1.  If the customer is with you ask permission before opening up a piece of furniture, closet or cabinet.

2.  If you have only been working in one wing or part of the house ask permission before going into another area.  Also if you need the customer and they are elsewhere call out to them by name instead of searching for and possibly startling them.

3.  Initially park on the street and then ask the home owner which side of the driveway they would like you to park on.  (This also avoids the logistical hassles of them needing to get their car out of the garage halfway through the job!)

4.  If you need to go back into the home after you have said good-bye to a customer be sure to ring the doorbell.  Don’t just walk back in!  (Don’t ask me how I learned about this TIP!)

* Note the phrase “IOC exchanges” above.  In SFS we compare the giving of Illusion of Control to your client to a tennis game.  In tennis you serve the ball and then your opponent returns it.  With IOC you “serve control” and then the home owner “returns the control” when they give you permission to proceed.  This IOC exchange empowers your customer and calms their fears and is a huge subconscious Moment of Truth!  Try it!

Steve

P.S: We’ve all had customer get a little “on edge” with us now and then. Please share below what little mishaps have sent your customers “over the edge”.

Tap into the collective “Moment of Truth” wisdom of the Strategies for Success program. Every week we share an insightful tip like the above. So if you’re not already signed up for these weekly QuickTIPS, do so now.

This week’s FOCUS: Exit strategies for cleaners

So how many more “carpet cleaning months” do you have left?

How soon can I “escape” my carpet cleaning business?

Even carpet cleaners have to “start with the end in mind” … Meg’s Story (Part 4)

Are you suffering from the “Boiling Frog Syndrome”?

10 Questions Every Cleaning and Restoration Business Should Ask!

Don’t expect success if you are a “Master of the Excuse”!

After 15 years as a “Lone Wolf” carpet cleaner, should I expand?

Download: Cashing Out: Preparing Your Cleaning Business for its Eventual Sale

Download: How to put a price on your cleaning business – step by step!

Download: A “Beauty Makeover” check list for your cleaning business

Also new this week:

• Part 2- Setting Up Encapsulation Routes: Logistics and Production
• Class comments from SFS Seminar- February, 2011 (Atlanta, GA)
• QuickTIPS: Watch out for “hidden rupture” hose bibs this spring!
• Video WebTIP: How to upload and present your YouTube videos
• How to get plumber water damage referrals- FREE!
• David Gargan discovers “cleaning freedom”

However, one of our sales reps told me today that even after watching our SFS DVD one prospective SFS attendee heavily involved in restoration couldn’t really see why he should attend SFS due to the DVD’s carpet cleaning emphasis.  Well, it is true the DVD is primarily addressed to carpet cleaners.  (Even though you SFS members know the seminar isn’t!)

So I swung into action looking for material on this site focused just on restoration so I could e-mail our recalcitrant prospect some really great links focused just on restoration issues.  Guess what?  With a few exceptions (including the fantastic Initial Water Damage Form found in our Special Reports section) there just isn’t much specifically on restoration here on this site … YET!  SORRY!

However, as our restoration-only SFS members will tell you (and we have many members who only do restoration) the core SFS principles and concepts work even better with an emotionally bruised and battered restoration customer than they do with a carpet cleaning client.

SFS concepts such as Customer Cheerleaders, Illusion of Control, the 80% Principle and of course the biggie, Value Added Service, all seem like they were tailor made for restoration.  HOWEVER, I do see where our site is “restoration-lacking” so look for some Special Reports soon just on the Emotional Dynamics of the restoration loss.

As always, thank you for your comments and support.  Steve

PS: The wait is over!  For a Restoration specific Special Report, get 12 Steps to a Smoother Restoration Business here.

What was your response for when a cleaning customer told you that your price was “too high”?  For example, today I just ran into a past client that said my price this year was “too much”. (It was maybe 5% more than two years ago!) So I stuttered and stammered around for awhile and explained to her that the cost of living is higher now plus my family needs to eat, etc, etc, etc.  None of this seemed to affect the home owner so I offered her a free room of Scotchgard application and then she was happy. But when people hit me with the “too high” statement I always feel like I am being put on the defensive.  So what did you do with the “too high” accusation?

