Training and Profit Connection NOVEMBER 2014

Hey, everybody, Kenny Chapman here, the Blue collar coach, coming to you with this month's training and profit connection video. And this month, I want to talk to you about something that's a little bit sensitive as far as time, a little related to what's going on at the moment. And that is, how are we showing gratitude to our clients? How are we showing them each and every time, each and every experience, each and every opportunity that we get to really reward them and help them understand? So we reached out to our clients here from the Blue Collar Success Group and many contractors just like you, and we said, what do you think? What can we do during this holiday season to show our clients what we really, really mean, what they mean to us, rather? And so here's the thing. Five things I want to share. First thing is our clients came back to us and said, you know what? First off, just treat them right. Just show them that you care. Treat them like grandma. Think about that. How you would be in Grandma's, how you would to treat her property, the things that you would offer to enhance her life, enhance her service experience. Just do those things for grandma the way that you would so position yourself to treat your customers like you would grandma. We all think about the golden rule. You might be quick to dismiss this and say, oh, Kati, that's what we do every day. That's what we strive to do every day. I get that and I understand that. But I'm saying that you'll refocus your team if you'll have a meeting and do some discussion and talk about the fact that, hey, we can really refocus here because now is the time. A lot of people are more focused on giving back. A lot of people are more focused on gratitude times right now that are sensitive to this. Let's utilize that. Let's piggyback on that and help you and your customers feel a lot better. Now, the second thing they said was get involved with the food banks, community clothing, drives, different things like that. Me personally, the last two companies I've done on sites with in the last two weeks have been their trucks have been rolling collection points for food banks and for drives and different things like that. And some of them give a discount if they do donate some food, and others will take that discount if the customer doesn't want it. Apply it to the food bank, whatever it is. But you can kick it up another notch and donate on behalf of your clients, not just your company. Be mindful. Think of that third thing. Thank you cards. Thank you cards are big. Think about this. When's the last time you got a thank you card? Number one? Number two, when's the last time you got a thank you card from a service provider? You're probably going back a minute now, aren't you? Because we get them and they feel good, but generally we don't get one from service providers. You might have a system as many of our clients do in place where if somebody invests a certain amount or a certain number, then they do get a thank you card from you. I'm talking about your everyday service agreement clients, your everyday clients that you're going to see during this holiday season. How could you thank them a little bit more there? Now another thing that came up was trade specific. What about a little freebie, little free checks, little things that we can do. How about a free disposal check while you're in the home as we head into the cooking season here, if you're a plumber or if you're in the H Vac, what if you just give away free filters for the month of December? Different things like that electrical, Maybe you install a new USB outlet instead of just a regular outlet or something that just a little thing. Now this isn't about looking and finding things to have your clients invest. This is about providing tremendous value for them as a way to demonstrate, thanking them for being our clients. We spent a lot of time on this in the training that we do with technicians, when we train them in our schools, when we train them online, when we train them in person and doing ride alongs, those different things. It's about showing gratitude, moving this up in the process. Most people are thanked for a transaction after they've already exchanged money. How can we thank people earlier on? Your clients have a lot of choices and they've made a decision to choose you. I don't know about you, but I'm very grateful for that opportunity. I think we need to demonstrate that to them to the best of our ability. Last but not least, they said throw some home safety tips to keep your family safe during the holiday season. This can be done in many ways. You can do this through your traditional written newsletter. That could be an electronic newsletter. They use, just a simple email blast. That could be a Facebook campaign where you post some different things, but based on your trade, based on your expertise as your position to be the expert in your market. What are some home safety tips for your clients? Just brainstorm this. Have a meeting with your team, get them involved, have them be thinking of how can we really demonstrate during this holiday season how much we really appreciate our client base. I'm Kenny Chapman, the blue collar coach. Until we talk again, have a better than fantastic week and I'll see you next time.