Treating Customers Right

Customers are turned off, not by the price of a service, but by apathy, carelessness and a lack of courtesy from service personnel. No business, be it a bank, restaurant, department store, supermarket, gas station or carpet cleaning service, is immune from the creeping paralysis of “don't care ism” that infects personnel dealing with the public.

Facing intense competition, greater emphasis must be placed on developing responsive employee attitudes. Lackluster results on balance sheets are matched by indifferent attitudes of people who come in contact with customers. The sourpuss syndrome among service employees is far too pervasive to be explained away as random incidents.

Service businesses that succeed in attracting customers and repeat business are noted for informed and helpful personnel. To develop this spirit, management must be willing to devote the time and money necessary to training that instills the knowledge, confidence and friendly, caring attitude indispensable to good customer service.

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Credit

Credit standards for small businesses are easing. How do I know that? Talking heads on television told me so. The Federal Reserve says loan officers are tightening credit while another report says credit is easing. Who knows the truth? Loan volume has been rising but certainly not for very small businesses, only for companies that have strong credit ratings.

Another report says bankers are desperate for loan growth. If you don’t qualify for bank credit today, sit down with a loan officer and ask them what has to change. They should be able to tell you how much your basic financial numbers need to change in order to qualify for a loan. Even if you don't need credit, it's a good idea to establish a line with your bank.

Besides a financial report that your CPA prepares, have a talk with a banker at least once a year. Companies large and small benefit from advance planning for credit. Opportunities can arise that can be lost if not grasped quickly.

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Heads up

Marketing on the internet is cheap, but tricky. Watch for a new rash of e-mails that appear to be from legitimate ad agencies. Be careful of scams that offer to place ads on popular web sites, then bang your credit card and the ads never appear. They target small business.

Although the social media is probably the wave of the future, I'm still not sold on going exclusively in that direction. Keep your ad program in place and experiment before committing major dollars to the social media.

"Pay per click" is still a big problem with hackers that can run up the numbers. And remember, most seniors, a large part of the market for our services, still do not follow the social media like the youngsters. Be careful not to shut them out.

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Going bananas

The expression "going bananas" is from the effects of bananas on the brain. Bananas contain three natural sugars, sucrose, fructose and glucose, combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy and can help us keep fit. Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6 and B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

A banana is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. Bananas might be the reason monkeys are so happy all the time!

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E mails about CRI

There has been a flurry of e-mails lately about the CRI and especially their testing program. I don't know what prompted it but I 've been saving some of them to publish at the same time. Here are a few of them:

"The franchises would not have anything to do with the original Seal Of Approval program but they sure have jumped on the new SOA and totally dominate it. Look at the Service Provider list. It is Stanley Steemer®, Millicare®, ChemDry®, Cintas®, Duraclean®, Rainbow, etc, etc, etc. I wonder why ServiceMaster® and SERVPRO® are not supporting it. But that list has fallen from just over a thousand to about 800 in the past two years. They can't handle warranty work without the help of thousands of professional independent cleaning contractors."

"Someone could win a Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Journalism if they were to dig deep into the pile of $#&$ at CRI and the conflicts in interest of some of its associates."

"As a distributor I want to point out that centrifugal vacuum motors lose air velocity after minimal usage. Rental machines, even though they may have passed CRI tests, wouldn't pass those same tests after 40 or 50 hours of use. We use big # 45 Roots vacuum blowers in our truck mounts and they get stronger as they get broken in. CRI testing is a farce."

"All you have to do is follow the money. CRI is hurting for money and even had to move out of their fancy building. The mills want to dump the rent, staff and light bill at their new rented headquarters on carpet cleaners. You can tell how successful the SOA program is by the numbers. It took almost 10 years to get 1,000 certified service providers. That number has dropped now to about 800 and they are mostly franchises. That ought to tell independent cleaners something if we're smart enough to see it."

"CRI teamed up with IICRC and attendance at trade shows dropped. Connections is history and a new show called Experience is replacing it. I was in Clearwater and nearly all of the people were selling something. There are a couple of new international associations trying to get off the ground. RIA® attendance is at an all time high at their conventions. Do you think there is a message in here someplace?"

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When is a discount not a discount?

J. C. Penney has been in the news for flubbing their new marketing program. They stopped offering sales and discounts and tried "everyday low prices." The new CEO, Ron Johnson, lost his job over it, their stock plummeted and now they have "apology" commercials running on TV. Old James Cash Penney must be rollin' over.

Marketing is changing. The other day I tried to make an on-line purchase from a company that sent me a 10% off coupon. I had purchased an item from them earlier at $49.95 and with the coupon I expected to pay about $45. At check out it was $52.95 after "discount" plus shipping. So I hit the X button and got out of there.

