Author Archives: serviceproz
Friday Fun Facts for Cleaning Companies
You are looking to start a cleaning company, or you are an established cleaning company looking for more business. Curious as to what the odds are of getting residential cleaning jobs in the U.S? The following facts are courtesy of www.housecleaningbiz101.com.
FUN FACTS
Research shows that the majority of residential cleaning service customers make more than $75,000 annually.
These households are all potential or current customers of a residential cleaning service business. Are you targeting the right demographics?
Some people in the cleaning service business worry that there is too much competition to get enough clients.
That means…
There are PLENTY of potential residential cleaning customers to go around!
With the right combination of high quality, attentive staff, good marketing, an engaging website, and a commitment to customer service, your cleaning company can be generating substantial revenues! Keep this in mind as you start or grow your cleaning company. You have lots of potential
Have a happy Friday, from Service Proz!
Bring In More Customers With Videos on Your Site
You’ve GOT to be different!
We’ve said it before, and we will say it again. The home service business industry is competitive. As a customer, sometimes it’s hard to differentiate. A 
few years ago, you might have been able to differentiate yourself by just having a website. Today, it’s not that easy. Now, websites all start to look the same. Competitors feed off each other, so colors, design, and messaging tend to be similar. But you have worked hard for your business. You want a consumer to be wowed by your business before you even provide them with a service. You want them to pick up the phone and choose to call your business for service.
So What?
A great differentiator that you can use to set your website, AND your company apart from the crowd is using videos. Showing an example of what your business can do establishes trust in a consumer’s mind. It is a more concrete and imaginative way to demonstrate your capabilities and differentiation than words. This is the perfect opportunity to give your customers, or potential customers, a taste of how your business works, and why they should choose you.
What To Show and Where?
There are three different videos that would be beneficial to host on your site, and on your YouTube channel.
1. An “About Our Business” video, or short commercial looks great on the home page of your website. It makes your website personal, it gives your customers a great understanding of what your business can do, and demonstrates that you truly care about your business.
2. A “How Our Business Works” video can work very well on your Services pages. It can also function as a great way to capture website visitors’ information. Have them fill out a contact form in exchange for viewing the video.
3. A “Testimonial” video goes well on your home page or on your testimonials page. This is another great way to establish brand trust with your potential customers. Hearing praises about your business from an actual person is a strong reassurance to your potential customer that they are picking the right business for their needs.
Now What?
Wondering where to start with adding videos to your website to help differentiate your business from the rest? Here are a few steps you can take to create and post videos to generate a bigger interest in your business and give you a great competitive edge.
1. Decide what types of videos you would like to create and promote on your website or YouTube channel, or both!
2. Contact a media company like Twisted Media to see what sort of videos you can create with the budget that you have.
3. Create your videos!
4. Post your videos in the appropriate areas – don’t forget to start a YouTube channel if you don’t have one.
5. Use social media to promote your new videos.
Looking for an Example?
Chicago based carpet cleaning company Unique Upholstery, Carpet and Rug Cleaning Inc. does a great job utilizing videos to promote their services. Check out their website here for some examples.
Do you use videos to promote your home service business?
Love Your Business this Valentine’s Day
Service Proz is offering 50% off a year’s subscription to their all-in-one service management solution. Are you tired of scheduling your employees by hand, using Excel to keep track of your inventory, and using paper systems to keep track of your customers and billing? Transform your business this Valentine’s day with Service Proz’s complete service management solution, including drag and drop scheduling, routing, automatic billing with QuickBooks integration, inventory management, a CRM, and more! But hurry, this offer ends February 14th at 5:00 P.M. PST. Call (877) 880-8979 today or email info@serviceproz.net to sign up and transform your business!
Experience the Power of Printing from Anywhere, Anytime
Imagine being able to print something from anywhere, whenever you need to. If a customer wants a printed invoice at the end of a job, voila! You can use your mobile device to print to a portable printer in your truck, and hand them a copy. If your office needs that same invoice (so they can sign off on it) before you leave your job site, you can print to the office printer as well. It is instant gratification in its simplest form, giving you the power to keep detailed records, stay on top of your business, and provide that little extra customer service for your clients at the same time.
