LeePemberton.com

I recently asked for comments from some respected marketing persons from our industry regarding the use of the new Facebook phenomenon by carpet cleaners. (I have openly expressed my concern of time investment vs. results for already time constrained carpet cleaning businesses)

However, I must admit that I have received some quite insightful responses and I am sharing the comments I received from Doyle Bloss (VP of Marketing and Education, Interlink Supply) here . . .

Using Facebook to secure new customers for a smaller cleaning and restoration company would seem to be too much work for not enough return, especially if you are working hard at making a “readable” and educational Facebook page.”

Doyle then presents a very interesting concept; one that I had never heard of, to be perfectly honest!

Doyle goes on to say:
“I think a professional cleaning and/or restoration company should approach Facebook as kind of an on-line customer newsletter. It is a great way to keep in contact with your local, loyal customer base.

The same kind of things that make an effective Client Newsletter will make an effective company Facebook page. It has the added advantage over a mailed or emailed periodic newsletter of being able to do instant promotions. For example, if suddenly on Tuesday, you find cancellations piling up on Friday, it could be used to try and generate instant repeat business with an attractive enough offer to fill up Friday.

So what I tell our customers is look at what makes an effective client newsletter (there are a lot of great articles on that floating around), and integrate that kind of thing into your Facebook page.”

At this point, Doyle then proceeds with some examples which follow:

Some examples might include:

• You should make your referral rewards program a significant part of your Facebook promotions and reminders.
• You should include testimonials from your clients on a constant basis. Whenever you can, include pictures of the customer or amazing things you did in their home. Even better, use flip video and record the testimonial and include it on your Facebook page.
• Your Facebook page should be part of an overall education based marketing program.
• Your Facebook page should help be a part of what solidifies your company as “the experts” in the recipients minds
• Your Facebook page should constantly reinforce the credibility and integrity of your company.
• Your Facebook page should include content that demonstrates your company’s commitment to the neighborhoods and community of which you are a part of.
• Your Facebook page should provide the reader with useful information about how to maintain the investments your clients have made in their flooring, furniture, and fixtures. Break larger step by step articles on how to care for carpet, rugs, upholstery, wood, ducts, dryer vents, stone, tile etc.. into bite size “Facebook style” posts (tidbits, tips, mythbusters, etc.)

I believe the best use of Facebook for most small cleaners and restorers is a “living” client newsletter.

Regards,
Doyle Bloss
VP of Marketing and Education
Interlink Supply

A reoccurring situation that I am noticing recently are businesses who haven’t been staying in touch with their clients/customers. They became jaundiced through the last decade of easy to get new customers. Now these business owners are realizing that they have to do some thing different, but they aren’t sure where to turn.

Referrals are a key way for an established business to get moving.

I have listed 15 categories of people below who move through either personal and business lives,
And can be a great place to get started:

1. Current clients or customers
2. Past clients from past invoices
3. Stagnant clients from past invoices
4. Prospects who for some reason did not buy
5. Fellow members of associations
6. Community leaders
7. Friends and neighbors
8. Advocates (people who’ve referred you more than once and say good things about you)
9. Drinking buddies
10. People with whom you volunteer
11. Parents of children who are your children’s teammates
12. Business owner and executive colleagues
13. Repair and maintenance people
14. Your corporate attorneys
15. Your CPA

Ok that’s a start, but remember, you have to get started!

Here is quote I emailed Jeff Cross, editor of Cleanfax, as well as John Braun of Hitman Advertising (along with the link to the blog)

You are running a small business, not a national or international brand, and need to take a different tack. Lucy Beer, of Web Training Wheels, puts it really well:

“Here’s what no one in the social media space seems to want to say:

Facebook is a difficult place to reach new eyeballs organically if you do not already have good brand awareness. There I said it. If you are trying to use Facebook to reach a new audience, organically (i.e. without paying for Ads), from scratch – you are facing an uphill battle.”
( for the article, go to http://tinyurl.com/CleanTip2 )

In my opinion this article on the value of Facebook for small guys like us seems right on target. Bottom line, it won’t bring new customers, but can possibly help with a Customer Retention Program.