They must know when I do this because the next day I got a notice that the item was on sale at 20% off. I ignored that e-mail and the very next day I got a coupon that offered the item at 30% off. I went to their site and now the retail price was $79.95. I blocked any future e-mails from that company.

Is the consuming public really stupid enough to fall for the old "mark 'em up so you can mark 'em down" game? The majority of retailers must think so and are doing it ad nauseam. The sad tale of J. C. Penney confirms it. As a marketer I'd like to hear what you think about this subject and how it will affect our businesses.

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E-mail about cheap labor

Dear Bill,

Government tells us that Americans don't want low paying jobs. They say "cheap labor" by "II" (illegal immigrants) is the answer. There's no such thing as "cheap labor." For example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children takes a job for $5.00 an hour usually paid under the table. "II" pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, he gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200 and "II" qualifies for:

• Section 8 housing, subsidized rent and food stamps.
• Free (no deductible, no co pay) health care.
• Children get free breakfasts and lunches at school.
• They require bilingual teachers and books.
• "II" qualifies for relief from high energy bills.
• If "II" become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for Social Security.
• Once in SS, they qualify for Medicare. All of this is at taxpayer's expense.
• No worry about car insurance, life insurance or homeowners insurance.
• Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material.
• "II" and family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in benefits.

Your old friend,
Jack O'Brian

Cheap labor? RIGHT! ...thanks Jack. But don't worry. Congress is on the case and will soon have a new law that will fix the problem.

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More signs the carpet industry is heading up

Daniel K. Frierson, chairman and chief executive officer of Dixie Industries said, "The first quarter typically is the slowest and most difficult quarter for our business. However, Dixie had a year over year sales improvement of 20% with sales growth in all areas of the business. Our sales growth in the residential business was 21% higher than the same period in the prior year with notable growth in our mass merchant area. We believe that the residential market, in contrast, grew in the low single digits. Our commercial business increased 13% with particularly strong growth in our modular carpet tile area. This increase was in comparison, we believe, to low single digit growth in the commercial market.”

This information substantiates an article Dan Willis sent to me in March. His thoughts are that carpet sales are picking up and he gives several reasons. This will be the lead article on the front page of the June Clene-Times®. Be sure to read it.

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Congratulations RIA

Floor Daily News and Interviews reported, "The attendance at the Restoration Industry Association's (RIA) recent Leadership Summit and Industry Expo topped out at just about 900 attendees, which is the highest number to ever attend an RIA convention, according to RIA leadership in a release in the C&R Weekly. The sold out trade show provided exhibitors with a large audience to test drive the latest tools and services for the industry."

In this new era in which people are avoiding travel and limiting attendance at educational functions, this is an outstanding attendance. In the heyday of conventions during the boom years of the '80s, Bane-Clene's 1986 meeting enjoyed an attendance of just over 700 which we believed to be a record for our industry at the time. RIA is the oldest and best organized trade association in our business and deserves kudos for this accomplishment.

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Resilient carpet cleaning industry

It's no secret that carpet has been losing market share for the past ten years. But, from a carpet cleaner's perspective, the market for our services is good because the carpet industry has been pumping out billions of square feet of product every year during those years. The average life of carpet is eight years and many residential carpets we work on are twice that age.

Meanwhile, residential area rugs and the commercial markets are continuing to grow. There are hundreds of millions of square feet of carpet out there just waiting to be cleaned. Our ace in the hole is the fact that we can clean hard floors, rugs, wall coverings and furniture too! The future of the cleaning industry is bright for those who are flexible and stay informed.

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Recognizing opportunities

The recent flooding in the Midwest must have been what prompted this e-mail from a customer who does water restoration work:

A man lived in a house on the river and after a week of storms the waters started to rise. The neighbors evacuated to higher ground and a rescue truck came by for the man, but he refused to leave. "I believe in God. He will save me and my house," said the man.

The next day, the river had come into his home and into the first floor. As he moved up to the second floor, rescue workers came by in a boat and pleaded with the man to leave with them. "I trust in God," he said. "God will save me. I have no need for your help."

Then the waters rose past his windows on the second floor and he sat on the roof as the rain continued. A rescue helicopter came and begged the man to leave. "God will save me," he said. Finally, the waters rose over his roof and he drowned.

At the pearly gates he said to Saint Peter, "I was a devout man, living my life for God. Why did He let me die?" Saint Peter replied, “What are you talking about? He sent you a truck, a boat and a helicopter. What more did you need?"