Companies like Google and HP are offering printing in the cloud; just another one of the many benefits of cloud computing. This functionality allows you to print to a printer of your choice from any device that offers email services. Printers that offer
cloud printing services come with a specific email address. As long as you have this email address, you can print to the printer from anywhere, at any time, without being directly connected to the printer. While this may seem counterproductive to the “green” movement, businesses have to face that fact, that at this time, it is not possible to be entirely paperless. E-print can help give your customers peace of mind, allow your technicians to capture signatures and approvals in real time, and allows your business to keep detailed records for auditors and tax purposes.
Cloud printing, or e-printing, is just another fascinating new technology that can improve your business processes. Combined with a robust service management solution, you can keep your business organized all while wowing your customer. Learn about printing in the cloud today, and think about its potential for your business.
To learn more, visit the below links:
Have you had experience with cloud printing? How has it helped your business?
Make Your Business Unforgettable with Innovation
A 21st century business has a lot to compete with. We are headed on the fast track to flying cars and robot maids. Long gone are the days when people went to the corner hardware store, used the only barbers in town, and were loyal customers for life. We live in a world of innovation, and in order to compete, you must use innovation to your advantage as well. Here are three innovative ways for making your business unforgettable to your customers, ensuring that they will continue to be drawn to your services and return often to buy more.
Have A Creative (and DIFFERENT) Web Presence:
It is easy to fall into the trap of creating a website that looks like your competitors’ sites. It is the safe, professional route to take. But 
you are making a fatal error by doing this. There is no differentiation. You don’t just want to look like your competitors; you want to BLOW them out of the water. Use bright colors, capture people’s attention with fun activities, wording, videos and other engaging tools. Take www.maidpro.com for example. They have an AMAZING site. Not only does it entirely reflect what they do, with no room for confusion, but they engage with their website visitors with fun interactive tools like a bubble popping game (who doesn’t like clicking things!) and a spoof video. The website captures the idea that MaidPro LOVES what they do, and they do it well. It is an unforgettable site, and leaves a lasting impression that visitors are unlikely to forget.
Set Yourself Apart with a New Reputation:
People stereotype. It’s what they do. And that comes from experiences that people have in their life, particularly their experiences in the retail world. Gem Plumbing used these stereotypes to their advantage. Knowing that people get frustrated with the fact that plumbers tend to track mud and dirt into their homes, and are usually known more for their “plumber’s cracks” than for their service, Gem decided to change the way people view plumbers. By implementing the business policy that all of their plumbing technicians were required to wear company uniforms and booties on site, they fundamentally changed people’s views of what to expect from a plumber’s visit. Come up with a creative way to change your industry, and use it as your unique selling point. If people know their service will be different and better if they call you, your business is sure to become unforgettable.
It’s MORE Than Just a Name:
A name is more than just what you register your business with. It is your brand, your identity, and your first impression. It comes 
with an image. You need to make sure that your business name is memorable, identifiable, and creative. Think about the Geek Squad from Best Buy. This service business provides IT services to homes and businesses throughout the U.S. Their brand is memorable because they used a creative, fun name as the jumping off point for the rest of their image; from their brightly marked technician Beatles to their employees’ uniforms.
The home service business industry is incredibly competitive. It is important to stand out from the crowd. It is the first way to wow your potential customers. Setting yourself apart from your competition doesn’t just show that you do things differently, it also demonstrates the passion you have your for your business. Start brainstorming…
Using the 4 P’s at Your Home Service Business
A few months back, we wrote a short blog about “3 Reasons Why Your Services is Your Product.” In that blog, we outlined why home 
services businesses that don’t sell a physical product should still consider your “service” as a “product”. At the end of that blog we mentioned a marketing technique called The Marketing Mix and in this blog we will expand on a famous classification of this tool named “The 4Ps of Marketing.” We recognize that many small business owners will not have attended business school so here’s our useful overview that you can put into practice and make your life easier when taking your services to market.
