Thread: Do you over deliver?? (Pic of the day)

Have you ever gone to a grocery store and to buy something to find it's not anywhere what they said it would be? Or how about this, you find something that is really nice and hits the spot but as soon after you go shopping again you find it has shrunk in size and the price has gone up. Really gets my blood boiling. I'm paying more but getting less.

I know we have all experienced the pic of the day, we see a juicy burger on tv that looks huge, but when we hit the drive thru we see the small flattened version. Well I'm going to let you know that a large company that's well established may get away with this but us as cleaners will go bankrupt if we do it. We MUST always over deliver. Every time I go into a house I look for ways to over deliver to the customer. Now don't get me wrong I already come well groomed and dressed. And my equipment and van are spotless. Plus I use top of the line cleaning products and machines. But to me that's not enough. Many companies around me do the same thing.

So what I am talking about is the intangibles and the obvious ways of over delivering. To accomplish this you must listen closely to what the customer wants and needs. That is why I always do a walk thru with the customer before I start. This affords her the opportunity to really open up and tell me her concerns.

I'm just going to give you a true experience along with the Pic of the Day and see if you agree. Last week one of my techs was in an accident while driving his car after work. So I filled in for him the next day. When I arrived at the first carpet job I walked up rang the bell and when she answered the door I said hello with a big smile. I introduced myself and then I suggested we take a walk around to see what's getting done. Well as we are walking she starts to explain that she had just built a new home and that she only rented this house for a few months. She also said that several of the rooms we're hardly ever walked in. So she said I only want to do 5 of the 10 areas. I said no problem. Gave her my price she accepted and I headed out to the truck to get started.

OK so your probably thinking what does this have to do with over delivering. Well as we we're walking thru I noticed the areas that she didn't want cleaned had maybe one or two random spots in each of them. But the rest of the room looked new. Immediately I knew this was an opportunity to over deliver. So I fire up the tm and got started. I go thru the steps of my premium cleaning. Prevac, prespray and agitate. Then I get started cleaning. And as I pass by each of the rooms she did not want cleaned I went in and cleaned the random spots. I also found one red stain I over looked and removed it with the iron.

Now she had asked that I deodorize one spot where her dog couldn't get out the door and had urinated. It didn't have an odor but she wanted to be sure before her walk thru. So I took care of that urine spot and then deodorized it. But I also proceeded to spray a light coat over all the areas I cleaned because I noticed a slight dog odor when we did a walk thru. Well I started to wrap everything up and then I headed back in to the house. Now here is where I really have an opportunity to let my company shine and set myself apart from the competition because I KNOW I over delivered. Here is what I said;


Ok Kathleen (I call my customers by their first name if they request it) there are a few things I would like to go over with you. First off how do they look to you?

She raved! I beamed!

I said well the reason they look so good is because I take no short cuts and use the best of everything. And I take my time to make sure the job is done right! Also I took care of a few things for you that I want to bring to your attention. One I found a red stain that we missed in the walk tru and I removed it at no extra charge. And do you remember those couple of random spots that we're in the rooms you did not want cleaned? She said yes. I said well as I was cleaning I went ahead and took care of those for you. I really want to see you get your whole deposit back so I also while spraying the one urine spot, I went ahead and put a light mist thru out because I had noticed a faint dog odor. Now the house will smell as good as it looks! She loved that. She realized that had been very thoughtful. So I said it is no extra charge maam but if I may I would like to leave two refrigerator magnets, one for you to take to your new home and one for here for the new tenant. So if you wouldn't mind, please tell the real estate agent, your family and friends and neighbors about me. I don't do much advertisng because I rely on my high quality work and great customers like you to spread the word.

Well rather than going any further, what do you think. Will she tell others about my work? I can guarentee she will. And why? Because I ALWAYS over deliver. And so should you!


Rob Allen.

The pic;

Great post Rob! Its the little things that make a big difference. One of the things I do is spray baseboards off with the hydroforce as I am pre-spraying the carpets. I always wait until the job is finished and then tell them I have done so. It only takes a few extra minutes per job to do this and the customer is always appreciative. If you want to make cheerleaders of your customers and get many referrals then go above and beyond their expectations.

Originally Posted by b18cyacrx

So you spray the baseboards with carpet prespray ? Then what , do you wipe them down by hand? Seems to me that would do more harm than good.

Yes I do.... As well as cleaning the dust off of the baseboards the prespray gets in the corners real well witch makes cleaning the easier. It dries very fast usually in under 10 minutes. If you are afraid to use prespray the detach the bottle and use plain water.

Originally Posted by Mr. Slide

I always try to over deliver!
1: Clean extra areas, free.
2: Speed dry the carpet, free. (80%-100% dry when I leave).

Cheers, AL

What do you use to "speed" dry the carpets Al?

I say do the job how you would like it done for you. That picture is so true Rob!
I feel if you go the extra mile people will remember you. Thats the problem too many companies are cutting corners on what they sell. They paint a picture of what you think your getting only to sell something thats not same.
Excel your business to be the best!

i was wondering what that pic was lol

Originally Posted by tony123

i was wondering what that pic was lol

Tony it is a great reminder that we live in a world that over promises and under delivers. Bigger companies can sometimes get away with it. However if we fall into that mold as small business owners then others will pass us by. Rightfully so imho.

Therefore I am always looking for ways to over deliver in every aspect of my business. And customers take notice, especially women. They know who is blowing smoke and who is stepping up to the plate and over delivering.