What is she worth?
Short sighted view? 15 x $609.00= $9,135.00 divided by the number of years you have been in business for her value per year.
Long term vision of "what she is worth"? Multiply those numbers above by "all her pals that love you to death" by the number of years that you plan to stay in business. (In
SFS we work some very conservative numbers with cleanings every other year at an average of $140.00 each one and still find out the lifetime value of a Cheerleader is $35,840.00!)
BTW, congratulations on the growth of this board, Mike. Hopefully it will prove to be yet another industry resource.
Steve Toburen CR
Director of Training
Jon-Don's
Strategies for Success
PS Mike, everyone should focus on Ken Snow's gentle warning above. The Cheerleader concept works. BUT the numbers can only go so high if your customers are addicted to YOU! I went through the "weaning them off of me" cycle and yes, it is a painful time. But if you do it right it can be done. How?
1. Hire well-groomed, mature, quality people that your customers will feel comfortable with. (Yes, I know this is a huge and thorny subject.) But simply put, with the right people business is both easy and a joy. With the "wrong people" it is agonizing. (I know you and I have both been there, Mike.)
2. Orient these folks on the Emotional Dynamics of the Home Front BEFORE you ever let them touch a scrub wand. Homeowners (especially women) feel intimidated, trapped, invaded and very fearful with strangers (usually men) working in their home.
3. Develop Value Added Service techniques that answer these "Unspoken Fears" with "Unspoken Answers" in how they act and speak with the homeowner. Put these steps down in writing and rehearse them with your new employee BEFORE he touches the scrub wand.
4. Now you can teach them how to clean but you already are an expert there. This is the easy one!
5. When it comes time to start the "weaning process" this is what you do. Matter of factly state,
Statement One: You: "Mrs. Jones, you remember James, don't you? He will be your lead tech on Monday and Bill Smith will be assisting him. They will arrive at 9 AM on Monday."
Client (swooningly): "Oh no, Mikey, I only want YOU!" (Yes, I know, Mike. This is great for your ego but bad if you don't want to get old pushing a wand.)
Statement Two: You: (with a small laugh) "Now Mrs. Jones, we both know James did all the work last time anyway while you and I stood around and talked all day. James is a better cleaner than me and I guarantee you will be happy. My job is making sure you stay that way no matter which of my employees come to your home."
Client: "Well, I don't know ..."
Statement Three: You: "Mrs. Jones, I truly believe in my heart that James and Bill will do as least as good a job for you as I have done. They will be using the same
big truck I have always used, the same cleaning agents and the same cleaning techniques AND I personally have trained them. Tell you what, I'm going to personally call you on Tuesday, the day after your cleaning, and verify that you are just as happy with James and Bill as you were with my work. And if you aren't absolutely delighted, the cleaning will be on me. How does that sound?"
Client: "No, Mike, I only want you in my home."
Statement Four: You: "I understand, Mrs. Jones. You want the security of having the owner there. And believe me, when you have James in your home that is ME because I personally stand behind his work and character. However, I personally am not available. If you really and truly only want the owner of the company working in your home I can refer you to a friend of mine that does all of his own work. He doesn't use the powerful equipment we use but he does an OK job ..."
Trust me on this one, Mike, you will seldom get to #4 and when you do they will always cave in. After all, where else will they go? BUT, you and your people better be ready to perform and yes, I use that word deliberately. It is just like putting on a stage play in front of an audience full to critics. You better have your script down pat. The problem is the vast majority of owner/operators trying to get off the truck never invest the time and effort to "write the script", much less train their techs in how to perform.
Now, for those owner/operators who can't/don't want to follow the above process. No problem. Stay on the truck doing the job you love but a)raise your prices, b)start an aggressive Personal Investment Plan for your retirement with your excess profits, c)purchase a good disability insurance policy and d)buy good life insurance. But DON'T put yourself, your employees and your customers through the agony of sending poorly trained technicians into the same homes where you have been wowing the customer for years.
My two cents and admit it, Marty, you read every word! (Actually looks like a good subject for my ICS column to me!)