To many marketers, the four “P” words (commonly, and more aptly, known as the 4Ps) are the golden fundamentals of all marketing. The 4Ps are the starting point to success in marketing your business and your services. For small business owners that often only think of marketing as something only big firms with big budgets do, the 4Ps may seem a bit of a mystery, but by following the simple framework you can transform your thinking and take your services to market more effectively. And more effective marketing creates more demand, leading to increased revenues.
Developed in the 1960 by E. Jerome McCarthy, a marketing professor at Michigan State University, the 4Ps stand for product, place, promotion, and price; the four key elements of marketing any product or service.
• Product: Be clear about exactly what you are selling to your customers. You may not have a tangible product to sell but know if you are selling “home cleaning services”, “landscaping services” or “pest control services.” The more precise you are with telling people what service you are selling, the greater the chance you’ll end up targeting the right people: those people who want to buy your services.
• Place: Where will you be selling your services? Will it be online via sites such as Angie’s List, on your company’s website, via the telephone, or using some or all of these techniques? Here you are deciding on how people will be able to buy from you. By making it simple, you can encourage more people to buy without needing to ask many questions because questions create confusion, and confusion drives potential customers away.
• Promotion: How will you promote your business and services? Will you advertise in local newspapers, or display your logo on your field service representatives’ vehicles? Even the subtle use of your logo on a business card or estimate is an example of Promotion. Think carefully about where and how you want your future customers to find out about you.
• Price: Decide on how you will charge for your services. Is it by the job, by the hour, by the square foot, or by some other measurement? How will you incorporate your running costs and overheads? Whatever approach suits your business should be clear and transparent to your customer, and price with no hidden charges. And remember to add some margin too because you still need to make a profit.
shorter model. But what do you think of this model, and what are your experiences of adopting this?
Why Your Service Should Be Like the French Ski Town Tignes
Nestled deep in the French Alps is a small little French town called Tignes. The town’s sole purpose is to cater to those crazy people who call attaching fiberglass planks to their feet and sliding down steep slopes covered in snow; FUN. From the multiple ski schools, to the abundance of après-ski watering holes, to the service professionals who are conveniently multi-lingual, Tignes truly delivers the FULL ski vacation experience. Why am I talking about a small town in France you might ask? Because you should run your home service business the way this town is run. With the customer in mind: at all times.
The customer is your end game, your bread winner, the reason, essentially, for your existence. You should run your company accordingly. Did you know that a dissatisfied customer will tell between 9-15 people about their experience? (White House Office of Consumer Affairs). This can be detrimental to your business, especially with the existence of popular review sites such as Yahoo reviews, Angies List, Twitter, and more. Your dirty laundry will be aired for everyone to see before you even have a chance to respond and limit the potential damage. Your main business objective, particularly as a home service business, should be to provide the BEST customer service, all the time. What are some things that you can do to cater to your customer in your line of business? See the examples below and make sure they are implemented at your company:
- Listen. Don’t forget the power of just listening to a potential customer or current customer. By taking the time to really listen
to what a customer needs, or wants, you eliminate misinterpretations, errors, and dissatisfaction with the outcome. - Make your customers’ lives easier. Give them easy to access information through your website and social media networks. Respond in real time (don’t leave them waiting a day, or days for a call back), provide them with a customer portal, and offer options like making appointments through Facebook, emailed invoices, and more.
- Follow up. Ensure that your customers have received everything they were looking for, ask for feedback, and correct any mistakes by following up with the customer after you have provided service. Whether you do it through email or with a call (which is more personal), following up with your customers demonstrates that you care what they think, and can often lead to a good testimonial for your business.
Putting the customer first is often cited as one of a business’s core values however many businesses do not actually put this into 
practice. It’s common to hear phrases such as “Putting the customer first”, “We value our customers,”or “Our customers are our number one priority.” While these phrases are plentiful within service businesses, take a step back for a moment and ask yourself “how many of my customers actually feel valued?” Following the three steps above is a start to ensuring that your customers feel valued, and you maintain a happy, growing customer base.
The town of Tignes is an example of a customer –centric operation that really knows how to make their customers feel valued so that they return in the future and tell everyone about having such a great experience.
