Michael Brown

Ann said the appliance repair service did everything right. They responded quickly. Their call taker/dispatcher was friendly and informative. The technician arrived when promised. He was clean-cut and enthusiastic. Ann recalled that he smiled a lot. She made a point of mentioning the shoe covers. It was the first time that Ann had ever seen a service technician wear shoe covers to protect her home. The technician performed a quick diagnostic and presented a fixed price before starting work. The price seemed a little high, but fair. Ann told them to go ahead. The repair was made properly. The technician cleaned up. Before he left, the technician went to his truck and brought Ann a refrigerator magnet. He mentioned that the company gets most of its customers by word-of-mouth and would appreciate it if she would recommend them to a friend or neighbor. The refrigerator magnet the technician gave Ann was thick. It wasn't likely to fall off the refrigerator if used to mount the kids' artwork. Ann still has the magnet on her refrigerator. The next day, a representative from the company called to make sure Ann was satisfied with the service. Ann assured her that she was delighted. And she was. So far, so good. NINE MONTHS LATER Ann needed appliance service. Yet, she didn't call the same company she used nine months earlier. She called G.E. instead. Why? Why would a homeowner call a different company when she had previously used one that performed admirably, that she described as having the best service of any home repair company she's ever used? Why? Simple. She could schedule service with G.E. online and she could not with the company she used before. In fact, this company that executed so well did not even have a website. Ann scheduled the service around 11:30 p.m., when it was convenient for her. She admits that thinks G.E. was not as good as the other company. In fact, it took G.E. almost a week to get a part that was needed. The G.E. tech admitted it was a part they should stock. He told Ann that she could probably pick one up from a local supply house, though he could not. He needed to get it delivered through the corporation's internal system. Ann figured she would not have had to wait if she used the other company. They would have either stocked the part on their trucks or would have picked it up from a local supply house. Moreover, Ann believes that G.E. charged a little more. Yet, if she had it all to do over, she would still use G.E. After all, G.E. let her schedule online. The other company, the one that did everything right, is not even aware they lost a customer. They are not aware that the game changed with this customer and they are not even playing in the same stadium. The number of people like Ann is growing every day. People are becoming comfortable with online shopping. Look at the growth of eBay. Even Amazon is turning a profit. The day is rapidly approaching where an online presence will be as significant as a phone line. Without it, you will be out of business. Once people like Ann get used to scheduling service online with G.E. or Sears or Home Depot or any other company, it will be hard to win them back. Their first inclination will be to go to the website they used before. It is critical that service companies develop an online presence NOW and begin familiarizing their customers with it. It may take years before a significant number of customers begin to use the site, but on that critical moment when your good, long-standing customer decides to schedule service at 11:30 p.m., you want her to be able to schedule it with your company. Otherwise, she will look for a company she knows she can schedule service with at her convenience. When that happens, your long-standing customer will no longer be your customer. She will be a memory. Oh. In case you're wondering, this is a true story. No embellishments were added. Since it helps to "see" examples, you might want to download a copy of the "Build a More Profitable Service Business" notes by clicking on the link below. http://www.serviceroundtable.com/Freebi ... p?PCID=295 Source: Comanche Marketing. Reprinted by permission. Free subscriptions are available at: www.serviceroundtable.com -- click on the Comanche Marketing tab Copyright © 2004 Matt Michel

