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First Rule of Sales: Never Knock the Competition

Never forget this: The first rule of sales is to never knock the competition. I’ve never don much sales cold calling in my career, so my experience was limited until I started my office cleaning company. And over the past three years I’ve learned a lot in terms of sales as a whole, cold calling and approaching potential clients. One of the first rules I was taught when I started making my way around and pitching my cleaning services was to never know the competition. It’s sales basic, yet many relish at the opportunity to bash the competitors.

Even though you’ll behave yourself when you do your sales pitch, one thing is certain is that you can’t control what others will say about you or your business. What if you walk into a potential client’s office and through your pitch they let you know something negative was said about you by your competition? Maybe your potential customer is making it up or maybe it’s true, but how can you tell? One thing is for certain is that you have to respond.

The question is: How do you respond professionally without sounding defensive?

Here are a few tips on how to respond to a “knock on you or your business” in a professional manner.

Accept the Reality

Being prepared is half the battle to successfully responding to criticism. You must accept the reality that others will talk about your business or at times about yourself in an unfair and untrue manner. That’s how certain sales people stoop low, without much regard for the other side. Over the course of your business life span and cold calling career, you’ll have ample opportunities to respond to some form of negativity aimed at your business. Be prepared and know what you’ll say in return, the last position you want to be is pondering your answer.

Good Response Example

“Company 123 is a tough competitor. They’ve been in the industry for many years, and we know this because we compete with them on a daily basis. Like any other business, if they weren’t good they wouldn’t be in the business or competing with us. I try and stay in tune with my competitor’s products and services as much as possible, and rest assured that when it comes to quality, top notch service and reliability, our company is second to none in this market”.

The above would be a solid response in my books. Regardless what was said about you, you’ve risen above by elevating yourself above the fray. More importantly you come across as a class act towards your customer, and all because you didn’t allow a comment to affect you. Furthermore, whether you use the above response or respond in your own manner, the key is to put together a response on the offensive and not come off defensive. This will show your confidence and in turn you’ll avoid a long unnecessary explanation.

Some Reasons Why Your Service or Product is More Superior

Here are three reasons I’d focus on in your response:

  1. Quality of your product or service
  2. Customer service
  3. Yourself and what you bring to the table through your company

Emphasize why your product or service might be superior to those of your competitors, and don’t be afraid to use numbers. For example, I generally try to give the customer a rough schedule of what I’d do during the clean if I was cleaning his facility. Next, I try to emphasize on how we can make full use of the time were there, such as possibly only dusting once a week and using the extra time to focus elsewhere. Finally, when you mention something your company offers, be sure to remind the customer what the benefit is to him or her.

Final Thoughts

From time to time you may have to deflect negative statements some of your competitors make about you or your company, but staying true to sales professionalism well never all yourself to be sucked into the competition contest of “they said”.  Being prepared with your response will keep you on the offensive and prevent you from having to back peddle.

Readers, have you ever walked into a situation where you were called out on what your competition said?

Cheers.
Eddie

Photo Credit (playpennies)

The Online Pawn Shop – Discretion Guaranteed!

The year 2008 will perhaps be remembered as the year that Lehman Brothers collapsed and nearly brought down the global economy with it.

However, 2008 was also the year that saw the rebirth of the pawn shop in London- pawn shop 2.0 if you will.

Now, in the annuls of history, this may not be up there with the Lehman Brothers fall from grace, however, in years to come we may come to look at this development as being significant in the world of personal finance at least.

At this point, you may be thinking ‘Pawn shops? Why on earth would I even consider going to one of these dirty, dingy, unpleasant places?’

However, as previously stated, 2008 was the year that pawn shop 2.0 was born.

By this we mean the new, high-end, online pawn shop. These are not places where you can raise £50 from selling a PlayStation, these are places where you can secure a £5,000 loan against your Rolex or a £15,000 loan against your classic Jaguar.

Pawn Shops for the Middle Class

There are few groups who can say they have escaped the effects of the economic downturn unscathed.

The middle and upper classes have been severely hit by the anemic global economy and many find themselves in a position where they have a Ferrari in the garage but no food in their fridge.

Such a situation will not do, but for many, the thought of going into a pawn shop with the chance of a neighbor seeing is unthinkable.

Thanks to the internet and online pawn shops, this is not an issue.

A high-end pawnbroker can provide loans against a range of assets, with everything from diamond rings to yachts taken into consideration.

The online application process is incredibly easy – you simply fill in the application form, send your valuables in to the valuation team and if you are happy with the price quoted, take out the loan.

This process ticks three important boxes – it is easy, quick and most importantly of all, it is extremely discreet.

The neighbors have no way of knowing you have applied for a short-term pawnbroker loan, so you do not need to worry about the rest of the street whispering about your personal affairs.

Some Important Points About Pawn Shop Loans

Pawnbroker loans are loans at the end of the day so you need to know about interest rates, repayment periods and the rest.