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E Mail from Indy BBB

Dear Mr. Bane:

A local business has informed the Central Indiana Better Business Bureau that US Telecom based in Ontario, CA is soliciting in our area. US Telecom is sending correspondence to businesses for telecom maintenance agreements covering all telecom system equipment including telephone instruments, switches, and cabling. This correspondence appears to be an invoice, but is actually a solicitation for business. Click here for an example of the solicitation.

Similarly, back in March, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) temporarily stopped a foreign operation that was scamming small businesses and non profit organizations into paying for a bogus online directory. The FTC filed a complaint against Construct Data Publishers, a Slovakia based company. The FTC is seeking to permanently halt the alleged scam and require the defendants to refund the fees. Click here for an example of the solicitation.

The BBB encourages you to share this notice with your Accounts Payable personnel, colleagues, and other business contacts you may have. If you have been a victim of this or a similar scam you can file a complaint at either bbb.org or ftc.gov.

Regards,
Wendy Dych
wdych@indybbb.org
(317) 488 2221 ext 133

And here's one from last week... another bad one to watch out for:

Secure Message

he security of your personal information is of the utmost importance to American Express, so we have sent the attached as a secure electronic file. Note: The attached file contains encrypted data. If you have any questions, please call us at 800 973 0032, option 0. Representatives are available to assist you Monday through Thursday between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. ET and Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. ET. The information contained in this message may be privileged, confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited.

Thank you,
American Express
2012 American Express Company. All rights reserved.

Don't open the attachment if you get one that looks like this.

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An interesting e-mail

This is a little longer than I like to post here, but do any of the things happening today sound like they might have a connection to this plan?

Most Americans never heard of Cloward and Piven. New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani attempted to expose them in the late 1990s. As his welfare reform gained momentum, Giuliani accused them by name, citing their 1966 manifesto as evidence that they engaged in economic sabotage. Giuliani charged in a 1997 speech that their policies and programs were designed to get the maximum number of people on welfare.

Columbia University's Richard Cloward and Frances Piven published a plan to bring down capitalism by overloading government bureaucracy with fraud and a flood of impossible demands. They cited Saul Alinsky as their inspiration. His teachings were right out of the Marxist handbook which says the ruling class uses welfare to buy the poor and douse the fire of rebellion which is the core of the Communist agenda.

"Poor people can advance only when the rest of society is afraid of them," Cloward told a New York Times reporter. Rather than placating the poor with government hand outs, activists should work to sabotage and collapse the welfare state which would ignite a political and financial crisis to rock the nation when the poor rise up in revolt. A financial and political crisis is needed to unleash powerful forces for economic reform.

Cloward and Pivin called for aggressive organizers to demonstrate with threats of violence. When local politicians appeal for federal help and friendly journalists promote income redistribution, the poor can overwhelm agencies with demands. This flood would break the budget, jam bureaucratic gears into gridlock and bring the system crashing down. Fear, turmoil, violence and economic collapse would foster radical political change.

A "voting rights movement," led by Project Vote, Human Serve and ACORN, lobbied for the Motor Voter law which President Clinton signed in 1993. The Motor Voter bill swamped voter rolls with invalid registrations signed in the name of deceased, ineligible or non-existent people. Mickey Mouse even signed up to vote. This opened the door to unprecedented levels of voter fraud and disenfranchisement lawsuits which clogged the court system.

Cloward and Piven devotees seek to overwhelm the nation's understaffed and poorly policed electoral system and caused the Florida recount crisis of 2000. Both the Living Wage and Voting Rights movements depend heavily on financial support from George Soros’ Open Society Institute and his Shadow Party. Soros's support of the Cloward and Piven strategy continues to provide a blueprint for some of his most ambitious campaigns.

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Noise, energy dependence and pollution

Some folks are excited about the green movement and it may have some merit. But there are those who take it beyond the realm of probability and profit. We should sell our prospects, especially those who are environmentalists, on the fact that we operate an energy efficient system that is the safest and quietest in the cleaning industry. We're environmentally friendly. Bane-Clene system owners don't use fossil fuels to power our cleaning systems. This puts us out front in the fight against air pollution and dependence on foreign oil from governments that hate us.

Promoting the fight against noise pollution is another front in which we excel. A constant noise level of 85 decibels (most truck mounts exceed that) can damage hearing. We operate the quietest system in the cleaning world. Don't destroy that image by having a blaring radio in the truck or a boom box on the porch or patio of a home in which we are working. We shouldn't carry these noisemakers into commercial jobs either or wear headphones while we work. Headphones show a total lack of respect and attention to the job.

Remember, the green movement can be our friend if we tell folks about all the good things we have to offer that are environmentally friendly.

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