 Hey, good afternoon everybody. Tom Stewart here. I'm with Liz Trotter. Hey Liz. Hey And we've got a really super special guest today. We have Carrie Knight. Hey Carrie And Carrie's gonna be sharing with us some some really awesome tips I got a little preview here a while ago and she's got just some really really awesome ideas to help us See how to take advantage of and this opportunity We have of a COVID-19 world and how that's kind of changed the cleaning industry and how consumer Interest and priorities have shifted because of that and what we need to be doing within our cleaning businesses to Actually turn something that's a risk and a challenge into to an opportunity Couple of things just want to share with you before we we get too deep into that just to kind of Give you a heads up as to some of the things that's going on in the World of Our federal government Jobless came came out today as we've talked about in the past every Thursday They come out with jobless claims and this is says another main jobless claims show Congress may need to extend extra benefits Getting ready to expire and what they're talking about is the extra six hundred dollars a week per You know individual who's drawing unemployment benefits we were all looking forward to the end of July when that six hundred dollars is currently scheduled to go away and Thinking that'll make it a lot easier for us to hire because I know a number of us we've talked about in past Days are really having a hard time finding enough help hiring enough people to handle the demand that we have we're Demand constrained if you will well That's bad because they're going to do something more J-pal the chairman of the Fed spoke to Congress yesterday gave testimony to Congress basically Planting the seeds of this saying that you know, we've spent two point two trillion dollars so far and things are going well and main note Retail sales went up 17 percent month a month over month and we've got a graph here Showing that never have retail sales gone from a number this lousy to a number this big like in one month unprecedented Got that Well, it seemed to fit so we'll check that off off the list We have to use unprecedented in every one of these carry and sometimes it's a struggle and Sooner we get it out of the way the batter The reason that happened was in large part because of all the money the federal government's throwing out there and they I guess Personal stimulus checks that a lot of people got the unemployment benefits. Remember we shared with you that the CEO of Bank of America or America is that right Bank of America there Bank of America. Yeah said that They have half the bank accounts and in the country by the way and for everybody who's got an account with $5,000 or less and it has 40% more money in it now than it did prior to coven people are spending that money now That's what's making the stock market go up. That's what it's keeping everybody feeling Arguably better about things and what they should So what's the point of all of this it's just kind of buckle up and get ready It might not we don't know what the rules are going to be But it doesn't look like that that $600 a week is going to completely go away by the end of July Now there were discussions about coming up with some way to financially and set people to Actually get a job and maybe pay them up to $450 a week if you're unemployed and now you have a job. So it's all kinds of things flying around out there before we get done we're going to show you in our resource page on cleaning business today where that link is that shows you how to write your congressman and your senator and We've done that. We made success. We got the PPP and I mean, I can't see, you know we can't take all the credit for that but we played some small role and Notifying our lawmakers that the PPP labs as it was written, you know A few weeks ago was goofed up and wasn't helping us and Joe Walsh gave us some templates and Showed us how to how to get into grassroots lobbying if you will We need to round the troops up again and we need to let our lawmakers know that We don't Want as business small business owners We would prefer that they come up with a better solution to help unemployed people rather than to give them a financial Insultive not to work Yeah, I think that's a great idea Tom. I'm glad you're gonna show that link again. That's awesome So Carrie tell us a little bit about yourself your business how you got into the industry and What's going on in your world? All right First of all, I want to say what you guys do here is incredible. So I didn't want to jump in without saying that I mean your commitment to the industry and sharing So much is like so helpful to everyone So I just wanted to make sure I got that out of the way and said what you guys do is amazing Well, that's very great. We appreciate that but obviously haven't watched many of these because I watched Paul yesterday now Paul's also wow like Yeah, he was full of value bombs like It was so much Yeah, you awesome Paul's this this week. Yeah This week was all about the polls and everything August yeah Monday was Paul free. Oh Yeah, I missed his okay That was really good. Yeah Check it out, but you never really miss it. You just go to our Facebook page and They said we live forever Fair warning All right, so about me I'm gonna keep it brief. It's a little boring. I actually Purchased an existing cleaning business back in 2007 My kids were little back then so I needed this what I thought was a business that was going to allow me to be more A mom than being an employee, right? Like so I had this misconception that oh, I'll have all this free time so I bought an existing business and Kind of just jumped in. I mean I don't the reason I do this is because I don't have a lot of money I chose the cleaning industry is because it had the repeat revenue stream I really liked that and didn't have to go out and find a customer like let's say like if you chose like a painting company You get a client and then you got to fill your funnel and find another client So I liked that the industry had repeat revenue So for