In my previous post I discussed my tumultuous feelings during the depths of the 2008 recession. I was still in business but hanging by a thread. My work was the same, but my customer base had essentially evaporated overnight. MY target consumer had no money, no credit, and no financial backing of any kind. As I saw it, I had only one option: move up market and charge more. That’s right, you read that correctly. I realized I had to focus my work on those that could afford me, even during a recession.

Well, that’s easier said than done, isn’t it? I’d like to say the minute I thought of this, these customers started falling in my lap, but they didn’t. What I had to do was go back to the basics of what I was good at – and get even better. I was good at customer service, but I had to be great. So, that’s what I did. I was still getting some customers, and I made sure these customers were getting incredible service.

I resisted the urge to cut my prices to stay busy for the sake of staying busy. That’s what my competitors were doing, after all. And we’re not talking about cutting prices 10 or 20 percent. They were cutting prices to a point where there was no longer any profit. Every job was balanced on the cliff of losing money. To me, that was a recipe for bankruptcy. In the end, I would be putting myself in the same position as my formerly targeted customers.

So, what could I do? Instead of playing the price game by low-balling my bid, I came up with another plan. I started giving my customers options. To explain this process, I’ll take you through a scenario: I start with giving the customer the white glove treatment. It’s not just about doing a good job. It’s about giving your customer the best of everything – starting with the best phone call, and ending with the best thank you note after the check is deposited.

Let me give you an example. One homeowner I was in the process of selling to, was still on the fence about giving me the job. So, I asked her if she’d like to take a drive with me so I could show her the other projects I had completed in her neighborhood. The moment she sat down in my truck she said,

“Wow its so clean and tidy in here. I’ve never seen a guy’s truck like this. You must really be a person who takes care of things!”

My clean car had both nothing and everything to do with the job. It gave the perception of the value I would add to the job. Yes, I just came from the car wash before I saw this homeowner, but if I thought, “I can’t afford the $20 this week for a car wash”, or if I had put my business in a position where I couldn’t afford that $20, I would not have got that job. I would have missed out on thousands of dollars in revenue over a $20 car wash. That $20 conveyed the quality of my service and extended that white glove treatment to everything my business offers.