If one of your clients asked you to recommend someone to clean something that you don't do, do you have an answer?
Victoria, BC, Canada is not a very big city and because of that it is hard to be anonymous and elite. Luv-A-Rug recommends many other companies who clean or sell the services and products that we do not.
With Luv-A-Rug being in the area rug cleaning service, we get asked on a daily basis where to buy rugs. We have several rug galleries that we recommend, but we then take it a step further.
We educate our clients on what to look for in a good area rug.
We show them the different types of rugs and show them what to look for and to watch out for.
When the boss goes around to all the galleries he will often hear from them that they can tell when one of our clients are there looking at rugs. For you see our clients are the ones who are smelling and touching the area rugs. yes I said Smelling.
Why should you smell the rugs before you buy one? On certain area rugs an odour can already exist and that smell can get worse in your home. The smell is permanent, so be sure it isn't too unpleasant to your nose.
Having an arsenal of different companies you know are good and reputable ups your reputation as well.
Today we had a lovely couple dropping off their area rug for cleaning. We got chatting and the misses mentioned that she had her drapes cleaned recently. I asked where she got them done because a few hours earlier another client asked us where was a good place to get her drapes cleaned.
It was Sidney Dry Cleaners in Sidney, BC that cleaned the drapes.
As the couple was leaving I heard the misses say that it was nice that we recommended each other. She is very pleased by the work that Sidney Dry Cleaners does and she is a repeat client of ours, the circle is complete.
She told me that she was going to make a point of telling Sidney Dry Cleaners that she brought her rugs to us for cleaning and that we recommend them. How sweet.
When clients trust you they trust who you recommend, so it is always good to go around to these business periodically and reconnect with them.
Remind them what you do, give them your business cards to hand out to their clients, ask them if they are doing any new services or have changed how they do things. A few minutes of chat time helps both businesses.
Now get out there and grab the good companies before they recommend someone else.
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary
