Your customers SAY they clean their carpets every year.  I REPLY- “Not a chance!”  Almost everyone puts off their carpet cleaning.  Why?  Because you will learn in the Strategies for Success seminar that carpet cleaning is a “Tolerated Irritation” and therefore customers postpone it!

Yet people really dread going to the dentist!  Even so your dentist keeps you “on track” by using a technique called “Forward Scheduling”.

Remember how as you are paying the bill the dental receptionist always “forward schedules” you for your next visit in six months?  You can do the same with your customers!  Just ask as they are writing the check, “So how often do you clean your carpets?”  (Most will SAY “once a year”) Then just smoothly pull out a calendar and ask, “So which day of the week is best for you next (name of month)?”  (Explain that you will still call two weeks ahead of time next year to confirm their “preferred date”.)

Once you have the customer’s agreement on a  date just follow this week’s quickTIP!

Print up bright colored stickers (about 1” in diameter) with a space for the time/date and your company logo on them. When the client “forward schedules” for next year just fill one out and ask if they would like you to stick it on their kitchen calendar. (Or if you book the job over the phone include a pre-filled out sticker and paper clip it to the Customer Confirmation Letter.)

This same sticker concept can be used for the pre-paid  “Stay Beautiful” residential maintenance program, even booking the following cleaning six months down the road while you’re in the customer’s home. Then sticker their calendar to remind them of the date.

I like this one. Why?  A) It is simple, B) it may actually help remind some people of their appointment and C) it creates the great Moment of Truth that “Hey, these people really have their act together!” I’d add another line above the cleaning time, maybe in a curve if it’s a round sticker, “Time for sparkling clean carpets!” You can never sell enough emotions!

Steve

Related posts:

1. “Forward Schedule” your carpet cleaning appointments!
2. A 17 year carpet cleaning veteran with a multi-truck fleet transforms his company after attending SFS!
3. Better than a Business Card
4. So can my carpet cleaning business gross 700K per year in my 30,000 person market base?
5. How can I set my carpet cleaning service apart from the rest?