KickStart: The true ROI on making a Residential Customer Cheerleader is much more than the direct financial profits they produce. (Which is a LOT!)
“Ummm, what’s a ‘Cheerleader’, Steve?”🤔 A Cheerleader is a homeowner that is so delighted and yes, surprised with the level of service they’ve received they will “sing your praises from the rooftops”! (And more importantly, post multiple 5-star reviews online!)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
So, it’s a no-brainer! An ecstatic Cheerleader Customer is an incredibly valuable asset! Which is why I’m always amazed that so few residential service contractors focus on systems to create Cheerleaders!😥
NOTE: Remember, to make the Cheerleader you must first “convert” an often initially skittish caller. You’ll dramatically increase your booking ratio (and Cheerleaders) with my 3-hour SFS: Winning over the caller! LIVE seminar. Click HERE to learn more…
Still doubtful on the direct financial ROI of a Cheerleader? Crunch the numbers with me HERE on a low priced service like residential carpet cleaning. (Services with a higher job ticket produce even more impressive results!) And yet…
Customer Cheerleaders bring ever-so-many 1) immediate, 2) indirect and 3) emotional benefits to a Home Services business.
The Immediate Benefits
Let’s focus on the immediate advantages Cheerleaders add to your business. For example…
1.“Pre-conditioned” callers. If you field prospect’s inquiries you know just how difficult it can be to convert the lead! BUT if you learn they’ve been referred by a previous Cheerleader client? WOO-HOO! Sure, your caller may moan about the price but almost always they’ll book the job!
Pro TIP: This is why one of your first Valid Business Questions for any prospect should be, “How did you learn about our company?” (I share the complete Initial Interview Phone Script in my SFS: “Winning over your caller!” LIVE seminar.)
2. Cash flow. (In so many different ways!) A delighted Cheerleader will actually search for ways to spend more money with your company. (If only to keep your cute crew chief in their home a bit longer!)😍
We found our highly profitable on-site Additional Service Options sales went through the roof in a Cheerleader’s home. (In fact, we’d routinely schedule more time there and keep troops in reserve too.) And speaking of cash all our 5-star reviews let us…
3. Charge much higher prices. Sure, some of our 5-star reviews would start out, “Steve’s company is quite a bit higher than his competitors…” and I would cringe until I kept on reading “…but his employees are worth every cent and more!” I’d then heave a huge sigh of relief and silently say, “Thank you, Mrs. Jones!”
In fact, I discovered that upper middle-class clients (my target market) are often suspicious of low-priced companies. Homeowners would tell me, “Steve, your competitor, Mid-City Services, quoted me a price 30% less than your estimate. But I knew they couldn’t do a good job working so cheap.” The sad thing here? I knew Mid-City’s owner and he did do decent work!😲
Of course, your ever growing group of enthusiastic Customer Cheerleaders will also bring “indirect” financial benefits to your business.
The Indirect Benefits
Residential Home Services Cheerleaders not only provide immediate benefits but will also help your company indirectly!
We already focused on how delighted “Customer Cheerleaders” can help your residential services company immediately.
After all, Cheerleaders will help you immediately with 1) booking skittish callers*, 2) improved cash flow, AND 3) let you charge (much) more than the “going rate”!
*Ever notice how skittish first-time callers are? Absolutely! They’re nervous, suspicious and fearful! YIKES! This is the emotional landscape you must overcome to “win over” your caller! Fear not- help is on the way with my SFS: Winning over your caller! LIVE seminar. Click HERE to learn more…
But wait- there’s so much more to Cheerleaders!
Routinely developing Customer Cheerleaders will also “indirectly” transform your business! For example, you’ll get…
1. Credibility. Honestly? Homeowners simply don’t believe advertising anymore. (Who can blame them?) But when a prospect sees 100’s (even 1,000’s) of your 5-star reviews it’s simply, “Where do I sign?” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This means you’ll enjoy…
2. Much lower marketing costs. Once your Cheerleader systems are dialed in your customers will be spreading the word… at ZERO cost to you!😍 True, you may still target market certain sectors and we’ll talk about this soon. However…
Consistently develop Cheerleaders and most of your marketing expenses can be invested in two very worthwhile areas: 1) higher staff wages and 2) your net profit!👍👍
GURU Alert: The “experts” will tell you a residential services business needs to spend 10% or more of their gross income in marketing. The total advertising and budget budget of my residential services business? 2.8%! (It could have been much less.) That other 7.2% or more of our gross volume? It went into the pockets of my faithful employees AND into my retirement accounts!🥰 Of course, business is about more than money…
3. Great long-term employees. I know, you’re thinking, “Steve, what does making Cheerleaders have to do with finding better workers?” Here’s the deal. The Very Best People (the ones you want to recruit) will only work long term for what I call a Very Best Company! This means long before a great potential team member contacts you they’ll check out your online reviews from (hopefully) your Cheerleader Customers!
