What is the earning potential for a superstar technician?

[Desk Jockey]

 

[PrimaDonna]

Pretty simple if you look at it his way.

Mills/manufactures put it on and it wears off and is stripped away by cleaning. You are offering the client the opportunity to re apply after you clean so the carpet maintains the characteristics it had when new/purchased. You are simply offering them that option. Even if you don't believe, you can't argue with giving them the opportunity and letting them make this choice to restore it to this state can you?

Not to mention the ability it gives the homeowner or YOU to clean and remove things that would otherwise cause peemanent discoloration.

 

[Papa John]

Maybe the 1,000,000 or 160,000 was in Pesos!

 

[Desk Jockey]

it would have to be.

 

[Chris A]

I remember when I used to think I was doing well I would see Ken post gross sales numbers for his top ten crews, and I'd go right back to feeling like a brokedick!

 

[Shane Deubell]

Just when I thought I heard it all...

 

[jcooper]

We track it on every job, first they only sell protection on 65% of the jobs

Dam, I think 65% from an employee is fantastic.

 

[Steve Toburen]

... if you are that worried about how it performs, do a spot and spill warranty program. If it doesn't perform as stated, you go back and do a spot clean (free of charge to get it out) , if you can't get it out, then you refund them THE PRICE OF THE PROTECTION ONLY. Then you can sleep at night not feeling like you are ripping off anyone (if you don't personally believe in it).

We do believe, and still offer this type of program just to offer peace of mind to our clients. Guess how much we have refunded in the 8 years that I've been involved in the business??? (we've been in business for close to 25 years).

Seriously, give me the number of jobs we've had to do this on or a dollar amount.

Uhhh... zero, Meg? (Just a wild guess.)

Steve

PS The free-with-every-protector-application "12 Month Spot and Spill Warranty" is the single best way to dramatically increase your protector sales. Plus it will let Russ sleep at night with a totally clear conscience!

Heck, HERE is a free "Spot and Spill Warranty template- ready to fill in your company info. Instead of arguing with Meg about the concept why don't you guys try offering the warranty for a week?

 

[Papa John]

Uhhh... zero, Meg? (Just a wild guess.)

Steve

PS The free-with-every-protector-application "12 Month Spot and Spill Warranty" is the single best way to dramatically increase your protector sales. Plus it will let Russ sleep at night with a totally clear conscience!

Heck, HERE is a free "Spot and Spill Warranty template- ready to fill in your company info. Instead of arguing with Meg about the concept why don't you guys try offering the warranty for a week?

Steve-- How does this warranty work? Does this 12 month spot n spill warranty mean you"ll come out and clean any spot or spill for free for the next 12 months!?-- sounds like a Fast Track to the poor house.?

 

[PrimaDonna]

Steve-- How does this warranty work? Does this 12 month spot n spill warranty mean you"ll come out and clean any spot or spill for free for the next 12 months!?-- sounds like a Fast Track to the poor house.?

Steve was right....zero refunds

Very small handful of call backs a year. The warranty is specific and we do guide them through what to do on their own if they do have an issue. (It's not blanket for free call backs everytime they spill sometijng). If they can't fix it with our over the phone guidance, we do go out. And once there we either can fix it or are able qualify why their issue doesn't fall within the guidelines.
Mostly tho we do get it out.
And then we look like rock stars.
And then they tell people how great we are. (Because we actually did come back, in this day and age of poor customer service, and we fixed it! )
And then we get more work.

Check out my first post in this thread and the numbers we pull for protection sales. Even if I did have to refund 10% of that amount (remember we never have, but even if we did) it still would be profitable.

 

[billyeadon]

Steve-- How does this warranty work? Does this 12 month spot n spill warranty mean you"ll come out and clean any spot or spill for free for the next 12 months!?-- sounds like a Fast Track to the poor house.?

