 Hey, good afternoon everybody, Tom Stewart here with Liz Trotter. Our guest today is Shana Goodman and this is Smart Business Modes. I'm still looking up a couple of things here, but that's perfect for us y'all because I want to talk about the Issacist, where we are just going to spend two minutes at the beginning of each podcast to talk about ISSA. ISSA residential actually, I guess now, right? And just as a reminder Can we say that ISSA? I've gotten the heavy no on that. Okay, the hard no. Yeah, yeah, even ISSAR It's tough to say though, right? It's just tough. We've had other things that were harder, but all right, so The big thing that's going on right now, especially for anybody that's local, I would say South Carolina, North Carolina, what else? Where else is really close to driving distance? You know, we're pretty close to Georgia. Georgia's like a couple hours away. Um, You know, North Carolina, definitely a little bit of Tennessee Um Even even Florida is a fairly, you know, reasonable drive Okay, and if you're dealing with the heat, like a lot of places are across the country Hey, now you have an excuse to get into your nice air-conditioning car and just cruise for a little while And go to tom's place 20 30 Harley street like the way I just know that address And unlike a lot of people who live on the west coast of washington, we have air conditioning here. Oh my god I can't wait to get there I never thought I'd say I can't wait to get to South Carolina where it's gonna be cooler Never thought I'd say that. All right, so Um, the event on monday. Well, so it's a week long event, but we're just talking about issa today There is a regional event. I think there are like 30 35 people Maybe even a few more going to be there Tom looks like you're getting ready to pull up a link there I'm efforting If you haven't already registered and you're in any of those areas that tom just mentioned Highly recommend that you Go to this link sign up and then head on over to charleston next monday see tom's business Here went a lot of different people have to say and you know, the the main thing everybody always wants to do is network So it's going to be a crime and networking opportunity when you If you are Yeah, there we go So i'll drop the link here and chat if you haven't signed up. It's not too late. It is not too late. Is that right? Yeah, it's not too late. No, I don't mean it's soon will be too late It will it's too late to go to your event because your event on tuesday and wednesday is completely sold out We you're right. We we're we're at capacity So can't can't do anything on those days if you're hoping to go to the main central live event. Sorry Um, lead managed by the numbers still room there if you want to go there, but that's all the way on Thursday and friday. So that's a that's a little bit of a tough push there uh, okay, so Uh tom's already posted that I guess we can just move on looks like shanna's got all her stuff pulled up over here too She got that all figured out. I did Yeah, so shanna, why don't you um Tell us a little bit about yourself and who you are uh, because nobody here Or not nobody, but Probably have a few people on here that haven't haven't been before Yes, thank you. Um, so I am relatively new to issa a residential I became a member. I believe last fall. I did teach a webinar earlier this year And I think it was about a marketing checklist so People might have come across me with that With that webinar, but i'm so happy to be here today and talk with you a little bit about home Home service provider providers as referral sources and how you can make the most of that And i'm gonna warn you I can't see you because the way my screen is as i'm i've got my Um, I've got my keynote pulled up. So I've got my things But if you need to Catch my attention, um, you might just do it audibly So, so you can't see this I I can't I all I can see are my slides That's always the worst, right? I I'm the one thing about streamer that is frustrating when you're the one that's trying to present your stuff. You can't see Yes, yes So i'm just gonna pretend like i'm an anchor on broadcast news and I can't see you but you can see me But you can see my slides So I I actually have a couple of slides about who I am and why i'm here Um, if you want I can just go ahead and jump in. Is that okay? I have a question before we before we get too deep into this You want to know about our earrings? I want tell me about those earrings About a target on clearance as I do many of much of my shopping So tom so that you know where I got my matching or almost matching earrings. I believe I got mine on chiay Maybe on t-ho. I buy t-shirt Okay All right now, you know tom The other question I have the picture hanging over your head. Where of that fine city? What was the origin of that? Yes, so my mom and I for several years got to go on these fun mother daughter trips And charleston was our first one And we visited probably five years ago And when i'm traveling I love to buy some some piece of artwork from the place that i'm visiting And so I bought this and I think you're actually the first person I've spoken with that has seen it on zoom And and actually lived there. So that's fun. But I think I bought it Um I bought it somewhere downtown while we were there and then came home had it framed And what you can't see is over here. I have some other things Um, but some scotland art as well. So cool