Do you tell customer your Competitors Suck?

Christopher said:
I was about to clean one of my new locations and asked them about a part of it and they said that it was already done. Hmmmmmm............
The floor was very dirty and had old sealer there and they told me it was just cleaned last week. I asked them if it got that dirty in a week and they told me yes.

I was thinking that maybe it was just not cleaned that good but I was not going to bad talk or bash the current cleaner but I wanted to see if I could get it cleaner but in a tactful way ask them if I could.

I asked them if I could do a quick demo to see what I could do and the manager said ok.

We talked a little bit and he said that he was happy that the current guy has a vacuum surface cleaner so the manager does not need to pay 3 employees a few hours squeegeeing but that contractor cannot get the place that clean.

This is the same situation that got me 2 locations 4.5 years ago and they have been using me since. They told me that they had every company in town try to clean the areas and even a couple from out of town but they could not get it that clean.

I cranked up the machine and got the classic out and turned on the burner and let the water get hot. I did not have time to spray hot soap down as they were trying to leave for the day so not a lot of time there.

I did a small spot and got it cleaner than their current contractor and layers of stuff that had been down for years.

I asked the manager if it was worth it to pay a few guys a couple hours squeegeeing to get it that clean or is he really happy with his current contractor.

I asked what his budget is for cleaning and it is about the same as what I charge here. I told him to think about it and let me know as the managers here are very happy with my work and have turned down other contractors when they ask for work.

The manager told me that he wants me to do the work from now on and since they already spent the money they want me back there in 3 months for a good cleaning and that is the start of a great relationship.

I am very happy. Cool!
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This sounds like the same customers I have up here in DFW. Especially the old sealer part and the 90 day part. I got 78 of them by doing the exact same thing here.
 
cpw77 said:
I totally agree that bashing competitors is the wrong way to go. I just spend my time selling the service that my company will provide and that usually works just fine.
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+10... Couldn't agree more. :thumbup2:
 
No need to bad mouth your competition when a Free Demo speaks the truth !!
 
It's like watching all these political commercials. If you can't run on your own merits get out of the race....
 
Steven Button said:
I don't bad mouth competitors or use the words "previous" or "existing contractor" when talking about work that has been done - I sell on the merits of what CleanFast USA offers. However, in giving an analysis of the condition of a sidewalk or building
where someone has obviously blasted the tits out of it, I will say 'someone' has been negligent at one time in the method used to try and clean this.

Good, bad or indifferent, I will tell them what I see - while I want our service to be part of the 'education' in what is good or bad, it does no harm to highlight some reasons for poor quality work.
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DITTO!
I will say to them that "this is what I see" and "this is what I think was done in the past". Then I explain what we do and why. Then I explain how we follow up. It is amazing how many times the last one to work on the job was the person I am talking to...the look on their face says it all. Or they watched it being done.....just the way I described it. Most will then open up and explain in detail what they did or saw. This routine has enlightened me in many ways so I can better identify what I am looking at and it always leaves the customer knowing that I know my business...that usually means my higher quote is worth the money in their eyes! Always show the customer you know what you are doing..without bashing. I will even compliment the previous work done but then add what else we would have done to do it even better in a meaningful way.
Never be suckered into any bashing
 
Scott D. said:
I've been in sales for 8 years, and have learned that bashing the competition makes you look insecure, like you are hiding something yourself. It will never win you contracts. Even if they start it, I don't agree or disagree.
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Your right, I agree 1000%%%%%
 
This is just bad business. There is no reason to bash your competetion even if you know they doing the same to you. The best way I have seen to show up the competition is mandatory after service follow reports and photos. If its one man show remember to take befoe and after photos, if you have multiple crews give the supervisor a camera and make him/her take the pictures. Its a service that has gone a long for me.

