Month: November 2018

I read a report recently that stated that American businesses lose on average 15% of their customer base every year. But what was really interesting were the reasons why.

Of those that leave:

68% leave because of poor or indifferent service

14% leave because of a complaint that was not handled satisfactorily

9% leave because of price

5% go somewhere else because of a recommendation

1% die

I'm sure it's not that much different in the UK. If so, that's an astonishing 82% (68 + 14) that leave because of a customer service issue. And most of those customers will not bother to complain... they just won't use you again!

It reminds me of a scene in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers when the two old ladies are complaining to each other about the meal in the restaurant but just don't want to complain. Instead they end their conversation by saying "well, we just won't come back"

It costs a small fortune to acquire a new customer. In fact, it's one of the most expensive and difficult things that your business will ever do. So it makes sense to look after the ones you've already got. You simply cannot afford to lose them. And you can't just wait for complaints. You actually need to go looking for trouble and fix whatever it is that disappoints your customers.

As noted above, 82% of customers go elsewhere NOT because of a cheaper price as is often thought but because of poor customer service. This is yet another good reason not to be the cheapest carpet cleaner in your area. The "3 rooms for 40 or a whole house of carpets for 69" brigade can never deliver truly good service which is good news for you.

So how can you go looking for trouble?  Well, quite simply welcome complaints... in fact, seek them out!

How can this be done? One way is a simple phone call a day or two after you have cleaned their carpets to make sure that they are totally happy with your work. An alternative is to leave behind a report card that asks the right questions. A good question to ask is whether or not they are likely to recommend you to others. Any hesitation here or a low score on a report card means you need to take immediate action.

And if there is a complaint, don't view it as a problem view it as an opportunity. In fact, actively welcome it's an opportunity to make them happy. And a customer who has a complaint resolved satisfactorily is likely to return to you again and again AND tell others how you treated them because it's so unusual.

I had a case of this in 2007. A lady was very unhappy with our work (which was simply a misunderstanding of what should have been done). She concluded the conversation by saying that she "may give us another chance". However, since then she has used us every year at an annual cleaning cost of over £400. That's nearly £4000 of business in the last nine years because we resolved the complaint to her satisfaction and without any fuss.

I'm now very pleased that I had a system in place whereby she could feel that she could complain and something would be done without making her feel awkward. It's resulted in a very happy customer... and about four thousand pounds in my pocket.

Are you struggling to get higher prices in your carpet cleaning business? Do you find that your customers have little respect for the training and knowledge that you have? And they don't appreciate that you're a fully trained textile and fabric expert? In fact, they view you as just "the cleaner."

Well, the problem may not be your customers at all. It could be how you think of yourself.

The problem may not so much be that the customer views you as just ‘the cleaner’ but that you view yourself as just the cleaner.  It’s not helped by other cleaners saying “What makes you think you can get away with charging high prices? You should be ashamed of yourself. You’re not a doctor or a surgeon…it’s only carpet cleaning.”

Yet the answer is so simple. You are not just a cleaner or even just a carpet cleaner. You are a serious business owner with more than one business. This is according to Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth.

According to Gerber you have not one but three businesses:

1. A Marketing Business with the purpose of lining up new business.
2. A Service Delivery Business which job is to deliver world class service.
3. A Client Retention Business to keep the clients you already have.

And what is so difficult about running a small business? Well, if you previously worked for an employer it looked so easy. All you had to do was the service delivery part of the business. Now you don’t have one job…you in fact have THREE. As well as actually performing the job, you have to get the work in the first place and then follow up with customers so that they return and refer.

Yes… you run three businesses.

So if you run three businesses, don’t you deserve more income than someone who runs only one?

And this can be the biggest problem for YOU…to change your mindset and your thinking on this. You are NOT just ‘the cleaner’.

One of the most important ways to gain respect from customers is by how you dress? A serious business owner turns up in uniform perhaps with company logo on his shirt. If you turn up in jeans & trainers aren't you conveying to the customer that you really are just ‘the cleaner’?

Some years ago I took a friend of mine to an emergency NHS dentist. You can always tell a dentist...he wears a blue or white gown and looks like a dentist. But this man had a pair of jeans on under his gown. It certainly made me think twice when I saw him. My initial thoughts were to wonder whether he really was a qualified dentist. People DO judge a book by its cover whether you feel that’s fair or not.

Another thing that will show the customer you’re serious is by charging higher prices. This may seem counter intuitive. But it hardly helps if you’re charging domestic cleaning rates. If you’re working for £15 an hour it just reinforces the fact that you are just a cleaner. No serious business remains in business charging those rates.

So if you want your customers to respect you as more than just ‘the cleaner’ you have to be more than just the cleaner. View yourself as the serious business owner that you are and look and act the part.