The presentation is the most critical and important part of the sale. One of the problems with most owners of CVS is they do not know the full benefits and usage of their system. We have serviced people who have fought the hose for 30 years, did not use them for dusting, and had a portable vacuum because they did not have a power brush. Either the CVS company cheated them of a proper package and presentation because they were more interested in making a sale than doing someone right or their manufacturer did not train them properly.
It is important that every install/service customer gets a proper presentation. How can you expect to build happy customers and referral sales if your customer does not know how to use and service what you sold them? Is not a referral sale the cheapest and easiest sale?
Holding the hose correctly is the biggest trick of the trade to win customers over. It does not matter how good the installation, motor unit or anything else if the customer does not know proper hose use and technique. First, show them how to put their index finger and thumb on both sides of the switch on the gas pump handle. This gives all the torque necessary to turn left or right with a gentle grip. If they grip it with a full fist, they have to squeeze hard each time they turn. This tires the arm and back muscles making it necessary to take a nap when done.
Second, bring the hose around their back, making a small loop, and hold the hose with the opposite hand. This hand will whip the hose up, down, around and pick up clumps when needed. This also helps to keep the hose sock from being pulled down. One of the neat tricks is to show how to get past the hose when they’re in a hall and the hose is plugged into their front right. Pick up the clump of hose with the other hand and spin around to the right and drop the clump behind you. This puts the hose that was crossing in front now to the side on the right and behind you.
If they have a lot of hard floors, the 14-inch tool with wheels on both sides made with horsehair is excellent; nylon brushes scratch wood finishes. This extra four to six inches is a lot of coverage. Example: if it is four inches more than your normal tool, this means that in 10 strokes, they have covered 40 extra inches, or almost three and a half more feet, which is a lot! Be sure that, when showing this tool, show how to keep the tool flat by twisting the wrist. If they go straight under furniture, it will lift up the front and loose the vacuum seal.
The upholstery tool with the slip on brush has a few extra functions. The brush is excellent for screen doors and windows; we have not taken our screens off for years. Use the tool without the brush once a month on the bed mattress when changing the sheets. We shed our skin scales all day and the bed mites and other bedfellows live on this. The vacuum sucks them, their fecal matter, and odors out.
The dust tool should be used for all dusting. Yes, it does take longer to use a small tool for all the sills, baseboards, door jams, cold air returns, etc. However, they get rid of the dust, germs, allergens, etc., you dust less often, instead of just whipping it up into the air to resettle like dusters do. This is a major health benefit to those who have respiratory problems, asthma, etc.
The lightweight telescopic aluminum wand is the best for using with the above tools. When dusting, you can go from a ceiling to a windowsill quick and easily. This wand also allows for each person, vertically challenged and not, to adjust it to his or her perfect ergonomic swing so as not to fight the attachments, but rather control them. Your arm should swing like a pendulum with your arm virtually straight when cleaning with hard floors or carpet/rug tools. Yes, we have telescopic wands for power brushes.
All tools with brushes (dusting, upholstery, power brush, etc.) need to be vacuumed each time when done. This takes only 30 seconds and will add years of life to these tools. This ensures that your customer will be pleased with your product and service for referrals.
We have found that the back of the front closet door or staircase door is an ideal place to hang the hose. This is space that is central, rarely used and easy to access and does not interfere with the coats. Hang the hose at about 5 1/2 feet high. This allows three comfortable loops and helps prevent kinking.
Always hang the handle first. This prevents the handle from flopping and breaking on the floor. Hang the handle toward you and put the first loop toward the door, thus helping to keep the handle from scarring the door. With the handle hanging a little less than halfway down, plug the wand into the end cuff. This keeps it from flapping and making it easy to take off and carry.
Make it clear that they should never leave the handle attached to the wands. This can allow them to seize or will, in time, break the hose or wires in the hose just behind the handle. We have had to charge $263 for a replacement hose for those who did not listen or know.
Regarding power brushes, it is the back stroke that does the most deep cleaning and should be taken at half speed to allow for the air to fight its way to the bottom and then navigate the dirt up through the fibers. The chevron brushes channel the dirt from the sides to the intake. The slanted brushes throw dirt out faster than the air can grab it on one side that angles away from the airflow.
The last critical part of the presentation is showing the proper maintenance of the motor unit and putting your service sticker on it. The maintenance of the unit dictates the performance of your product and your chance of referral sales. If your unit has more than one filter it is imperative your customer knows how to clean it, i.e., if your unit has a protective safety screen covering the intake hole to the motor, it can collect hair and lint and cut off the airflow. Would you like to pay your service fee for something you could have done yourself?
Your three-cent service sticker is your most valuable advertising money that you will ever spend! It is amazing how much money we make off of three cents. Every install/service customer gets a sticker. We have many people call and say, “You installed the unit.” We ask when and they say, “We just moved in and your sticker is on it.” It is almost always another brand we serviced. We either service the unit and/or sell them new attachments that the previous owners did not buy, worth over $500.
Yes, service sometimes conflicts with our installation schedule, but the additional cash flow is worth it. With all service work, we always give a full presentation of how to use and service their system. This earns us customer loyalty.
If you have comments or questions, write to Vincent Ciernick, e-mail infor@a-1centralvacuums.com or call 1/858-695-8009.
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