Help with presentation. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

[JLewellen]

Background: I mainly clean commercial carpet. I can do steam cleaning, but mostly I do VLM with a Cimex on my commercial jobs.

My issue: I contacted a large real estate/property management company in a city near me. To my utter disbelief, the president has offered to let me present to their property management group! They are a large and very professional outfit.

What do I need to make this meeting a success?! All I have are business cards and my below average charm and looks.

What are they expecting? Any suggestions at all are appreciated.

I have a little over 3 weeks to prepare.

 

[hogjowl]

You're going to be talking to a bunch of Chavez's. So, make it all about them.

 

[Desk Jockey]

They want to know can you do that will make their job easier.

You do this in a couple of ways. A PowerPoint presentation Works well and conveys professionalism. You can use stock photos and talk about the low moisture benefits. Fast drying, improved appearance on CGD over other methods. Can be processed without security issues. Improved production times mean you are not in their facility all day and they can get back to business quicker.

Same message but you simply speak. Throw together a quick flyer with bullet points. Stock photos of corporate setting are available online relatively cheap.

 

[JLewellen]

Thanks! That makes a lot of sense. I appreciate all your advice.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Be sure to mention office chairs and fabric panels too.

We clean a lot of office chairs. A good standard office chair starts around $1,200.000 new. Better grades more features just increase the price. Cleaning is a very good alternative to replacement and honestly most facilities managers just don't thing about cleaning until you bring it up.

 

[hogjowl]

Look at the brain on that Mexican!

 

[hogjowl]

$1200 for an office chair? SERIOUSLY?

 

[Desk Jockey]

Go to look at Steelcase or similar big names. Big $$$$$

 

[Connor]

$1200 for an office chair? SERIOUSLY?

Chavez is confused, he's actually talking about the used riding lawn mower he sits on when he cuts his brother's grass.

 

[WillS]

We presented to a Keller Williams office once before. It was realtors that dealt mostly with residential and some commercial. If they provided us their business card before the end of our presentation (we had a jar type thing for them to put a business card in on one of the tables), they would receive an email for 1 free room of carpet cleaned in their own home. This way they could test out our service personally and had a free cleaning, also we now had their contact information. Or if this is only commercial property management, maybe if they provide their business card, they receive the first 300 sq. ft. cleaned free. (or whatever you feel comfortable with).

 

[Shane Deubell]

A nice sell sheet/flyer would be nice. Then maybe a page about who you are, what services, your service/guarantee, some technical stuff and of course some current clients or stories of problems you solved for current clients.

Even better stop by one of the buildings so you can build some evidence or reason why you are proposing to clean it a certain way.

The main thing is thinking about what benefits them.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Improving indoor air quality one be some to focus on as well as improved appearance. People feel better when it's clean plus it's much healthier.

 

[Ron K]

Go to look at Steelcase or similar big names. Big $$$$$

Cinder Blocks!

 

[Ron K]

Keep it short and sweet be prepared for some question? Green Cleaning?
What kind of Chemicals?
Practice your presentation in front of a mirror.
Do you have A labeled spotter you can give out?

 

[PrimaDonna]

As mentioned...make it about them and not you. What you can do to make their life easier.

This is helpful if you can find out what their current pain is. What issues are they struggling with? What do they like about their current provider? What do they wish were different.

It would be great if you could get this information before your presentation. That way you have time to formulate your response as to how you can maintain the things they like, and present a plan for dealing with what they don't like or what their pain is.

For instance: Are they most concerned with price? Indoor air quality? Aesthetics - meaning they just want it to look good and they don't care how you get that result? A trustworthy company because their current one is careless or has stolen from them. Do they have a commitment to "green" or environmentally safe products? Does the work need to be done on nights/weekends? Most importantly, and if you can get this out of them, your practially set, "why are you looking to change from your current provider". This will be very telling and let you know how serious they are about making a change. They may say, "We have to put things out to bid every XX amount of years and get 3 bids". Or maybe they unleash a load of concerns about the current provider and then YOU have the opportunity to share with them how you would address those. You get the idea.

If you can't do it ahead of time, then don't think of it as a presentation, but more of a dialogue. When you meet, explain to them that you're company philosophy is to provide the clients you work for a solution to their needs. But in order to do that, you need to understand their needs. Then say ...."I have some questions that I'd like to ask you to determine your needs and if we would be a good fit." And have at it.

The will be blown away, because I bet they never had someone come in and approach it this way. You just differentiated yourself from the others right out of the gate.

Take notes...hopefully you are good at thinking on your feet and can address the things you learned by questioning them on the spot. If you can't or you have one of those "I forgot to say...." after you leave, then you have the opportunity to send them a nice follow up email thanking them for their time and then recapping the main points and you can sneak in that important thing you forgot to say.

Good Luck!

If you need a list of questions, let me know!

 

[Desk Jockey]

 

[JLewellen]

As mentioned...make it about them and not you. What you can do to make their life easier.

