jcjetty

This is a hot topic! I have been in the flooring industry for 20 years. So I have seen a lot of hype, heard a lot of bull, and even found a few really good ideas.

So I give you my thoughts on this topic.

First I want to state that I am not a literary genius, and I tend to run off on tangents. But if I sit down with a cup of hot coffee and really focus on one topic, I can squeeze out a few coherent thoughts. I also want to tell you that I am not a chemist, so I may say some things that are incorrect. If I do I would love to hear about it. I like to know when I am wrong; this gives me an opportunity to better myself.

When I got my start in the carpet cleaning industry in Las Vegas, NV. I was still a teenager. Unfortunately the guy who trained me was only a few years older than me. I knew that up selling was the way to make the big dollar, but I didn’t know how to go about doing it. Here is my first tangent; I was getting my open water SCUBA certification and my instructor was a sales rep. for a national cosmetics company. We were hanging out after the training session at Lake Meade when he made a comment that has stuck with me till this day. He said “Nothing happens in a capitalistic society until somebody sells something to somebody.”

How profound is that? I was hit by the proverbial “ton of bricks”. But how do I go about making the sale and getting that commission?

It was a few years later when I finally found my answer, I had to FAB it.

• feature
• advantage
• benefit

The feature is what you are actually trying to sell. I love carpet protector! Not only is it a great sale, but also it actually helps make my job easier the next time I clean this customer’s carpet! And I always act as if this customer is a regular. I try to remember little things like the dog’s name, or maybe the customer’s hobbies. Something that helps you to build a bridge between you and your customer. And remember to take the time to listen! Most people will tell you, subtly; through body language, or between the lines verbally, what they want and if they are willing to pay top dollar for it or not.

The next step is advantage. Here is where we WOW or customer with our technical expertise. Up to this point we were just a friendly neighbor chatting about the weather or sports. Now we are the cleaning professionals, their personal GURU for all things carpet. To continue with the carpet protector thread I like to say this. “The protector is a post cleaning application that when it dries it will encapsulate and crystallize around the individual fiber. Giving you a non-stick finish, similar to what’s on your frying pans.” Most women respond well to this. I am sorry, yes I am profiling, but this is my observation. I like to say the exact same thing to men. But I also like to tell the guys this. “Protecting your carpet is like waxing your car, the wax takes the abuse not the paint.”

And here is another important thing. Believe in what you are trying to sell. I never really pushed protector until I used it in a house My Wife and I were moving into. You know the routine, young, new house…new puppy. Well she did her “business” off in the corner and it actually beaded up on the surface of the carpet like water on a freshly waxed car! I use it in my house and I tell people that. This is a subtle but powerful message. If you are sincere and you actually mean what you say… the customer will pick up on this. It tells your customer that it works good enough for me, the carpet cleaner, so it must work for good enough for the consumer.

The final and most important step is the benefit. This is why the customer decides to give you the extra dollar. This is the reason why Mr. or Mrs. Jones decides to take your recommendation. I have to tell you that I don’t try to sell protector on every job. I don’t assume my customer wants it, like I have recently read that you should. A family who is moving out of their rental is not going to want protector, and they will probably be upset if you assume they do want it. On the other hand if your customer is the landlord then I positively do try to sell the protector, unless of course the carpet is just shot to begin with and the guy is a cheap skate. And we never see that do we! I will also stop in the middle of a job if I am getting really good results and tell my customer this. “If you plan on keeping your carpet more than a couple of years than I do recommend the protector.”

We all know how expensive it is to replace your carpet. This can be a powerful benefit. So tell your customer that… if its appropriate. I know I protect my carpet about once a year. I have 2 young kids, 2 dogs, and a cat; however the cat is the neatest one out of all of us, two legged or four, Sorry another tangent. The point I am trying to make is that I know protecting my carpet works. I know it is an inexpensive way to protect my investment, and I make no apologies about saying so.

And never forget if you don’t A.S.K. you won’t G.E.T.!

So now I know there are people who are going to say, “ O.K. Jay this is cool and all… but how do you actually sell carpet protector. That’s simple I use the F.A.B technique with what I call the “You want fries with that?” approach.

Let me tell you about it.

We have all been sold the extra fries and the bigger drink when all we really wanted was the burger. Imagine that…a carpet cleaner at a fast food restaurant! The teenager across the counter has no idea what he is doing, but he is actually employing a powerful sales technique. This actually comes close to assuming that you do want something with out actually making that assumption. If you walk into a burger joint with out already knowing what you want and you get hit with the “You want fries with that” question, it is extremely easy to say “Sure…why not”. When you tell your customer “You do want the carpet protector right?” You are suggesting that everyone else in the world gets protector so perhaps I should too, plus it’s awful easy to say "sure... why not.

After I have chatted the customer up, and after I have done the walk through and seen the job I am about to do, but before I talk about money I say “Would you like any of the post-cleaning applications, like the Teflon Protector or the sanitizer?” Of course if I am not actually using Teflon I will tell the customer that it’s not from Du Pont and that this product is less expensive and I can pass those savings on to them. This is another powerful benefit. I want to stress that you can provide a premium service at a premium price and still tell your customer that you can save a few bucks. I have ran across a few people who simply don’t care about price at all, but they are few and far between. So price is almost always a motivational factor. Hopefully it’s not the primary factor, customers who only concern is price is not the kind of people I want to be servicing.

When I was getting my start at carpet cleaning in Las Vegas I had a boss tell me that my customer doesn’t know what is in my van, only I do. So you have to talk to your customer and tell them what you have. Most carpet cleaners love their bottles. Gallon bottles of this and quart sized bottles of that. You have a rolling store, and unless your customer comes out and rummages through your chemical racks he has no idea about what else you may offer.

I remember being so intimidated about asking for more money, that I usually didn’t. I tried to guess what type of customer I had. I was literally cutting my nose to spite my face. Slowly I realized that if I educate my customer and then offer this service that I would usually get what I wanted, which it turns out was also what my customer wanted. Clean, soft, and safe carpet that resisted re-soiling. On one occasion I came back to do a redo for another tech. I was obviously pretty upset about the situation, until my “You want fries with that.” habit kicked in. Yes it is a habit; I try to tell almost everyone almost every time that I do offer these extras. The customer made a comment like “If he, the other tech, had told me about that I would have bought it.” Well, I made the up sale. I made a bad situation profitable by opening my mouth and asking a simple question. I also made a great customer, she requested me each and every time she called for the next several years.

Being afraid is natural and it is healthy It’s the little voice that speaks up when we are in unfamiliar territory to proceed with caution. To this day I still sometimes, on occasion, get intimidate about asking that question. But I take a deep breath, look the customer square in the eye and do it. The only effective way of combating the up sell phobia is practice. Just do it, and start now! Yeah you will make a few mistakes, every body does. But take the plunge and start developing that habit. Incorporate the concept of the additional services into your sales routine. If you are honest and sincere; and your customer’s carpet will benefit from the application of protector, then you are actually doing them a disservice by not asking if they want the protector.

If you do the right thing at the right time for the right reason, you can sleep at night knowing that its is a win-win situation for both you and your customer.

And remember, if you don’t A.S.K. you wont G.E.T.

Jay Jetty
Carpet Cleaning Las Vegas