Selling your qualifications to your customers

Customers feel secure knowing that the people who they hire to complete the job are professionally trained and can be trusted to complete the job with the highest level of skill and in line with best practice. It’s important that your customers – both current and potential – are aware of your qualifications so they always know why you’re the best technician for the job.

Qualify your skills

You list your qualifications on your resume and when you go to a job interview, you sell the qualifications that you have achieved to your prospective employer. So why wouldn’t you do the same with potential clients?

Qualifications instil your customers with confidence about your credibility and professionalism. They show customers that you not only have the requisite skills, but also that your application to learning and improving your skills will show in your commitment to the job.

Above all else, qualifications tell customers of your skill level and your competency to complete the job they have contracted you to do. Define your company from the rest. What makes your company so different from any other cowboy? You’re officially qualified to do the job they hired you for.

Make the most of IICRC

Aside from the a few select courses, all Jena Dyco courses are internationally certified by the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC). Chances are, if you’ve completed a short course with Jena Dyco, you’re an internationally certified technician in that field.

The IICRC was formed in 1972 to serve as an independent, non-profit certification body, to set and promote high standards and ethics; and to advance communication and technical proficiency within the inspection, cleaning and restoration service industry.

Customers know that when they hire IICRC certified technicians or firms, they have hired experts who will ensure that services will be completed in accordance with the industry’s highest standards.

IICRC keeps up to date information about industry trends on their website. Moreover, IICRC certified technicians must complete continuing education credits in order to maintain their qualification. Tell this to your customers to let them know that you are currently updating your skills.

Tips to sell your qualifications

Make yourself a walking advertisement for your qualifications
Contact IICRC and purchase the IICRC patches for the areas in which you are certified. Sew your IICRC patches to your uniform so that whenever you wear it, people can see that you are certified. This turns you into a walking advertisement for your qualifications. If you have completed a Certificate II or III in Asset Maintenance or a Certificate IV in Asset Management, put the sticker in the window of your van so that others on the road can see that you are certified.

Get Online
List your qualifications and the skills that you gained from them on the ‘About us’ section of your website. Email the certification/qualification body and ask them for their logo so that you can put them on your website as well. You can also put links to the qualification body on the ‘links’ page of your website.

Keep your customers in the know
Circulate a regular email newsletter to your database and keep them up to date of the latest qualifications and training you have attended. You should also include information about your latest training in Facebook and Twitter posts and blog entries. This may include courses, conference or webinars – any new training is worth mentioning.

Are you looking to roll out new services this year?

Rolling out new services is one of the best ways to develop our business, but it’s not something that you can just do overnight. It is important that you take a look at the benefits of adding a new service to your business, look at what new services you might like to provide, and how you will go about rolling them out.

Provide a greater solution range for your customers and give yourself a bit of variation.

If the only service that you offer is carpet cleaning, then you can only service customers when they have dirty carpets. However, if you provide upholstery cleaning and leather cleaning alongside carpet cleaning you are also able to help your customers with any cleaning requirements they may have for their furniture or curtains. This also means that if you go to a customer’s house to clean their carpets and notice that their curtains also need a clean, you can provide them with this service there and then, without the customer having to pay an additional call out fee.

Another benefit of adding new services to your business is that it will help to add a bit of variation to your work routine. your work week can get a bit boring if you spend all your time doing the same job. Adding a new service to your business means that you will be able to take on different types of jobs and make your work-week a bit more exciting.

Decide what services you would like to provide

This may sound like an obvious one, but in the excitement of developing a new service people sometimes forget to define exactly what that service is! When deciding on what service to provide, have a think about the following:

• What type of work do you enjoy doing?
• What type of services can you afford to offer?
• Will your new services meet your future cost-profit requirements?
• What type of services will be the easiest for you to roll out?

Training is also a big factor in adding new services to your repertoire. We’ve got some great specialised training courses coming up in 2012, such as Rug Cleaning, Meth Lab Cleanup, Crime and Trauma Cleaning, and Mould Remediation, whichwill help you to roll out specialised services to add to your business, give you a bit of variation and help distinguish yourself from your competitors.

Write a business plan to roll our your new services

When you are doing something exciting in your business such as rolling out a new service it is easy to jump ahead and do the exciting things first, like buying all the equipment and telling everyone about the new service. However, it is important that you do the ‘boring’ stuff, like writing a business plan, first so that you don’t have any problems later down the track.