me it was it was really a good fit But that was right at the beginning of the economic crisis like the crash that happened and So Florida was hit really hard other areas were to like Las Vegas Some parts of California, but like in Florida specifically it was It was Overnight like things went from being really good to being really bad like overnight And so my business that I purchased within three months was nearly non-existent like everything had dried up in about three months So I didn't know what I was doing. I mean you're you don't know what you're doing when you buy a business and you're in it for three months So I I literally had to figure everything out. So I spent a ton of money on marketing thinking like okay I've got to like That's what everybody tells me so I better do all this advertising. So again I had no idea what I was doing, but I spent $30,000 I had a plan like I got my working capital. Let me spend my money on print advertising because everybody says advertising works It didn't work so Essentially I lost all that money and I think within one year We had literally run out of money like all the money I borrowed by the business and to put into the business Was gone. So now I'm I'm feeding the beast like and we've all Right, we've all Yes And I was I remember The last draw was I had to empty my room. Okay, and that was just to make payroll So it's like payrolls do on Friday. I have I don't have any money to pay people So I really had to go tap into what was left of my 401k and that's how I got That was really about it. So of course I listed the business for sale a failing business like who's going to want to buy a failing struggling business Awesome good for you. Yeah And I never sold the business because again who's going to buy a struggling failing business so I had to figure it out and There were a lot of things I had to figure out I mean and one of the things that many people don't figure out for much later Is that your employees are the biggest asset in your company? And if you don't take care of them, you cannot take care of your customers so when I finally figured that out like that's when all the formula all kind of started to reveal itself and I mean, it took me Well, it took me a long time to get where I finally understood what I'm doing and today because you asked where am I today? I don't really work in my business any much anymore My husband actually runs the business. He was able to leave his corporate job So he runs the business day-to-day. He really enjoys it This is his third year company and I focus on my Growing my consulting business because that's what I want to do now is I want to be able to help people who were just like me who struggled Didn't know what the answers were and you know Like my mission truly is to help as many people as I can That is awesome I'm saying Paul August is Made a comment and he was our guest yesterday And he said he tried to sell his business for $30,000 early on when things were failing I would have taken 30,000 and ran I Really Very time so scary scary times like it's easy to laugh about it now, right? We're all laughing It's very painful and I'm gonna say like it Yeah, it cost me everything like everything that I had like made and built up until that point like my husband I both had very successful careers We have saved a lot of money. We moved to Florida like we had this new life and we came here And I literally depleted our bank account like depleted it We had to short sell our home and we had no money. We were broke and Our marriage was this close to ending and Just by the grace of God, we figured it I mean it was just perfect timing to finally figure out like a little bit about how to fix the business and Just I don't know. I don't want to call it luck because it wasn't luck I mean hope is not a strategy. You literally have to dig in and figure it out because hope is not Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, you gotta be doing something. You got to be taking some action. Correct. Yeah Yeah, and even in action is action, right? Action is action. Yes, right. Yeah All right, so so tell us how did you do it carry? What was your or what should we do? I mean a lot of us are kind of in the same boat now Maybe maybe not quite that dire maybe not that severe But I know a lot of people are really struggling right now and they're scared and they don't know, you know The future is really, you know Scary for a lot of people. Yeah, I mean, so I did I actually did a Presentation, I don't know if it was four weeks ago six weeks ago all my weeks were blending in but I did a presentation But the topic was how to pivot during an economic crisis and here's the whole thing about our industry You don't truly need to pivot you don't because cleaning is never going away I don't care what anybody says people don't want to clean their homes. So until we have robots Right until there are robots that are cleaning homes. They are coming. They are coming They are coming But until that happens people are willing to pay for house cleaning service They are willing and able just like your graph showed time. There's money There's pent up money that people are willing to spend and If they have something they want because people buy what they want not what they need That's a that's a tip people buy what they want not what they need people want to have cleaning service They don't need it, but they want it and people buy what they want not what they need. I Think awesome that that you made that statement because we've had these discussions over the last few months about You know, I need to get into the food delivery business I need to get into and in my diversify and get into like ghost buster suits and fogging It's like stick to our knitting. We were good at something and the demand's not going away It's not going away now it was the temporary shutdown You know was like this dormant time period. I don't know what six weeks eight weeks Maybe 12 weeks if you're in New York, I mean depending on where you are But we all just had to grin and bear it and we did too. I mean, I'm in Florida We shut down for a couple