Article on Marketing Part II

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Article on Marketing Part II - www.pwnabbs.org

Getting the Business

Now that a group of companies can be compiled to call on, the best approach is to cold call. When cold calling always walk in through the shop or back door. Entering through the front will get nowhere 85% of the time. This is because the receptionist or secretary’s job is to keep solicitors away from management. They may be totally unaware of whether or not the company is in need of a fleet washing service. It’s just not their job to know. Sometimes this is the only way, so make the best of it. Inquire about whom would be in charge of the fleet washing and if it is possible to speak with that person. It is unlikely that they will allow a meeting at this time but will generally disclose who the person is. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for them to state that they don’t need such a service because they do it themselves or have a service that does. Just disregard all such comments and remember they really don’t know. Use the information to call back and schedule an appointment. Walking in through the back will almost always yield a response on the first visit. It’s simply because everyone who works in the shop is familiar with how the fleet is maintained. Just ask the previously stated questions about the fleet washing. Normally a mechanic will be very loose lipped about any problems. This kind of information can be extremely valuable when trying to make a sale. It is not uncommon to get the opportunity to meet with the person in charge of cleaning either. When meeting with the decision maker take advantage of the opportunity to begin building a business relationship. This relationship will become the backbone of the sale and keeping the account in the future. Always present the business in the most ethical manner and conduct any future business in the same way. This where people skill become important. Sometimes the prospect will be in great need of making a change and will hire new service on the spot. Unfortunately this won’t happen very often so be prepared to make another trip out with a professional presentation and a bid packet that will thoroughly cover all questions that are likely to arise. This bid packet should include information about the owner, the company, pricing, MSDS (material safety data sheet) on the soap, all necessary insurance, water recovery issues, and references.

Since fleet washing is an ongoing process consistency and reliability are two of the most common reasons an account is lost. This is largely due to the fact that entry into this industry is relatively easy. The new comers are generally naive to the demanding market and will treat their accounts like a job, missing work when they feel a little under the weather or just deciding that they are the boss and should take the day off. It is even quite common for these contractors to become comfortable with their accounts and believe that they can start cutting corners on quality to improve the bottom line. The brutal truth is that they just don’t have what it takes to handle the responsibility of being consistent and reliable. This is a fact of this industry and should be taken advantage of to sell an account. First, a management system should address these areas to build a strong base for fleet washing accounts and to prevent competitors from taken any existing or future customers. Fleet managers that have experience generally recognize this as a problem with the mobile fleet washing industry. They are usually very loyal to a contractor that can provide a good service. These are the best accounts to build a fleet washing service with because they are not so price sensitive making them less likely to switch contractors. Fleet operations where the decision maker is young or not that closely involved with the cleaning activities are usually more price sensitive. Such prospects are generally easy to get with a slightly lower price than the current contractor. It also means that a stronger case must be made about the characteristics of this industry to prevent losing the customer in the future.

Once the initial contact has been made with the prospect, begin a process to keep the company name in front of them on a monthly basis. Fleet managers are very busy and usually fleet washing is the furthest thing from their minds. A regular reminder will keep the door open to capitalize on any down falls that the current wash operation may have in the future. Use a contact management program to keep up with all these contacts. A good system to use on prospects that are fairly happy with the current wash scenario would be to make a personal phone call or visit every two months. Once a month is generally perceived as a little over zealous and easily perceived as a nuisance. Of course a hot lead that is close to making a decision will need to be called on much sooner. Always end conversions with the prospect by asking for permission to call in the future. Set up a monthly faxing program to pick away at the typical faults of the competition and problems with doing it themselves. Such things as reliability, consistency, water recovery issues, headache and cost of operating a washbay, and faulty wash bay equipment are all good topics to fax on rotation. The most important thing is keeping that prospect aware of the service so that when a change is ready to occur they will pick your service.

Prospects that have never had a wash service must be sold on the cost and timesaving that comes from increased productivity. Consider a driver that is paid $15.00/hr, a conservative figure, and that driver spends approximately 30 minutes to wash a tractor. This would cost the customer $7.50 in labor not including any payroll taxes that would be associated with this. Now add in the expense of soaps and chemicals, which cost about $3 to $5 dollars a gallon. Remember that a truck driver in not concerned with the use of soap and will probably use about ½ gallon to do a tractor. The next expense is that of the wash equipment, repairs and maintenance for that equipment, and overhead. Be aware that a driver or maintenance personnel will be operating this equipment with little knowledge on how to properly operate it. This will lead to much higher repair cost than what will be experienced by the contract fleet service. Also keep in mind that a fleet washing service seldom has the fixed overhead expense of a building for doing a small number of units. For this reason these costs run somewhere between 12.50 and $20.00 dollars any hour for wash time. Now add all these expenses up using a 30 minute wash time, $7.50 labor plus $1.50 chemical plus $6.25 equipment, which equals $15.25 to wash a road tractor. Any competitive market will be able to beat this price. Furthermore, these numbers a very conservative and may increase dramatically in different areas of the country.

One more area to look at is the wasted use of a driver and that of the equipment. Assuming a truck can produce around $60.00/hr in revenue, though it’s probable much higher, then having a driver do the washing is a great waste of resources. Truck drivers are limited to the numbers of hours that can be work in a week for safety reason. If a portion of this time is used to wash the truck rather than produce income then a prospect is actually spending the lost revenue plus the wash expenses involved. So it only makes since to hire an outside wash service to clean the fleet during times when it is not in operation.

The Competition

When talking with a potential customer never specifically mention poor qualities about the competition. This almost never has a positive effect on a prospect of good character and will generally be viewed with distaste. Always mention the down faults of competitors in generalized terms of the industry as a whole and how your company has addressed those problems. Prospects are smart and can identify these problems on their own. We just need to remind them of the problems. Talking about the competition specifically generally will be done when a wash contractor has little or nothing better to offer. Competitors will commonly do this about your company when you are successful at what you do, don’t give in to the urge to return the comments. Remind the prospect that their business is desired on the merits of providing a consistent and reliable fleet washing service. Remember that no company is perfect and that eventually the competition will do something that displeases the prospect. This is why it becomes so important to remain in contact. Sometimes it’s just a changing of the guard and the current service hasn’t even kept in touch with the customer. This is when a new fleet washing service has a great opportunity to get a foot in the door with the possibility of making a sale. It’s easy to see that it’s only a matter of time before a favorable situation presents itself. A good marketing strategy will insure that a persistent contractor will be there to get the job.

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Michael Hinderliter

Steamaway, Inc. Fleet Washing and Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning

www.steamaway.com, Phone:888-39-STEAM,

Certified in Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning and Environmental Cleaning.