by Matt Michel Sometimes we forget the simplest form of marketing. It's one-on-one marketing. THE FRANCHISEE'S WIFE When I was running a franchise organization, the wife of one of the Franchises called to let me have it. Six of her co-workers had purchased air conditioners, but none purchased from her husband. She was letting me know that she considered this my fault. "I'm not sure I understand," I said, "Why is this my fault?" "Because all of them said they would have bought from my husband if they had known he was in the business." "And that's my fault?" "Yes!" "Okay, I'm not trying to be dense. Tell me why that's my fault." "Because you don't advertise on TV." It went downhill from there. The Franchisee's wife didn't understand that no amount of advertising would ensure those six people knew her husband owned an air conditioning company. Only she could do that. Or maybe she did know. Maybe she was venting at me because she was upset about her own (lack of) performance. THE NEIGHBOR The Franchisee's wife is not unique. The other day a neighbor called to ask about a local service company. My wife recommended a couple of companies. He called the first, which responded within an hour. After the work was performed, he called me to get reassurance about the decision he made. I informed him that he made an excellent choice of companies, that the repair sounded appropriate, and that the price seemed reasonable. "I felt better about calling them because Pam says you know the president," he stated. "You probably know him too," I said, "I think he goes to your church." I gave him the president's name and description. Sure enough, my neighbor knew him. But he didn't know what business he was in. My friend's small business was not exactly "small." His company generates well over $10 million in annual sales. Yet, people that he saw every week didn't know what he did for a living. BE PASSIONATE. OR AT LEAST WEAR A COMPANY POLO Small business owners should never be passive about their companies. They should be passionate, evangelistic. And, as much as possible their families and employees should share their zeal. Everyone you know should know what you do. The first and richest target of opportunity is the people that you, your family, and your employees personally know and interact with. In every community there are a few business owners that are living, breathing, non-stop walking commercials for their businesses. They seem to know everyone and everyone they know, knows what they do. Spreading the word about their companies is second nature to these individuals. It should be for you as well. Maybe you are not naturally exuberant. Work on it. At least wear that company t-shirt, sweatshirt, polo, or jacket during off duty hours. Wear it to the PTA meeting, to the church men's group breakfast, to kids' sporting events. Only you can ensure everyone you know, knows what you do. Since it helps to "see" examples, you might want to download a copy of the "Build a More Profitable Service Business" notes by clicking on the link below. http://www.serviceroundtable.com/Freebi ... p?PCID=295 Source: Comanche Marketing. Reprinted by permission. Free subscriptions are available at: www.serviceroundtable.com -- click on the Comanche Marketing tab Copyright © 2004 Matt Michel

In marketing seminars I used to pose the question, "Where would you eat if you were traveling to a distant city and wanted dinner?" Then I would offer a choice of a well-known, national chain, such as Outback Steakhouse and a local restaurant of equivalent status. I would repeat the process with hotels. Better than 80% would select the familiar over the unknown. We all seek the familiar. It's safer. You will get more calls if you can make your brand familiar, recognizable. Sure, the consumer may tell you they found you in the yellow pages. That's true. It's where they found your number. But why did they select your company out of the entire array presented in the competition pages? More than likely, your name was more familiar. The consumer may not even consciously recognize it, but it's there. The trick is to make your brand the most familiar around. This drives most outdoor advertising. There isn't time to get much of a message across, but you can drive familiarity, even subconsciously. It is why you slap your name on your mobile billboard - your truck. Brand familiarity drives most advertising premiums. Companies do not give away logo'ed pens because they want the public to write more. They do not give away calendars because they want people to remember the day of the week. They want people to see and recall their logo, their brand. An innovative means of getting your name out is to place it on ceramic coffee cups and offer to give them to independent coffee shops. In return, offer to pass out flyers or coupons for the coffee shop on service calls. To the coffee shop, you're removing a cost, which is the cost of buying cups. You're also helping to promote their business. For your company, you're gaining low cost brand promotion. You're also offering an additional value add to your customers when you give them coupons to the coffee shop. Some coffee shop owners may tell you to take a hike. They're the same people that would refuse a $20 bill if you handed it to them on the street. Others, however, will take you up on your offer. Visit a local coffee shop. Buy coffee. Ask to see the owner or manager before you leave. Complement him on the service. Then, run the idea by him. Ask him how many coffee cups he has and how many he runs through in the course of a year (one of my first jobs was in a restaurant and believe me, if anything could be broken or chipped, we broke or chipped it). The owner might say no. He might say yes. You have nothing to lose by asking. Since it helps to "see" examples, you might want to download a copy of the "Build a More Profitable Service Business" notes by clicking on the link below. http://www.serviceroundtable.com/Freebi ... p?PCID=295 Source: Comanche Marketing. Reprinted by permission. Free subscriptions are available at: www.serviceroundtable.com -- click on the Comanche Marketing tab Copyright © 2004 Matt Michel

