Actually, although PR has its moments, I’m talking about a chap at the property next door to me on Friday trying to earn an honest bob. A window cleaner.
Now’ it’s not often one gets to quote George Formby in a column about PR and Marketing but today is that day so I will cast him in the role below and I hope it gets you thinking.
I have a running battle at the rear of my house due to various ‘interesting’ decisions made by the previous occupants and whoever installed the guttering.
Long-story short, I need someone to clear them out and have a good look.
I could also do with a regular window-cleaner but there is never anyone advertising these services in or around our village.
Missed opportunity 1.
So imagine my joy when I spot a chap up his ladders next door doing that exact thing. I waited until he was safe and shouted up to him, mere feet from the ground at the time.
Greg – ‘Could you pop over and look at mine after you’re finished there at all?’
Formby -‘Morning. I probably can but I might have to shoot off.’
Greg – ‘Ah, do you have a business card?’
Formby – ‘No.’
Greg – ‘Er, can I take a mobile number and I’ll drop you a text then?’
Formby – ‘Tell you what. I’ll come over now.’
Now, I didn’t expect him to abandon one job or really want him to at that stage but he was a lovely chap and we soon got chatting. He was actually a window cleaner but he adds gutter cleaning to his services as he already has the ladders out.
If we look at his marketing in terms of the 4 Ps – Product, Place, Price and Promotion, he’s really struggling with the latter as he has no card, no branded van, no local advertising or website, no social media channels, not even a branded t-shirt but he has the Product/s.
He also has the Place as he told me he has a very fixed radius which he moves around to keep things fresh.
When I asked him about Price, my initial thought was that he was actually TOO CHEAP which made me worry about quality, safety and reliability a bit but it wasn’t going to cost me much to trial him so that has opened up a prospective client for him.
So we agreed he’d pop over once a month and he’d send me his BACS details so we could set it all up.
That WAS a smart move. He gets a regular guaranteed job and gets paid on time, no delays and I get a feeling of certainty.
As he went back next door he suggested I could tackle some of my patio areas with a pressure washer ‘it’s what I use’. Well…I COULD but maybe he could charge me more and do that for me too whilst he’s over.
I decided to ‘leave that on the table’ as they say in sales but he didn’t bite, probably because he was halfway up a ladder again next door. I wonder, how many of you miss opportunities to diversify your offering or make it easier to buy from you as you are too focused on doing the day-job ‘stuff’ and not looking at the marketing?
By the way, he still hasn’t sent me the BACS details, I’ll text him again now.