Episode 793 –How To Get More Word of Mouth Referrals
Hi Cleaning Nation! Welcome to today’s podcast! When it comes to getting business, many owners of cleaning companies rely on word of mouth to grow their business. But is there an actual system or technique to getting more word of mouth referrals coming to your business? According to our podcast guest, Jered Robinson (the marketing monkey of Grow My Cleaning Company) there is a system that can do exactly that. However, to actually master it, we need to understand some phycology. Listen in as he goes through how to improve this essential part of your business.
The Customer is everything
One of the first things that Jered talks about is the famous quote, “the customer is everything.” This is especially true when it comes to service businesses. Not only do customers open up the floor to receive referrals, they also become clients that will continue to pay you month after month. So one customer having a positive experience actually does two things. They continue to pay you, and share your value with others.
Give Your Clients a Positive Story to Tell
Jered than asks another question. “What story are you giving your clients?” People naturally want to brand you. They do it with everything in their life. Ask someone to tell you about their best friend, and they will share a few sentences that they have branded about them. Describe your favorite restaurant, and again, you will see that you share something unique it. This is something we naturally do. Jered then stresses, that you have the power to brand yourself to others. You can actually control the narrative of your customers.
Double Tree Cookies
DoubleTree Hotel has a unique way of creating their story with their customers. They laid out the customer experience and decided that they were going to make themselves rememberal at check-in. They fired up their ovens, broke out grandmas old cookie recipe and decided to bake home cooked cookies for every person who checked in to their hotel. This simple unique gesture raised their customer referral rate by 35%. The cookie, became a talking point when people talked about their stay in their hotel. It didnt matter at that point how soft the bed was, or if there was a mint on the pillow. The cookie stole the show.
What is Your Cookie?
Jered invites you to find your “cookie.” He breaks down a formula to help you conceptualize this technique in your business. The formula is the “4 R’s”. Relevant, Remarkable, Reasonable, and Repeatable. When coming up with your “cookie” you need to focus on a revelevent idea. You dont want to buy your clients new shoes, for example, when they become your client. It doesnt make sense and though is a nice gesture, just doesnt give them the story they need to tell.
You want to have your “cookie” be remarkable. If you stay extra long and really clean every corner, your customers will appreciate it, but its not remarkable. They are paying you to do that. Remarketable is when they are surprised by something that makes you unique.
This is were being reasonable makes more sense. If you told your customers that you were going to give them 50 free cleans for being your client, they probably would be suspicious of you. This is because its not reasonable. You want something small and reasonable to be your tagline in branding. Not something unbelievable. Lastly, once you lock on to your idea, you want to make sure it can be scaled or repeatable. Your goal is to grow, and the last thing you want is to have your “cookie” be a road block to your growth.
Get the team involved
The last idea Jered shares is to involve your staff in finding your ‘cookie’. This will help build company culture, show your staff that you care about your clients, and they will probably have some great ideas! So during your next staff meeting, gather everyone around and let them in on the “cookie” idea.
Final Takeaway: Creat a positive story for your clients to tell, finding your own ‘cookie’ is a great way to do that.
If you like what Jered had to say, and feel like the Grow my Cleaning Company team are the missing piece to help finally start seeing some major growth in your business, then jump on over to this link and book a call with us!