When you ordered your coffee cups you couldn't help yourself. The price per cup was soooo much better when you ordered 12 gross (sound like someone succumbed to some marketing, eh?). Only, no one explained that a gross was 144. You've hit the local coffee shop and you still have extra coffee cups. Boy do you have extras. Boxes of coffee cups are stacked all over the office. What do you do? Dad says that Don Stone, the CEO of Pro Cuts, showed up at the Denton South Rotary Club with coffee cups for every member. That's not a bad idea. Pass them out to the members of your service club. In fact, give them out to the members of all of your clubs and organizations. Think. Where does the public meet and wait and drink coffee? Hmmm. If you've got commercial customers, an obvious answer is their offices. Why stop there. Your suppliers' employees need your services too from time to time. Give them your coffee cups. Not only does it help get your name out to the back office people, but it will drive your competitors nuts when the visit the supply house and are accidentally served coffee in one of your cups. Where else can you place them? What about the waiting rooms of your local auto dealers' service departments? Most of them serve coffee to customers in plush waiting rooms these days. Heck, you don't even need to ask. Just show up and drop off a few cups. They are likely to cycle into the regular supply. Your banker probably drinks coffee. Bring him a few cups. It may help generate some business among the employees of the bank. More important, it's always good to be on friendly terms with bankers. Using the same reasoning, take a few by city hall. Give them to the inspectors and code enforcers. Drop by the local radio and television stations. Drop off a few cups at the front desk. Oh, let's not forget. Give one to every customer on every service call. They drink coffee too. Next... The end of Coffee Cup Marketing (whew!) Copyright © 2002 Matt Michel

Coffee Cup Marketing - Part Three The past two Comanche Marketing tips have discussed coffee cup marketing. Another method involves Styrofoam, not ceramic cups. It's an old tip, but fits with the last two, so here it goes again. Visit any church and you will likely find plenty of coffee on hand. I'm not suggesting it's needed, only that it's present. Churches with adult Sunday School programs seem especially prone to distributing gallons of coffee. And churches are always looking for money or ways to save money. Sniff, sniff. This smells like opportunity. Buy Styrofoam coffee cups with your logo and phone number printed on them. Contact area churches and tell them you are willing to donate free coffee cups if they want them. Many, not all, will say yes. But don't measure the potential of the program by the reaction you encounter in your own church. For some reason, churches are more willing to accept donations like this from outsiders than from their own members. In fact, you might try other churches first. Churches aren't the only place where you can donate coffee cups. You can give them to PTAs for use in their parent meetings. Give them to the VFW, the Elks Club, and so on. Specially printed cups are expensive, but only when compared to the plain white version. They're a cheap way to get your name in front of a group of people week in and week out. Furthermore, your name gains a positive association. Over time you might want to enhance your coffee cup marketing. Imprint your name on one side. Imprint a coupon on the other. The coupon could be dollars off and it could also be something along the lines of "Turn this cup in on a service call and earn $5 for your church/club/PTA." Copyright © 2002 Matt Michel

Employee Family and Friend Promotions Firestone Tires (yes, that Firestone) uses a simple means of generating referrals. It costs pennies, allows employees to look good with their friends, and can keep the company top-of-mind for tires for years. It is a "special friends" discount card. The card is for "special friends" of Firestone, meaning Firestone employees. The employee writes his or her name on the card and the customer's name. The customer can then present the card to Firestone for an additional 10% off on any service or product. The special friends cards are really nothing more than business cards. They cost little. Yet, customers can easily keep them in their wallets and may keep them for years, long after the employee has departed. Whenever the need for tires comes up, the customer remembers the card and Firestone gets first crack. EMAIL PROMOTIONS Special friends promotions are widespread in the retailing world. The employees of retailers either send an email or an email to a special web page with no other links to friends and family. Often, employees with one retailer will send them to the employees of other retailers so that they can take advantage of the other retailer's special friends program in a type of quid pro quo. What prevents the recipient of one of these from emailing it to other people? Nothing! Usually time limited, a special friends promotion is nothing more than an employee driven referral based promotion. It makes the employee feel good to offer a "special" to family and friends. To the family and friends it appears as though they are in on something exclusive. Terrific. Whatever it takes to get them to buy. The email promotion has the added advantage of zero marketing and advertising cost. Yes, there is the cost of the promotion itself, but employees spread it for free, often at home on their own time. Copyright © 2002 Matt Michel

