Why You Should NOT Take Your Money and Run If You Want LOADS of Window Cleaning Business Success
November 19, 2007 – 1:43 pmYes – I said it.
When you have found a client who has decided to move forward, and they ask you “Should I leave a cheque in the mailbox for you?”, always refuse. Yes, refuse.
Insist, instead, that they pay only AFTER they have had a chance to inspect your work, they are completely satisfied, and they have no concerns or questions. Then explain that you will be happy to either mail them their invoice, or email it to them, whichever they prefer.
This accomplishes 2 very important things for your window cleaning business:
Important Thing Number 1: It immediately heightens their respect and appreciation for your services, even before they have used them. It communicates to your client that you are the real deal, an old-school businessperson who really stands behind their workmanship, and is committed to delivering on your promises. I have yet to explain this payment structure to my clients, without them responding “Wow – I like that, that sounds great!”
And if you really are intending to come through on your promise, then you have nothing to worry about anyway, right?
And on the flip side, if you are scared that the client may take advantage of you, and is intending to rip you off, and bounce a cheque or something, the cheque they leave on the ‘day of’ service will be just as rubbery as the one in the mail a week or two later.
In fact, this kind of honest and reliable business practice can even inspire a dishonest client to pay a bill when they weren’t necessarily intending to do so from the start.
Important Thing Number 2: It gives you their full contact information for marketing follow-up, since they will happily provide detailed information, since you’ve given them the upper hand on the deal. Now, once the work is done, they are happy, and they’ve paid their bill, you can mail out your monthly newsletter, and send them emails, and they will welcome them, since you have earned a little more of their trust.
So, remember, the next time a new client offers to ‘Leave a cheque in the mailbox for you on the day the work is completed’, train yourself to respond: “Thank you for your offer of prompt payment. We sincerely appreciate it! It’s our company policy to never accept payment from our valuable clients, until they are completely satisfied. Once the work is done, and you are totally pleased, we’ll be happy to submit your invoice, and accept your payment.”
At this point, we hear “Wow”, etc, from our clients, and the valuable business objectives above start churning away…
Then I say:
“Would you prefer that we mail it out to you, or would you prefer that we email it? Either way is fine with us, it’s totally up to you.”
I have also found it effective to add at this point:
“Are you an email kinda person?”, providing a very slight push towards the email invoice format, since I have a nice little email marketing program in place, and want to capitalize on it. And, of course, in this day and age, only the oldest of the old school don’t want to be thought of as “email kinda people”, so that crafty little question also pushes some psychological buttons that will motivate them to cough up a good email address, likely the best one.
To increase your chances of receiving the best email address, you could ask:
“What email address would be appropriate for an important document?”
To learn all about the advanced email strategies that I have used to charge higher prices, and secure some excellent clients, check out my Window Cleaning Business Blueprint, now available for immediate use in your business, too.
You must be logged in to post a comment.