Episode 64: How To Market Your Cleaning Business When You're An Introvert
Owning a cleaning business and marketing that business is a challenge when you're an introvert. In this video I'll share tips that have worked for me over the years and I believe they'll work for you too.
Please share your tips for getting out of your “introverted comfort zone” by posting below.
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Episode #64 - Video Transcription
Marketing our cleaning business was never something that came easy to me because I've been an introvert my whole life. In fact if you'd told me a few years ago that I'd be on video, talking to thousands of people here on this show, I'd say you were nuts! But becoming an entrepreneur has taught me a lot about marketing over the years. And I've discovered that changing the way I think about marketing made a huge difference for me.
You see I used to think that marketing was all about getting out there and "selling" my business. But Steve is the one that loves sales, not me! So what's an introvert to do? I put together a few tips that have worked for me over the years and I think they'll help you too.
Now as introverts, we like to stay in our safe little box. But you really do have to make an effort to get out of that box by getting out in your community. Yes, I'm talking about networking events. But I'm also talking about volunteering, joining the local Rotary Club, participating in your kids' school events -- anything that gets you out into your local community. And when you do this, your objective is NOT to hand everyone a business card and give them a sales pitch. It's actually just the opposite. Your objective is to learn about all the people you meet so you can get to know them and start making new friendships.
I think one of the best pieces of advice I ever got was to think of prospects as friends you haven't met yet. You see I used to think that whenever I went to a networking event, everyone was a prospect and I had to sell them on what I do. I finally realized that networking was a lot more fun when I took that pressure off myself and just started making friends.
It's also important to remember that not everyone at networking events is your prospect; but the people that you get to know probably have connections that ARE your prospects. So focus on getting to know people rather than turning them off by selling to them. Once they get to know you, it's YOU they will think of when they get the opportunity to refer a cleaning company.
My second piece of advice is to share your knowledge; and there are many different ways to do this. One way is to take advantage of those short, 5 to 10 minute presentations at your networking events. It gives you the opportunity to raise awareness of some aspect of your business that most people don't know.
For example, color-coding microfiber cloths to avoid cross contamination. To us, that's old news. But I'll bet if you talk about color-coded microfiber cloths, every person attending your presentation is going to go back to work to see if their cleaning company uses color-coded cloths.
Now I know, getting up in front of people to speak doesn't feel like something an introvert would do, but believe me when I say, your networking friends want you to be successful and if you do a short, 5 or 10 minute presentation on a topic you know well, it is much easier than you think. And here's a bonus - it's going to help your self-confidence because you'll feel good about your accomplishment.
Another tip is to offer the same kind of information through your social networking sites. Post short tips or write blog posts and then link to the articles on your social networking sites. And then mix up those posts with other types of posts, like promoting a local networking event or charity golf outings, and also posting photos of you participating in these events with your new friends. Your local, online connections will soon realize that you are the "go to" person when it comes to both cleaning AND networking. And my final tips is that when you have the opportunity to get in front of an ideal prospect, remember to keep the focus on them, asking questions about what is important to them.
The last thing you want to do when you get the opportunity to meet with a prospect is to walk in and start spouting off all the great things your company does. So start out by asking several probing questions, because it will help you uncover what is important to them. Once you uncover that information, you can then share how your company can solve their problems. Remember, you are in the problem solving business, so you can become the hero if you can get to this point in the relationship.
Keep in mind that even though you may be an introvert, marketing your cleaning business doesn't have to be painful. There are people who desperately need what you have to offer, so it's up to you to get out there and find them by building connections and sharing your knowledge. For you introverts out there, how do YOU handle marketing your cleaning service?