weeks and It's it's it's I mean it's not what we wanted to happen But you just have to accept it because you just you just accept it and you move on You cannot dwell on the past because the longer you dwell on that on the negativity The longer it's going to take you to pull out and and get to a point where you're able to like thrive, you know, so The whole thing about our industry is you don't have to change your business But the marketing around your business has to change So that's what I see different about the world that we live in today Like your marketing has to change It's not we don't live in the same economy that we did before The pandemic right so like it's like before the pandemic we could say in our marketing we could say never clean your home again or We create free time for busy people The messaging was all around free time because that's what we do we give people back their free time But now the messaging really has to be geared towards Keeping them safe because that's what's most important now to them to your customer Is that they want to know that you're going to keep that keep them and their family safe So that was one of my my my tips or what I sent you Tom was You have to make sure that you're putting together Marketing that speaks to them because they're concerned right now in this economy is I don't want to get COVID Right. I don't I don't want to be in my home, but I want my house clean So I'm how can this company keep me safe? And so your job as the owner of the business is to make sure that you're you're being upfront and Honest about here's what we're gonna do for you. We've got this. We're gonna wear gloves. We're gonna wear masks We're gonna wear shoe covers and then after every job. We're going to disinfect our car We're going to clean our equipment and whatever it is whatever protocols that you're taking You have to make sure that you're telling your customer It's for them because the customer is looking at it from their standpoint saying What's in it for me the whole with them? WIFM what's in it for me? What are you gonna do for me to make sure that I'm safe that you're keeping me safe? So that's the new world that we live in Hey, Tom, can you share? Kerry's slide sure helpful Yeah, absolutely Right now and here's the deal Kerry keeps saying that you have to do this stuff. No, you don't you can just watch your business decline Okay, but but right now we all have to do something a little bit different And and when people are talking about pivot sometimes this is what they're talking about, you know pivot in your marketing Maybe you know pivot with your message, you know, you don't have to you don't have to put on a ghostbuster suit There's other things to do but where it's gonna change can't keep doing business the same way You did it before because things are different today. This is a different. There's different need now that needs to be filled Correct. We live in a completely different economy like if you even if you don't want to accept it and say like you know Everybody keeps saying the new normal the new normal and I hate it when people say the new normal But the reality is is business as we know it today is not the same as it was before the pandemic It's not the same. I mean you go to the great grocery store and people are wearing masks Did that happen before that before cove it if the new abnormal doesn't it? Yes, so Hey, Carrie Denny is on here as she's one of our regulars on smart business moves and she wants to know the name of your business made brigade of Tampa Bay There you go, Denny and I don't know if you can see the comment Carrie But Alonzo is saying that Carrie always brings it Alonzo and I are we Alonzo and I need to get our own cleaning business today show. We're we're the dynamic duo too Yeah, you guys are awesome. Well, we had him on on Tuesday Next Tuesday, so you know me maybe we have to figure something out, right? Take a day off Liz Again when we talked about pivoting your marketing message You want to make sure that you're pivoting towards again the customer needs to know that you're keeping them safe So you don't have to use the D word which is disinfection. I know that everyone's like but I don't disinfect and that's fine You don't have to disinfect if you don't disinfect you want to at least sanitize and tell them what you're doing so the reason I wanted you to show this slide is because Just like Geico says ten minutes or less What do they say ten minutes or less and you can save ten percent you want to make sure that you have some sort of marketing slogan That customers will remember so you know like you do this to set yourself apart and especially right now During the pandemic you want to have something that they're going to remember So for me I created the ten point disinfection because it's something quick that people will remember and when we tell them what we do It's like oh, that's that's cool. You're disinfecting all my high touch points throughout my home so Maybe you call it a six point sanitization or six step sanitization or 25 step Sanitization you have to create some sort of marketing slogan That you can use in your marketing as well as communicate to your customers over the phone or in person Again, these are tips that you can use to set your set yourself apart from your competition And like you said Liz you don't have to do it right like sure You don't have to do this step, but then but then watch everybody else do it and see what happens to their business versus your business Yeah, and really most of us are of the mindset that we want to be Leading the trends not following the trends, right? So this is a great opportunity for us and on our industry to To lead part of where this is going to go So right and we touched on this a little bit ago where I said, you know from my standpoint I was really hoping that we could no longer say the C word which is COVID like I was really hoping that That would be stripped from our vernacular like in August. That was my wish But it's not going away So if there is a round two which is what they're telling us then we have to be more prepared than