I am up earlier than Steve so I will answer. Each customer gets a free bottle of Spot Out and directions how to use it. If they cannot remove the spot then you will come out to remove the spot at no charge, If you cannot remove it (a warranteed spot) then you refund the amount they paid for the protector. As Meg mentioned above the chances of then requesting a refund is minimal.

Let's say that you sell Scotchgard on 20 homes (less than 1 a day) per month at 75.00 each 1500.00 x 12 = 18,000.00.
You refund 1 each month 12 x 75.00 = 900.00
You still make 17,100.00

If you go to Best Buy and buy a 10.00 item they will offer you a warranty. Why? Because they make money.

The reason people don't invoke the warranty is inertia and it plays a huge role in everything we do.

 

[Papa John]

I'm less concerned about the refund of the money and more concerned about the non-revenue producing service call if the custy cant DIY the spot. We could be producing revenue elsewhere on that free call.

 

[Steve Toburen]

... sounds like a Fast Track to the poor house.?

John, at this hours I can't match Mr. Yeadon's skill with numbers. (He is two times zones ahead of me!) But I know hundreds of SFS graduates that are including this free "12 Month Spot and Spill Warranty" on every protector application and to a person they tell me less than 1% ever ask you to work for free on a spot. Of the few that do, as Meg says they become huge Cheerleaders!

Steve

PS Plus another big advantage of the "12 month" part is 11 months after their cleaning you can add "time dated urgency" to your marketing when you contact them with a "You are almost 'out of warranty'!" message. I recently explained how this works to an Idaho carpet cleaner HERE.

 

[PrimaDonna]

We do the program a bit differently (One of the few times Steve and I don't agree, but doing it this way works for us).

Because people love choices, we have two different types of protection we offer. Scotchgard with no warranty and Maxium with the warranty. They are two different price points. We charge $35 per room for Scotchgard, and $50 per room for Maxium. Difference in price is that Maxium is an acid dye blocker where as Scotchgard isn't (so they have a different layer of protection) and Maxium comes with the warranty. They pay a bit more, get a bit more and the peace of mind that it will be refunded if it fails.

Scotchgard Sales over the past 3 years: $20,664; $20,966; $22,875
Maxium Sales over past 3 years: $10,934; $13,415; $14,790

And we include protection on all our upholstery cleaning. We build it in to the price. When I quote a piece it is to clean and protect. Goes over just fine. Once in a blue moon someone wants a price to just clean. So the protection numbers I listed are Scotchgard and Maxium only applied to carpet. It didn't include all the protection sold as part of upholstery cleaning, so our actual totals for protection sales are higher. They way we bill, there is no way for me to pull a report on the protection sales on the upholstery.

 

[Steve Toburen]

I'm less concerned about the refund of the money and more concerned about the non-revenue producing service call if the custy cant DIY the spot. We could be producing revenue elsewhere on that free call.

That is a valid concern, John. But what I hear from "down in the trenches" with our members actually doing the free "Spot and Spill Warranty" is the very few times when they do go out for a "freeby" the homeowner usually has them do some paid work while they are there.

Steve

PS But seriously, John, if you just don't like it don't do it. I don't make a nickel on the warranty template we give away. It is just a neat concept that is working super great for a lot of cleaners.

OK, I'm just like a dog worrying at an old bone- I can't let it go. HERE is one more advantage of the free 12 month "Spot and Spill Warranty". (You can "partner up" with flooring retailers.)

 

[NobleCarpetCleaners]

I 2nd what John here says about the time going back to the job. It just that, going "backwards". In Bills exam. it's way more then $900 but then it's effortless to devalue our time when yer coaching from the bleachers. I'd like to think I can get to retirement without resorting to gimmics.

 

[Papa John]

My apologies to Chet for changing the subject of this Post.. The Protector challenge topic at The Experience is also why I decided to go this year... I might start selling protector again, but first I have to get permission from local "militant" Mothers group that threatened to boycott me If I promoted Teflon.