A few things that you will need to include in a business plan may be:

• Feasibility.
  If you want to roll out a new service you need to have the resources to back it, such as money, time, dedication and (sometimes) staff. Jot down a few sentences about how feasible and practical it is for you to roll out a new service. If it is not feasible for you to do so right now, have a think about when it may be on the cards for your business.
• Timeline
  It is important that you understand how long it will take you to plan and organise rolling out the new service, and how long it will take you to start making money. A good way to do this is to break the process down into categories, such as planning, training, organising equipment, advertising and final roll out. Sit down with your calendar and work out how much time each category will take you, and then add mini-tasks to each of these phases.
• Resources
  Resources has been mentioned previously in this post, but this is a really important one. Before you begin anything, it is important that you understand the resources that you will need to roll out a new services (do you have the finances to do so? How will your business cope while you are away purchasing equipment/attending training etc.). You then need to compare the resources that you need with the resources that you have available. If they do not match up, you will need to consider hiring more staff, applying for a loan etc.

What are your business new year’s resolutions?

When the clock hits midnight on New Year’s Eve, we’re all quick to share our new year’s resolutions. Many of us stick to the classics – lose weight,  quit smoking, get fit – while some of us opt for something a little more bold – taking that sky diving course, going trekking in Nepal, having a child. But how many of us think about our new year’s business resolutions?

Just like our mind and body, our business needs to be revitalised every now and again to stop it from becoming stale.  You probably spend just as much (or for some of us, more!) at your business as you do at home with family and friends – so why do we never think to rejuvenate our business each year?

It’s important that we sit down in January and set out an achievable list of goals and objectives. Write yourself a business plan and stick it on your wall in front of your computer to make sure that you are reminded of it and constantly working towards it.

Do you want to roll out new services this year? If so, this is the time to start thinking about it. Write up a budget and a workable timeline for getting a new service up and running in 2012. For example, if you would like to start up a rug cleaning facility, calculate how much it will cost to undertake training, purchase your equipment and hire new staff (if necessary) and how long it will take you. If you then decide you will be able to make this possible by the middle of the year, you have a definable goal to work towards. That way, by this time next year you will be making great money of a new service that you put into place in 2012.

Here are some things you may want to think about for 2012:

• Do you want to roll out any new services this year?
• Do you want to purchase any new equipment this year?
• Do you want to hire any new staff this year?
• Do you want to work ON the business this year, rather than IN it?
• Do you want to work less hours this year? If so, how can you go about doing that?

Join our Kiva Team and help another cleaning or restoration technician

One of our business new year’s resolutions that we’ve made this year is to give back more. We already help cleaning & restorations businesses around Australia and New Zealand grow and develop (which we love doing!!), but now we want to lend a hand to those who do not have the same business opportunities as we do.

This is why we have joined Kiva. Kiva is a not-for-profit microfinance company which allows you to lend small sums of money to sole-traders and businesses in less fortunate parts of the world. The aim of Kiva is to help alleviate poverty promote better economic situations by helping to finance entrepreneurs.

The best part of the system is that it works on loans, not donations. This means that once your loan is repaid, you can roll your money back into another entrepreneur and help even more cleaners and restorers to become successful business owners.

We have created a Jena Dyco Kiva team, and we think that you should join.

We have recently lent $50 to Hasan from Lebanon. Hasan is an independent contractor who specialises in floor cleaning. His loan will go towards a new hard floor cleaning machine which he needs to help him take on bigger projects without facing problems.

Small amounts of capital can be vital for a new or growing business, which is why micro-loans are so effective. Lending just a little bit of money, pooled with loans from others, can change someone’s way of life. Permanently.

We think it would be great if you would join our team and help us to loan the money to Hasan, so that he can buy much needed equipment that many of us would be able to purchase without thinking twice.

Once Hasan has reached his target, our team can then move on to helping other cleaning and restoration technicians grow and develop their businesses through micro loans. We will make sure to keep you posted in a few weeks time to let you know how much money we have loaned as a team.

What’s in a marketing plan?

A carpet cleaner doesn’t offer the same services as a beautician, a solicitor or a butcher. This means that their customers will not always respond to the same type of marketing. It’s important to find the right method of marketing for your business that will speak to your customers in the most effective way. Remember, you’re not marketing for the sake of marketing; you’re marketing for the sake of your customer’s interests.

It is important that all business establish and follow a marketing plan to best monitor and track how they can achieve increased revenue and customer referrals.

