TRUTH

In Business, it is important to know and practice the Truth. Truth normally leads to success; therefore, Truth has value. Put your Customers first; this will set you apart from most competitors. Small companies unfortunately many times do not have a marketing plan! Other times these businesses have a plan and then do not follow it. Customers will never see the benefits of a service unless they’re told about them. Sellers ask! Buyers answer! A sale is the result of a buyer with a need meeting a seller who can satisfy that need. Potential Customers buy benefits, they don’t buy features. If you’re not getting a commitment, are you just not selling hard enough? In sales, “YES” means you stop selling. Don’t “Buy” it back. The Truth cannot be bought, sold or borrowed. But it definitely can be practiced. Related Articles and Information: Customer Service in the Carpet Cleaning Industry The 15 Factors of Success in Carpet Cleaning Business Tips for Increasing Your Carpet Cleaning Business Twenty Steps to Success What Makes a Company Successful in the Carpet Cleaning Business? Thank you for reading Bane’s Blog® Please read the latest issue of the Clene-Times® at www.baneclene.com/publications/. Please visit our web site at www.baneclene.com. The Bane-Clene® Team. Free Bane-Clene Information Package Free packet of information about Bane-Clene can be obtained by calling toll-free 1-800-428-9512 (U.S. ONLY!). Your information packet will include a full color catalog and price addendum. Packets will arrive in approximately 2 weeks through standard United States Mail. You can also order the packet at the Catalog Request Form. Bane-Clene Home Page Articles, Videos and Products for Professional Carpet Cleaners On-Line Spot & Stain Removal Guide & Procedures for the Professional Carpet Cleaner

COMPETITORS

Our Competitors will do more for us than our family or friends. Our Family and Friends are too polite to point out any weaknesses or deficiencies but our Competitors will go to great lengths to broadcast them and take advantage of them. If our Competitors are efficient, diligent, hard working and attentive, then we will strive to seek ways to improve our products and or services. Our Competitors would take our business if they could. This keeps us diligent and alert to work to hold onto what we have. If we had no Competitors, we would be lazy, incompetent and sloppy. Thus our Competitors challenge us to always do better. We salute our Competitors, like our Customers they keep us working hard. Related Articles and Information: Competitors in the Carpet Cleaning Industry The Competitive Edge Thank you for reading Bane’s Blog® Please read the latest issue of the Clene-Times® at www.baneclene.com/publications/. Please visit our web site at www.baneclene.com. The Bane-Clene® Team. Free Bane-Clene Information Package Free packet of information about Bane-Clene can be obtained by calling toll-free 1-800-428-9512 (U.S. ONLY!). Your information packet will include a full color catalog and price addendum. Packets will arrive in approximately 2 weeks through standard United States Mail. You can also order the packet at the Catalog Request Form. Bane-Clene Home Page Articles, Videos and Products for Professional Carpet Cleaners On-Line Spot & Stain Removal Guide & Procedures for the Professional Carpet Cleaner

CREATE VALUE

Customer Loyalty may be a fleeting concept at best. The consumer buys a service based on two factors… the quality level of the service and its perceived value to them. A service company may have a large number of customers in a small geographic area and that may make them feel very comfortable. Unfortunately, many of these customers would buy their service from someone else if they could got a better deal (price). Because they may think all Carpet Cleaning Companies are the same. So how does a Company attain Customer Loyalty? The best way is to Create Value. In order to Create Value, there are several factors that come into play: Work to keep overhead as low as possible. Practice Prudent Purchasing for chemicals, supplies and other necessities. Use only high quality products … they may seem to cost more initially but they don’t because less is used and high quality results are attained. Advertising should represent the Company as one that provides high quality service at a reasonable price. Maintain equipment and vehicles properly to avoid a major expense or breakdown. Technicians should be well groomed and uniformed. Technicians should be paid a competitive wage which assists in employee retention. Repeat customers appreciate seeing the same people in their home or office. Phones should be answered promptly and by representatives that can answer inquiries properly and decisively. All this can be done while still maintaining profitability. Keep the quality above a level that the customer can readily see. Keep the price at a level that will Create Value and then Customer Loyalty will follow. Related Articles and Information: ABCs of Advertising Advertising - the Essential Element Advertising the Bane-Clene Way Competitive Edge Customer Service in the Carpet Cleaning Industry Eleven Commandments of Good Business - What is a Customer? Image in Carpet Cleaning Telephone Etiquette in the Carpet Cleaning Business The 15 Factors of Success in Carpet Cleaning Business The Customer Is (Still) Always Right There Is No Substitute for Service Tips for Increasing Your Carpet Cleaning Business Twenty Steps to Success What Makes a Company Successful in the Carpet Cleaning Business? Why Doesn’t My Advertising Work? Thank you for reading Bane’s Blog® Please read the latest issue of the Clene-Times® at www.baneclene.com/publications/. Please visit our web site at www.baneclene.com. The Bane-Clene® Team. Free Bane-Clene Information Package Free packet of information about Bane-Clene can be obtained by calling toll-free 1-800-428-9512 (U.S. ONLY!). Your information packet will include a full color catalog and price addendum. Packets will arrive in approximately 2 weeks through standard United States Mail. You can also order the packet at the Catalog Request Form. Bane-Clene Home Page Articles, Videos and Products for Professional Carpet Cleaners On-Line Spot & Stain Removal Guide & Procedures for the Professional Carpet Cleaner

