In this lesson, I want to talk about something a little different. I call it the ‘curse of carpet cleaning knowledge’.
Let me explain…
As a carpet cleaner, you spend a lot of time thinking about carpets. You might read carpet cleaning blogs, talk to other cleaners, or visit stores like Steamaster to see the latest models and equipment.
Topics like indoor air quality, removing pet stains, or protecting upholstery are probably old news for you… and since you have heard it so many times, you start to feel like everyone knows about them too. You don’t value the information. This is the curse of knowledge because here’s the thing… Your clients are not carpet cleaners.
They never think about steam cleaning, or solvents, or chemical residues. The information that you think of as old would actually be new and interesting to them. But most carpet cleaners don’t understand that, so they don’t tell their clients WHY things like regular cleaning matter.
This is a big mistake!
You Know More About Carpet Cleaning Than Your Clients –HELP Them!
You must start to see yourself as carpet cleaning expert, not just a service provider. Educate your clients about the value of your services, indoor air quality, protecting carpets, etc. Do this everytime you serve a client.
Otherwise, they will forget and potentially pick a competing carpet cleaner.You don’t want that.Of course, you will inevitably get clients who say “Yeah I know that already.”
Just tell them that most people don’t have a great memory like they do. They’ll smile, and feel special because you acknowledged them.
TODAY’S TASK: Become the expert, educate clients
- Choose one of the key carpet cleaning topics. These are the topics I believe clients are most interested in:
- Indoor air quality
- Why they should clean their carpet at least once per year
- The benefits of routine cleaning and how it increases carpet life
- How often they reallyshould be vacuuming
- The best types of vacuums
- If there are allergies or asthma, what they can do about it
- Why upholstery also needs regular cleaning
- A list of your other services, and their value explained
*Include all these information leaflets in the client starter kit.
- Create a one-page information pack on your chosen topic. Describe what the topic is about, why it’s important to the clients, and what steps they should take.
- Include the one-page info pack in your client starter kit. You should also have this information on your website.
- Repeat the process. Each week, take a new topic from the list above and follow the steps.
Even when you include information about all these topics in the starter pack, you should not stop educating. Never assume clients read the information the first time. Most won’t. You should include regular education material on your website blog, or in your monthly newsletter (discussed in an upcoming lesson).