Plan, Plan and Plan Again

	1. Set your time period This may be three months, six months or a year or longer. Just make sure you have a definite time boundary in which to work your marketing plan.
	2. Set your goals List exactly what you would like to achieve in the time period you defined in step one. Your goals should include things like increased revenue, database growth and increased number of referrals. But remember to be specific with your goals – it will be very difficult to achieve vague objections.
	3. Set your processes Once you have established your goals, establish how you will go about achieving them. List your processes in detail, including the cost, time and manpower it will take to achieve them all. The best way to ensure that you achieve your goals is to detail exactly the process you will follow to make it happen.
	4. Set your plan in action It’s all well and good to have the plan written down on a piece of paper, but it’s a completely different thing to go about putting it into action. Make sure to take that first step and refer back to your plan on a regular basis to ensure that you’re on the right track to achieving the goals you have set yourself.

Define your Customer Base

Are your customers home owners? Are they businesses? Are they schools? It is pointless to cling to one method of marketing when it is not effectively spreading your message to the customers you want to attract.

For example, an individual home owner is much more likely to be responsive to Facebook interaction than a company such as a school or a hospital. This means if the majority of your customers are individual home owners, it may be worth investing more time and money in your Facebook campaign.

Spend time each month categorising your database into different types of clients. This will help you to know how to market to each different segment of your database and could save you a lot of time, money and effort.

Try Something New

A change is as good as a holiday, or so they say, and sometimes it’s good to remember this old saying when thinking about our marketing plan.

Don’t let yourself get complacent in the idea that your ad that has been running each Wednesday in the local paper is working wonders for your business. If you’ve never used any different methods of marketing, how do you know if this strategy is working?

Mix up your methods and record the results to see which one works the best. Run a newspaper advertising campaign for two months, then run a campaign on your local radio for six weeks, then try a mail box drop. It’s best if you have one method of getting your brand name out there at a time so you can accurately measure how successful each method is. And don’t forget to always ask new customers how they heard about you.

Get online, get interactive

The world we live in today is a digital one. Think about it – where as ten, maybe even five, years ago we would have posted you this newsletter in print format, today you are reading it off your computer screen. Like it or not, the majority of your customer base is online and if you don’t keep up, you’re going to be left behind.

With the internet playing such an important part of our lives, establishing an online presence for your business is easy. For some, this could be as simple as creating a Facebook fanpage or Twitter account for the business and linking in with your customers on social media. Social media is a great way to get feedback from your customer base and increase referrals. More advanced online interactions may include developing your website and using Google Adwords.

Nathan Harding – Sovereign Carpet Cleaning & Restoration Services

Nathan Harding is the owner of Moe based Sovereign Carpet Cleaning & Restoration Services.

Sovereign provides a wide range of services, including carpet and upholstery cleaning, tile & grout cleaning & sealing, flood and fire restoration, carpet repairs, vinyl floor maintenance and clandestine drug lab decontamination.

When it comes to developing a marketing plan to suit the needs of your customers, Nathan says that the most important thing to do is find out what your customers want.

“We look at what influences our customer’s choice and we ask people what they think matters to them.”

“We know that out of our domestic customers who own their own house, 90 per cent of the time it is a woman who makes the decision to get the carpet cleaned, which tells me we should market to women. And if you think that’s difficult to research, just ask your wife!”

Nathan entered the industry in 2008 when he purchased Sovereign Carpet Cleaning & Restoration and has since developed the business into one of Gippsland’s leading IICRC certified cleaning and restoration firms.

Nathan knew that training would be involved as soon as he made the decision to purchase the business. After researching different training programs Nathan decided that his best option was to go with Jena Dyco for his training needs.

Nathan has since completed his Certificate III in Asset Maintenance Carpet cleaning and recently completed the Remediation of Clandestine Lab Residues course with Jena Dyco. He is looking forward to attending the Fire and Smoke Damage Restoration course later this month and hopes to complete much more training in the future, including the Certificate IV in Asset Maintenance – Cleaning Management.

Nathan is now reaping the benefits from the investment he put into training himself and his staff.

“I’ve gained so much from training, meeting other trainees, technicians and owners, learning that everything we clean has processes and reasons for doing so.”

Peter Willock – Flash Cat Cleaning

Based in Albany, Peter Willock established Flash Cat Cleaning in 2008, with his father Murray who now works with him as a casual technician.

Peter Willock from Flash Cat Cleaning

With no previous experience in carpet cleaning and restoration, in two short years Peter has grown the business to include carpet cleaning, tile and grout cleaning, grout clear and colour sealing, urine treatments, tile replacement & regrouting.

Peter feels that his experience in completely different industries has helped him bring something extra to Flash Cat Cleaning.

‘Having worked as a loans officer for a bank and had retail experience before that, I am very conscious of the need for good customer service. I feel there really isn’t enough of it these days.’