The APRs associated with pawn shop loans are higher than those attached to bank loans, however, they are designed to be short-term products, so you need to look at the APR and work out the monthly interest rate to know what you are paying.

In terms of the repayment period, such loans are typically taken out for between one and six months, although some lenders may be willing to extend the repayment period where necessary.

A Word of Caution

As the interest rates are high, the longer you take to repay the loan, the more expensive they become, so be careful.

Running into financial problems is nothing to be ashamed of, particularly if they are temporary in nature.

Many people are struggling, even those who on the surface appear to be doing well.

Online pawn shops can help ease your short-term cash flow problems, so why not explore how they can help you?

Readers, have you ever been to a pawnshop? Did business with one?

What Should You Charge For Your Cleaning Service?

You’ve worked hard at getting your name out on the street, and finally you’re gaining interest from potential clients – they want a quote. And now you’re left wondering; “How much should I charge for my cleaning service?”. There really is no right answer, however you don’t want to overcharge by submitting a quote that is significantly higher than the competitors.

Your price could make a big difference between your business and other cleaning companies in this industry.

I’ll be honest and say that setting prices was the most difficult part for me when I started out. Numerous opportunities for quotes kept popping up, yet I had a tough time deciding on a price to charge. Should I charge hourly? Per square footage? or should I charge a flat fee per cleaning visit?

I was concerned with making a buck, but more importantly I wanted to stay competitive right from the beginning. One thing that you should always do, and I follow this religiously – evaluate the job before you quote.

Fresh on the Scene

I’ll never forget quoting my first job. Part of me was overwhelmed to have the opportunity to quote and another part of me was nervous not to mess up. I visited the local office earlier and got a call back for a quote. Rather than giving any numbers over the phone, I promised to drop by and speak in person. Between me and you though, I was stalling and buying time. I had no clue what to quote.

Anyways, I finally got to the office, took a tour with the manger and evaluated the facility and what needed to be cleaned. I took my sweet time and made small talk with the office manager. I asked some important questions to gauge my quote based on the response:

  • Do you have a particular time limit that the office needs to be cleaned?
  • Are we supplying the cleaning supplies or will you be supplying?
  • Has anyone previously cleaned this office?
  • What happened to them? How much did they charge?

Based on the four answers to the questions above, I’m quickly able to come to a very rough estimate of what I’m going to charge. Sometimes you won’t get the answer to all four questions, but try your best.  The key to asking questions is making them personable and not make the other person feel like they’re in an interview.

What I Quoted

During the office tour/evaluation, the manager mentioned to me that they previously had one of the girls clean the office before or after work. She is no longer with the company, and that’s why they were looking for a cleaning company. The manager also mentioned that they paid the girl $300 per month to clean the office three times per week.

So, based on the above info that I was able to squeeze out of the manager, I went ahead and quoted the following:

Total Billable Hours: 24 Hrs (2 hours per day x 3 days per week x 4 weeks)

Supplies: $50 / month (my cost was  $25 roughly)

Total Per Month: $400 + Taxes

In spirit of helping you price your jobs more easier, here are some tips to help you determine how much you should charge for a particular cleaning job:

Hourly

By the Hour

Pricing by the hour is the norm for charging clients in commercial or residential cleaning scenarios.It’s the most simplest process. You consider how many rooms the location has and how long on average it will take you per room.

It would be wise to give your self some cushion on time, but don’t abuse it either. If you’re hiring staff, don’t forget to multiply this by the hourly rate of your staff to get the total cost of labor then add on the total amount of other expenses.

When I first started quoting the average hourly rate I charged was $15 per hour. A year after establishing my business and having prepared hundreds of quotes, I became more comfortable, and started to quote higher hourly rates.

If at all possible try to determine the going rates in your area. This way, you’ll have a rough estimate on how much fee would be acceptable or whether you can have the same pricing structure.

By Square Footage

 

Pricing by the square foot is most common in commercial cleaning service. But don’t forget that rates may change depending on the location. To get an estimate on how much to charge, you need to go to the business establishment and check the following:

  • Total square feet
  • Floor surface type (vinyl flooring, carpet, or ceramic tile)
  • Entire area (types of rooms, number of toilets, restrooms, office, etc)
  • Specific service required (dusting, mopping or vacuuming, cleaning restrooms, etc)

You may also need to adjust your price rate per square foot as the building size increases. Meaning, you need to decrease your usual rate per square foot if you’ll have to provide service to a building with 13000 total square feet than you would to a building with 4000 square feet.

As a new cleaning business, setting prices will be one of the most difficult and daunting tasks for you. It will take time before you truly become comfortable.  You’re in business to earn a profit and make a living. It is not wise to set your prices too low just to attract clients as you will not just be making enough profit. So this won’t give you an assurance that you will be in the business for so long. Besides, you’ll just be hurting the whole cleaning industry and you’ll just have a hard time to raise your rates in the future.

Photo Credit (tml)