The old adage that a picture speaks a thousand words is absolutely spot on. The only problem with it is if the client doesn't want to listen or look, they are going to continue to get crappy service and be happy with it.
 
sometimes a customer will make up something and say that your competitor said this about you. it's just bait to get a better price...don't bite it. my competitors around here are real professionals and fortunately i have not run into that situation.

rando
 
rando said:
sometimes a customer will make up something and say that your competitor said this about you. it's just bait to get a better price...don't bite it. my competitors around here are real professionals and fortunately i have not run into that situation.

rando
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Wish that was true on my end Randy. New guy in Hope Mills bad mouthed me using bleach to one of my PM's, they knew it was BS and gave us 2 more properties.

I always tell my customers there are only 2 other Professional Washers in our area.....You & Tony.
 
thanks guy! i've got your back too! pm me on the new guy in hope mills. i'd like to know who you are talking about.

rando
 
Guy Blackmon said:
Wish that was true on my end Randy. New guy in Hope Mills bad mouthed me using bleach to one of my PM's, they knew it was BS and gave us 2 more properties.

I always tell my customers there are only 2 other Professional Washers in our area.....You & Tony.
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Guy just went to the Louisville home and garden show this past week to check out the other pressewashers in the area. All used high pressure ......:nono:eek:n house's. I asked one guy if they use bleach and he said no it hurts the house. I said really .....Do you have any pictures of this? No ....Hum I said Well I have a whole computer folder of pics where people using high pressure on house's messes them(houses) up.........I walked off after that. I figured by then he knew I was in pressure washing and not a future customer. Then of course there was the people selling lifetime guarantee wood sealers there.......that's another story.
 
Lou Zehnder said:
Guy just went to the Louisville home and garden show this past week to check out the other pressewashers in the area. All used high pressure ......:nono:eek:n house's. I asked one guy if they use bleach and he said no it hurts the house. I said really .....Do you have any pictures of this? No ....Hum I said Well I have a whole computer folder of pics where people using high pressure on house's messes them(houses) up.........I walked off after that. I figured by then he knew I was in pressure washing and not a future customer. Then of course there was the people selling lifetime guarantee wood sealers there.......that's another story.
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Dirty Lou!!!!!

Hey Man, why didn't you have a booth there??? I'd be out selling the crap out of the other guys!!!!
 
Ron Musgraves said:
I think I have never had a good outcome, most people will let you know and tell you that they chose you because you didnt bad mouth them.

I have even actually had people bait me for negative comments.
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My biggest customer baited me when I 1st started working for him. He owns 36 stores and I was already cleaning one of them (manager hired me). I went in to ask for more of their stores and he asked me about a couple of guys that were fairly close to me. I didn't know anything much on either guy, so I just told him that I didn't have anything bad to say about either one and couldn't blame him if he wanted to "shop around". Also when I asked for more stores he said " Hmmm for a $100 bill I can give you all the stores you want", it hit me the wrong way and I just got up and left! I told him on the way out that I don't work that way. He called a couple hours later and gave me like 6 stores and promised that as he needed more done he would offer them to me 1st. We now do over $100,000/yr in sales with this one company! We do about half of his pressure washing and he has offered me the other stores a couple times but they are pretty far from me and he already has someone doing them (they have been doing them for years before I came along) and the store are in the other guys area so he is a little cheaper than me.
 
its always bizarre to me when someone talks bad about thier competitors and I wont hire anyone who does that. If I lose a job and the customer tells me whom he gave it too, I say"'I dont know them but Im sure they'll do a fine job for you"
There is one guy locally that is always cheaper than me, but he does great work and im happy to relay that to the customer.
What goes around comes around.
 
I just let my work do the talking, no need to tell the customer what they can see. I had a new customer a few weeks ago call me up and had me do a piece of heavy equipment that was really greasy and dirty. When I was done they raved about how clean it was and bashed the last guy pretty badly, it seemed he was new to the industry. Never asked for his name, didn't really need to know as it really made no difference.

I am not perfect I have fallen into the trap before, but I have learned that you come out worse in the end then if you just let your work do the talking.
 
I don't tend to bash my competition. What I do is I explain to my potential clients what I can do to improve the service I will provide to them. Bashing my competitor seems to be very unprofessional and the client will immediately see that. You are the image of your company and the way they think of you is the way that think of your company.
 
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