ever For this next wave, I mean, I don't think we're going to shut down the economy again But you need to figure out in your business how you can create an Opportunity out of a crisis because trust me people even in the Rich from this price That's true Slide that we're looking at here carry on I like this piece a lot even though Liz is scared by the Picture the virus there. It's just okay. It won't hurt you Is this how are you using this is this a mail piece is this on your website social media, what do you do with this? Yeah, um Don't bring another slide time that shows my website Before this or after this, I don't know You want me to take it from the top you want to go through this deck? It would be too boring We can go fast Just tell us stop there There actually Yeah so one of the things that I did early on right when COVID happened is I had this button and it's no longer there because In my head. I thought out again. I was wishing it away. I was wishing away COVID in my head So the button is no longer there. However, the link is still there so The point I'm trying to make is Like you have to address the elephant in the room and the elephant in the room is COVID-19 So in my marketing, I talk about our response to COVID-19 meaning the protocols My company has initially implemented, you know, because of COVID-19. So for example, you know, we're don't gather in groups anymore I've got 30 employees who come into the office every morning. We have Staggered start times now and not everyone is allowed to come inside. So that was a protocol that we implemented We're also disinfecting our equipment in between cleanings we're Wearing gloves we're wearing masks. We're wearing shoe covers So I had this button in response to COVID-19 front and center on my website Because it was that important that people needed to know that again It's not about us and here's what I want to say about about Your website your website isn't about you. So the whole we word which I use way too much on my website Is it your website? And what you do it's not about you. It's about them So the reason that you want to have something about COVID-19 again, it's because it's about them the customer How you're protecting them So you asked about marketing. I have it on my website We also use it in some of our marketing material So for example when people quit cancelled service with us because of COVID We created a little um flyer and on that flyer it talked about our 10 point disinfection And again, how it's keeping them safe So everything in our marketing, especially if you call us over the phone Is about how we're keeping you safe Awesome. Well, Kerry, you know what? I wanted to get you on this program with us because Like I said, one of the things that I know a lot of people really really admire about you Is that you keep it real, you know, you you say all of the stuff So I feel like this is really just an extension of Who you are that you're willing to talk about the bad stuff too and the scary stuff and Address it and it's not as bad when you talk about it and you get out there that it reduces the The angst that people feel when you talk about it Absolutely. Um, and I'll tell you this Early on when COVID happened and you know, like major cities were being shut down like Tampa I live in the city of Tampa and our mayor Um had the the city shut down and the stay at home order Early on I used this as a strategy to get people to not cancel So we when when we were calling people to confirm appointments, we would say By the way, mr. Smith, we've implemented a new Strategy in our office. So from now on every cleaning includes our 10 point disinfection That got so many people Not like they changed their mind and did not cancel because We actually have a electrostatic Disinfection we have the the emissed so When they saw that that was something that was actually again a benefit to them They didn't cancel their service. So I use this from a strategy standpoint to prevent cancellations Yeah And it worked it worked Yeah, you know and I think a lot that Sometimes we forget that really really critical little piece about marketing is does it work or doesn't it? Because a lot of people are like, but I love it. It's so pretty It's so awesome. Yeah, but did it work? So I love that you said it worked. It worked. It's worked So carry your your mayor shut your Your city down. Did that mean that you had to close your business for a period of time? We did we we closed for two weeks and during that two weeks My husband and I my kids our office staff We took that time to clean All of our cars. We have 13 cars every piece of equipment. We have got like 30 plus vacuums So we did a complete overhaul on all of our equipment all of our vehicles You see that I updated the marketing. I mean we we used it as an opportunity like to Improve our operations. We took that time to actually get better, you know, so Even though we were shut down we worked our tails off we were able to get everyone back So we were lucky enough that it was an only from our standpoint a two week shutdown All of our employees except I think too early on Chose not to come back. But but today everybody has come back. Everyone has returned That's awesome. Yeah, that's awesome. You haven't I haven't heard that much. I have heard one other business that is um Doing better than they were pre-covid But that's rare for sure So carry one of the things that you say you're going to talk about is you're going to tell us the three things That we could start doing right now, right? I'm guessing one is change our messaging But what are some other things that we need to be doing? So I kind of already touched upon it um But yeah, one of them is definitely to Research how things have changed. So the first thing that I did In as part of my research is to look at my google ads So for anyone who does their own google ads and even if you don't do your own google ads That's the best research you could possibly do for your business. It shows you everything So tom, I'm sure that when this happened you looked early on to see what words people like what keywords people were searching