Yeah Tom was all excited. He's like, oh look charleston in the background. Yes. We made it. We finally made it Okay It was cool because we were chatting before we went live, you know, shanna asked me what we're where were you located? And it's like i'm in that picture over your shoulder there Which is funny because if anyone should have their art have this art above their head on a zoom call It should be you so I should probably just give this to you I think the thing you have in the background town, how old is that that has been there for Two decades. That was the first. Well, no, it was the first edition of cleaning business today, which was April 1st 2013 Oh, it's only one decade. Yeah That's all just one decade Nice boy things have changed A little bit a little bit I don't think we've talked about this topic for quite a long time. I'm excited to hear what you're going to share Here today, shanna. Yeah, well, thank you both for having me. Um, I Am happy that what I'm happy that amber thought of me and that amber recommended me And I'm happy to share this topic with you. It's kind of a passion of mine Today we are going to talk about how trusted home service providers That are already working in the homes of your ideal clients can be a gold mine for attracting new clientele So we're going to cover a few things first. We're going to talk about identifying First we're going to talk about why this is important and why referral sources are so important and in marketing and business development Then we're going to talk about identifying the right strategic partners for your area because we're all focused on local areas We want to be sure to find the right the right partners And then how to start those conversations even if you're an introvert even if it feels awkward I have some just very foolproof surefire ways to start those conversations And then we're going to talk about how this can lead how these conversations how these this relationship building Can lead to added value for your clients and theirs It's going to extend the longevity of those client relationships or opportunity for and it's also going to potentially increase sales opportunities for you both So a little bit about me My name is shanna goodman. I have been in business development for about 18 years And have been a brand strategy agency or digital marketing agency owner For the last eight years and I've specialized in specifically service based small business growth And then over the last couple of years. I started specializing in um, specifically home services So I went deep into professional organizing and then cleaning business and I've also got a few ancillary Industries as well, but all all home service providers I like to write I contribute regularly to business insider forbs fit small business working mother which is now Now kaput, but that one was a fun one and also create and cultivate We have lots of resources available on our website at grow with home pros dot com And so we offer marketing services for home service providers Grow with home pros dot com I can share that real quick and then we can go back to the deck. Um, thank you. This is this is your website Yep, grow with home pros dot com So, uh, drop the url and chat Cool Oh, this is beautiful. Yeah Somebody wants to contact you or shop. There's all kinds of things calls the actions here. Maybe we'll swing back to that Before we're done. Yeah, I'd be happy to So I live in Manhattan, Kansas with my husband and two daughters. Are you familiar with Manhattan, Kansas? Apple Yeah, we um We my husband and I went to college here We left we lived in Kansas City for 10 years and then we came back And it's just a great little place to raise our kids. It's a fun college town And we can walk places and so yeah, so that's where we are And I'm going to strongly consider getting Manhattan, Kansas art and put it right there So I can I can switch out Is it Kansas state that's in Manhattan? Yep Yeah, Kansas state and my husband grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, which is the home of the University of Kansas Okay, so he was the black sheep of the family had to go, you know had to to go to the the state school Every family has one, right? Well, I think that's where my second law went to school then There's a state. Yeah case. Yeah Yeah, okay. Well, Manhattan is called the little apple. We also call it man happiness and man happening So I am excited that you have some history with it. Yeah, me too We have so we love to ride bikes. We I love to read my girls like to read My husband not so much, but I do have an upcoming book called cleaning business marketing made simple That is coming out October 19th another version of it actually the original version of it Was released yesterday called pro organizer marketing made simple And so that was released yesterday. So so today has been a little bit celebratory for that Yeah, congratulations. Thank you So you have a url for that cleaning business marketing made simple dot com I dropped that link in chat as well to make it easy for people Okay, thank you. I can I can pre-order it here Yes, it's available for pre-order on kindle It's not available for pre-order on paperback until the day that it comes out But it will be available on paperback or in paperback as well October 19th so What was your experience and uh Writing a book was it hard take a long time? How do you? Yes, and yes, how do you? You