Can you say the same about your business?
Get Your Head in the Cloud!
The way we engage and interact today is far different than it was 10 years ago, thanks to the World Wide Web; that’s the Internet. If you stop to think about it, we trust the Internet with a lot of our information; we enter credit card numbers to pay for goods on sites like Amazon; we tell people how our day went on Facebook; we exchange messages, photos, and other personal information all the time 
sometimes without necessarily realising that it’s the Internet that’s making this communication so easy. It is because of this that it still shocks me when businesses ignore the chance of enhancing their business in one way or another because the enhancement (usually a Service as a Software) is in the cloud.
What does “in the cloud” mean exactly?
The “cloud” is simply a fashionable name for running applications and holding data, securely of course, in the Internet. But let’s keep in simple: if you have used an email package such as Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo Mail then you have already embraced the cloud. Nothing is held on your PC, mobile device or tablet, and you can access your email from anywhere in the world. It’s that simple. Now just take the same concept and apply it to the world of business applications.
What are the benefits of being in the cloud?
1. Security
The cloud is immune from natural disasters such a flooding, hurricanes, and fires. If you still operate on a paper filing system, or use
downloaded software on your PCs and you become the victim of a natural disaster, say goodbye to your business records. If your computer crashes, say goodbye to your business records. This worry is eliminated by using the cloud. Your information is hosted on secure servers, and is backed-up on a daily, sometimes minute-by-minute basis. Your office could burn down, and you could lose everything; however by embracing the cloud you can go to Best Buy, buy a laptop, and continue running your business all in the very same hour.
Some people worry about data security in the cloud. However companies that offer cloud computing use encryption to guard against hackers, or other ways company data could be shared. This means your data is for your business’s eyes only, and cannot and will not be shared.
2. Freedom and Flexibility
By operating your business using cloud applications, you have the freedom and flexibility to access your business information from anywhere at any time, as long as you have an internet connection. You can access information straight from your smart phone on the road, or from someone else’s laptop. You aren’t confined to laptops or PC’s that have your downloaded software on them.
3. Reduced Costs
With cloud applications, you don’t need an IT team, servers, or other large expenses that often come with downloadable software. Updates are included in the low monthly subscription fees and you aren’t tied to paying for a large “piece” of software. If you don’t like what your cloud based software does, you can simply cancel your subscription and move on. There is no risk of purchasing a product and spending the time downloading and implementing it, just to realize that it doesn’t actually help your business, or isn’t what you are looking for. The cost is manageable for small businesses, and the rewards are high.
The truth is, thanks to Apple’s Apps, CRM companies like Salesforce, and a strong push for social media and digital marketing in the business world, the cloud IS the future. Quite frankly, businesses that don’t recognize this, and don’t act accordingly, will be easily surpassed by those businesses that embrace the idea that new technological advances will indeed give them the competitive upper hand. At the end of the day, as a service company, how do you expect to deliver the same value that a competitor with information at their fingertips 24/7 can? The solution is: get your head IN the CLOUD. It’s designed to make your life easier, so maybe it’s time for you to embrace it.
For more information on why the cloud is the way to go, watch this video produced by Salesforce:
Sign Right Here… It’s That Easy
Sometimes, the hardest thing to capture from a customer is their signature. It may sound silly, but while a signature is an important part of your business transactions, it is often hard to chase down. I sent a client a business contract the other day via email and asked him to return it signed. He called me and asked me how he was supposed to do that; was he supposed to snail mail it to me? I kindly suggested that he sign the document and take a picture of it on his iPhone and email the picture to me. Needless to say, the concept of actually capturing a signature can be a difficult one, particularly if someone lacks a scanner, a fax, or even a pen.
In comes service management software in the cloud, dressed in Superman outfit, cape and all. Its 2012 after all! Technology is all 
about making life easier. Well how about making your business process easier, and making your techs’ lives easier too with a signature capture application, available whenever, wherever on any mobile device.
