For many years I used to wonder why the phone wasn't ringing more. After all, everybody has carpet that needs cleaning at some time don’t they? What could I do to get people to enquire about getting their carpets cleaned?
Of course, it’s all about getting the right type of person to call. Maybe you only want high-end residential customers. Or maybe you only want large commercial work.
However getting more customers doesn't have to be hard. In fact, it’s a very simple process. There are really only FIVE steps.
Here’s what you need to do…
- Identify WHO your ideal customers are – the ones that you’ll enjoy working with the most, the ones who are the most profitable or who will pay premium prices for high quality work and the customers who will not be a ‘pain in the backside’
- Find out WHERE they are - do they read certain magazines or newspapers? Do they attend specific events or seminars? Do they live together in a particular area? Are they gather-able together in ‘one place’ so to speak?
- Get in front of them - once you know who they are and where they are to be found, now you can get in front of them. That might mean setting up a meeting, writing an article, giving a talk, delivering a flyer or placing an ad. But you need to get in front of them.
- Create attention and interest - your positioning, value proposition and sales argument need to be relevant to your ideal customer. You must be able to get their attention and then get them interested and engaged so you can have a conversation with them.
- Make an offer - it could be a free trial offer or a free audit or inspection. Or some other ‘direct-response mechanism’ that causes them to respond to your offer.If you work through this process you will see significant results. Most carpet cleaners will not do this. Instead they have no idea of who they are trying to attract or where they can be found.
Remember, we’re in the marketing business not the cleaning business.