know, I mean it isn't like you don't have other things going on in your world How do you find the time to do that? So I love to write. I love to read. I read 50 to 70 books every year. Um, I love to write I Have to make time for it and What I found was if I just carved out an hour Right after my time at the gym in the morning So my kids walk out In the school year my kids walk out the door I go to the gym I come back and then I carve out an hour and that's Kind of when I have the most creative energy and I just love it I sit there and I think, you know, sometimes I might think what am I gonna write about and then other days? Like the second my fingers touch the keyboard. I'm off and and I look up and it's been 90 minutes There's there's a lot to it. I'd be happy to to get into the details of specifics like, you know, creating the manuscript is one thing then you also need editing you need to Have it designed and laid out and then promotion as its whole other thing There's a lot to it. It's not simple But I I I this isn't my first book. It's um Probably the third or I think it's the fourth book that I have published and um The reason I did so is because Not everybody can find me and not everyone can afford to work with me but Most people can afford a ten dollar book And I've learned some things in my 18 years of business development and specifically small business and local service-based small business marketing that I felt could help a lot of people and just kind of give people a roadmap And so I wanted to distill it all down put it together and it's it's out in the world now Yeah, and you know, it takes a lot of discipline and It's a labor of love as well I mean One thing I've learned is you if you're doing it if you're doing it as a profit center, you're doing it for the wrong reasons, right? Right. Yeah, I don't think anyone at least not anyone. I know Ken You know sits down to try to make a million dollars on something like that It's usually a passion project and it's usually to be able to share something they've learned Oh, my buddy Stephen. He's big into that Stephen King That's a good one Uh, hey, Alexander. Good to see you this week I uh, I loved Stephen King's book. I think it was called on writing. I listened to it as an audiobook at the gym And he talked all the way through How he got started writing and then his entire process. It was fascinating if you haven't read it. I highly recommend it Well, I haven't so I'm going to though. I always take a good recommendation Absolutely. I see him writing too. We love recommendations. Yeah, I always have recommendations I have friends that come to me for those recommendations. Me too. Me too. All right. Well, I'm excited so We have professional referrals. Tell us. Tell us about this. Okay, so Distilled down. I mean, I know that uh, you know the the catchy cover of the workshop is Um, I'm covering a goldmine of new clients building relationships with other home service providers Really distilled down boiling it down. What we're talking about is professional referrals and We're going to start with why they're important And then talk through how to identify good Referral sources. I don't think refers is a word But because it's so hard to say Autospell didn't correct me, but I'm going to say referral sources Instead of refers And then where to find them how to reach out So professional referrals is really what we're talking about And first I want to share with you my philosophy on how to get clients And I believe there are only two ways to get clients First is to be found when they're looking for you So if someone types in cleaning service near me or house cleaning near me You want to be found when your prospective clients are looking for you The second way to get found by your clients is to make them think of you when they're not looking for you So maybe they're not specifically looking for your services But you can remind you can you know, let them know you exist Remind them that you exist and just kind of that continuous education of what you have to offer And why you are the exact thing that they need even if they don't know it And today's topic of those professional referral sources really falls in the category Of making them think of you when they're not looking When there are people out in the community other credible service providers in the community talking you up That's more valuable than any single type of advertising you can do And this is exactly why this is important we're starting here because Knowing why you're doing something and how it fits into your big picture can help you prioritize What I know is probably a plethora of tasks on your plate You are all our small business owners. I'm a small business owner and we're always We're always prioritizing and juggling what we need to get done and when and how So this is why it's important I am going to hit you with some stats So there's high trust in referrals in every single demographic And it's latest global trust and advertising report nielson highlighted a growing trend in the industry that consumer trust in traditional advertising channels has markedly decreased So when we're talking about traditional marketing channels, we're talking television radio magazine ads is kind of what you think of as far as traditional traditional advertising so consumer trust and traditional advertising has decreased While personal recommendations among customers is by and