Don't Try To Save Your Way To Prosperity Dave Laurenz is one heck of a sales executive. His philosophy is that sales cover up a lot of evils. As long as he has orders, Dave figures every other problem is manageable. He figures that tough times mean he needs to grab even more business from his competitors. So when times get tough, Dave gets more aggressive than usual. Dave has the right attitude and philosophy. Unfortunately, too many companies fall sway to a bean counter mentality. They try to save their way to prosperity. It doesn't work that way. When the marketplace is contracting, the knee jerk reaction of the bean counters is to slash and burn. They play lumberjack with the budgets, often cutting back on advertising and marketing at the very time the company needs all of the marketing and advertising it can get. Of course, frivolous spending should be curtailed, as it should in good times (if it is frivolous). Some essential, but discretionary expenditures may even need to be delayed. A truck replacement, for example, may be put off a year. Marketing and advertising, however, is neither frivolous nor discretionary. Think about it. The market is contracting. There's less business to be had. So this is the very time you reduce the efforts you make drum up new business? It's crazy. It's crazy, but that's exactly the way many people think. They cut back. Meanwhile, an aggressive competitor keeps his business-building activities steady or increases them. Given your reduced efforts, he encounters less competition and grows. When the market recovers, he rides the recovery to new heights having gained share in the downturn. Recently I talked with a small business owner that sold his company. He was flabbergasted at the decisions made by the new owner. The market was down, so they started cutting SG&A. Marketing took a big hit. Not surprisingly, business got even worse. In response, the braniacs that bought the company started cutting payroll, and actually fired the top producer because he was earning too much. Get this: the top producer was paid straight commission. He was paid a lot because he produced a lot. The top producer didn't have to worry. The competition snapped him up in a heartbeat. Others read the writing on the wall and left of their own accord before they could be fired. This once proud company is now 25% of its pre-sale size, hemorrhaging cash where it had previously been one of the most profitable in its industry. Laugh if you want, but this is not unusual. I can cite example after example of big and small companies self-destructing by firing their best salespeople and slashing their marketing and advertising. I can also give you examples of companies that did the opposite. When I worked for Dave Laurenz, I ran a business unit that was highly dependent on high-rise office construction. I started with the company at the exact moment high-rise office construction went into a free-fall. It didn't stop until it fell 34%. Now that is a contraction. Yet, through it all Dave never wavered. He increased advertising. We accelerated product development schedules. Dave was the most aggressive sales executive I've worked for. I don't remember how much sales increased for the company, overall. In my division, we increased an average of nearly 7% per year through this period. That's not spectacular except when you consider the high-rise construction collapse. Then, it's extraordinary. We gain nearly 10 full points of market share and became the world leaders for the product category. But it shouldn't be a surprise. Our competitors pulled back. We stepped up and filled the void, taking our share and some of theirs. Don't try to save your way to prosperity. It can't be done. Instead, aggressively pursue the business. Now more than ever, your marketing and advertising must carry you. During times like these you cannot afford to take out a big yellow pages ad and wait for the phone to ring. You've got to make it ring. and that requires an investment.