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I received a very interesting response from Jeff . . . . . he says:

Hi Lee, It’s a good article.

The only thing that I believe in is that Facebook CAN be used to find new customers, although it is great at keeping the ones you have.

I have a few of my TBU (Totally Booked University) attendees reporting that they have their Facebook pages open to the public (anyone can view) and they post pictures of their work and have landed new customers that way. One got the attention of an adjuster and now gets several water jobs a week from him.

Another way to use Facebook is to join “groups” in your community. In Columbus, for example, there is a group that takes nighttime tours of the city, looking at the lights. Another is an art group. Yet another is a restaurant fan group – they post their thoughts on the best restaurants. Done right, you can “infiltrate” these groups and at least make new “friends” and perhaps land new customers.

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Here is an equally interesting answer from John . . .

Lee …that’s basically what I said the other week at Connections during my talk.

Facebook won’t bring you many new clients. But it helps your current clients keep close to you.

Sure, your average cleaning company owner may pick up a few jobs from Facebook if they do it well. It’s all about being social.

Mostly from what we’ve seen as a benefit is getting a referral from a “friend” of a “friend” who sees a mention on Facebook.

But I totally agree that currently it’s more beneficial for client retention with an extra perk of a new client on occasion.

Cleaning companies should focus more on ranking in Google though…Facebook can be WAY too time consuming.

Until later,

John Braun

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Before we go any further, take a good look at a simple but revealing flow chart of your business.

MANAGEMENT = Top Position and . . . The Key To Your Success! &  Its You!

Next, you can see that management responsibilities are sub-divided into –

MARKETING, MONEY & TECHNICAL.

And…Pay attention to the lower left hand side of the chart and you can clearly see the bucket with incoming dollars leaking them out because of the “problems” that causes  “money to leak out” almost as fast as your customer puts it in!

Did you happen to notice the ”Smiley Face” beside the Technical and Marketing segments??

I put them there because they are what I call the “fun” responsibilities!

TECHNICAL is “FUN” because you “do stuff” you are good at and everything looks so much better when you are done!  This is really “FEEL  GOOD” stuff!

MARKETING is also “FUN” because you can do “STUFF” that is non-confrontational, like mailers & ads, yellow pages and signs. You really get the feeling you are doing something!  More “FEEL  GOOD” stuff!

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But,…

The “fun” & good feelings fade when the phone doesn’t ring (unless it’s a bill collector)!   You quickly find that there is just not enough money in that bucket to pay the bills, let alone yourself!

So, …. the problems get bigger and bigger. It just seems so logical to do more of the “fun” stuff so that you can get more $$ into that leaky customer bucket —— But that is truly a maddening tail chasing scenario that is simply unsustainable!

Facts & good sense require that we go back to the things we don’t like to do; so…. Financial details & financially driven decisions is where you go!

MONEY is where we must go to get answers.

Money is the lifeblood of any business and it must be carefully managed into the business and also out of it!

According to Dunn and Bradstreet, the Number One Reason Businesses in America Fail is because of Managerial Incompetence,  and that is in about 96% of the businesses that fail.

In order to understand what exactly they mean by managerial incompetence, I have listed the top  reasons business fail  here: I’ll also give the link to the article on the resource page for the rest of this interesting article

Top Reasons Why Businesses Fail
… of those that fail,  (well over ¾!)
82% Poor cash flow management skills / poor understanding of cash flow.
79% Starting out with too little money
77% Not pricing properly – failure to include all necessary items when setting prices.

Where Exactly Does The Money Come From?
Initially, from your savings, investors, business loans and leases, as well as income from products and services you sell.

Where Does It Go?
Ideally, it goes to these key areas:
For Equipment, Location or Building, Inventory, Operating expenses, and hopefully reserves and profit.

But, Does It Really Go there?
Unfortunately, because of poor management it often doesn’t!
For more immediate information, feel free to check out our resource box with additional links as well as phone numbers you can feel welcome to call.

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