Because it shows you everything that you need to know about your business. It really does My keywords went from searching researching Our people were looking up house cleaning maid service to Nebs like I didn't even see those words. All I saw was disinfect virus How to how to kill the virus everything was about The virus so I had to then Change all of my google ad words to base. I pivoted that marketing message towards what people were searching So that's one way is that you've got you got to do the research and you've got to change your google ad words Accordingly you can't just keep it the same Yeah, I think that's great too. Carrie because one thing that we found Consistently is the one the one consistent thing that we really have found is what works in one area Is not necessarily working in another area. So really you have to do your own research and find out What is working in your area? What what is going to matter? What I love that, you know, what are the key That are being searched right and so like you're in washington You know your state is in a completely different situation than a lot of us On the other side of the country so And even I mean, I don't even I'm sure all the states have opened back up But the phases we're all in different phases of where we are from the from an economy standpoint too. So what works in my My state my industry my market is different for your markets You really have to see you have to do the research for your market to see What's changed and then how you need to change in accordance with what's happening in your market Yeah, and this is very rapidly changing. I'll double dip here unprecedented time You know what worked maybe a month and a half ago might not be working now I know that we have uh some articles on cleaning business today that talk about disinfection And when we were just looking at the analytics, I mean those articles are just like blowing up in terms of Of the traffic they were getting Not so much now, you know, I think that a lot of scare is kind of you know, people have moved on so um You know When you're looking at your ad words and seeing what people are searching for that's something that you probably would need to be Watching more regularly more closely in this dynamic time that when you would under more normal times Right. So even though I brought that up as a step like you want to re want to research You really always need to be looking because that's going to show you everything that you need to see about your business So you're right. I mean, it's it's it's not just a one-time thing. It's really continuous. So that's the step one Liz was was researched the number two is to Make sure you tell customers How you're taking care of them again going back to my website example. It's not about It's not about you as the business. It's about them the customer. So the customer New customers and old customers when they think about your business, they don't think about you They think about themselves like what's in it for me the whole with them thing And they always think that so me as a business owner. I'm always thinking. What is my customer thinking? It's not about me. It's about my customer So I have to make sure my website is about them. What's in it for them? How am I keeping them safe? And they're Right from our perspective, but from now what we're doing to keep you safe What you'll see From our company why you're gonna feel Right. This is why you'll feel safe. Why why we're safer than the other person down the street It's really hard. I mean you can go really quick from I mean, I could just flip flop in my own brain Within, you know, five seconds. I'm like, yeah, it has to be all about them. So I'm going to tell them what we're doing Oh, stop Liz. Right Sometimes for me like I have some I've been a business now 13 years And so I will literally pick up the phone and call some of my long-term customers and just ask them Like what what do you want? What do I need to do during this time? And they'll tell you So that's the thing like you are not your customer. Your customer is your customer So if you don't know what they want just ask them and they'll tell you That's the whole thing You just gave me a great idea Kerry So something that I haven't done in a while is a focus group and focus groups are awesome And how much easier is a focus group right now? Because people don't want to go anywhere in a group. You could do a focus group or I Can will do a focus group on ring central or zoom or whatever platform Yep, send people a little something easy, you know, I'm some disinfectant And they'll do a focus group. That's great. Have not done that in a while and and that's been something that I've really been lacking. So I haven't done it in a while either But I I have picked up the phone and literally called some of my longtime term customers and just said You know, like what do I what do we need to do to make sure that you know, you're satisfied? What can we do and and they'll tell you they will literally tell you I'm so awesome. Yeah. Yeah So number three So we've gone through two and the number three is to make sure that you're you're modifying your marketing So it's it's some sort of slogan. So going back to Geico 10 minutes or less can save you 10 percent or more on your home insurance I think that's what their marketing message is you need to do the same thing when it comes to Are you going to do a 10-point disinfection or a six-step sanitization? You have to have something that's quick and rememberable in your marketing It you have to be able to do something like this. So um Again for us from our standpoint it saved customers. It was it was a customer retention strategy Okay, that's awesome. I mean, I I know I think everybody knows the power of a good slogan and and then they do have to change over time and right now Um, finding one that that is going to stick makes really good sense. Yeah You were talking about the the Geico and I have never heard that one But when you're talking about it, I I definitely heard the in my head. I heard 30 minutes are free dominoes delivers Yeah, dominoes. Yeah, that's