As salesmen we often hear “no” when trying to pitch our services. If you would like to learn a way to turn those no’s into gold, you will appreciate this technique.
When I first started my hood cleaning business I did nothing but cold calling (or knocking on doors) to get new business. This approach can be quite effective, but you have to have a fairly thick skin and you must improve your closing skills constantly. Through the learning experience of hearing no about 7 out of 10 times, I learned a valuable method of improving that number to about 7 out of 10 to say yes!
Everytime I would go into a restaurant to inspect their kitchen exhaust system I would look at the sticker on the hood to see when it was cleaned last. WRITE THAT DOWN!
If there was no sticker then make sure you ask the owner/manager when it was cleaned last and how often their frequency is. Even if they say no to your bid, you have the most valuable information you need to make the sale, eventually.
Tom Hopkins calls this the “itch cycle”.
If you sold a product, it would be like finding out when that product is due to break down, then hitting the customer right before that happens so when it does happen, you are who they will come to. For instance: say your customer is driving a Chevy, you know that within a couple months they are going to be looking at getting rid of that thing, haha, just kidding, but you get my point.
It’s actually easier for us, because the sticker tells you when they are due to be cleaned again.
So what do we do with this information? What we do is start a tickler file with all the “no’s” information especially the frequency and when it’s due again. In 3 months you will send out a postcard saying something like “You’re due for a hood cleaning, we would love to come inspect your current company’s work to be sure that your restaurant is getting the best value for it’s dollar”.
It does two things for you: one, it shows the future customer that you are on top of things (maybe even more than their current company) and you care about their kitchen exhaust system.
Two, it keeps you in front of your customer so when that hack company doesn’t show for their cleaning on time, your customer will know exactly who to call!
Now, everytime you hear a no, don’t be discouraged, just put them in your tickler file and say to yourself, I’ll see you in a couple months.
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You don’t have to be Martin Scorsese to make a video that can help your business. You don’t have to know how to act, you don’t even have to be pretty. I’m living proof of that. Marketing your hood cleaning business on the internet is some of the easiest and cheapest way to get traffic making your phone ring, or visiting your website. You don’t even need a website, hosting or any knowledge of html code.
Making a video and putting it on Youtube is very simple. However, making a good video does have a couple elements that will cause it to be watched and make people act on what they watch. After all, we’re not doing this to be popular, we’re doing it to make money, right? Let me share a few items that will make your videos better and drive some traffic to your business.
First, the first 8 seconds of the video needs to have a hook. In writing copy, this is called the headline. Within your headline you want to get your viewers attention and tell them why they will benefit from watching the rest of the video. Hint: Fear and money are great motivators.
Next, break down the features of your hood cleaning or pressure washing business and put them into benefits for your customer. Remember, it’s not about how great you are, but what you can do for them. Very important. I learned that my customers couldn’t care less if I use foam, or downstreaming, or a scotch pad. What’s in it for them is the only thing that matters.
Lastly, tell them what to do next. If you want them to call, then tell them. If you want them to visit your website for a special offer you have for them, tell them. It’s that simple. Here is a good example of a video I did for my home-made duct spinner video:
