Hey Everyone:

I get a lot of emails, so I like to post ‘em here on occasion so that other folks can benefit from them. 2 are posted below.

Have a profitable weekend!

Steve

Hi Steve

Quick question. How do u go about contacting last yeras customers over the phone and trying to get repeat service.  I have 6 month customers coming due

Thanks
Ted

My Response

Hi Ted,

Good morning.  If you owned my window cleaning software, The Customer Factor, it would only be a matter of clicking on one link on the home page.  :-)   Boom…all the customers would be right in front of you. 

But anyway…the only way I know of to get it done manually is to use index cards. At the end of every customer job, I used to ask my customers when they would like me to come back. I then made a note on the index card.  This went into my index card box which was broken down by month from January to December.  So let’s say for example, I did some windows for someone on April 1, and they were a six-month customer.  I created an index card for them and made a note to call them back on December 1, so as I’m browsing through my index cards for the month of December looking for callbacks, I would run across their card and give him a call. 

As a side note though, depending on your schedule, it’s best to call them in advance of dec 1 (using above example).  I used to call 4 to 5 weeks in advance of a customer’s tentative repeat appointment so that I had time to schedule it properly. 

As far as what to say when you call, it’s real simple. You can say something like: "Hi Mrs. Jones. Ted here with xyz window cleaning service.  We cleaned your windows last year on august 9th, and it’s that time again to bring the shine back to your glass.  I’m setting up my schedule now for the week of march 9th to the 14th.  Which day within that week would be good for you?"

And that’s all there is to it.  A little psychological ploy, but when you call, try not to schedule an appt. for the next day or "right away".  People are busy and if cornered into making an appointment for "tomorrow", they’ll more than likely put you off and delay.  I learned this in the insurance biz that no matter how bad I may have wanted to make an appt. "tomorrow", I always scheduled stuff for "next week" or "next month".  Because these time periods seem so far away.  It’s kind of like they’ll never arrive.  But they do.  So it’s easier for a customer to say "yes" to scheduling a job "next week" or "next month".  Make sense?

And if you’ve applied any of the other techniques I discuss in my manual and on this blog, then the follow up call is so easy to make because you will have already established a relationship with them.  For example…have you mailed them a greeting card two or 3 times in the last 6 months?  Have you sent them any personalized correspondence?  If not, then making these follow up calls is a bit more like a cold call because they have not heard from you in 6 months.  So be willing to invest both time and some money (it doesn’t cost much to send greeting cards) in working the relationships.  If you don’t, sure you’ll make repeat appointments when you make your follow up call.  But it’s not near as effective as if you had a relationship "established".  Customers need to know you care about ‘em for more than just the money you’ll make from ‘em on those repeat jobs.  So work those relationships to the max.  Believe me when I say that your business will grow at a much better clip if you do.         

Hope this helps.  Take care for now.

Regards,

Steve

Another Email:

Hi Steve,

Ive been in business 4 years and have done it pretty half way, mostly by myself with occasional help.

I got your system and customer factor because its in line with how I want to set my business up more professionally this spring.  Much of the basics i have down already but theres alot of really great refinements and Im excited with how easy the customer factor makes tracking clients and following up, etc etc.

following and implementing and keeping the pump primed in these ways is going to be so much easier now, as you make it so clear whats necessary thanks!

My goal is to have 2-3 crews going while I run around doing marketing and sales and honing the system so I can eventually sell my business for more profit than selling my client list, and ensuring happy customers with a well designed system I can pass on.

Im open to any advice now or in the future as specific questions come up.

Right now my 1st.

My Question is I purchase Quickbooks last year and I am about to learn it and set it up, but in your opinion is it worth it? will it be usefull for certain functions that the customer factor cant fulfill?

I already have the thing and i thought it make sense to set up because its the new year, but i see here in your manual that used it before…, did it serve a function for you the customer factor didn’t?

Im still poking around getting Customer Factor set up… looks great.

Thanks,
Aaron.

My Response:

Hi Aaron:

Good morning and it’s good to hear from you.  So you ready to move up from the "occasional help"?  Let’s expand outward and really start seeing the fruit of your efforts. 

I appreciate your comments on The Customer Factor.  And just wait ’til you see what is in store.  Whew…the features coming up will be really cool and extremely powerful.

It’ll really be easy to track for you now using The Customer Factor. I used to use index cards as I mentioned in my manual and it was a royal pain and very cumbersome.  Now it’s just a matter of logging into The Customer Factor.  You will see immediately on the home page who needs to be called/contacted.  Same thing with prospects. It can’t get much easier than that.  Just remember to always set a frequency period for each customer.  The Customer Factor will then calculate the "last job date" along with their frequency period, and give you the information you need for tracking/follow up.

Having 2 to 3 crews is easy.  There are the usual challenges in finding quality people, but once you iron out those kinks, it smooths itself out.  We all had to go through the usual employee hiccups. Focus on local colleges (student resource centers) vs putting a general ad in the newspaper.  And be willing to step back from making "all" the profits.  Be willing to free up your time so you can spend it on 3 things-marketing, estimating, and customer service. Think more like an owner and let your subs/employees be the technicians.  This is what’ll take you to the next level.     

Right..it’s all about creating a "system".  It always amazes me how mcdonalds can spit out a big mac the same way in florida as they can in russia.  They’ve developed a unique system so customers know what they’re going to get regardless which mcdonalds they go to.  Customers certainly don’t frequent mcdonalds because their food is 5 stars. :o )  They go back again and again because there are no surprises.  They know what they’re going to get.  So what i’m saying is that if you can create a similar system (on a much smaller scale obviously) where your customers know they are going to get the same quality job whether you do it, joe does it, harry does it, or carol does it, then you’ve just won the battle.  This will allow you to work "on" the business and not "in" the business.  It appears for the last 4 years based on what you’ve said that you’ve worked "in". Now let’s focus on working "on".  Sound cool?

As far as quickbooks. I did use it at the time in my biz, and it allowed me to print invoices, keep track of sales, and keep a customer database.  I’m a bit biased now obviously. But I personally would use only The Customer Factor if I were you. I will say though that quickbooks allows you to do things with your bank that The Customer Factor does not.  But as far as sales, invoices, customer db, etc, etc, The Customer Factor does all that.  And you definitely want your customers in The Customer Factor so the software can search and track ‘em.

So i think it’s your call really.  Do you need the banking functions that quickbooks provides?  If so, then it may be best to fire up quickbooks too.  If not, then quickbooks isn’t necessary at all. I created The Customer Factor to operate independently of any other software.

Thanks again for your comments.  If you have any other questions, please let me know.  Take care for now.

Regards,

Steve     

 

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