How many really ask for referrals?

[Sticky]

How many of you guys ask your clients for referrals and have them write down the names, address and phone #?
Also, how many of you guys try to get your clients to book there appointments for next year or 6 months, when you finish cleaning there house?
Just a couple of things I've been thinking about and I was wondering if it works or what is the best way to get referrals without being too pushy?

 

[Warren Wallace]

I send a thank you card and in the card I say if you like what we do then please pass our name on to friends and family.

 

[Warren Wallace]

Also I say (The greatest compliment I can receive is the referral of friends and family)

 

[davegillfishing]

we ask every single customer to tell a friend about us. we have a pretty smokin referral program so it benefits them and their friend.
if you dont ask you will not get..

 

[Mountain View Carpet Care]

how would you feel when every time to got a service or bought something they asked for your address book?

Good Point.

 

[Johnny]

Never ask, but get plenty of them.

 

[Sticky]

what about leaving 4 or 5 gift certificates for 1 room of cleaning free? I would only gives these out in high end homes....

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

Rob call Mark and Andrechelle and talk to them about their referral cards.

 

[Ron Lippold]

80 20 rule appilies her.

 

[Steve Toburen]

Also, how many of you guys try to get your clients to book there appointments for next year or 6 months, when you finish cleaning there house?

We went one step further and after the customer had paid for the initial cleaning our tech would offer (not push!) a pre-paid service contract that included an "open area" cleaning at six months and a full regular cleaning at twelve months and they owed nothing either time since we were deducting 10% of the job price per month from their credit card or checking account. This worked great and gave us regular cash flow plus we had people "tied to us". Worked good for the customer since they felt they were getting a good deal plus we would call them and book the job when our truck was going to be in the neighborhood anyway. (Also the customer could cancel the contract at any time and get a complete refund of any "unused" funds. No one ever did.)

Island Boy
http://www.StrategiesForSuccess.com

PS I have all the details on how to set up an "Always Clean" program already written up. (I think there are nine pages of step by step information.) If you want to read it just e-mail me at stoburen@StrategiesForSuccess.com and put the words "Always Clean" in the subject line. No charge, no snake oil, no spam, no pressure- all ya gotta do is tell me you want it.

 

[Chris A]

I let customers know at the end of the job that I really appreciate referrals, and leave them with 3 cards w/ a free demo offer on the back. Few take advantage of the offer, but I do get a lot of referrals that way.

 

[davegillfishing]

how would you feel when every time to got a service or bought something they asked for your address book?

that is a great mentality. i wish more people were as stupid as you with their thinking. in 3 short years we have well over 2k customers in out data base and i cant for the life of me remember any one of them gasping with disgrace by being asked nicely to mention us to their friends.
man i wish you would give your opinion on every post and i wish everyone in florida listened to you..it would make my life easier.

 

[Steve Toburen]

how would you feel when every time to got a service or bought something they asked for your address book?

that is a great mentality. i wish more people were as stupid as you with their thinking. in 3 short years we have well over 2k customers in out data base and i cant for the life of me remember any one of them gasping with disgrace by being asked nicely to mention us to their friends.
man i wish you would give your opinion on every post and i wish everyone in florida listened to you..it would make my life easier.

Dave,
Don't sweat it. Life is too short. We all have our roles to play ...

cur·mudg·eon (k?r-m?j'?n)
n. An ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions.

It IS sad, Dave, when someone starts out playing a role in jest and then it becomes their life. Just move on, folks. There is nothing to see here.

Island Boy

PS Even sadder for our industry is that Dave is right. Far too many carpet cleaners really are "curmudgeons" in their relationships with customers AND each other. On the other hand it does make it easier to differentiate yourself from the crowd.

 

[Jimmy L]

gIVe mE a BrEAK SteVe!

 

[jerry ACC]

I give this simple card to each customer with a pre stamped envelope.

FRONT

BACK

 

[maker]

how would you feel when every time to got a service or bought something they asked for your address book?

that is a great mentality. i wish more people were as stupid as you with their thinking. in 3 short years we have well over 2k customers in out data base and i cant for the life of me remember any one of them gasping with disgrace by being asked nicely to mention us to their friends.
man i wish you would give your opinion on every post and i wish everyone in florida listened to you..it would make my life easier.

Dave,
Don't sweat it. Life is too short. We all have our roles to play ...

cur·mudg·eon (k?r-m?j'?n)
n. An ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions.

It IS sad, Dave, when someone starts out playing a role in jest and then it becomes their life. Just move on, folks. There is nothing to see here.