their offer. Yeah dominoes. That's their core business strategy is 30 minutes or less or it's free And you know the funny part about it is I think they stopped doing that a number of years ago Oh, really? I still expect it in 30 minutes Yeah, because some good marketing, right? They were like too many accidents were happening and people were dying and they were getting sued for creative Yeah Wow. Yeah, that's not good Yeah, way to way to bring the crowd downtown. Good job Well, I'm sorry I'm totally kidding Okay. Oh, yeah, I want to hear what everybody's slogans are here. So let's leave we use science to clean for help That's awesome. I really love that Leslie and right. She says she's been using it for 15 years But boy it's packing a punch today, isn't it? That's really You've been waiting 15 years for coven. Yeah She saw it coming Yeah, that's actually awesome. I mean could that be any better? It's almost like coven came for you Yeah, like oh, yeah, who else has an awesome slogan. I would love to hear some other Slogans if you have one and if you don't Start getting one now because if I have some some great great advice there, I love that On your website, it's got it. It's got to go there again It's all about the customer How you're dressing coven and keeping them safe and then again some sort of slogan around Whatever it is that you're doing Disinfection, sanitization. I mean whatever it is So and yeah, that's the big topic I'm sure paul free talked about it on you said was he on monday Sanitization Um, he didn't talk too much about sanitization this time. He was showing us like um, like how you can Use just a unique idea to Do whatever it is that you want to do you don't have to do traditional marketing you can do You know anything if you have a great day. He just showed us the So many amazing techniques he's used over the years and he like did it on his Cell phone so he was able to walk around walked outside talked about all the times he's gotten in trouble kicked out of events and just Pause on the edge I'll have to catch that. It was fine. All right, so we've got we've got some slogans here We've got pennies personal touch. We put the personal touch in clean All right, I wonder if you can pick up that message just the tiniest bit to add in some safety or I don't know what it is. I like your alliteration. I like that you're using that alliteration. I wonder if you can You know capitalize on that even a little bit more Marlowe mine isn't science related, but it's you deserve the comfort of a clean home You know that people do want to feel comfortable in their own homes right now Has a different connotation today than it did six months ago six months ago that had a completely different meaning Um, Diane says we make your house feel loved. Okay Um, and uh, what a rosemary the difference is in the details Nice cleaning for your health and peace of minds. Linda has that's a good one Yeah, that is really good Oh, well marlowe's the marlowe's makes perfect sense too, right? Oh gosh. Yeah, you gosh you can capitalize this Her her company name is deserved comfort. That's the name of the company And then you deserve the comfort of a clean home very nice Yeah You just have to make sure that you have some sort of You know what do you want to call it slogan or whatever it is just some sort of marketing message That people will remember and and that's that's a competitive advantage too because More than likely your your competitor is not doing that So when people can remember you based upon your marketing slogan, it definitely gives you a competitive advantage So would you say kary that um The the the slogan is more important than like the visual aspect because when I look at your Your ad here this this page. I'm like, well, that's That's really impactful, right? That's powerful. Just I don't have to read it. I don't even need to know what the 10 points are And I feel like that's a really powerful ad So do you think that the the message is more important or you know Is it important to get a really good graphic designer to create something for you? What do you what do you think about that? I think the message is more important Um, and that's just marketing. I mean again, you remember a good marketing It doesn't really matter how good the quality or the graphics quality is because it's the it's the the marketing message that sells so, um If people are looking I mean From my standpoint, I don't hire like expensive graphics people or an agency or anything like that I use a lot of like um one-off services like fiverr.com. I don't know if you guys have ever used fiverr I love fiverr. You can literally get something like this for $15 so I mean, I hate to like cheap and cheap in the quality, you know the service But it's really simple now Not for me. I'm not a graphics person. I know what I want and I'm willing to pay for it But um, I the $15 Yeah, I love that Um, but yeah, you have to put the marketing together. So I've studied marketing like over the last three years now. I mean, that That's just what I enjoy. That's the part of the business that I enjoy the most. So I know you guys probably have your favorite part of the business But mine Yeah, mine is definitely marketing and that's what I enjoy the most. So that's where I spend the most time Well, next week, I know you're doing um, you're doing like a class for the entire week Is it going to focus heavily on marketing? What's happening there? Yes, so I am actually um, this is my first time I'm teaching this class. I'm I'm teaching the um If you want to take this off the screen Tom, you can I'm teaching what I call the boss framework. So I call myself the cleaning boss as you can see behind me um, I teach a unique Approach to getting bi-weekly customers. So the b stands for bi-weekly The o stands for offer because that's what I teach people how to do not compete on price instead create an offer Um s is for scarcity and urgency which you use in your marketing message The other s is on social proof, which are google reviews. So for me that framework Is what allows you to grow your business like do you follow these