far away the most trusted advertising format The fact that customer to customer referrals was ranked number one for trustworthiness Was not a huge surprise because if you think about people's behavior, that's just kind of how we operate, right? We we trust we know our we know our friends We know the people that are around us in our community. We trust them if we have reason to trust them But so it's not a huge surprise But what did cause a stir was the extent to which it led the way in consumer opinions So just kind of blew everything else out of the water Um personal recommendations didn't just edge out all of the operations or all other options It blew them out of the water with an 81 vote of confidence Compared to its near nearest rival of option being consumer online opinions Which are reviews. That's a fancy way to say reviews, which trailed just 58 percent So if I back that up back out of that What we're saying here is that personal recommendations were by and by and large the number one way um that people trust how to go about finding something new and then the second is referrals or i'm sorry recommendations referrals and recommendations Well, you know, a lot of times you'll hear stats and you're like, uh Yeah, i'm not sure. Okay, whatever, but this man this one hits me hard. I'm like, absolutely I have no no argument at all. I 100 percent. I'm like only 81 percent That's because that other 19 percent of your friends are are dumb Bad recommendations, but we still listen to them. I I'm right. I didn't know was this either shocks shock me But I totally believe it. Yeah, and it's not, you know, so many so often um, you know, we get into this Mind frame or this mindset of, you know, what's the hot trendy thing right now that people are talking about? And a lot of times, you know, it's social media. It's tick tock It's this or that and so a lot of small business owners will spend a lot of effort and energy trying to trace that or trying to chase the trends When in reality, it's the simple things. It's the recommendations and it's the um The reviews online reviews and it's it's every category of, you know, every demographic of of age range So Regardless of who your ideal client is they are likely Falling in this range because I think gen z is like young adults. So unless you're Unless you're talking to young teenagers, which I don't know anyone in the home Home service-based business that is doing that basically everything is represented here Wow Read a book about this too not that long ago that had kind of this basic idea of hey, just talk to people And and reach out to people that actually know you know who you are know what you do Yeah, it's uh It it I guess the philosophy is there was three types of Like leads there's planting seeds casting nets and throwing spears and a lot of times we spend a lot of time outbound marketing or you know inbound marketing when There's a lot of friends and family and people who we already know that we don't really spend the right amount of time with trying to Presented them the merits of of the product or service that we offer and when you When you dive in and identify Very strategic people that could be singing your praises That's where it gets even more impactful And that's where the referral sources really come in Is because it it could be that you could spend your time talking With your neighbors with other people in the community your family your friends But what if you identified people that are already in the homes of your ideal clients? Who are already being asked questions about who they should hire to clean their house? You want their name? You don't you want them to say your name, right? Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. So that's that's kind of the I guess the thesis of my My talk today is that All of these things make a ton of sense based on everything else we know And then so these these statistics just kind of drive the point home So when referred by a friend people are four times more likely to make a purchase Word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20 to 50 percent of purchase decisions across the board not even just home services And referred customers show 16 percent higher profits And I think some things behind that Some psychology behind that is that customers referred to you are likely to become loyal and spend more money Because you come recommended And so it kind of weeds out some of those tire kickers or those deal kick the deal seekers And and and you know shiana we've Those of us who've wrought house cleaning businesses have have noticed this phenomena for years that You know if you track your leads by lead source, I mean we that's you know one of the things that we do in made central and Almost without exception your highest close rate is going to be leads that that you you got through a referral Yes It makes so much sense it really does yeah And this is because Referrals take advantage and I I have a oh, yes. I've got it coming up So referrals take advantage so referrals and even online recommendations But mostly referrals take advantage of strong social bonds and can help consumers wade through shopping options very quickly so Even traffic generated through referrals tend to be well qualified because like we just said it's someone they trust Is familiar with the situation and they referred you and I mean, I guess we don't really I was going to say think of a time