Steven Button
Administrator
...every been asked this?
What's your response?
I pressure wash
I provide exterior cleaning services
I provide commercial/residential pressure washing services
I'm a hood cleaner
I clean Kitchen Exhausts
I provide Deck Restoration services
I clean Fleets
...
Was thinking about this today, I get asked this a lot by people and think I could do more to take advantage of an opportunity to engage them...
"I run my own business, CleanFast USA, I specialize in... blah, blah, blah"
They've usually switched off... I want to get them interested, engage them, have an opportunity to ask them questions...
I've read a few articles and even phoned my old marketing lecturer back in Scotland to get a few thoughts and ideas on this. We discussed that it can be wise to take a step back from the process (even though the process may be your selling point) and look at how you, as part of the service, understand your business (customers, suppliers, competitors, organizations, equipment, process, knowledge...) and promote this directly and indirectly.
Possible ideas that could help with business vision/marketing:
Take the time to identify your 'main' customer base or target market and listen to them
identify suppliers - find out what they supply, stock levels, delivery time/cost,
find out who your competitors are and talk to them or at least be aware and respectful of them
Join or learn from organization/groups that are directly in your industry, in a related industry or orgs representing your customers
Learn about your equipment, find out about equipment that could expand your operation, make you job easier/more efficient/produce better results.
Acquire knowledge - research, research, research... if you don't know where to look, ask other people questions... or ask yourself the question
Consideration of all of these points will benefit you in terms of the vision you create for your business and how successfully you operate your business. A good comment that someone from one of the boards posted, and will always stick with me, was something along the lines of "it's the difference between managing a job, and operating a business".
It is very easy to get bogged down in the details of how a business vision and a marketing message may affect the potential success of my company, but I do feel that having a true understanding of what we are selling (not just pressure washing, or cleaning, or restoring...) can help bring more success.
Back to my initial point, how do you respond to the question, "what do you do?"...
Here's some points to consider (Irene Brooks, Small Business Consultant):
... and remember it's about the customer, not you!
apologies if this was a bit of a ramble... and I'm still in the process of practicing what I am preaching... y'kno actions louder than words!!!
What's your response?
I pressure wash
I provide exterior cleaning services
I provide commercial/residential pressure washing services
I'm a hood cleaner
I clean Kitchen Exhausts
I provide Deck Restoration services
I clean Fleets
...
Was thinking about this today, I get asked this a lot by people and think I could do more to take advantage of an opportunity to engage them...
"I run my own business, CleanFast USA, I specialize in... blah, blah, blah"
They've usually switched off... I want to get them interested, engage them, have an opportunity to ask them questions...
I've read a few articles and even phoned my old marketing lecturer back in Scotland to get a few thoughts and ideas on this. We discussed that it can be wise to take a step back from the process (even though the process may be your selling point) and look at how you, as part of the service, understand your business (customers, suppliers, competitors, organizations, equipment, process, knowledge...) and promote this directly and indirectly.
Possible ideas that could help with business vision/marketing:
Take the time to identify your 'main' customer base or target market and listen to them
identify suppliers - find out what they supply, stock levels, delivery time/cost,
find out who your competitors are and talk to them or at least be aware and respectful of them
Join or learn from organization/groups that are directly in your industry, in a related industry or orgs representing your customers
Learn about your equipment, find out about equipment that could expand your operation, make you job easier/more efficient/produce better results.
Acquire knowledge - research, research, research... if you don't know where to look, ask other people questions... or ask yourself the question
Consideration of all of these points will benefit you in terms of the vision you create for your business and how successfully you operate your business. A good comment that someone from one of the boards posted, and will always stick with me, was something along the lines of "it's the difference between managing a job, and operating a business".
It is very easy to get bogged down in the details of how a business vision and a marketing message may affect the potential success of my company, but I do feel that having a true understanding of what we are selling (not just pressure washing, or cleaning, or restoring...) can help bring more success.
Back to my initial point, how do you respond to the question, "what do you do?"...
Here's some points to consider (Irene Brooks, Small Business Consultant):
- Who you work with
- Problems you solve
- Solutions you provide
- Benefits you offer
- Results you produce
- Guarantee you give
- What is unique/special about your service
... and remember it's about the customer, not you!
apologies if this was a bit of a ramble... and I'm still in the process of practicing what I am preaching... y'kno actions louder than words!!!