steps? I can guarantee you that you will 2x your business if you follow this these steps So I t I'm teaching Exactly how to do it and how to implement it inside your business 2x and what about a time? I don't know Um gosh, I don't know how to respond to that So many different things what market you're in and and actually You're right So much of it depends about how big your business is right because if you're buying your business You can get there a lot quicker than if you're a more mature business, right? Um, I mean for for we follow this framework in our business And so the funny part of this I'm gonna I'm gonna share with you guys is It's about two years ago when I put this framework together and we implement it in my business And we've done so many things with it and I and I've gone on to teach I'm part of a franchise. I've taught everyone the franchise um so It's funny when COVID happened. I hit the panic button real real like suit like right at the beginning and my husband looked at me He's like What why are you panicking like you've created a framework like we've just followed this framework And we're good like we've just you've created this system We're not going to deviate from the system because it works. You've proven that it works Why are you panicking and I'm more emotional like I get emotional about things. He's not emotional. He's more like He's factual and makes decisions based based on facts And so like for him it was like Yeah, we're all right. You've proved we've proven that this works So that's what was funny. Yeah that I panicked and I already had a framework Well, I have some questions that are gonna Take us off just slightly but hopefully what we bring back again is today in my mastermind group We did a deep dive on a company and one of the questions that she was struggling with was How to get more bi-weekly customers because or to convert them because she gets a lot of jobs She can close jobs like like clockwork. She's in new york fairly large company But they get a lot of one-time clean and so she really wants to Convert them better to bi-weekly. Do you think your course would be helpful for somebody that has that particular issue? 100 but I'll tell you her biggest problem is her mindset As you know, I mean that's her mindset. So everyone tells me. Oh, I can't get bi-weekly because I just get one time and I say Bull bull crap. It's not true It's because you're leading them down that path You're not in your mind Saying this is a bi-weekly customer and I'm I can show you how to do it. I mean we've done it in our office um It's how she will be that she so when when we were talking and she walked us through she absolutely can sell I was like, I don't like you are selling bi-weekly. What what's what's different there? When I'm hearing you she's like, well, yeah, my close rate is great But my people I'm like, well teach them to do what you're doing because That's good. She's like, I do they have a script but They don't they only get one time. So I'm thinking it's something along what you're saying, right? Her people aren't They don't believe it. They don't believe that they can close those bi-weekly Made central this pops up uh from time to time it came up in a in our weekly meeting today and it's like We really need a way to track our one-time leads from our recurring leads and say as you said carry bullcrap We don't do that. We're not going to do that Every lead has an opportunity or the largest part of your leads have an opportunity to become recurring business And if you go into it with the mindset of you know, it's a it's a one-time lead then basically you aren't selling You don't have a sales department. You're just taking orders correct Yeah, I mean Our business like we're all entrepreneurs. We're all had businesses. Here's the whole thing. You cannot sell a business with one-time customers It's not a business. You have to have regular repeat bi-weekly because I don't want one place I mean you have to get money. That's a whole separate topic But you don't have a long-term sustainable business if you don't have bi-weekly customers Just carry net internet, but you've been in this business for a while. Have you noticed? I just preference I mean, I've been doing this for for a while and it used to be a lot easier to get a weekly customer it is now and that It moves out where more people want to go monthly than say say go bi-weekly like in the all-day is Monthly's were rare and you had a lot more weeklies and still the bi-weeklies were the lion's share Liz you're not in your head Yeah, I was totally we used to be 80 percent bi-weekly You know five percent was monthly and 15 percent weekly still bi-weekly was lion's share But we had a lot more more weekly and very few of the of the monthly but We're mixed today, Liz Um, we have 70 percent bi-weekly. That's really good though 20 percent 20 more 25. I think monthly and I think it's like four percent weekly and And holding on to those is like hard I mean that and that's the last time I even looked at it was months ago. So Oh, I know it's even worse Right, and that's why when people say to me, well, Carrie, shouldn't I focus on weekly because that's the most funny I'm like, yeah, good luck with that. I mean Number one, that's like a completely different customer They're like a unicorn. They just kind of really don't exist very much But number two, they're not loyal Like you just touched upon they leave for any small nuance and and they're very comfortable in their weekly relationship with you That they're very quick to say. Oh, I don't need you for the next three weeks, but come after that or whatever I mean, they're just That's a whole different customer. I would prefer a bi-weekly I'm afraid to say this out loud, but I prefer a bi-weekly over a weekly. It's just a better customer I don't know. They just really are A better customer they're more they're more loyal They're happier They stay longer I mean, I have a handful of that. I love who've been with us for years and years But when I get a weekly, I don't get overly excited because they just don't stay very long And it's not quality