Here are some tips to remember when using an 'in-person, no appointment' approach:
Usually you will encounter a receptionist first. Find out who would be the decision-maker on hiring their outside cleaning services, and then ask if they are in and if you might be able to speak with them for a minute. If the receptionist calls them on the phone or leaves the room to announce you, hand her your business card so she has it for reference.
When you do have an opportunity to meet the manager, start out by introducing yourself and your company, and then ask if this is a good time for you to talk together for "just a few minutes."
If the answer is "yes" be brief, to the point, and well prepared in advance with any visual materials you are using. Find out what outside cleaning services, if any, they have now and how these might be improved upon. A good question to ask is "Are you 100% satisfied with your current sweeping contractor's quality, consistency and price?" Many times they will say that they're happy with everything but price. Asking this question not only gets their curiosity aroused, but it also generates the interest you need for your presentation.
If it isn't convenient for them to meet with you at the time you stopped in, exchange business cards and find out when is the best time to give a presentation. Before you leave, find out what the boundaries are for their property so that you can prepare a recommendation of service intervals and an estimate of cost prior to your presentation.
Don't be afraid to ask how often they are having the area swept currently and what it is costing them. More often than not they will tell you. Jot this information down on the back of their business card, so you will have it for reference later.
If someone doesn't have enough time for you to provide your complete presentation right then, don't get caught in the trap of giving them just some of your information. If you give them a little, then they won't have enough to make a decision, yet won't be motivated to set aside time in the future for an actual appointment. Stay professional and in control.
In each such situation you will have to decide when to leave a brochure and when not to. In many instances when you can't speak to the manager while you're there, the best alternative is to leave your card and a brochure, along with a promise that you'll call back on the phone to speak with the manager after he's had a chance to take a look at the information.
If you can't get him to realize that you are a professional, he won't pay attention to what you are telling him, and your chances of signing him up for sweeping services is nil. Sell yourself first, then sell your sweeping. The best approach is one that leads the prospect into relating to you as a person, as well as a provider of an important service to his organization.
Prior to getting together face-to-face you will often find it to your advantage to survey the parking area and develop at least a ballpark estimate of what your service frequency recommendation and price per sweep will be. Whether or not you choose to divulge that information in the initial meeting is up to you, but you will be much better prepared if you have at least done that much homework.
What might be called "the science of making presentations" is well-documented. The following information adapts this science to this specific business. A good approach normally consists of a series of opening statements which have 2 steps:
Following the Greeting may come a minute or two of 'warm-up' or 'small talk,' but don't forget that both of you are busy people, with busy schedules. It is by far best if you can steer any such to conversation about items of interest to the prospect, and/or ones which provide you with information about their organization. You don't want to just rush into your presentation from the Greeting, but don't forget that you have a finite amount of time in each meeting, and the more you can spend on topics which will help sell sweeping services, the better. In any event, don't wait more than 5 minutes before coming to the second opening step to your presentation, which is:
You might be talking about the way the area's businesses have grown, and then insert the conversational bridge of "And that's one of the reasons that it's becoming more and more important to maintain an exterior appearance that is clean and neat at all times. That's the service we provide."
The important point to remember with the conversational bridge is that you use it to move on to the topic at hand - selling them on using the services of your sweeping company.
One of these is going to be the sweeper you operate. The Schwarze Supervac is by far the most powerful, efficient and dependable piece of equipment you could be using for cleaning he prospect's parking area. Tout your sweeper as one of the reasons you will do a good job.
You also have an advantage because you are the owner of the business. Even though you haven't been in this business for long, don't hesitate to bring in information from your previous work or personal history which shows that you have done what you said you would. The person in front of you must be convinced of either one or two items before they will hire you: If they don't currently have a cleaning service doing the job, the first is that they need their parking areas cleaned by a professional sweeping company. The other is that you are the best company for the job. By taking a moment to establish your credentials to the prospect, you will be laying the groundwork for proving that your company deserves their business, regardless of their current situation.
1. That the person you are meeting with is the decision- maker for sweeping services.
2. Whether or not they currently have sweeping services being performed by another company, or hand pick the lots themselves.
If you are not speaking to the decision-maker, you may well be wasting your time at this appointment. Find out who does make this decision and how you can set up an appointment with them. A tougher call for you to make is in the matter of partnerships. Sometimes the prospect will tell you that he and his partner or another member of the firm make this decision together. It is typically much better to make your presentation to both at once; if that is not possible, then you need to make it to the person present.
More than likely, however, you will be with the decision-maker for sweeping services, and the prospect's company either will or will not currently have a sweeping contractor doing the job for them. If they do not now have a contractor doing sweeping then you should structure your questions in such a way as to find out why not, what they do now to keep their parking areas cleaned, etc.