Added to his keen sense for customer service, Peter also believes strongly in the importance of training and has completed his Certificate III in Asset Maintenance – Carpet Cleaning, made up of specialist courses including Carpet Repair & Reinstallation, Fire & Smoke Restoration and Water Damage Restoration.

‘After quite a bit of reading, I realised that there was a lot of problems that we could cause if methods were not followed & it would be a lot easier to know how to get it right first time!

‘After one course was down, it just made sense to keep on learning. Confidence follows, and so does the work.

The Flash Cat Cleaning Van

We also have some ‘cheerleaders’ simple from how seriously we have taken industry training before undertaking work. This is why we have recommended Jena Dyco to a few people thinking of joining the industry – Best start you can give yourself,’ says Peter.

‘In fact, we recognised the need to have the training done so much that we had trips to Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney on several occasions to get the training done before it was available in Western Australia.’

Peter and Murray hope to attend further training in the future, including a tile laying course, a stone care course and odour control course, and possibly a mould remediation course.

Peter also believes that networking is an important aspect to success, and that it’s much nicer to work in an industry where you can have a beer with your competitor.

‘Two heads are better than one. Today someone else might learn something from me, tomorrow I will learn something from him. From these discussions with each other, we have been able to make better decisions for the direction of our business, which would have been much more daunting to make on our own.’

Peter, wife Leisa and daughter Isabella celebrated a tiny new addition to their family a few weeks ago. Dean Eric Willock was born on Saturday 2nd October at 8lb 13oz and is happy and healthy.

Matt Juarez – Electrodry Northern Beaches and North Shore

Company owned by Joe and Cathy Campbell, Matt is the senior carpet cleaning technician of Electrodry Northern Beaches and Northshore. Matt has just completed his Certificate III in Asset Maintenance – Carpet Cleaning under a traineeship.

Joe Campbell and Matt Juarez of Electrodry Northern Beaches and Northshore

“Investing in Matt was the best thing we could have done” says Joe. “It’s a running joke in our team that Matt is a walking encyclopaedia on the science of carpet cleaning, but his passion and enthusiasm is infectious. The other guys have learnt a lot from him and we use him as the expert in the team to solve the most tricky stain removal problems. The most difficult cases get referred to him and he loves solving them.”

Twenty three year old Matt lives on the Central Coast of NSW and has two lovely children – Stella, two, and Talon, nine months – with his wife Jess. Matt was employed by Paul Burchell’s Electrodry when he was 19, but when the Sydney Operation was franchised as Electrodry and Joe bought the Northern Beaches Franchise in 2008, Matt was assigned to show Joe the ropes. Joe was impressed with Matt even then. When Joe subsequently bought the Northshore Franchise in 2009, he invited Matt to come and work for him. Matt accepted with alacrity. While investigating options to assist with training costs, Joe discovered the Government subsidised traineeship scheme. “Matt was eligible, that really helped us to afford it” says Cathy.

“I was stoked to do the training” says Matt “It really helps your confidence to know that you can talk with authority on the subject, and it’s really interesting stuff, learning about Ph Balance and how to treat different carpets and stains. The trainers are very practical and really help you to learn.”

“Before I did the training I had a lot of bad habits. Now I know how to do it right. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to be able to get such good results with cleaning carpets and removing stains. Customers are happy and that makes it easier to up sell and that’s good for me and good for Joe.”

“Feedback from customers about Matt is overwhelmingly positive, and we get a lot of referred and repeat business because of it” says Cathy.

“He’s genuinely passionate about carpets and gets great results. He’s very impressive when he talks about cleaning carpets and can tell you more than you want to know about the subject. He has soaked up the training like a sponge. There are so many cowboys out there ruining people’s carpets, it gives me a good feel to know our boys know what they’re doing and under Matt’s leadership they do a great job and keep getting better, because Matt never gets tired of learning and he is very willing to teach others what he knows.”

“I can’t wait to do the colour repair and restoration course” says Matt “And I’m keen to do advanced mould remediation course, meth lab cleanup and forensics courses too… if I can persuade Joe to pay for it!” he says with a cheeky grin.

“People think anybody and his dog can clean a carpet. It’s just not true. There is so much to know and learn. I know this because I did the training myself” adds Joe. “I think it’s essential to get our staff trained so they can give customers the best service possible. Reputation and repeat business is the name of the game in this industry.”

Meth lab testing and remediation by untrained staff?

I have recently spoken to a number of councils in regional WA, who are concerned about  Meth Lab testing and remediation potentially being carried out by people without formal training.