related So, yeah, I don't know. I feel like our weekly's kind of I don't I don't know I haven't looked into it enough and I haven't looked at it the numbers recently So I will I do the same as you. I just look at the bi-weekly Yeah Yeah, like I'm just watching that bi-weekly number I don't want that to drop and we have a thing that Derek created called the point system Where every customer has a point like so a weekly customer Yeah And so I'm looking at those points So I don't want to drop points if I lose a weekly customer I lose four points, but if I lose a monthly customer one point So So I don't know I the track of those points kind of really matters to me too And that really focuses in on those bi-weekly's a lot I just I know we're getting close to time here But I just wanted to wrap up and just tell you guys the secret strategy To share with everybody that the secret step strategy for getting more bi-weekly customers is to make them an offer They can't refuse So like disneyworld does this to you and you don't even realize it like you can't call disney and plan a vacation for one day You literally will be upsold to five days staying in their hotel with character breakfast With an upsell package for their meals and everything else spend thousands of dollars or more and you walk away happier Because you think that you got a better deal even though you spent thousands more so it's the True it's totally true Strategy that you have to use in your More about your program next week. How do we find that? Where do we go? Um, how do you sign up? Yeah, how do you sign up? Okay So I did a webinar last week and people registered at how to grow a million dollar cleaning business dot com If you want to see the offer it would be how to grow a million dollar cleaning business dot com forward slash offer Okay How to grow a million cleaning dollar business that url is way too long how to grow a million dollar cleaning business dot com forward slash Offer o f f e r That should take you into my sales page which tells you about the cleaning the five day cleaning boss challenge Okay, I can't believe you were able to buy that url. It was available How but it's long how to grow a million dollar cleaning I'm good He's goofing. I'm getting back for I'm getting back for the address Bad dress comment. That's pretty good. Um Bill wants to make sure that you're appreciating him build up gelderman Because she's reminding you that he's a bi-weekly customer. We love you though. You're you're you're the best Bill five points We love you regardless of who's cleaning your home, but We love you more because I don't know we appreciate your Thank you You better watch out there tom. All right. So tom you also said you're gonna share The cleaning business today link today. Oh, yeah This is uh carry's website with the offer. I dropped the url and the um thing There, you know the drill guys women doing this. I love your background. Carrie. That's so cute Yeah, I thought it was just I mean I came up with a cleaning boss. It's just I'm kind of bossy just a little That's nice. I like it real quick. We're we're against the outer here cleaning business today dot com You want to subscribe and if you haven't you do want to subscribe email first thing last thing doesn't get any easier Doesn't cost you anything and you're in the loop and the latest of everything that we're doing here You're part of the family. You're part of the ecosystem Go all the way down here at the bottom Paul was so kind to hook us up with his f a q scripts So you just click on that and you can download that and this is kind of the meat potatoes of The q and a that we saw in the videos in his website, which were so awesome yesterday. Thank you paul But we do need to be clear It's very very important. You guys that when you do this that you do not follow it word word for word because that will mess up the the search engines for everybody so Take it and modify it and make it and make it your own It's a good point And don't say that you're a cleaning company in massachusetts if you're not please don't do that Okay, great. That's great. Tom. Thanks for that Thank you so much. What are we doing tomorrow, tom? What is friday? It's a rapid fire q and a session where you get to ask questions and liz myself and our super secret special guest who you'll find out this time well 23 hours from now Who's going to be and it's a lot of fun? We did it last week for the first time and and paul freed was part of that So paul was like, I think he's probably the first back-back guest we've ever had right? Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Yeah So anywho, um, do you have a hint another hint liz as to who are I do um, I'm not going to give you a hint that you can guess really easily. You're all thinking i'm going to right? It's thursday. I'm not but i'll tell you she has amazing hair She has amazing hair I'll take you. I'm sure she does Well, you'll see tomorrow because she flips it a lot You're gonna see it's nice hair You'll all agree with You are awesome. She's Yeah I was taking notes. I mean Obviously you say like how do we you know do this every every day it's like I'm that's how i'm learning so much about how to run a cleaning business. I love doing this But here's the interesting part I I don't like anything about the well, I do like the revenue part of the cleaning business like the cleaning I have no interest in that like my husband does all that. I love the marketing. So that's where I thrive And so when people are talking about cleaning, I like to now because that's just not what I'm interested in But you know, that's why Your marriage lasted through that rough spot, right? You guys really balance each other. That's true. And you really Confident each other. So that's awesome for initials m m Oh No, no, they're not Oh So I know you're thinking out good guests, but that's not her You forgot some of the other clues. You forgot how little she is And you would bet on her on her you would bet on her every day Yeah, okay guys Right here y'all. We'll see you tomorrow. Thank you, Carrie. Thank you so much, Carrie. Really appreciate it