For years, other inspectors have regaled me with stories of how great their Little Giant ladders are. I've seen them time and again in various catalogs, but the price - usually over $350 - always snaps me back to reality and I look at my 22-ft. extension ladder and 6-ft. step ladder and say to myself, "Maybe next year." So, imagine my surprise one day when walking through the local Costco, hoping to find stuff that can be purchased in quantities less than a gross, when I spotted, far off in the distance, what looked like a Little Giant ladder with a big price placard above that read $139.95! I dropped the 80-lb bale of toilet paper rolls and sprinted the half mile to the other end of the store, ready to mud-wrestle anyone who tried to get to that ladder first. Then, as I got closer - Whoa! Flaps down, flare out, apply the brakes - "This thing isn't a Little Giant!" I think, "It says Costco on it! Sure enough, it was indeed a Costco branded ladder. In fact, it was The Worlds Greatest Multi-Use Ladder System. I knew that, because that's what the box said. Examining the ladder more closely, I immediately noted that it was made in the Republic of Korea, didn't have the snazzy orange knobs or pulls like the Little Giant Ladder and each hinge segment was made from stamped sheet steel instead of heavy metal plates like the Little Giant. Still, $139. Hmmm.......... I went back, retrieved my bale of toilet paper and resumed my quest, saying to myself, "Maybe next year." However, this time it wasn't so easy. $139.95, $139.95 kept running through my head. Finally I thought, "Oh, what the heck," returned to the stack of boxes and dropped one in the oversized Costco cart, about 3 yards away from the bale of toilet paper and headed for the checkout. The next morning, I broke it out of the box and used it for the first time. "Awful heavy, " I thought. Then I set it up, used it and took it down outside, set it up, used it and broke it down inside. "Awful lot of finagling around to set up a ladder," I thought, and then I put it back in my truck. As the days went by, I used it more and more and found that, after one becomes accustomed to the additional weight and setting it up, it isn't very difficult to use at all. In fact, my life seemed to get a whole lot simpler. This ladder, unlike my 6-ft. step ladder, can be extended up into an attic hatch, so I no longer have to make like a trapeze artist to get from the ladder up through a high-ceiling hatch. Outside, it is a lot more stable than my narrow-footed extension ladder and I can pull it up on a lower roof behind me, in order to go from the lower roof to an upper roof. Costco provides a video tape explaining how to use the ladder most effectively, but I really don't see the point. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to set up and use this ladder. Is it as good as the Little Giant ladder? Beats me. I've never owned or used a Little Giant ladder,and have only looked at one up close once. I really have no frame of reference for comparison. However, it is fairly obvious that the biggest difference between this and the Little Giant is the way the hinge and release mechanism is made. These hinges don't look like they'll be able to sustain nearly the abuse that the solid metal plates used to make the Little Giant's hinges can take. Is this really that big a selling point? Not for me. I don't go up and down the ladder all day long like a house painter or window washer, so it won't get that much use anyway. To me, the price difference was worth trying one out. Initially, my biggest concern was whether I could get up on roofs with it. After all, it is only 17-ft. long - 5-ft. shorter than my extension ladder. Would I even get to use it for going up on the exterior? Well, the answer is yes. Yesterday, I had a pretty high roof and had to take my extension ladder off the roof of my van for the first time in about 7 or 8 weeks. It was then that I realized that my old extension ladder is only going to be used occasionally now. As for my fiberglass stepladder? That hasn't been off the roof of the van in nearly 4 months. I'm not certain that I'll ever use it again. I'm pretty happy with this little ladder. Sure, it isn't the Little Giant, but it can do virtually everything that the Little Giant can at less than half the price. Will it last as long as the Little Giant? Probably not. Only time will tell. Guess we'll see. Now I'm wondering when Costco will come out with a longer version. I'd sure like to get a 24 or 26-ft version. Think they'd make me one special if I bought a pickup truck full of toilet paper? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike O'Handley, Editor

Moved from Front Page Headlines February 15th, 2004 The first Weyerhaeuser siding claims deadline has come and gone. Homeowners hoping to be paid by Weyerhaeuser Corp. for damages associated with defective Weyerhaeuser siding under the court-approved settlement were supposed to have had their first claim forms in to Weyerhaeuser no later than December 22nd, 2003. Some who have not done so may now be ineligible to file a claim. Anyone who owns or owned a structure in the United States on which Weyerhaeuser brand hardboard siding was installed from January 1, 1981 through December 31, 1999 is eligible to file a claim for compensation if their siding has buckled, swelled, become spongy, shows visible degradation, including surface welting, edge checking, delamination, wax bleed or has raised or popped fibers. All compensation will be awarded according to a compensation formula agreed to in the settlement. However, unlike the Louisiana-Pacific Inner-Seal settlement, Weyerhaeuser will not compensate homeowners where the damage is a result of improper design or installation. The Weyerhaeuser hardboard siding involved was made from wood fiber, wax and resin and was distributed in both lap (board) and panel (sheet) applications, and in various external textures designed to look like conventional wood siding. In order to confirm whether any damaged hardboard siding is the Weyerhaeuser product, HI's or homeowners should look on the back of the siding for to see if it is stamped AHA 10, AHA 20 or AHA 02. The deadlines to file a claim varies. Basically, the later the siding was installed, the more time the homeowner has to file a claim. Additional details are available at the claims website, including pictures. For more information or to request a claim form, homeowners should call Weyerhaeuser's toll free claims number at 1-800-365-0697 or visit their website at www.weyerclaims.com. Claimants may also write to Weyerhaeuser Claims, P.O. Box 9443, Garden City, NY 11530-9443.

