As you know – we suggest taking service guarantees to the next level by creating Measurable Guarantees of Performance, or what we call MGPs, for short.
We think they’re powerful – and uniquely effective in a service industry category – like cleaning.
But, what we don’t talk about as often are – admissions or what some marketing pros, including Dan Kennedy – the one I learned about them from – call ’embarrassing admissions’.
What are they?
Well, they are ‘things’ you reveal about your product or service that ‘on the face of them’ appear to be flaws or weaknesses, and, to an extent – they are.
But, if we pull back and view things from a distance, we can begin to see something interesting…
the flaw or weakness – can actually, in the end, have the prospect feeling MORE trust, MORE respect – than if they had NOT revealed any weaknesses at all.
That’s right, the gain in trust and respect can far outweigh any lost ground from the mistake or weakness that was revealed.
Let me tell you a story…
A friend once told me about a home builder years ago who grew a very successful business and one of the unique ‘things’ he did was – boldly tell people thinking of using him to build their home, he could promise them two things:
1) That within 90 days of signing on with him – they’ll be able to eat dinner in the dining room of their new home.
Now, THAT was a big thing (guarantee) back then, and maybe still today – because not getting projects done on time, as promised, was a big problem.
2) That their concrete driveway would crack, at some point, somewhere
Again, this was not something pleasant to mention.
But, if based on his experience, nearly all the concrete driveways he’d seen crack at some point or another – by revealing the likelihood of this happening, while the prospective home buyers may not have liked to hear it…my understanding is that – it did NOT stand in the way of them deciding to use this particular builder.
In fact – my friend explained that it seemed to have the exact opposite effect – actually attracting people to him; seeming to convince them there was more value in doing business with someone who would be willing to make this kind of an embarrassing admission – vs. someone who would hide it.
The attraction goes back to the old marketing mantra… people buy from people they ‘know, like and TRUST’.
The challenge to cleaning business owners is to determine what guarantees and admissions would be genuine and effective in attracting interest and building trust in their prospects
You can do this, you really can!
Dan
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