 

[Chet]

It's funny how the subject matter gets changed, but that's ok.
We offer the 12 month spot and spill warranty too. But similar to Burdick's.

We offer an exclusive Premium product "Diamond Protection"- Isopropyl Solvent Based= Charge 1.00 foot carpet 2.00 foot rugs and $300.00 for a sofa, $110.00 chair, includes 1 year 100% spot & spill 5 years Spot & spill but we charge 50% off service calls (100% money back guarantee) Sold mostly on new wool carpet, new upholstery, and oriental rugs. High end clients and designers. We used to sell MicroSeal, and used similar program, used to be lifetime, (we and many others decided a lifetime is too much of a gamble).

Carpet Options;
Platinum: Wall to wall application, 100% spot & spill for 1 year, 100% money back guarantee.= .30
Gold: Same application and product, but no Guarantee.=.20
Silver Protection, Traffic patterns only, no warranty=.10

Upholstery Option;
Platinum: Ultimate with UV, 100% coverage, 1 year spot & spill guarantee= $100.00 sofa $60.00 chair
Gold: Same protection/ no guarantee = $80.00 sofa $50.00 chair
Silver: Same Protection only applied to seating areas, seat back and arms, no guarantee= $50.00 sofa 30.00 chair

For the non believers, we go back to maybe 1 spot and spill per month. And since you can get stains out 99% of the time I think we refunded money maybe 2 times in 5 years. Going back is an opportunity for a superstar tech to sell more. Oh, that's what the post started about.

 

[Chet]

I'm as stubborn as anyone, and I didn't want to offer options, and I didn't want to offer warranties either. But thank goodness I'm open minded. I had an employee that insisted that people want options and the vast majority pick the middle option. And I listened to Steve T. and Craig Jasper years ago about selling with a warranty. Then I talked with a lot of our furniture retailers and found out that customers love warranties and pay a premium for them. Do you know most furniture warranties don't include applying protection anymore. People are buying a slip of paper that gives them piece of mind. By the way these warranty programs have a lot of small print and exclusions and are in my opinion a rip off. What I discovered through the warranty companies is most people don't ever even try to use their warranty, they just want the piece of mind that comes with it.

So we sell our clients the best protectors that we can find, that we have personally tested on many fabrics and carpet samples and tested in our own homes in real life situations, we then apply them properly and offer them an optional warranty for an additional fee. I just wish I had superstar salesmen that would sell it more often.

 

[Steve Toburen]

... I just wish I had superstar salesmen that would sell it more often.

Sorry. Not going to happen. Technicians (blue collar workers) just on their own are not going to be "superstar sales people" to prospects twice their age and 10 times their income level. As has been noted if you do find such a person they likely will not be happy pushing a wand for long and just may become your future competition.

Steve

PS We find the secret is to lighten the load on your on-site workers by "pre-orienting" the customer on their Additional Service Options. This way they are already "prepped" (or even pre-sold) when the tech arrives.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Sorry. Not going to happen. Technicians (blue collar workers) just on their own are not going to be "superstar sales people" to prospects twice their age and 10 times their income level. As has been noted if you do find such a person they likely will not be happy pushing a wand for long and just may become your future competition.

Steve

PS We find the secret is to lighten the load on your on-site workers by "pre-orienting" the customer on their Additional Service Options. This way they are already "prepped" (or even pre-sold) when the tech arrives.

Steve I still remember at SFS when you listed all the characteristics of the average tech on one side and then of the average homeowner.
Hmmm what could possibly go wrong...

Always remember that for some reason.

 

[Steve Toburen]

Steve I still remember at SFS when you listed all the characteristics of the average tech on one side and then of the average homeowner.
Hmmm what could possibly go wrong...

Always remember that for some reason.

I am honored you remembered, Shane. Maybe it was because everyone's brain was fried and we had some fun with it? Simply put, the "chasm" between our average client and our techs is enormous.

