We all want Easy Money
don’t we? Then why do we make it difficult for people to give us money. I went
into a Chinese Restaurant in Seattle and since I was on a low carb diet I
ordered the beef and asparagus special. Then I said no rice please just add
some extra asparagus. The owner told me NO She Couldn’t Do That. What she
really meant was that she could not or would not do that at the same price but
I never mentioned price. I looked at her and said, “You have food, I have
money, so all you have to do is tell me what it costs and then make it.”
The confused look passed from her face and said "Two dollar more". Then she made me a great dinner. Think about it, I walk in as a paying customer and she
refuses my order. I understand why but does it really make sense. We all do
things that make it more difficult for our customers to give us money.
Don’t Assume I Known
What You Do
My friend Stephen Dusty
Roberts cleans rugs. His business is called Luv-A-Rug and when you go in it has
rugs all over the place. Dusty also cleans Boat Sails but it is a small part of
his business. One day one of his long time established Sail customers told
Dusty, “I didn't know you did rugs too”. This man made checks out to Luv-A-Rug
not Luv-A-Sail but it completely escaped him for years. We may think it was
obvious and he should have known but here is a bigger question; how much money
did Dusty lose by not telling him “hey, we do rugs too”.
Make It Easy To Call You
One of the things that
drives me crazy it hiding your phone number on your website. I am not going to
embarrass my friends by naming names but many of you don’t have easy websites.
Your phone numbers should be at the top of the main page. It should also be at
the bottom of every page with your address. If I have to search for a contact
page you probably lost my business. But worst of all is if I get to the Contact
page and all I get is a form for on-line response screw it I am going to your
competition. Seriously I am not twenty something; I am old enough that I
watched prime time in Black and White I have no interest in filling out your
online form and no it is not damn likely I want to Chat either. On-Line forms
are OK for some customers but offer a phone number and address for the rest of
us.
Make Your Website a Good
Experience
Tell me your name. I
assume that if you do not say who you are you are either stupid or hiding
something. Maybe I am a cranky old man but can you really afford to write off
all the business from cranky old people.
Make sure it loads fast
Not everyone has a hot
cable modem like your web guy has. I do not care about your pictures and
graphics if the page is slow. Many of us go to our second choice when the pages are slow. Keep in mind bargain
basement hosting companies can be very slow. Don’t assume, test it yourself and
also ask your customers what they think about your website.
Don’t Be a Wiseguy
I regularly run into
businesses where the first person (and often the last) is more interested in
being a wiseguy then in finding out my problem and making it easy for me to
give him money.
Don't Scold Me
I walk into some
businesses and instead of welcoming me they scold me. I don’t care if I came in
the wrong door or put my rug in the wrong place or that it is closing time or
anything else you want to scold me about. You are not my mother. I am there
to give you money. You are there to take my money. That is your job and it
should be your goal. When I used to help out at Mark Keshishian & Sons a
busy Chevy Chase MD Rug Store and Rug Cleaning company we used to watch the
parking lot and as soon as somebody made a move to get something from their
trunk or backseat we assumed they had a rug to come in and we went to help
them.
If I Call I am Not
Taking a Survey
If I call assume it is
because I have a problem. If I start by asking the price it is only because I do
not know what to say. Your job is to find out why I really called and offer a
solution. We deal with this in detail in RugLover Marketing.
I will probably think of
more of the stupid business tricks people do and I will let you know about
them. Some people completely miss how difficult they make it for people to give
them money. I know one west coast rug cleaner who trash talks his customers to
anyone who would listen. To hear him talk his customers are stupid eBay pickers who
bothered him about rugs. He is argumentative, arrogant and rude. I will grant
he has a reputation for great technical skills but I know the rug biz was so
rough that he went out and bought a Truck Mount so he could do in home carpet
cleaning. Doing great work is not the way to make money in the Rug Washing business;
it is just the first step.