the last you the last time you needed a service provider Yes, you could go to google and you could look for every single Maybe there's 30 different plumbers in your area But if you can narrow it down you will so I think we all know the power of referrals there absolutely Okay, one more slide on the psychology of referrals and then we're going to dive into how to identify good referral sources So we talked about I mentioned social bonds just a minute ago But let's talk about the psychology of referrals just a little bit more and I apologize. This graphic is not mine. It's um It's it's a little It's a little jankety But I feel like it does its job. So I'm going to tell you about this graphic Um, we can see at the top of top middle We see two balloons that say refer Incentive and the other being social capital number of referrals in the middle and then these these kettle balls at the bottom That are holding the balloons up that indicate effort required and social risk so Um This graphic is a little bit more dedicated to you know, like friend to friend referrals But the same is true with professional referrals. The wording of the motivation just changes a bit So the incentive the left side of this list For the referral source goes like this. They want to have a strong rolodex a strong list of connections in various services Um, because they want to better help their clients It's worth building a relationship with a quality service provider Because if shared it could be worth money or additional goodwill But you have to make it easy for the service provider And I have friends that are cleaners that have told me that they've often Been kind of the hub of resources if someone that they regularly are in their home cleaning their house They might say hey, I need an organizer. Who do you recommend or we need to do some more? Lawn care or landscaping and then long-term lawn care. Who do you recommend? so For her it makes a lot of sense to kind of have this rolodex in her head of really qualified great people And then we've got the social capital side on the right side is that I need to stop you for a sake You you you mentioned rolodex and whenever I say that I get beat up because Really really I want to commend you and thank you for rolodex you might need to define what that is for some of our audience, but You uh, you're making me look good. Thank you. Okay. You're awesome. That's what I'm here for um Network of connections. How about that? It's so fun. Go ahead come show your rolodex pull it out. Come on It's so I'm not gonna I'm not gonna show off. I had a rolodex when I got out of college um I I was in my first office job and I felt so sophisticated with my My plastic thing that you could spin around and it had these cards and I'd meet new people and I'd put them in there It was it was great. Um But yeah, we don't do that anymore. We we think of we don't really think of all of our connections And we probably don't even necessarily list them Unless they're on our like our social media connections um now a home service provider could be Really intentional about who they recommend for different things and maybe they've created a spreadsheet But but yeah, we don't really have a visual a tangible visual Visual of those things anymore. Do we? No, not the same way that's for sure Okay, I want to um, I want to touch on oh go ahead. The question did come out very rolodex is so Sorry about that I know this is uh before your time That sounds like that looks like the fancy one that shana had too that made her feel really gosh, right Yeah, look at the and look at this. They're like antiques 96 dollars. Look at that. Yeah, I was like, it's a hundred bucks Wow crazy. All right. That is so funny. That is so funny. I'm glad you called me on it too That is so funny. It felt it has fallen out of the lexicon It really has okay, so um social capital so Just a touch on this. So the social capital is on the right side of this graphic and We're kind of risking something if we refer someone that ultimately It you know does a terrible job or you know leaves their house unlocked or whatever. So there's always a weight of risk and You know, is it is it worth me doing? And if yes, then the effort required needs to be really low too so For instance, you want to hit all the things of you know, you want to make sure that Your clients that you're going to come up with recommendations or referrals that your friend It's not your friends. Your um your clients will value Um, it's going to make you look good to have this Expansive network of people. I won't say rolodex again expansive network of very highly qualified social or i'm sorry So service providers. So that's going to make you look good. Um, but you might be anxious about You know, if uh, if they don't perform at the level that you think they should so I share all of this to say that When making referrals there is some psychology involved on Making sure that it's good like a good use of your social capital you want to make sure that um They make you look good when you refer someone they need to make you look good and vice versa and then um Because people aren't going to risk a rep their own reputation, especially a professional reputation if If it's if you're not a quality provider um But if you are which i'm sure you are if you're if you're listening or watching this Those referrals are like money in the bank. You want to be the go-to residential cleaner