THE COMPETITIVE EDGE

When a customer retains the services of a professional carpet cleaner, they presume that this company possesses the necessary tools and skills to successfully complete the job. Competent craftsmanship, efficient cleaning equipment and cleaning chemicals and properly trained and schooled technicians are just part of what is THE COMPETITIVE EDGE. So what completes THE COMPETITIVE EDGE? Service businesses are people businesses. When all else is equal, the individual running the company sets or ignores the standards that assure success. So what are the “people things” that make a difference and gives a company THE COMPETITIVE EDGE? Do potential customers know about the business? Is there an advertising plan in place or does the company rely on friends and family to pass the word? Does a trained person answer the company phone? (THE SINGLE BIGGEST MISTAKE is the failure to realize that people wish to communicate with people.) Do customers feel a sense of “cleanliness” when the service vehicle pulls up to their home or building? (The appearance of the vehicle is the customer’s first perception of a commitment to hygiene.) Do uniformed technicians greet the customers courteously and with a warm smile? (While customers may be cognizant of the brand of equipment used, they are very interested in the caliber of people they allow inside their homes!) Are the technicians careful with the customer’s furnishings? (They should remember that they are an invited guest in the customer’s homes. ) Do the technicians do the “extras”? For example, dust the baseboards and the backsides of heavy furniture while it is away from the wall? The customer should be advised of additional services that will be of benefit to them such as Carpet Protector and Odor Control. (These are not ‘bait-and switch’ tactics! Is the customer left with instructions on the care of the carpet after cleaning? (Customers rely on advice and this is also an excellent method of keeping a company’s name in the customer’s mind.) Is the customer thanked when the technician(s) leaves? (The customer has done the company a favor!) Is there follow up on the job performance? (Remember that a customer’s silence does not mean satisfaction!) These ten suggestions do not require a large capital expenditure for cleaning machines, chemicals or training. However, they are fundamental people-to-people interaction. Commitment to these ten simple efforts-will help a company obtain THE COMPETITIVE EDGE and help set them apart from their competition. Related Articles and Information: ABCs of Advertising Add-On Carpet Cleaning ‘Plus Sales’ Advertising - the Essential Element Advertising the Bane-Clene Way Bait and Switch in the Carpet Cleaning Industry Customer Service in the Carpet Cleaning Industry Eleven Commandments of Good Business - What is a Customer? Image in Carpet Cleaning Phone Courtesy Telephone Etiquette in the Carpet Cleaning Business The 15 Factors of Success in Carpet Cleaning Business What Makes a Company Successful in the Carpet Cleaning Business? Thank you for reading Bane’s Blog® Please read the latest issue of the Clene-Times® at www.baneclene.com/publications/. Please visit our web site at www.baneclene.com. The Bane-Clene® Team. Free Bane-Clene Information Package Free packet of information about Bane-Clene can be obtained by calling toll-free 1-800-428-9512 (U.S. ONLY!). Your information packet will include a full color catalog and price addendum. Packets will arrive in approximately 2 weeks through standard United States Mail. You can also order the packet at the Catalog Request Form. Bane-Clene Home Page Articles, Videos and Products for Professional Carpet Cleaners On-Line Spot & Stain Removal Guide & Procedures for the Professional Carpet Cleaner

LABOR DAY

Labor Day will be celebrated Monday September 4th. It is a holiday which honors the American worker, who has added to the prosperity and well being of our country. We as Carpet Cleaners are the embodiment of this classification and as entrepreneurs expand it even further. Small businesses have been and will always be the economic backbone of our country. In 1887 Oregon became the first state to make Labor Day an official public holiday. By the time it became an official federal holiday in 1894, thirty states officially celebrated it. Labor Day has been labeled the “unofficial end of summer” because it marks the end of the cultural summer season. It is traditional for parades, picnics, family reunions and other activities to be held in communities all across the country. Many fall events also begin at this time. During the Labor Day weekend, the NCAA will play a full slate of football games. The NFL traditionally plays their kickoff game the Thursday after Labor Day. The Southern 500 NASCAR auto race is held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. At Indianapolis Raceway Park, the NHRA hold their finals for the U.S. National Drag races. It is also the midway point between weeks one and two of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships held in Flushing Meadow, NY. Once again there are a plethora of National, State and Local activities that take place Labor Day Weekend. Wherever you are, whoever you are with, take time to acknowledge yourselves and the hard work you do and the fact that our small businesses are the economic strength of our country. Thank you for reading Bane’s Blog® Please read the latest issue of the Clene-Times® at www.baneclene.com/publications/. Please visit our web site at www.baneclene.com. The Bane-Clene® Team. Free Bane-Clene Information Package Free packet of information about Bane-Clene can be obtained by calling toll-free 1-800-428-9512 (U.S. ONLY!). Your information packet will include a full color catalog and price addendum. Packets will arrive in approximately 2 weeks through standard United States Mail. You can also order the packet at the Catalog Request Form. Bane-Clene Home Page Articles, Videos and Products for Professional Carpet Cleaners On-Line Spot & Stain Removal Guide & Procedures for the Professional Carpet Cleaner