Under this circumstance you will want to focus your presentation first on showing the value of having such a service provided, and then of contracting with your company to perform the work. Some information which will assist you in this, called Why Keep Business Parking Areas Clean?, is located in the Support Material section of this manual.
If the prospect has another sweeping contractor now providing services to him, your first mission should be to find out everything you can about the current arrangement. Are they 100% happy with all aspects of service, including number of sweeps per month, quality of service and price? Don't be afraid to ask for this information, including details of what they currently pay. Keep in mind that the answers they give you may not be truthful, however. In the area of what they are paying, especially, they may tell you a dollar amount which is less than accurate.
Still, you will usually find that this line of questioning will prove to be a valuable way to gain information of help to you in your presentation. When prospects talk to you about their current service, perceived level of need, etc., listen carefully and take notes. By asking leading questions and then listening to a prospect, you will be able to isolate what his or her 'hot buttons' are. Only then will you be able to structure your own presentation in such a way as to address these pertinent issues. That will help you to illustrate how you will be able to provide the needed solutions.
As an example, you may be excited that you have a curb broom on your new sweeper. The potential client is unmoved, however, and the more you talk about its features - how it is adjustable up and down as well as on angle, how you can adjust the rotation - the more likely it is that the prospect will go to sleep!
What he is interested in is the benefit to him and his organization that you have a curb broom. For example, let's say that you have taken a look at the job his current sweeping contractor is doing and have noticed that the curb lines simply aren't getting clean. The benefit of your curb broom is that it will scrub his curb lines clean, getting up the accumulated paper and other trash that is now trapped there.
Your prospect will care little, if at all, that this minor miracle will be accomplished by a completely hydraulic device. What he will be much more interested to hear is how he will save money and have a better job done because you have an easy way to get his curb line clean.
Explain that developing a scheduled sweeping program is very cost-effective. In fact, it may actually save him money in the long run, because loose dirt and and other debris irritates the costly sealcoating and striping that must be maintained on parking areas. Sweeping up this debris will prolong the life of the pavement, and dramatically reduce the need for these relatively costly repairs.
Especially if a prospect does not now have their property swept, be sure to bring up the benefits sweeping provides to the interior floor surfaces. Because a significantly smaller amount of dirt and grit will be tracked into the inside business area, the cost of interior floor maintenance will go down. It will also increase the useful service life of the inside floor area.
Another good example of a benefit of sweeping is illustrated by the story of the mall which was sued over a slip-and-fall incident, and was found to be not liable by the state's Supreme Court largely as a result of having contracted for nightly sweeping service (see Shopping Center Finds Sweeper Service Key To Winning Lawsuit, located in the Support Material section of this manual.) You will find that this type of true story, in which someone similar to the prospect has either received a benefit or avoided a loss, will be helpful in your presentation. Be sure such stories are true, brief, and relevant to the prospect's own needs before you tell them, however.
Also included in the Support Material section is a listing which lists many of the reasons why sweeping is beneficial. It is entitled Why Keep Business Parking Areas Clean?.
Beware a situation in which you do all of the talking for more than 5 minutes. A monotonous droning of facts, figures and examples can serve to put someone mentally to sleep. Look for ways to involve them in what you are saying, preferably by asking questions in which their expected answer will express agreement to what you are offering. Even just asking if they have any questions will serve to keep them involved.
Also keep watch for expressions of interest from them, and act upon these in a fashion which is positive for your cause. Put it back to them for clarification, and to prove to both of you that they have decided that you are the company for them. For example, if the prospect says "When could you get started if I decided to do this?", you might answer with "When would you like me to get started?" Let their answer confirm their buying decision.
Another good illustration technique is the 'before and after comparison.' This can be done by telling a story about how another of your customers felt their business was helped and their liability decreased by contracting for your cleaning services. It won't be long before you will have several of these examples.
By and large, however, it is of course better if you can provide the same level of service at a lower cost, or better service at the same cost. On the other hand, one of the best ways to bankrupt your business is to win all the low bids. It simply won't happen, for you or for anyone else.
One of the toughest situations to sell is where the prospect currently has no one cleaning. This means that they do not yet see the value in contracting for sweeping services. In this instance especially, one of the ways to minimize cost is to break it down into a small number. For example, you might ask what the approximate total overhead of the mall is per month, then take the answer and divide it into the cost of sweeping per month.
Let's say that the property manager tells you that the mall currently has an overhead of $15,000 a month, and your bid for sweeping services is $300 per month. If you divide $300 by $15,000, you get .02 or 2%. A two percent addition to what is already being paid is not much of an additional increase.
Another way to break down cost might be per customer. Let's suppose that the manager estimates that 8,000 people per month shop at the mall's stores. Using the same $300 cost per month for sweeping, that works out to (300 divided by 8,000) an additional overhead of just $0.0375, or under 4 cents per shopper. This seems like a ridiculously low number, especially since even more shoppers will patronize the stores because of the mall's new cleaner appearance.