Steve

PS Remember, I'm not saying your employees are "bad" people. But they are very, very different from your clients and us as entrepreneurs. If you ask (or worse, pressure) your techs to consistently go outside of their emotional comfort zone they will burn out and quit. (It only took me like 15 years to learn this!)

Therefore my "Make it easier to do it right than do it wrong" concept which is scattered through out SFS. For example...

 

[Chet]

I still think finding out and knowing that some technicians that have exceptional sales skills can help motivate the technicians I have now would help. I have always believed that if I had one that stood out consistently that it would bring the others up. I'm not saying that they would all become superstars, but they could all increase a certain amount. I believe upselling is as simple as asking which doesn't take any real amount of salesmanship, it just takes most individuals out of their comfort zone. I did have a technician years ago that tripled the sales of anyone else I ever had but he had health issues, he ultimately had a heart attack and had to go on disability.

Sorry. Not going to happen. Technicians (blue collar workers) just on their own are not going to be "superstar sales people" to prospects twice their age and 10 times their income level. As has been noted if you do find such a person they likely will not be happy pushing a wand for long and just may become your future competition.

 

[Steve Toburen]

By all means look for and hire the best. I totally agree with everything you say, Chet.

I still think finding out and knowing that some technicians that have exceptional sales skills can help motivate the technicians I have now would help. I have always believed that if I had one that stood out consistently that it would bring the others up... I believe upselling is as simple as asking which doesn't take any real amount of salesmanship, it just takes most individuals out of their comfort zone.

But with a larger company you are just going to have to give your employees "reinforcement". For example, HERE are some tech "upselling" tips I shared with a frustrated Oklahoma business owner.

Steve

PS Employees really like a fun contest. HERE is something I used to do with Scotchgard sales and my employees loved it.

 

[Chris A]

Go troll around the Hagopian parking lot and catch the guys as they come in! Maybe you'll pick up a couple

 

[The Great Oz]

I still think finding out and knowing that some technicians that have exceptional sales skills can help motivate the technicians I have now would help. I have always believed that if I had one that stood out consistently that it would bring the others up. I'm not saying that they would all become superstars, but they could all increase a certain amount. I believe upselling is as simple as asking which doesn't take any real amount of salesmanship, it just takes most individuals out of their comfort zone.

You are correct sir. A friend fixed his protectant sales by rubber stamping the paperwork with a box that said, "Did you ask about protectant?" then smaller check boxes for Yes, No, and the tech's initials. They didn't lie, since there was a chance they'd get caught, but sales went way up.

We tried a lot of programs, but in the end just required them to sell protectant on at least 25% of jobs because 60% of our customers said they wanted it. (We also know the difference between saying and paying.) The top techs led several meeting segments and were paired with the lowest producers for a week. Our guys average sales went from 13% (using additional motivational programs) to 35% of their jobs (no additional promotions), with the top guys averaging 65%.

We could and should do more up front to prepare the customer to pre-like the idea of a stain repellant. We'd make the job easier and really help the lower guys catch up to the top producers.

 

[billyeadon]

Bryan, I think that is one of Steve T's favorite principles "make it easy to do it right."

 

[Spurlington]

Mills/manufactures put it on and it wears off and is stripped away by cleaning.

I said this once and the customer demanded I replace the coating. I said no, the worn down stuff got stripped away. So becareful how you present it ... I dont believe cleaning strips protector - although if youre using harsh chemicals, you just may be.

 

[Ron K]

Meg you said "your tech the owner" is your best salesman.

So maybe we all need to find a way to make our techs feel like owners!

If you figure that out you'll....

 

[Brian H]

Go troll around the Hagopian parking lot and catch the guys as they come in! Maybe you'll pick up a couple

Most of our cleaners are long term employees. They like it here.

I ran the numbers for 2014 just now and our top 10 crews produced over $300,000 each. The initial claim that a guy produced over $1,000,000 seems pretty far fetched and then to only make 16% commission?!!