Island Boy

PS Even sadder for our industry is that Dave is right. Far too many carpet cleaners really are "curmudgeons" in their relationships with customers AND each other. On the other hand it does make it easier to differentiate yourself from the crowd.

I think Odin was addressing the original part of the question. There is a huge difference with asking them a customer to tell their friends and handing them a form to put their friends and families information on so you can contact them. I doubt anybody would say that it's a bad idea to ask for referrals.
Asking the customer to write down their friends and families information seams a bit invasive to me. Does anybody do this? Has it worked well?

How many of you guys ask your clients for referrals and have them write down the names, address and phone #?

 

[steve r]

we ask every single customer to tell a friend about us. we have a pretty smokin referral program so it benefits them and their friend.
if you dont ask you will not get..



i never ask but many customers ask for extra cards to give out.i get enough of referals i dont have to ask.

 

[Ron Werner]

I had heard about the monthy pre-payment plan from Mike West back in 96, but never could figure out how to make the payments work so it wasn't a headache for either me or my client, or also what to charge per month so that it was beneficial to both of us. I think Joe Polish had it as one of his marketing plans as well.

Normally I remind people as I'm leaving not to keep me a secret. Repeat and referral are my biggest two sources.

 

[Bioman]

I get atleast 5 referrals from just about every high end client I target! I depend on them giving me referrals it's what helps my business thrive. After I'm done cleaning I give them a testimonial form with a referral form stating that for every referral they give me (just name and address) I will reward with 2 dollars off the bill for each referral and this works like a charm for me! We must remember we're in business to do a good job and also to keep working smarter than harder. And what is easier than getting a referral from someone with a large home that his happy with your work

 

[Ramon Allones]

are you sure your not Jose Smiths brother?


EL Guapo

Ramon

 

[Chris A]

2 dollars, god I hope that's a misprint!

 

[Ramon Allones]

High end cliends love 2 bucks off more than trailer trash


EL Guapo

Ramon

 

[Bioman]

The reason it's only 2 dollars off is because you don't know if the referrals are going to use you, and they normally give me about five referrals so it balances out to be ten dollars off their bill for just looking through their address book. AND YES IT DOES WORK VERY WELL!!!! Find out the details before you knock it!

 

[Bill Soukoreff]

Odin has it right.

 

[Jose Smith]

I average about 17 referrals per month. I'm pretty sure all are closed, at least within recent memory. I know that is not a huge number, but please take into account that I only do about 25-30 jobs a month. I have NEVER asked for a referral directly as you mentioned. In other words, I never ask for names or phone numbers.

I feel this is being way to intrusive. First of all, I know I would feel uncomfortable if a contractor asked me. Secondly, I would feel a little betrayed by my friend if I got a call from a contractor I knew nothing about.

However, I know a lot of sales and marketing gurus preach this and I know of people who have done it and says it works (sometimes).

I believe just doing superb work and letting your clients know that referrals mean a lot to you and your business is a great way of getting referrals. It works wonders for me!

As far as the second part of the question, I am guessing a little less than half my clients will pre-book nowadays. They have been used to the dentist and hair dressers doing it for years. But now, in higher income homes, the mobile detailer, the plant caretakers, the mobile pet groomers, and many other services offer this. Not to mention the mechanics and pool services. With so many service companies offering this type of scheduling, you are missing the boat if you don't.

Jose Smith

PS.

are you sure your not Jose Smiths brother?


EL Guapo

Ramon

I'm not sure what this means? Please explain.

 

[Sticky]

I agree with most of you, I don't want to be too invasive and ask too much of the customer.....
The reason I asked this question is because PCS has a couple different ways to get referrals...one way is by having them fill out post cards for 6 of there friends...the other way we leave gift certificates for one free room cleaning up to 100sq ft...I thought as many did above that it was too much to ask the client to fill out 6 post cards with the names and addresses of there friends....I think I am going to leave the certificates becuase that seems a lot less invasive and if one of there friends asks about the cleaning after words they can give them the certificate for 100 sq ft of free cleaning...
I know once the new customer has me clean the 100 sq ft that the will be impressed with my work and use our service for many years (atleast I hope)....Obviously I don't want to go out and clean for free all day but just starting out and trying to go after my target market (high end) I think that the easiest way to get there work is to show them what we can do for them....
What do you guys think?

 

[Brian R]

I talk to every customer about refering us. I turn it around to state that they would be doing their friend a favor.

Also, every resident get's asked about their office or employer.
Even dirtbags can work for high end commercial.