Window Cleaning Success

How To Get Window Cleaning Referrals

October 6th, 2009 Posted in Window Cleaning Information, Window Cleaning Tips

When I first began to seriously study marketing, I learned about many fascinating resources that enabled me to build my businesses much more quickly and effectively than other business owners within the window cleaning industry.

And of all the strategies that I’ve used to grow my businesses (and that I teach), there is one that is my favorite, hands down.

I have since named this strategy:

“The Referral Flood Formula”

But before we talk about the formula, there are two critical concepts that you need to grasp.

First off, people prefer to hire window cleaners whom they know, know about, respect, like and trust on a personal level. Sounds like common sense, right?

But when it comes to generating referrals, you have to start to look at the world through your prospective customers’ eyes.

Stop and consider that for a minute…

Think about how YOU make a decision to hire any contractor or even a doctor, lawyer or any other provider of services.

You feel more comfortable if you KNOW them or if you KNOW ABOUT them, right?

The more RESPECT you have for their expertise, experience and knowledge, the more comfortable you feel about hiring them.

And when you feel like you can TRUST them, and if you really LIKE them, then it’s really a no-brainer as to who you will choose as your sole provider.

And a large majority of the time that’s without even considering any other options, taking bids or shopping prices.

Secondly, you need to realize this: People feel accountable and take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for the results of their referrals.

You will NOT get referrals unless people are certain that you will provide your services at an exceptional level.

Referrals reflect directly back on the person who MAKES them. And nobody wants to be perceived as an idiot by referring an unworthy window cleaner.

Are you with me?

Alright, with that in mind, let’s talk about my Referral Flood formula. In fact, I have this same formula written on a note card at my desk and refer to it frequently.

Here’s the formula:

STRONG RELATIONSHIP + WARM NURTURING +
FREQUENT COMMUNICATION = BIG-TIME REFERRALS!

Let’s take a closer look…

STRONG RELATIONSHIP:

What exactly does this mean?

Well, it’s the answer to the FIRST simple concept I talked about above. But it’s more than just that. It’s about the QUALITY of the relationships you have in your business.

A strong relationship means that people feel like:

• They know you, and like you
• You’re competent in the work you do
• They can trust you
• They naturally want to work with you.

And the good news is that ALL of these things are controlled by YOU.

• YOU control how FREQUENTLY you communicate with them
• YOU control the VALUE you provide to them
• YOU control their perception of your competence

Let’s move on to the next part of the formula.

WARM NURTURING: What do I mean here?

For most window cleaners, the only reason they contact anyone is to ask for business or to collect money. So people are usually ‘on the edge’ and skeptical in their relationships with window cleaners.

That’s a bad type of relationship to have with people.

But it’s different for window cleaners who use “welcomed” contact, greeting cards, or their own company newsletters.

See, first and foremost you must fill your communications with top-quality, DESIRABLE information about Window Cleaning, Home Improvement, Consumer news, Financial Tips, funny jokes, teasers, and several ‘involvement’ and response devices.

Specifically designed to do ONE thing:

Make your reader feel WELCOME!

It’s a HUGE MISTAKE to send out information only about the services you offer.That’s because you’ll lose the readership of people who are not looking to purchase anything new right now.

By sending out a newsletter or communication that is service or product specific, you miss out on the relationship building aspect (which is the whole point of sending it out in the first place).

BOTTOM LINE: Anything you send out must be WELCOMED and ENJOYED each month to be effective.

Let’s move on to the THIRD part of the formula:

FREQUENT COMMUNICATION: What do I mean by this?

There are actually 2 parts to “frequent communication”.

First, there is “frequent”.

MULTIPLE studies within the direct marketing industry have repeatedly shown that for every month you fail to make contact with your customers, prospects and referral sources, YOU LOSE 10% of the value of your customer base.

Think about that.

Enough said.

Secondly, there is ‘communication’. When you send someone something of value (like an interesting and stimulating newsletter) people naturally want to reciprocate with you. That’s human nature.

And when you let them know exactly HOW you want them to reciprocate, they will do it.

So…

• Tell people that you rely on referrals to run your business
• Tell people that you welcome their referrals
• Reward people when they do send a referral
• Reciprocate with them by sending referrals to your clients as well

I really hope you’ve found this information helpful and that you will make a conscious and systematic effort this year to improve your referral based marketing. We all know that referrals are the best new clients we can acquire.

As I mentioned earlier, most of this is common sense and you’ve probably heard it somewhere before. But if you’re anything like me it really helps to hear it again. My hopes are that this article will prompt you to take action right away.