NOTE: Of course, it’s not enough to hire great people. You also must KEEP them from leaving. This means paying your staff at least 20% more than they can earn doing similar work anywhere else in your local market.
Can’t pay more? Yes you can if you CHARGE MORE! Remember, Cheerleaders will let you be the highest priced residential services company in your area and proud of it!👍
Warning: No Very Best Person will stick around long-term only for a paycheck. You must also focus on your employee’s feelings! (This very “squishy subject” is infinitely more complicated than simply writing bonus checks- that’s easy!) And yes, Cheerleaders will help you emotionally in your employee retention efforts!
The Emotional Benefits
Homeowner Customer Cheerleaders provide a huge emotional ROI to all involved in a Home Services business.
Your business should be about much more than pure, naked gree… I mean profits! Instead…
Your residential services company should build a close emotional bond (dare I say even “love”?)😲 between you, your employees AND your clients.
Reflections: For me, I LOVED💖 creating “something of value”, a residential services company that (most of the time!)🙄 ran like a well-oiled machine. But my true focus was on “values”.
Even 30-odd years after selling my business (and 20 years after its early demise due to a series of disengaged owners)😥 I still get stopped by nostalgic past clients that recognize me in the grocery store! PRICELESS! That said, I like profits (money) too!
Inevitably, a small Home Services business (The US Census Bureau says we’re almost all small!) takes on the personalities of its owner(s), its employees AND its clients. (This is why I say choose your employees AND your customers carefully.) You all need to co-exist and (hopefully) flourish together! Speaking of clients…
This is the third and final segment on what consistently creating Customer Cheerleaders can mean to any residential services company. So far we’ve focused on the huge 1) immediate and 2) indirect advantages delighted Cheerleaders will bring your business. However, never forget the third area of…
The emotional benefits that ecstatic Cheerleaders bring to your employees and YOU! For example…
1. “Pre-conditioned” referrals. Obviously a caller referred by your super-happy Cheerleader Customer will be easier to book.👍 However, it’s even better for your onsite employees! When they ring the bell at their first visit a referred homeowner will greet them with open arms!🥰 So much nicer than facing an initially suspicious (even hostile) homeowner and then working-so-very-hard to win them over!
2. Pride of ownership. You personally deserve some emotional gratification here too! Few things feel better than listening to a delighted Cheerleader gushing about their latest interaction with one of your “Very Best People” employees!😍 (See my “Reflections” note above.)
3. An “appreciating asset”. Unless you’re a total idiot (if you are reading this you’re not) you should already be making a “decent living” as a residential services contractor. However, especially if you plan to run solo without employees long-term, here is a warning I sent out some time back to my clients…
PLEASE READ! If you crave the supposedly simple and carefree life of a solo “Lone Wolf” owner-operator (who can blame you?) then recognize two things. 1) Your one-person residential services business likely will not sell for enough to retire on (if you can sell it at all) and 2) your days of being able to “hit it hard” physically will probably end long before your income requirements stop!😥
Your “Cheerleader takeaway” from this? Developing systems (for you AND your future employees) to consistently create Cheerleaders will make it infinitely easier to build a Critical Mass Business. “What’s a Critical Mass Business, Steve?” Simply put…
A Critical Mass Business is a “Cheerleader assembly line” that will run smoothly with you… OR without you.😎 This means you’ll achieve the ever-elusive Personal Freedom including…
Being able to sell your company for a whole bunch of money and retire! Or even better you may decide to keep this “cash flow machine” running on auto-pilot and let it fund your Golden Years!💲 (We’ll talk about this soon!)
FINAL NOTE: You’ll learn step-by-step HOW to build a Critical Mass Business in our different online SFS: LIVE seminars! Plus you’ll implement our concepts easily with our turnkey SFS: ‘Business Infrastructure’! Click HERE to see upcoming classes…
Steve