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Have you ever wondered how McDonalds has come to be the one of the largest restaurant chains in the world with approximately 32,000 outlets worldwide?

And yet their food is not the best quality in the world. Far from it. But then it doesn't claim or aspire to be. So what is responsible for this massive success?

In a word... trust.

People the world over know exactly what they are going to get. They also know they probably won't get food poisoning. McDonalds is notoriously clean.

And that is the number one question all your prospective customers are asking...

Who can I trust?

McDonalds may be able to "buy" trust by image-type advertising. The more familiar prospects are with the "brand" the more likely they are to trust it. This however costs millions of marketing dollars and I'm guessing as a small business owner that you don't have that...otherwise why would you be cleaning carpets?

So how can you as a carpet cleaner answer this question?

Here's at least five ways:

  1. Educate in advance. Don't just say... "here we are, this is what we do."  Publish educational material that helps the prospect make an informed decision. This needn't be anything fancy, maybe just a tri-fold leaflet that you can print at home. It could educate the prospect about all the different methods of cleaning as well as warn about common carpet cleaning scams like "bait and switch". Otherwise they will default to asking... "How much do you charge?"
  2. Always do in-home quotes. PwM ("People with Money") always want to know who will be working in their home. And they need to know that they can trust them. Generally, the only prospects who don't are those who just want the cheapest price.
  3. Always wear overshoes. Even if they say you don't need to. Make a song and dance about putting them on. That way they can see that you really care about their home and possessions. If there are others in the home, they will always comment on the fact that you have them on. In many ways, this is better than simply removing your shoes. It's a visual demonstration that they can trust you.
  4. Listen to their concerns. Let them know that you really understand their problem. After all, selling is just having a solution to their problem. Once you have heard their concerns, then prescribe the solution, not before. People don't so much need to understand what you do...they need to be understood.
  5. Dress appropriately. Shirt and tie or smart uniform? This is something that will need testing to see how your target market responds. It could be that a shirt and tie portrays you as a "salesman" and that's the last thing people want in their homes. People like to buy but fear that they're going to be pressured if a "salesman" turns up. They like to feel that they are in control of the buying situation and are not being manipulated. If you're perceived as a skilled craftsman rather than a salesman it may be better.

You may think you're selling carpet cleaning but in reality you're selling trust. If you concentrate on building trust in advance you can get more jobs, better customers, cleaner carpets to clean and less price resistance.