This is an article by Jim pemberton which I have cut and pasted (you can read the article here...)
http://totallybookeduniversity.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=cca5620bc4d8cdc166af8e660&id=bb349b2edc&e=e017de2428The New Bait & Switch!" Are You Guilty of This?
Occurs in most cases because of:
Equipment "fatigue", Operator "fatigue",
Marketing "fatigue", Attitude "fatigue",
Owner "fatigue", and of course - by design!
When the term “bait and switch” is used in the cleaning industry, it has nearly always been applied to cleaners who advertise a ridiculously low price, then use high pressure sales tactics to get the customer to buy additional services at a much higher price than they were lead to believe they would be paying.
There is, however, another nefarious sort of marketing misrepresentation going on in our industry that is just as or perhaps more damaging as the low price bait and switch tactics that we and the public in general understand.
I call it the “The Premium Service Bait and Switch”:
Cleaners who have developed marketing tactics that enable them to appeal to upscale consumers often build the value of their service by showing the customer that they do things other cleaners don't understand, or refuse to do, and that provide a better cleaning result and therefore justify a much higher than average price.
Example Of The Cleaning Process A “High Value/Premium Priced Cleaner” Might Offer:
- Prevacuuming/Dry Soil Removal
- Application of a preconditioning detergent that is “green”/”non-toxic”, or in some other way people and pet friendly.
- Prescrubbing with a rotary scrubber or counter rotating brush machine
- Hot water extraction that leaves the carpet “residue free”, or nearly so.
- Corners and edges cleaned with a special hand tool
- Carpet Groomed
- Speed Drying
The Problem:
Unfortunately, in many cases cleaners either get tired of taking these extra steps (or their employees do), and what the cleaner ends up actually doing when they clean are perhaps one of two of the above steps, using products that are either cheap, more effective, or more easily available, and that aren't green/non toxic/pet friendly etc.
When a cleaner sells their service at a premium price, and sells the higher price as being of more value because of extra steps that are provided or extra services that are rendered, but the cleaner does not deliver the promised services, that must also be considered a type of "bait and switch”!
Unfortunately, too many cynical cleaners feel that they can get away with not performing what their marketing promised because their customer won't know the difference. This is VERY dangerous thinking!
Today's consumer is far more informed and “savvy” than ever before! Consumers have access to a great deal of information through the internet, and understand a great deal more about what good cleaners deliver, and what they have a right to expect than even just a few years ago.
When such a customer pays a premium price for cleaning, and when the results end up not being any better than a more moderately priced company, they will eventually find themselves going back to lower priced cleaners, and likely resenting the price that they paid for the service that was ultimately less than what was promised.
What's worse is that through YELP and other business directories they will readily post their dissatisfaction with the offending service company.
There is no argument that the cleaning industry is vastly under paid for its work. Cleaners who can build the value of what they are doing by explaining how their cleaning is superior to the “norm” often will find they can get paid for the value of what they do. But never, ever forget that if you do so, you must always deliver what you promised.
Your reputation and your business future depend on it.
