A CLEANERS GUIDE TO SUCCESSFULLY SELLING ON-LOCATION CARPET AND FABRIC PROTECTION.
The first thing you need to know about selling Stainshield Professional is that
it is not hard selling – it is suggesting. What do I mean by that? Approximately
½ of all of your customers will want a Stainshield Professional application if
they are told about the product by a trustworthy carpet cleaner. The best
salespeople are the ones who believe in their product. Try it our for your self
and see how well it works for you.
Let’s start by showing you some commonly used sales scenarios, customer
objections and opening statements. By using some of these and adapting them to
your style will add hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to your income.
Using Your Sales Tools
1. Make sure your appearance is neat. Remember that first impressions are
everlasting.
2. Put one of the 4 color tri-fold brochures in your customer’s hands as soon as
it is possible after meeting them.
3. Get your customer involved by showing them a demonstration card.
4. Be prepared to talk about price per total area treated as opposed to price
per square foot. In other words, if 1 x 4 liter jug will treat 1200 square feet,
be prepared to know in advance how much you would charge for a hallway, or the
stairs, or in front of the family room sofa or even around the dining room. You
know from your own experiences which areas get the most wear.
Some Opening Statements
Technician: Do you want Stainshield Protector applied to your carpet /
upholstery? This service will help protect against most common household spills
and stains. Would you like to see a quick demonstration of how well it works?
Technician: You did want a protector on your carpet / upholstery didn’t you?
Technician: You have a lovely piece of carpet / upholstery. With our Stainshield
protector, we can keep it looking that way. Stainshield protects against most
things that you might spill on your carpet / upholstery.
Customer Questions
1. Isn’t my carpet / upholstery already treated from the factory?
Answer 1. Some carpet / upholstery that you buy is protected at the mill with a
water based protector. These protectors wear off over time and with regular use.
After cleaning, I would recommend that you have Stainshield protector applied to
replace just the worn off areas.
Answer 2. The mill protector will wear off and where it hasn’t worn off
completely, it will be like having 2 coats of paint. As you probably know, two
coats are better than one and you will be getting additional protection. Don’t
you think it will be a good idea?
2. “We’ll do the protection ourselves.”
Answer: I can appreciate that. I myself am a “do it yourselfer”. But doesn’t it
make sense that instead of the 5 or 6 cans of the store bought protector, you
can have it professionally applied and we will make sure it is applied uniformly
and to all areas. Our price is usually less than the cost of 6 cans of less
effective product anyway.
3. It’s a cost we can do without right now.
Answer 1. By protecting each individual fiber with Stainshield protection, you
will be reducing the friction amongst the fibers, thus adding years of beauty to
your carpet / upholstery.
Answer 2. Home furnishings are the third largest investment you will make –
after your home and your car. By applying Stainshield we can insure that you are
protecting your investments.
4. It costs too much
Answer 1. The fact that your carpet / upholstery will last longer and look newer
far exceeds the small investment.
5. Let us think about it
Answer 1. It will work the best as long as I can apply it within 24 hours of my
cleaning. If it is better for you, I could return tomorrow and re-apply it if
you would like to think about it overnight.
6. Are you using 3M Scotchguard?
The product we are applying is called Stainshield Professional and Chemspec, an
internationally known company, makes it. 3M Scotchguard is certainly an
excellent product – in fact I used to use it myself. The Stainshield
Professional is the same type of product – fluorine based protector but I can
offer it to you at a lower price. I could come back if you would like and apply
Scotchguard, but I would have to charge you a slightly higher price.
Suggested Dialogue
Technician: Your carpet is sure coming out nicely –would be interested in
keeping it looking this way for as long as possible? This way you would be
paying me less for cleaning. I might suggest a treatment of Stainshield
Professional. It coats the fibers with a soil resistant shield that keeps soils
and spills on the surface. Would you be interested in hearing more about it?
Or
Your carpet is sure coming out nicely – do you know if it has any protector on
it?
If she says YES, then say, “I thought so – good quality protectors will make
your carpets clean up so much easier. Would you like to re-apply it only where
it is necessary?
If she says NO, then say, Wow it sure is cleaning up nicely for not having any
protector on it. Did you know that if you had Stainshield on your carpet it
would stay cleaner for a longer period of time? Would you like to see a quick
demonstration of how Stainshield works?
Realistic Expections
Don’t make exaggerated claims. Stainshield Professional will help protect the
carpet against soil and spills. It will not make the carpet or upholstery
stainproof or bulletproof.
1. Your customers will get the most advantage out of the treatment when they
attend to spots and spills quickly.
2. Your customer must vacuum the carpet and upholstery regularly.
3. One of the main benefits of Stainshield Professional is that under normal
conditions, spills and spots will easily wipe off.
Stainshield Professional can:
1. Allow customers to clean up spills
2. Help carpets and upholstery stay cleaner, longer.
3. Protect against dry soil, water and oil.
4. Prolong the life of the textile investment by not allowing traffic patterns
and stains to get into the fiber
Stainshield Professional can’t
1. Lubricate the fiber and make it last forever.
2. Make coffee, food or other spills jump off the carpet
3. Prevent sun fading.
4. Be considered a permanent treatment. It should probably be re-applied after
every cleaning in the heavy wear areas.
Chemspec Stainshield
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