for that real estate agent Your interior designer friend the home remodeler the professional organizer You want to go out of your way to connect build a relationship and make them look good When they do refer you Yeah, and and and like all of those reasons make a lot of sense sometimes where people kind of drop the ball Is not making it easy enough. So, um I'm going to give some really specific Instances on how to make it easy I'm ready for people to refer you I got my pen. I'm ready. Okay Just don't worry about hair, but i'm ready Okay, first we're going to talk about identifying good referral sources. So you heard me say Some specific ones So wanting to be the go-to residential cleaner for real estate agents interior designers home remodellers professional organizers there are also Of course plumbers electricians other people But I want you to think about the people that are already working in the homes of your ideal clients And knowing this of course starts with knowing who your ideal client is Where do they live in what neighborhoods specifically? What kind of jobs do they have what challenges and stressors do they have where do they spend their time? and then This will all help you with your marketing messaging, of course But really the money shot here is who else is in their home Or who else is providing services in their home? Who do they already trust? and so The answer to how do I identify a good referral source is to identify Who else already has social capital with them and who would be willing to make the effort to refer you? So shanna, I have a question when you're talking about what else is in their home Are you talking about um, what specific company? Because we know what services are in their home, but you're talking specifically you got to fair it out Who exactly are the popular people with your client? Okay, awesome. Yes. And so let's say for instance Your cleaning service is kind of high-end You want to do really big square foot homes? You're you want to be on the luxe end of things and maybe some of your services are also kind of housekeeping and concierge that really Serves a you know a very affluent client well So what you're going to do is you're going to find specifically Who who those affluent affluent people are hiring? And so I have some kind of sneaky ways to figure out how to do that Okay, so I'm going to go into a little bit of detail here This might be overkill. You might already know who these service providers are But rather than like every service provider in the area I guess what I'm really challenging you to do is think through specific Households and who they already trust so like the the example I gave of the affluent the affluent homes If you're in Kansas City, I'm doing a Kansas City example because I lived in Kansas City for 10 years So let's say with that um that example that I just gave Kansas City, let's say Kansas City is my service area and I want that high-end clientele They are affluent. They have huge houses. They have a lot on their plate. They have a lot of expectations on them Their kids are busy with their own busy schedules of sports and activities, etc These are couples with high-profile jobs and they need to be Organized efficient and just have their household managing very very well So if I know my area and I I do if I'm looking for people like that in the Kansas City metro area I'm going to look at neighborhoods in Johnson County I don't know if you guys have any are Are familiar with the area at all But these are going to be specific suburbs like mission hills prairie village lake quavera Shawnee and then also on the other side of Kansas City There is the country club plaza area and then war knoll and ward parkway So what I have just described is kind of this circular Central area that very very very specific neighborhoods because those would be my ideal clients So most people I think know that right, you know the areas in your area, right tom? Like too much. Absolutely. Yeah. I know that pretty much too. I mean, I might not know every single one of them But I have a I have a pretty good idea. Yeah Yeah, I mean your your production management database would have zip codes and zones and various ways that you could just look at your existing customer base and Identify your best customers and you'll see that they're usually grouped to a handful of communities in the larger area that you serve us Yeah Exactly And so if we dig a little bit further we might think more about what we know about them So it could be that your existing clientele Does what you just described they're kind of concentrated in these specific areas But maybe you're building out new types of services that You're trying to attract a new type of clientele. This can be a way that you do that And thinking through what you know about them where they live Um, you know, do they send their kids to private school? Country clubs, what do they have season tickets to Identifying those neighborhoods and then the service providers in those areas And specifically like googling Service providers in those areas Some make it super simple with easy taglines mentioning neighborhoods like Serving the country club plaza and brookside since 1975 So if i'm a residential cleaner looking to build out my business in the affluent areas of kansas city metro area That's who i'm going to look for and You can look Also, so you can google like i just mentioned and you can also