Take a walk with Lisa Wagner, rug expert of Piranha marketing

[Rob Allen]

Lisa how about walking us through ALL the steps of dealing with customers who have area rugs. I will start it off as Mr Homeowner and wait for your reply as the professional. Then I will take it from there and we can make it an ongoing skit for newbies. Let's see if you can keep up with the educated consumer,Mr Johnson.

Mr Johnson starts with phone call in. How do you answer your phone Lisa when at your rug business.



Your reply...

[LisaWagner]

"Thank you for calling San Diego Rug Cleaning, this is Lisa, how can I help you?"

I like open ended questions - and I like them to know my name. This usually leads to them telling me their first name, and their problem.

Just about every call that comes into our funnel is through our website - or a direct referral from a company, current client, or adjuster.

We do not run any ads to cold markets (newspapers, mass mailings, etc.) - all of our marketing is targeted to specific lists.

This means our callers are coming somewhat educated - or already ready to buy because their friend gave them our number.

So the conversation goes to the "why" of their call - is the rug dirty or has there been an accident (spill, etc.)? Is there an event coming (guests) to get the home ready? Has the rug been in the family long - tell the story (then we get a feel of whether it's a "real" rug of a Crate & Barrel piece). Is the rug woven or tufted? Is it wool?

Most of our rugs are brought in by the clients the first time - because they want to see the operation. So then we can walk through the pre-inspection points from fiber type to dye stability to construction type to pre-existing conditions to realistic expectations. This same conversation happens in the home if the owners are there, or by phone if they are not (with photos emailed to explain any tricky areas).

But just as with all of you in the cleaning business - the "real" conversations have nothing to do with the work at all - but about kids, pets, trips, hobbies, and things they like (including their rugs). And we of course education them about their rugs - they always leave knowing more than when they arrived.

You all have this knowledge in your own businesses - why certain problems happen, what fibers are better performers, etc.

Everyone tries to overcomplicate this business - but at the core, whether it is rug cleaning or upholstery cleaning or flood work or stone cleaning ... it all comes down to being friendly, interested, and more than willing to help. This is why a mediocre cleaner with a great personality will get more repeat business than the best cleaner who hates to deal with people.

But more important than the "script" is the channel these jobs come from. All of your marketing needs to education and filter out those buying on price alone, and your referral channels need to be the majority of your "new" business coming in - this chops the "need to sell" phase down to not much at all because they are already sold.

And after the pre-inspection phase ... they leave really confident about the work about to happen.

Hope that helps you Rob,
Lisa