Moved from Front Page Headlines February 15th, 2004. It's one of the most frequently asked questions asked of home inspectors by their clients, "Can you tell me anything about how to choose the most energy efficient replacement windows for the home?" Because we are there to inspect the home and prefer not to become ensnarled in what might become a future liability issue, most of us politely defer from getting side tracked with this question. Nonetheless, it is an important question for most clients who are purchasing older homes with leaky, single-glazed windows, and our not answering the question doesn't help them very much. Well, defer no more, because there is a credible source you can refer your customers to that will not only educate them about the benefits of high performance windows, but will show them how to pick those best suited to their own environment. That source is the Efficient Windows Collaborative, a coalition of window, door, skylight, and component manufacturers, research organizations, federal , state and local government agencies, and others interested in expanding the market for high-efficiency fenestration products. The Efficient Windows web site at http://www.efficientwindows.org is sponsored by the Efficient Windows Collaborative (EWC) with support from the U.S. Department of Energy's Windows and Glazings Program and the participation of industry members. The EWC site is chock full of useful information for both home inspectors and their clients. In the case of that oft-asked question above, just refer your clients to EWC's resources page, where they can obtain a fact sheet specifically tailored to their own geographic region that will explain how they can best choose the best window for their own enviornment, including cost studies done on properties within their region. Home inspectors will find enough useful active and archived information and resources on this site to keep anyone busy reading for an entire evening. Informing your clients about this source just might be the one thing that truly makes you stand out from your competition.

Home Inspectors At Risk of Exposure to Deadly Virus The Inspector's Journal (November 10, 2003) Monday's Seattle Post-Intelligencer carried an article about a 21-year old college student at Skagit Valley College who died last week from complications confirmed to have been caused by Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, a particularly deadly disease spread by common deer mice. Concerned that home inspectors who routinely inspect rodent-infested attics and crawlspaces may be at particular risk of exposure and infection, TIJ contacted the Skagit County Public Health Department to learn more. Corinne Story, Public Health Nurse, informed TIJ that the State Health Department was still conducting a follow-up investigation to determine where the student, who died just days after being taken to the hospital suffering from diarrhea and vomiting, was exposed. According to Story, hantavirus works very quickly. Anyone exposed can begin showing symptoms within a day and reach end stage disease within 5 days. There have been 25 reported cases of hantavirus in Washington State since 1994 - nine of which were fatal (Nationwide, the mortality rate for the virus is 40%). Once infected, there are no antibiotics or known cures. All a hospital can do is provide support while the disease runs its course. Story recommends that anyone entering rural structures that have been closed up and unoccupied, such as camp cabins, barns or sub-structure areas - anywhere there is likely to be rodent infestation - wear at least a paper filter mask and gloves. Those who frequently inspect crawlspaces or attics should wear a respirator with P100 cartridges, surgical gloves and bag their coveralls until cleaned. Story suggests home inspectors working in rural areas warn their clients to avoid dry sweeping floors or dusting furniture or shelves in structures which have been closed up. Instead, buildings should be aired out for at least an hour and then floors and surfaces damp mopped, sprayed or wiped down with bleach. (The Seattle P-I story recommended soaking rodent nests with a solution of one part bleach to 10 parts water.) Story confirmed that hantavirus can't be spread human-to-human and that in Washington State roughly 11% of deer mice tested carry the disease. She said that to her knowledge it has never been found in roof rats, Norway rats or field mice. Nonetheless, she advises extreme caution in any rodent-infested environment, and says that any inspector experiencing sudden onset of flue-like symptoms - chills and fever - accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea and shortness of break, should seek immediate medical attention. Additional information can be obtained by contacting the Skagit County Public Health Department at 360-336-9380, or at the Washington State Department of Health website at: http://www.doh.wa.gov.