Find neighborhood websites and facebook groups to look for local and community groups on facebook You can do some on the ground reconnaissance by checking out the service vehicles and driveways signs and yards You can also look up houses on zillow if you want to identify real estate agents in those specific areas And some even have neighborhood business associations So all of those kind of suburb towns that i mentioned in the kansas city metro area They all have uh their own individual chambers of commerce They also have b&i and some of those other things that you'll just have to kind of weigh If if the time spent will be Uh gotten out, but this is a good way to find people that are serving your ideal client And so i have a question for you guys is um, you know, i mentioned some of the service providers That i've seen be really good referral sources Um, what referral sources have you seen be very advantageous for your businesses? We've uh done campaigns before with like uh Spas with uh veterinary clinics with dry cleaning services anything that uh consumers of a certain socioeconomic, uh, you know that that fit the uh Demo that with that that we're targeting might might use okay Great pet pet centers is another really good one pet groomers Yeah, landscapers Window cleaners. Yeah for sure carpet cleaners too, um, you know, we have had better luck with like the dry carpet cleaners like the dry acts They tend to work more within the higher end areas Yep, like the high-end landscapers though Right good one too Yes and so what I would recommend and You're probably already doing some of this you've probably already done some of this But making a list of some of those types of services and then reaching out and specifically you know This sounds scary, but maybe making a phone call Or an email I know Back when we had our Rolodex's we used them all the time guys It's normal to pick up a phone and call somebody Right And so this is really basic if you get really nervous on You know reaching out to people, especially if you don't already have some level of familiarity with them If you're new to the area or if you're seeking clientele in As you know a little bit different neighborhoods or kind of outside your norm Really just cold-calling The lawn care the lawn care providers those high-end landscaping companies The those dry carpet cleaners the The window cleaners People that are already already have the trust of the people that you're trying to get into their homes And you can just very simply Let them know what you are Who you are what you do and just offer to buy a coffee after to Get to know them how they work and the idea is that it's a mutual thing Where you learn about what they have to offer as that high-end landscaper They learn what you have to offer and then you're encouraging them to have To recommend you when their clients at some point are talking in their presence and asking if they have a good recommendation for residential cleaners and specifically Specifically I mentioned these kind of bullet points because It's very clear It's who you are and what you do because remember They're busy you're busy and at this point we're kind of weighing in on the effort piece You remember that graphic a few slides ago. It was like risk and effort You want to make the risk low and you want to make the effort that they have to put out low as well So make it clear you're doing the work You are Knowing that they're busy you're acknowledging that they're busy You're stating your purpose and then you'll be expending the effort in this conversation And then it's it's time bound. So can I buy you coffee sometime this week or next? Tends to get you More in in-person meetings than just like hey, I'd love to talk sometime All right So speak to me a little bit more about that shanna because Every time somebody wants to meet me for coffee. I instantly cross them off my list Even a half hour Like coffee with someone is going to take me an hour and a half because I'm going to have to drive there park Go in You know do all this stuff We got to chit chat for a little bit before we actually get down to business Then I got to drive home again. So I'm like I'll I'll jump on the zoom with someone. I'll jump on a call with them But it's like But I'm seeing amber over here. It's like all day long with the white chocolate mocha, right? No, I don't know. Am I the am I the anomaly here? so and and that's kind of why I opened this with knowing, you know Us talking about how this fits in to your business model and your marketing plan helps you know Where to prioritize it? um So, you know everything that we've talked about up to this point is that okay referral sources Referrals are very important referrals do all these great things. They can make you a lot of money. They can you know All these things But but there's a cost to it And it's easier. It's probably easier to throw a couple hundred dollars at you know a radio ad But what we've learned is that it's not as effective as if someone is referring you so And that's where you have to weigh too Not every single person is going to be a good use of this kind of time because you're right It's if you're physically meeting someone for coffee. That's going to cost you an hour hour and a half of your time But if you're wanting to get into a specific neighborhood And you know that this lawn care company or this interior designer Kind of owns the neighborhood as far