How Car Washing Exposes Flaws in Your Business Processes
What’s car washing got to do with my business? I hear you cry.
Well, if you’re doing things right then hopefully, not a lot – but we know all too well that there are things that could be done better.
A business friend of mine shared this story with me and I just had to spread the word as there are some really good nuggets to take away – but more on that in a sec.
Here’s the story –
Picture this… 13 VERY dirty cars parked (hidden round the back in embarrassment) at my friend’s office.
Dirty to the point the staff have started writing notes to each other in the dust. Not a good look.
So, my friend enlisted the help of Google to find a local car cleaning and valeting service that could come to the office and make a small fortune for the day. They chose the ones with the best reviews (of course) and picked up the phone…
Business 1 – no answer – voicemail.
Business 2 – no answer – very LONG voicemail telling them not to leave a voicemail.
Business 3 – ANSWERS – woohoo – “wrong number love”. Grrrr.
Business 4 (getting bored now) – no answer – voicemail
Business 5 – No number but a handy contact form – it’s filled out – 3 weeks later, still no reply.
Business 6 – no answer – voicemail.
This isn’t even exaggerated. At this point, they gave up. The cars are all now brown, the dust messages continue and in the meantime there’s probably a few car cleaning business owners wondering why they don’t have any customers.
And there’s the point. Too many businesses jump to the conclusion that people aren’t looking for their services, or they’re not getting enough enquiries when it’s simply not the case.
6 business owners had the opportunity to earn a decent packet that day – but their systems and processes let them down.
Here’s those nuggets to make sure you don’t fall short when people find your business (and they’re all really easy to check and sort).
- Make it easy for people to find you online.
- Answer your phone or get someone else to do it (Virtual assistants exist).
- Failing that, record a nice, helpful voice message and call the prospect back.
- Make sure your contact forms work and notify you and the prospect that you have their enquiry.
And if you’d like to know how your business can be found by more people then give us a call.
