I recently focused on the why (and how) of keeping your equipment and van careully (even obsessively!) clean! Being a bit ‘OCD about clean’ will convert many home owners into any carpet cleaner’s Holy Grail- a Customer Cheerleader! However, as your company grows you face a huge challenge!
In SFS Training you learn that 80% of how the client decides if your company has done a ‘good job’ or a ‘bad job’ is based on how the they FEEL about the TECHNICIAN actually doing the work. (Which if you’re ever going to achieve the elusive Personal Freedom means you’re not going to be doing all the work!)
So now let’s obsess over the technician’s (and your!) appearance and personal hygiene. Do your in-home procedures include:
- Putting down a door mat before stepping into the home?
- Carrying a spare uniform shirt in the van for those steamy hot summer days?
- Stocking Listerine “breath tabs” in each truck?
- Insisting on technicians being neat, trim and groomed?
- Wearing shoe covers when applying ScotchGard and for that all-important final walk-through with your client? (Don’t forget to give your customer some “booties” to wear while their carpets are drying.)
All great ideas that you may already do. But now try out this multi-purpose QuickTIP:
Many times you just need to freshen up a bit and get rid of the “fluffies” on your clothes. So quickly run a lint remover over your clothing. All the assorted carpet fibers, cat hair and dog dander from your previous job will miraculously vanish and you’ll be clean and presentable. (Or at least lint free!)
Steve
P.S: Don’t forget that one of the very best technician Moments of Truth is a photo I.D. badge. So do you insist that each front-line employee display an I.D. badge?
Note: Every week we share a timely, practical tip like the above. So if you’re not already signed up for these weekly QuickTIPS, do so now.
Thanks guy,
These tips are coming at the perfect time. Recently I have used the old school common sense lectures to educate my cleaning techs to work on their customer relationship skills and occasionally I see the rolling eyes. I am so anal about making a cheerleader out of every customer but trying to make sure my techs do the same is a challenge. I thought today, I would start quizzing them on some of the courtesy procedures you have pointed out in this SFS news column.
I have recently made it a mandatory rule to have techs tell me one customer courtesy they have performed on each job, free of course.
Mike
Mike,
If you really want to get their eyes rolling….send them to VAST.
Actually, coming from someone else, they may not have the type of reaction they give you. Sometimes it’s priceless to have it come from someone else, and let them have the comradarie of others in their situation. They can get their pissing and moaning out and also here the complaints of their classmantes, which will probably have them come home realizing how good they really have it with you, It will also open their eyes to how much more money they could be making if they live by the VAST creedo! At a minimum, if you can’t send them to VAST, pick up the Winning on the Home Front and Service on the Homefront DVDs from Jon Don and have them watch that.
Meg
Meg is right, Mike. (As usual!) No one in your company REALLY listens to you. after all, you are the boss! Sure, they’ll not and agree while thinking, “Let’s wait for Mike to ‘get this out of his system’ and then life will go back to normal!” (I’m sure you have good employees, Mike. This is an universal problem.)
Just go to https://sfs.jondon.com/about/vast for more info on our one day Value Added Service for Technicians seminar. Or click on the “About SFS” tab on the menu bar above.
Steve
PS Don’t forget that if you have more than just a few employees we’ll send our VAST instructor to you. This will save you money and let us put on a “custom” one day program just for your company.