The other day I went out on a cleaning bid. It was an empty house that was referred to my company by a realtor.
The guy I was meeting with was the owner of the property. He didn’t actually live there, he was just renting the home out.
The renter suddenly moved out, leaving the owner in need of having the place cleaned up. The place wasn’t in bad shape, but it did need a few hours worth of attention and some carpet cleaning as well.
These are the types of jobs I just LOVE. It doesn’t involve any back-breaking work, I didn’t have to spend a single dime to get the job because it’s a referral PLUS I get a little carpet cleaning bonus work thrown in on top.
Anyway… The guy went through a bit of trouble to meet up with me at the property due to the fact he lives over an hour away. So when it came time to give him the price and try to close the deal we ran into a bit of a hiccup.
The owner didn’t flinch at the price but he didn’t really want to make another trip back to the property for me to clean it. After all, this guy ran a successful business plus he was over an hour away. It’s kind of hard for him to make this work from HIS PERSPECTIVE.
During this time I could sense his unease about how to make this deal happen. He really didn’t think through how this would work beforehand, and now he doesn’t see an easy way out. I was worried he would just nix the deal.
After all, it really wasn’t all that much work to clean the place and the carpet cleaning didn’t absolutely need to be done. I was thinking he may do it himself or just rent it out without doing anything for a moment.
It was at this time my experience in the cleaning business came to the rescue. I decided to MAKE IT EASY for him to do business with me. This decision saved the deal from the scrap-heap and made it win-win.
What did I do? Nothing spectacular I must admit. The first thing I did was offer him a different way to pull this deal off without him investing any more time into it. In a nutshell I offered to work with the realtor on his behalf.
I knew the lady who referred us and offered to work with her to gain entry into the home. This isn’t all that complicated as normally a realtor will give you a 3 or 4 digit key-code that unlocks a little box attached to the front door. Inside of that box is the key that gets you inside.
The second part of the process involved the payment for cleaning. Many folks are accustomed to paying at time of service. This means when you get done, you get paid right then and there.
I must admit, that is the best way, as that leaves no chance of having to wait a long time to get paid. But in this case it would have been a problem. To pay me he would have had to drive the hour to get there PLUS time it just right so that we were done at the moment he arrived.
To make that problem go away, I offered to invoice him. In other words, I just said I would send him the bill via the mail and he could pay it that way. That makes it win-win!
He gets the work done, and I get the job. Sure, I had to inconvenience myself a bit to get the job AND I won’t get paid right away BUT I GOT THE DEAL and that’s all that mattered.
Many newcomers to the business never would have made that deal happen. They would have just seen the obstacles and not the solutions. This is WHY I’m writing to you today!
Make sure you don’t give up on a deal just because it doesn’t fit the “normal” circumstances you are used to. Work hard at finding a solution to the problem. This “solution” many times will involve you being the one who offers to be INCONVENIENCED.
But that’s OK. Closing the deal and making the customer feel satisfied is what makes you money in this business, or any business for that matter. So take this lesson to heart and FIND A WAY!
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Tom very good point find a solution to the problem, satisfy the customer and that will make you money.
Grate post!
No doubt! When you do this you make your company STAND OUT by leaps and bounds from all the others. Customers notice this, and many times this results in more and more referrals.
it so nice how can i busit my compasny
YES, this is one of the small ways you make yourself DIFFERENT, getting business along the way.
Thanks for the comment!
Very cool story, Tom, with implications far outside the cleaning business, I might add. If we all think about the companies we prefer doing business with, aren’t they always the ones that make things so easy? Instead of making all kinds of requirements of the customer, they just take care of everything. These are the companies you not only prefer to give your money to. They are also companies you return to time and time again. Thanks for sharing this on BizSugar!
I think of Home Depot. You can purchase anything and return it without incident. No hoops, no questions just your money back. Thanks Heather!