Imagine this. Your plumbing tech has just finished fixing Mrs. Jones’ very leaky sink. After putting his tools away he takes out his tablet, or smart phone, and connects to Service Proz’s service management solution to access the CRM. He fills in the details of the job and pulls up an invoice. He asks Mrs. Jones to use her finger to sign it and asks what email address she would like it emailed to. He records the email address in the CRM, emails the invoice, wishes her a good day, and gives her his best smile. He gets in his truck, leaving Mrs. Jones awestruck at the easy, quick, and impressive customer service she just received. Not only have you provided Mrs. Jones with excellent customer service, but you just captured her satisfaction with a job well done in the form of a signature.
It is that easy! Never get stuck again tracking down a signature. Don’t wait your time or your customers’ time. Demonstrate that your business is on the ball all the time. A service management solution doesn’t just help you run your business more smoothly; it helps you provide tip top customer service as well. Next time you are waiting for a signature, think about what you could be doing instead if you had Service Proz!
5 of The Biggest Mistakes Small Businesses Make
Sometimes, it’s hard to be the little guy. You don’t have a big budget behind you like a large corporation does, you don’t have the manpower that a business with 500 employees has, and you probably don’t have an executive team of Harvard grads making the big decisions for you. Lacking the things that bigger businesses have can make life difficult, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t be successful. However there are some big mistakes that small businesses should avoid at all costs in the endeavour to make their business profitable. Here are the 5 of the biggest mistakes that small businesses make, and suffer from.
1. Not Having a Website
It’s 2012. Cars that can drive themselves are in development, our phones can do SO much more than call people, and the world might end. Not having a website is detrimental to your business. In fact, while your business might survive short term without a website, it definitely won’t long term. Today, people want information about your business at their fingertips so they can ensure your company does what they need and compare you to your competitors. Why would they take the time to call your company to ask you these questions when they can easily get the answers from a competitor’s website? Not having a website makes you invisible to most of your potential customers. Being invisible eventually means you won’t have a business.
2. Not Having a Call to Action on Your Website
Ok, so you have a website. That’s good. But that’s just the first step. Then there is the website content, the SEO (Search Engine
Optimization), and most importantly the calls to action. What is a call to action you ask? That is your first mistake. A call to action “is a term used for elements in a web page that solicit an action from the user.” These usually come in the form of buttons such as “Contact Us Now,” or “Learn More Here.” Buttons like these allow you to capture information about your website visitors. They give you free leads that you can then follow up with.
3. Not Investing in Branding
Your brand is your business identity. Not only is it your customers’ first impression of your business, but also what sets you apart from your competition and makes your business memorable in people’s minds. It is why people can spot a McDonald’s from a half a mile down the road; everyone knows the golden arches. If you don’t have a unique, identifiable logo, a catchy tagline, and a consistent color scheme, you not only fail to look professional and competent, but you also look cheap. Why would someone choose to use your company if you don’t LOOK like a capable company?
4. Not Having A Strategy Plan
Too many businesses open their doors and start operating without a written strategy plan. What is your chosen target market? What is your mission statement? What is your pricing structure? Is it flexible? What marketing tactics are you going to use to gain a customer base? Businesses that don’t have a written plan that addresses these questions and more are foolish. It’s like shooting without a target. Without a defined direction you risk missing the perfect opportunity or, worse still, chasing customers who actually do not match your business’s skills and competence. It’s the quickest way to waste time, effort and money, all resulting in no new customers and jeopardizing your existence. Having a strategy plan gives you, and your employees, direction so you are all chasing the right type of business.
5. Not Managing Cash Flow Properly
It may sound like a cliché, but the phrase “cash is king” is very true. Without it, your business is doomed and your survival becomes very short-term. Many small businesses are quickly excited by their initial successes and overall enthusiasm. And the result? They extend themselves too far, and too soon and simply do not have sufficient cash to fund their progress. It’s simple; no cash means no business so build a business within its means by managing your cash flow properly.
Take a look at these five mistakes. Is your business the victim of any of these? If so, take the time, effort, and money to correct the mistake. It can be the difference between your business succeeding or failing. And remember, it takes a little more effort and money now to get things right the first time. Usually the ROI is much better if you invest now, you will end up saving in the long run.
Building a Better Business 