Defensive in Dallas

Dear Defensive,

Good and very timely question.  I’ve been writing quite a bit lately on the fact that this “Great Recesssion” has made it fashionable to “haggle”.  So get used to it!  (In fact, I am in the process of developing a Special Report on exactly this subject!)

So what to do with Mrs. Too High?  First, and above all else, you must distance yourself emotionally from this situation.  As you correctly point out above, when hit with this our first tendency is to feel like we need to defend ourselves.  Not so.  (And believe me, as you found out the customer could care less about your family eating!)

Actually, Defensive, I welcomed people bringing up price after we had inspected (never “estimated”) the job. (The toughies are the “Let me check with my husband and I’ll get back to you” and then they call your competitor right after you leave!  However, I even found a great reply to this killer question too that let me still book the job.)

A simple and too blunt reply to the “You are too high” statement would be, “Which areas would you like me to skip?”

Or more tactfully and productively put you can say, “Oh, I didn’t realize you had a budget to work with.  Soooo, let me ask you, do you ever move the furniture in the family room? No, well if we just clean all the open areas that will save you $43.40 which will bring your invoice down to $256.20. And let me ask you about your bedrooms.  You know, if we leave the beds in place and just clean all the open areas that will save you another …”

Simply put, Defensive, I never negotiated my per foot residential prices or our “quality levels”. However, I was delighted to negotiate price as long as it was related to the amount cleaned and/or the time we would spend on the job.

Steve

P.S. Interestingly, many times when my crew would come to do the job the home owner would tell them to just do the whole job at the original price. You see, many times the customer just wants the “Illusion of Control“. After you have given this control to them they just pass it right back!  Worked for me!

Create a positive Moment of Truth with the customer by focusing on the drying of their carpet. Ask the customer which room in their house they would like to have dry first and start there. If needed, you can also place air movers on this area to speed dry it.

It may be that you were going to start there anyway. However, by getting the customer’s opinion and asking permission to do any other Value Added Services, you have the advantage that you are subtly pointing out that these are positive Moments of Truth. As we all learn during the Strategies for Success Seminar, if the customer does not perceive it as a Moment of Truth, it isn’t one!

Steve

P.S. How do you let your customers know they are in the driving seat? Please share your techniques below in the comments.

Despite my best efforts to put it off I finally had to do my 10 minute presentation to the BNI group that I am a part of. (Pretty scary!)  So I used what you taught us in the SFS seminar.  I talked about the “Unspoken Questions” that the homeowner has and how I answer them with “Unspoken Answers”.  (Or as you also called them in SFS, “Positive Moments of Truth”). Of course when you talk about it during SFS it is really a 3 day presentation, so scaling down to 10 minute was tough!

However, when I was done, (right at 10 minutes because I rehearsed it many times), my entire BNI group burst into enthusiastic applause! I got a lot of really great compliments afterwards about the presentation. I never tipped them off that I “stole it” from you. But I wanted you to know what I did because you deserve all the credit. Of course I don’t deliver this SFS stuff as well as you but I am really excited about these concepts.  I plan to use a longer version of this “blatantly plagiarized” presentation the next time I present to realtors or carpet retail stores.

Thanks again,

Dave Pastor

Wow, Dave, I feel honored.  Seriously.  thank you so much for sharing this.  Chuck, Bill and I sometimes feel like “prophets crying alone in the wilderness with no one listening”! Your entire SFS team of experienced cleaning industry professionals knows just how powerful our Value Added Service concepts are BUT all they are is “pretty words” till people actually use them.  So you are more than welcome!

Now for all of you folks who have not come to SFS (yet!) how can you tap into the concepts that are transforming the companies of over 2,000 SFS members just like Dave?  Well, obviously the best answer is get yourself to a SFS seminar!  Duh!  But meanwhile we have resources and posts on key SFS topics like Value Added Service, Cheerleaders, Illusion of Control and Moments of Truth.  Click on any of these words above and you’ll be able to read related posts on these concepts.  Or just download my Special Report, “Ten Essential Strategies for Success in a Tough Economy”.

Steve,

A customer called us about a water and mold damaged apartment Tuesday night. On Wednesday they signed the work authorization to proceed with remediation. On Thursday morning the customer gave us the name of the insurance carrier.

