dgargan said:
Lisa wrote
"Someone struggling going into a massive loss leader campaign for new business, digging that hole from the get-go with no resources (money or labor) to back them up is a recipe for disaster".
If I remember right don't all of Joe's letter and ad's promote a free room cleaning, free cleaning in 6 months and so forth? They all give something away yet you put down Groupon where you always make some money on every job, and you get a chance to make a new client and upsell for more money. With the 3 letter deal you have a ton of prep work with the letters, costs of stamps, lists, paper, printing and envelopes and your giving away free cleaning with no guarantee of cash on every job. Groupon costs you nothing to send out and there is no work on your part to get it out there. Seems like a no brainer to me. I'm just sayin
David - thanks for bringing this up, because I'll lay out the difference, and hopefully you will find value in it... maybe a few others.
The free room offer is designed as a referral strategy. It is offered to ideally a joint venture list, where you are working with a business that has customers who value and invest in caring for their belongings (a dry cleaner, a carpet retailer, an interior designer). Or to a specific targeted neighborhood with a glowing testimonial from one of the residents - so the referrals are coming through her, so the JV is with her.
The dynamic here is the difference between getting a coupon, and getting a GIFT. It's the difference between someone handing you a 50% off coupon, and someone handing you a Starbucks card enclosed with a note thanking you. The presentation, and the emotional response is different - this is especially the case with the business endorsement strategy.
The free room is coupled with a free carpet audit, which is the presentation (by print, by DVD, or by iPad) that goes through an evaluation process of the entire home, and based on their particular conditions, the recommendations are laid out. That educational process delivers unexpected value because most people have no idea what the steps of the cleaning process are, and why, and how often they should be done.
Members do one of two things - they either have the audit appointments ahead of time, so they have one dedicated person to do the process - or one person does both. The room is cleaned after the audit. No strings attached if that is all they want. It is a gift, plain and simple.
The cleaning event is wrapped with before the cleaning, during the cleaning, and after the cleaning systems to create the best client experience, and to literally make it unlike any other service experience they have had. Most audits lead to having the entire home cleaned, and most joint venture partners receive thank you's from their customers for introducing them to the cleaning company.
It is a formula that has built countless cleaning companies, and many derivatives of the offer are in all formats and delivery means.
>>> but here is the main difference.
I know the Free Room and Carpet Audit offer is the best irresistible offer to make to a prospect for carpet cleaning. The biggest question anyone has, especially women with their homes, is "who can I trust" to come in and do this? Coming to them from a referrer they already have a relationship with, and as a gift, it reduces all of the friction and suspicion immediately.
If it was a 50% off version - it would not work. They would not have the level of reciprocity and appreciation that getting a gift has.
If one of my members wanted to run a "free room" offer in a newspaper ad, on their website, or even in Groupon - I would tell them it's a bad idea. Because there is no control of WHO is going to, or HOW. Coming to them as a "great it's free, I'll take it" would lead to people not wanting the audit, and essentially not caring about cleaning. They would be taking it only because of the price.
As part of a larger referral process, it is a powerful strategy that has build very successful businesses in this industry.
I hope that makes sense David - and again I appreciate you asking what the difference is. It's a positioning difference. A really big positioning difference.
If members do not have a 90%+ additional sales conversion then they are doing something wrong with creating that perfect client experience.
Thanks again David,
Lisa