In your summary you want to summarize the benefits, and then provide a lead-in to your closing statement. Some examples of summarizing statements are:
The intent is not to ask for a decision quite yet, but rather to quickly restate all the benefits and thus rebuild the value in what you have to offer just prior to asking for the sale. After giving the summary of benefits, ask for the sale.
In this particular business, this could take several forms. One is that they will want you to do a survey of their parking area and make a firm proposal (that's why it is typically better if you have already done the survey and can provide them with this on the spot). Another is that they will agree to what you have told them and indicate their willingness for you to get started. They may also have some additional questions they want to ask.
Whatever you do, always ask for their business! You just spent all this time with them, so don't leave without actually asking that they start having their property swept by you. And, when you do, assume that the sale has been successfully completed. When you have answered all their questions, ask a final question such as "Well then, are we agreed that what we offer would be good for your business?" or "I'd like the opportunity to show you what a fine job we can do for you. What do you say?" and then be quiet and wait until they answer, no matter how long that takes.
If the answer is "yes," then immediately get up and shake hands and say "Thanks for the vote of confidence in my company, I assure you that you'll be very impressed."
This is also the best time to finalize all the details in your Proposal of Services, just to make sure there aren't any misunderstandings. (A sample Proposal Of Services is located in the Sample Forms section of this manual, and more information is covered on it in the section entitled Bidding The Job.)
Once the Proposal of Services has been approved, you can move on toward the actual signing of the Contract for Services. Remember that this is the agreement which puts you under contract to provide the services you said you would!
One of these is to ask "Why not?" Just as it is true that studies have shown that over 50% of even professional sales people neglect to actually ask for 'the order' when they give a presentation, most also neglect to ask "why not" when the prospect declines to buy what is offered.
When you ask why not, one of two things will typically occur. One is that the person will tell you a reason which indicates a misunderstanding has occurred in his concept of what you presented, in which case you can clarify, elaborate and try again to change their mind. This happens surprisingly often, no matter how fine a presentation is made.
The second is that they will give a reason which can't be overcome, to which there is no reasonable argument which will change their mind, and that will be that - except now you will know the real (or at least the stated!) reason they won't use you to do their sweeping. Sometimes the "no" they give will turn out to be conditional; i.e., it's a negative at the moment, but may turn into a positive in a few months when the competitor's contract expires.
No matter what the answer, the person in front of you will appreciate that you have so much belief and integrity in your business and your ability that you will ask them their reasoning. And, at the very worst, you will be compiling reasons which may show you a trend toward something which you should do to better your service, presentation, etc.
Another question which you can often ask even when you get a "no" answer is "May I ask you of other business associates you have who might benefit from what my company has to offer?" This works best when the manager likes what he hears, but is either not convinced that his property needs a sweeping service or is somehow locked in to another sweeping contractor whether he likes it or not.
You may be surprised at the percentage of people who will give you referral names even though they aren't signing up themselves. These are not as good a lead source as referrals from clients, but still are a notch above cold calls.
Even on "no" answers, consider submitting a bid anyway, and ask that it be filed. If it is filed in record keeping, then you stand a good chance of becoming their next contractor in the event their current sweeper is terminated. For bids you submit in this manner, however, remember to include a sentence which limits the time period for which the bid is valid. Probably you will want this to be at least 30, and a maximum of 90, days from the time you first submit the Proposal.
In a following sentence to this disclaimer, offer to provide a new bid at no cost or obligation to them whenever they would like one.
Some contractors routinely offer incentive programs for their existing clients in the event a referral signs up for steady service. Often this takes the form of a free sweep, but might alternatively be dinner for two, theater tickets or some other form of enticement. In the long run you will find that a strong request for referrals will be a nice builder for your business.
With new customer referrals, the question arises of when to ask for referrals. Some choose to do so at the time the person signs up. Others talk about the value of referrals to their business at the contract signing, but tell the customer that they usually wait a couple months to ask for the referrals so the client knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are doing the right thing by giving out the names.
At least one contractor offers his referral sheet at the time of the signing, tells about his incentive program, and assures the new customer that, although he requests referral names now, he doesn't call on them for 90 days and will confirm that it's okay before doing so. He feels that there are several advantages to this method. One is that the customer becomes aware of his referral incentive program right away, and often will offer the names and the right to call whenever he wants.
Other new customers, he says, tell him they would rather wait the 90 days and then give him names. That's fine with him, because in effect the client has just committed to giving him names when the 90 days are up!
No matter what method you use, we recommend that you have a standard referral form which you use. It should have your business name and logo on it, as well as some 'reminders' of people who may be referrals.