Then that afternoon I walked the unit with the property manager and informed him that I needed direction from the adjuster as to whether he wants to start immediately or schedule an assessment with a CIH first. I contacted the insurance carrier and scheduled a walk-thru with the assigned adjuster afterwards. I did the walk through this afternoon. About an hour later the customer called and said we weren’t authorized to discuss anything with the adjuster and to return all keys and remove equipment.

What in the world did I do wrong?

Puzzled in Kansas City

Very likely nothing, Puzzled. You probably got “caught in the crossfire” of a developing ugly situation that would have bit you in the butt later anyway.

But it is a good question for the future. The answer, as with most problems between human beings (and yes, I have it on good authority that most adjusters are human … sort of) is improving communication.

Communication beforehand-
1. Do you have a form that you review with the customer before they sign the authorization delineating responsibilities and who you will b e working with/for? (Actually you do if you are a SFS graduate. It’s in your Strategies for Success Operations Manual in the section marked “Water Damage Restoration”.)

2. Do you have a form where you fill out all the applicable contact numbers with the customer on the initial visit? (Ditto above, it’s in your SFS ops manual.) If your client has given you all the phone numbers or at least you have asked for them and they told you where to find them they can’t (maybe) get mad later if you use them.

Communication during the loss-
1. Always try to keep the property owner informed of what is going on. Ask the adjuster if you should invite the owner for the walk through. (Few adjusters will say no.) You should call them, if possible, not the adjuster.

2. Always give the property owner the “Illusion of Control“. Few people want to actually DO the work on the loss. That’s why you are there in the first place. BUT they want to “feel in control”. Maintain constant contact with the client. Ask their opinion and, more importantly, permission on even small things in the beginning of the loss. That way later on they will give you more freedom later on.

Remember at the end of the day both legally and ethically you work for the property owner.  Of course, from a PRACTICAL standpoint you must make the adjuster happy.  (Read my PS!)

Just a few ideas,

Steve

P.S. Of course, the challenge is to do all of the above and not tick off the adjuster. But then, that’s why you are making the “big money”, my friend!  We offer more ideas on how to survive in the restoration arena on this website.  The download is free.

On restoration jobs, especially pack-outs, let the home owner know that for their protection you are going to record on video camera all the home’s contents before you move anything . This will give them a permanent record of what they have and its condition before the contents leave their home.  (And it will help protect you too.)

Many of our members do this already. One suggestion to improve on this procedure would be to ask the homeowner to actually give you the tour, with them pointing out any pre-existing blemishes or concerns as you come to them. This puts the monkey on their back and even more importantly gives the customer the all-important “Illusion of Control”. This would require two people from your company- one to actually run the camera and another to “interview” and guide the Insured, as well as to keep their eyes open for other pre-existing items to tactfully document.

Steve

PS How do you document the before and after of your cleaning jobs? Please share your procedures below in the comments.

PPS One gentle request. Remember that this free QuickTIPS service depends on all our members sharing their Techniques, Ideas, Procedures and Systems. (Cute acronym, huh?) So please, drop us a line at sfs@StrategiesForSuccess.com or go to our on line form to submit your quickTIPS

“How to Recession Proof Your Restoration Business”

A free and open seminar presented by Phil Rosebrook, Jr. and Steve Toburen

CONNECTIONS Convention and Trade Show
Las Vegas Hilton
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
1:05- 4:00 PM

Dear StrategiesForSuccess.com site member,

Steve Toburen here reminding you about a very special (and free!) upcoming seminar that SFS member Phil Rosebrook, Jr. and I will be presenting tomorrow at Connections in Las Vegas. If you make it please come up and introduce yourself. I’ll be all ears on how we can make the SFS site a more useful resource for you.

Our “No Snake-Oil Peddling” Promise- Unlike other so-called “free educational events”, I guarantee that there will be no high pressure product promotions or bait-and-switch sales techniques during this program- only transformational concepts along with the tools to implement them in your restoration business. (If you want us to “sell you” then you will need to visit our respective booths during the Trade Show!)

Thank you for your support. We’re all in this together and Jon-Don, Big Billy Yeadon and myself along with the entire SFS team want to be your “Partners for Success”!

Steve Toburen

PS If you are already a graduate of our Strategies for Success seminar you have even more reason to be there. We’ll be reviewing much of our Friday afternoon seminar information when all of our “brains were full”! Plus I’ll also share some new procedures and forms that will transform your restoration business. See you tomorrow.[/private]