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Category: Employees

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Recently while visiting my father-in-law, he informed me that a sales visit from a double glazing salesman was imminent. My initial reaction was "there goes our evening together." In fact, he seemed to know it as well. He was resigned to sitting down together for a couple of hours while the salesman pressured him, cut the price in half and offered him a further reduction if he "signed up tonight"

Have you ever wondered if that's how home-owners asking us for a quotation think about us?

The fact is that people like to buy. They just hate to be "sold".

The result is that people "tune out" sales messages. That's why they fast forward TV adverts, in fact any hint of a manipulative sales message.

And that's why they take the advice of their brother-in-law about carpet cleaning, a subject he knows nothing about. It's just that they trust that he's not going to pressure them to buy something!

It's often been said that people do business with those they KNOW, LIKE and TRUST. It's this aspect of trust that is so important today.

So is there a way that you can acquire business without repelling prospects with your "sales message?" And is there a way to help yourself if you feel uncomfortable viewing yourself as a "salesman"?

The simple answer is to have a SERVICE attitude rather than a SALES approach. Old school says to "Promote, Promote, Promote." But if no-one's listening because they feel like a sales victim, what's the point?

What people want is an expert resource, an advisor to help them do what's in their own best interests. We sometimes have prospects phone us from outside the area we cover for cleaning. As soon as they realise that we do not want them as a customer, their whole attitude changes. Usually we will give free advice to help them choose a reputable cleaner. .Now that they KNOW we are not trying to "sell" them, they trust what we say. Make no mistake, people fear being "sold"

The question you should ask is...What can you do to build trust, not just make the sale?

There are a number of things. You can demonstrate your expertise first. In this way prospects can in effect "sample" you without buying.

Instead of reserving your expertise for only those who have paid you give it freely to all who ask. Give more service upfront. Educate your prospects about how they can remove their stains, or make their carpets look better for longer. If they're thinking of buying a new carpet, offer to give free advice that will help them make the best choice. Do all this WITHOUT selling.

All of this means you'll naturally be in contact more with prospects WITHOUT the fear of selling. Selling is all about "you hire me". Serving is all about your prospects even if they never hire you.

In fact, you now have multiple reasons to contacts your prospects without being perceived as a pest who is only trying to "make the sale". So you don't have to phone to ask if they've had "time to consider your offer" or if they've "made their minds up yet". That in itself builds trust. And trust leads to sales.

You are simply "serving." And people like being served. They will view you as a trusted advisor and reward you with their business.

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Hopefully you’ve come to realise that systems in your business reduce stress, allow you to work less, take more time off without worrying that you have to be ‘on call’ every minute of the day, and also creates happier, more productive employees. And customers are happy because they get a predictable experience.

If you are unable to work, having written systems can allow someone to simply ‘take your place’ with minimum training. Now you can finally get ‘off the truck’. If you want to hire someone to answer the phone, simply hand them your Operations Manual and watch them begin immediately.

And remember, as owners we have not one job but three:

  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 we already have.

And you’ll recall, with all our ‘hats’ to wear, many small business owners are simply ‘burned out.’

The answer could be – hire an employee!

As I write this, I’ve just returned from a holiday in Morocco. Because of systemising my business, it has kept running without me. I’ve had an employee answering the phone and booking in work while I’ve been lying around beside a pool in the sun.

Now, ‘parenting employees’ is the most difficult thing I’ve ever done, but having a technician and having the business on ‘autopilot’ is the best way to be. The problem is... how exactly do you find a suitable employee?

First, let me tell you about my previous experience of trying to recruit. The difficulty we face is that there is no perceived glamour in cleaning carpets and upholstery. In fact, people can be a little embarrassed to tell their friends that they are just a cleaner.

That means that most people who apply for your vacancy will be totally unsuitable. They may be able to clean, but our job involves much more than that. It includes for example: being smart and ‘personable’ so that clients feel happy with us in their homes (and remember, we go into private places where no-one else is invited), being able to converse with clients; being able to upsell without a hard sell; being able to explain why they should have carpet protector and the benefits of regular cleaning and so on.

I’ve previously used the Job Centre and others to try to hire. In my view this is a huge mistake and will result in a large quantity of unsuitable prospects. Why? I’ve found that the Job Centre’s priorities are totally different from mine. I want a top-quality technician... they want to get someone off of the unemployed list. That’s why they’ve sent me amongst others, a man totally covered in paint (presumably he was in the middle of a job!) and plenty of others who told me exactly how to clean carpets and swore at me whilst doing so. I’m guessing they’ll be using bad language with my clients too.

So, here’s the easiest way I’ve found to hire a suitable employee without spending hours filtering out all the non-starters. It really is quite ingenious!

Run a small classified ad in the local paper. Direct all applicants to a recorded message that explains exactly the type of person you are looking for. (There are now many telecoms companies in the UK that can provide this at a cost of around £50 including a freephone number). This message can be quite detailed and will cost considerably less than explaining it all in an advert in the paper. Then invite applicants to leave a message explaining exactly why you should hire them. This way, you can hear what they sound like and you don’t have to spend hours on the phone while they interview you for the job. You can tell straightaway whether or not they sound like they can communicate well with your clients. If they sound good, phone them back and get them to fill in a Job Application Form. You’ve immediately filtered out most, if not all of the time wasters. It’s that easy.