This is helpful if you can find out what their current pain is. What issues are they struggling with? What do they like about their current provider? What do they wish were different.

It would be great if you could get this information before your presentation. That way you have time to formulate your response as to how you can maintain the things they like, and present a plan for dealing with what they don't like or what their pain is.

For instance: Are they most concerned with price? Indoor air quality? Aesthetics - meaning they just want it to look good and they don't care how you get that result? A trustworthy company because their current one is careless or has stolen from them. Do they have a commitment to "green" or environmentally safe products? Does the work need to be done on nights/weekends? Most importantly, and if you can get this out of them, your practially set, "why are you looking to change from your current provider". This will be very telling and let you know how serious they are about making a change. They may say, "We have to put things out to bid every XX amount of years and get 3 bids". Or maybe they unleash a load of concerns about the current provider and then YOU have the opportunity to share with them how you would address those. You get the idea.

If you can't do it ahead of time, then don't think of it as a presentation, but more of a dialogue. When you meet, explain to them that you're company philosophy is to provide the clients you work for a solution to their needs. But in order to do that, you need to understand their needs. Then say ...."I have some questions that I'd like to ask you to determine your needs and if we would be a good fit." And have at it.

The will be blown away, because I bet they never had someone come in and approach it this way. You just differentiated yourself from the others right out of the gate.

Take notes...hopefully you are good at thinking on your feet and can address the things you learned by questioning them on the spot. If you can't or you have one of those "I forgot to say...." after you leave, then you have the opportunity to send them a nice follow up email thanking them for their time and then recapping the main points and you can sneak in that important thing you forgot to say.

Good Luck!

If you need a list of questions, let me know!

As mentioned...make it about them and not you. What you can do to make their life easier.

This is helpful if you can find out what their current pain is. What issues are they struggling with? What do they like about their current provider? What do they wish were different.

It would be great if you could get this information before your presentation. That way you have time to formulate your response as to how you can maintain the things they like, and present a plan for dealing with what they don't like or what their pain is.

For instance: Are they most concerned with price? Indoor air quality? Aesthetics - meaning they just want it to look good and they don't care how you get that result? A trustworthy company because their current one is careless or has stolen from them. Do they have a commitment to "green" or environmentally safe products? Does the work need to be done on nights/weekends? Most importantly, and if you can get this out of them, your practially set, "why are you looking to change from your current provider". This will be very telling and let you know how serious they are about making a change. They may say, "We have to put things out to bid every XX amount of years and get 3 bids". Or maybe they unleash a load of concerns about the current provider and then YOU have the opportunity to share with them how you would address those. You get the idea.

If you can't do it ahead of time, then don't think of it as a presentation, but more of a dialogue. When you meet, explain to them that you're company philosophy is to provide the clients you work for a solution to their needs. But in order to do that, you need to understand their needs. Then say ...."I have some questions that I'd like to ask you to determine your needs and if we would be a good fit." And have at it.

The will be blown away, because I bet they never had someone come in and approach it this way. You just differentiated yourself from the others right out of the gate.

Take notes...hopefully you are good at thinking on your feet and can address the things you learned by questioning them on the spot. If you can't or you have one of those "I forgot to say...." after you leave, then you have the opportunity to send them a nice follow up email thanking them for their time and then recapping the main points and you can sneak in that important thing you forgot to say.

Good Luck!

If you need a list of questions, let me know!

Thank you for your help! I like the idea of this approach. I would appreciate a list of those questions.

 

[JLewellen]

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View attachment 12783

This is great! Where is the best place to have something like this done?

A side note: My wife can't get over what a helpful and friendly community exists on here. Trying to expand our carpet cleaning business is a financial necessity for us, and it's been hard figuring stuff out. You and everyone on here have been a God send. For real! Thanks so much!

As I get more experience, I hope I can pay it forward.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Philip Newell did the design and Gotprint does the very very reasonable. He can make you anything you can think of.

I'll send you his email when I get to work.

 

[PrimaDonna]

Thank you for your help! I like the idea of this approach. I would appreciate a list of those questions.

Sent you a message through MB. Check your inbox and then we an email back and forth from there.

 

[Desk Jockey]

My wife can't get over what a helpful and friendly community exists on here

Thanks it comes natural, I'm just a nice guy.
Shut up everyone, he doesn't know yet!

Ok maybe I'm not but Meg is nice. She is always very helpful!

 

[Wing It]

1.Will you be on site when the work is done? This is huge to commercial businesses that could have stuff stolen by shitty employees. We are not janitors but they don't see any difference.
2. Do a free demo and show before/afters.
3. Be honest. Vlm cleaning is not better but can provide immediate improvement of appearance for less cost.
4. Have any current customers write you a recommendation.

 

[idreadnought]

I also want to add, find out what is important to them. They all have dealt with cleaning situations before. Ask them questions about negatives and positives about prior experiences. If you can find out what is most important to them, it makes it easier to focus on those issues during the remainder of the presentation. If possible ask your contact what his positives and negatives were.