When meth labs are uncovered in regional areas, the organisations or agencies responsible for the subsequent testing and remediation sometimes struggle to find companies with qualified staff to do the job. Councils in WA are frustrated because Perth based labs historically have not been in a position to travel to regional areas for meth testing. Companies qualified to undertake meth lab remediation can also be hard to identify in regional areas. This situation has led to concern among councils that both testing and remediation work may not always be done to the safest level, which is to the detriment of  public health. Naturally there is also concern for restorers, who may be entering premises without adequate PPE and the essential knowledge of meth lab residues and cleaning methods.

At Jena Dyco, we continue to promote our Meth Lab Testing and Meth Lab Cleanup courses widely to Occupational Hygienists and restoration companies, who are looking to get into this line of work. There is a net need for these services, as meth labs unfortunately represent a growing  industry. Companies putting staff through Jena Dyco Meth Courses are offered the opportunity to advertise their services in the Meth Directory on our Meth Lab Cleanup website (www.methlabcleanup.com.au). It is a terrific resource for councils, property managers and others, who may one day have to coordinate the testing and remediation process for a meth lab, and who are concerned that only professional and adequately trained individuals carry out the work.

A word on webinars

As online technology continues to develop, so too does the way we communicate and learn. One recent development in communication has been the increased use of webinars to deliver information and facilitate discussion. We recently started running a webinar program here at Jena Dyco; not long after that we discovered that not everyone is familiar with the concept of webinars.

We’ve laid out below a few of the key points and advantages of webinars and how they are used. If you have any comments, queries or feedback on webinars (both Jena Dyco’s as well as webinars in general), we’d love to hear from you!

What exactly is a ‘webinar’?

Put simply, a webinar is an online seminar (think: web + seminar = webinar). Webinars can be used to present seminars, lectures, workshops and presentations, and are usually accompanied by PowerPoint presentations. Webinars are interactive and participants have the opportunity to get involved in a Q&A session and discussions at the end of the seminar either by typing their questions into the forum or by using VoIP (headset and microphone).

How do Jena Dyco use webinars?

Our main webinar program is the Business Webinar Series*. This is a subscriber-only program that delivers business-related, industry-specific webinars to business owners, business managers and sole traders. These webinars are held on the final Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm AEST and we invite specialised business speakers to present on topics such as increasing your profits, communicating with your customers, making the most of your marketing and time-management.

Previous webinars have included presentations on how to use Google for small businesses, how to retain customers and how to develop your sales strategy. In 2012 we’ve got a great speaker line up organised, including topics such as ‘Get More from your local area marketing’,  ‘Using technology to market your business’ and ‘Million dollar relationships with customers.’

Although the Business Webinar Series is a paid subscriber-only service, we like to give everyone a free taster so they can decide whether the webinars will be of value to them. If you’re keen to have a ‘taste’, you can click here to register for your free, one-off Business webinar.

What’s the purpose of a webinar?

Whereas face-to-face training provides you with new skills, webinars are designed to make you think.  We encourage to participants to jot down notes during the webinar, interact and ask questions with the presenter at the end and make note of 2 or 3 key concepts that they will take away with the.

What am I doing in my business right now that isn’t working? What processes and systems could I change to make my life easier? Do my customers actually know what services I provide? Am I getting the most from my marketing dollar? These are just a few of the questions that you may take away from webinars.

Benefits of webinars:

• They’re short and direct
  Webinars are generally between 30 minutes and an hour long, meaning they offer you intense and very pointed topics to focus on.
• They’re interactive
  Unlike online video programs, webinars provide you with the opportunity to get involved and interact with the presentation. Some speakers like to take interactive polls during the presentation to gauge the opinions and thoughts of their audience, and there is the opportunity to participate in an interactive Q&A and discussion at the end of each webinar.
• They’re often outside of work hours
  Whether you’re in the office or on the road, there never seems to be any time for business development during our busy days. Webinars are often held after hours, meaning that you can do the work that makes you money during the day and work on your business after hours.
• They’re recorded and easily accessible for subscribers
  Webinars are recorded and uploaded to a secure website for subscribers to access whenever they like. Not only does this mean that you are still able to access the webinar if you are unable to attend, it also means that you can re-listen to the content whenever you want to ensure you get the most out of it.
• And lastly, (and best of all) they’re online!
  You can participate from your office desktop, at a public location on your iPad, or at home with your feet up and a cup of tea (or a even glass of wine, if that’s more your kind of thing).

*We are currently in the process of developing more webinar programs – if you have any suggestions about webinar topics we would love to hear from you.