet cleaner focus on "building a brand"? Surely you say, well that's OK for the likes of Coca-Cola and Nike, but I just run a small business! And don't make the mistake of fondly imagining that all you need to have a brand is a new slogan or a redesigned website or brochure.

But what exactly is a brand? Too often even marketing professionals don't have an answer, and too many have their 'own' answer.

But it really all boils down to this: A brand is a collection of perceptions in the mind of the consumer. I like to think of branding as the likelihood of someone using our service again. (or for the very first time). Therefore it's something that is intangible!

This definition makes it clear how to build a brand. A brand is built not only through effective communications or appealing logos. A brand is built through the total experience that it offers.

According to Al Ries in the book The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, the power of a brand lies in its ability to influence purchasing behaviour. But a brand name on a package is not the same as a brand name in the mind of the consumer.

A few years ago on a Greek island I wanted to buy a cola drink. Now I don't particularly like cheap cola. All the labels were in a language I could not understand. But one had the clearly defined logo and corporate identity of Coca-Cola. And so I bought it. Now it wasn't just that the logo was the brand. It was the fact that it would deliver a promise, that I knew it would be the same as I could buy back home. In other words it would deliver the quality I wanted. The brand was all in my mind!

That's why it's so important for us to focus on giving our customer what she wants and to have systems in our business to make sure that happens.

Here's an example:

I've just come back from a two week holiday in Cuba. I stayed at the Melia Cayo Guillermo on the north of the island. I've never stayed at a Melia hotel before but what I experienced there made sure that it won't be the last.

From a welcome drink on arrival, very quick check-in time to problems being sorted quickly it was evident that we were going to have a good time. All the staff including the gardeners who kept the place immaculate said hello and were very friendly. When we left I saw something I have never seen before. Virtually the entire staff including the manger came to wave us goodbye. The manager even remembered the names of repeat guests. I found out over the course of the two weeks that several of the guests had been here multiple times. The staff genuinely cared about the satisfaction of their guests.

So using the test of ˜the likelihood of using you again" the Melia in my mind has created a strong brand. I would definitely stay there again. I have never felt so well-cared for on holiday. And I am more likely to try other Melia hotels.

Now how can we transfer this to our carpet cleaning business?

According to Al Ries, a brand is a singular idea or concept that you own in the mind of the prospect. In other words we must be unique in the customers mind. The worst thing that we can be is a commodity, interchangeable with any other carpet cleaner. So we need to give the perception that there is no service on the market like ours.

We also cannot appeal to everybody. We cannot be "all things to all people" We can't be the lowest priced and the highest quality service. So we need to choose our target customer, price accordingly and exclude everybody else.

And we need to be in the "relationship" business. Genuinely care about our clients. Give them exactly what they want. Regularly keep in touch with them through a newsletter and reminder cards. Thank them when they do business with us or refer us.

And most importantly, put all of this into a system so our clients get the same experience every time.

Ideally we'd like to get to the point with our business where people instead of asking for an expensive Swiss watch, ask for a Rolex.

That's why it's so important for us to focus on giving our customer what she wants and to have systems in our business to make sure that happens.