as like friendships and connections It could be worth Creating a friendship with this person. Oh, no, I said it wrong I would absolutely see the value in that all day long every day But from the other person's perspective Like like how do you I'm like, can you catch them just with this? Is it good enough to get them to say to think to themselves? Sure. I want to meet with liz for spend that much time out of my day Right, right. Yes. I'm wondering is that a new shift or Is it still working just as well or what do you do you give them an option or if time is an issue? You got 15 minutes for a zoom call Yeah, I would all of those things I've and I've done all of those things I You know, I've offered, you know, like, hey, I know you're busy And that's part of the, you know, acknowledging that they're busy Saying, you know, if in person doesn't work for you, can I send you a starbucks gift card? And do you have 15 minutes for a zoom? But also I'm very careful too in positioning this conversation In a way of it being mutually beneficial because kind of how we talked a few slides ago about how There are people that Um, I'm not going to say rolodex again. I'm not going to say rolodex There are people that it makes It's it makes sense in their business model. So like amber starling good witch cleaning It makes sense in her business model to be perceived As this expert that has all the connections of all of the really great quality service providers so what you're kind of pitching to them Is that they're going to need to know you Because they're going to want to refer clients to you You know, shanna, we're quickly running up on the top of the hour And we want to be able to save a couple minutes at the end to Share with people how to get a hold of you. Um, yes Okay, so I think so I had just gone into um the slides that I just clipped through very quickly Were more of a deep dive of um Finding specific people But I think I think we've I think I made the point and I think we've kind of fleshed out the various factors Um that come into play your time their time again effort That sort of thing one thing actually two quick things I want to share is that um You can go about this lots of different ways I know professional organizers and residential cleaners that create actual kind of packaged partnerships With realtors with interior designers that it's like hey if you work with both of us you get an hour for free Or um, I know a real estate agent that every time Someone buys or sells he gives a gift card for two hours of a professional organizer's time Or two hours of a of a cleaners time and he's paying for it He might get a little bit of a discount because he buys them in bulk But it's a mutually beneficial relationship that um is a little bit more quantifiable and you can see It takes a little bit more effort, but you can also see Um how some of those things can work together. I've seen that bundled around holidays too like, uh, you know A valentine's day or mother's day, you know, get a massage and a house cleaning combo I mean that sounds like a great mother's day gift to me. I would take it all day long Yeah, right Well, thank you for having me today. I hope it was um worth your time. Hopefully it's given you A little bit of something to think about I do have some free resources. I have a facebook group It's called social media marketing for pro organizers and residential cleaners If you go to my website at Facebook I'm dropping it. So All you have to do is just join the group You just you have to request But all you have to say is your email address and that you are a residential cleaner or An organizer And oh, sorry go ahead. You got another link here to social media packs Yes, so we offer some free social media bundles and templates customizable templates at growwithhomeprose.com in our shop It's the top right hand corner. I also have a podcast. It's called home pros marketing made simple And um, we talk about lots of different things diving in on various marketing and business development opportunities to help grow your business And I also have a book coming out. Um, as I mentioned called cleaning business marketing made simple It is being released october 19th. It will be available in paperback and on candle on amazon And as kind of a pre-order bonus you get two months free of our organized member dashboard Where we have tons and tons of grab-and-go graphics and customizable templates even customizable content like newsletter articles and Um Templates for flyers business cards and then all sorts of digital things as well Well, we get all that stuff because i'm gonna i'm not going to do the softcover book. I'm going to do the Kindle i'll still get all the stuff. Yeah. Yeah, you will All right, sounds good. I love me some free stuff. Yeah me too This was great shanna. This was awesome. It's a pleasure meeting you and thank you for being a first time guest Certainly, hopefully not the last time guest. We don't hope you'll Joining us in the in the night to just the future because I have a feeling you've got a few more Tricks in your toolbox you could share with us. Yeah. Yeah, I When this opportunity to talk with you all came up today. I or yesterday I went through the list of previous topics and Thought this was one I didn't see on the recent list. So I thought it was worth talking about And amber, I think um amber referred you, right? Yeah Yeah, thank you Are you gonna be shanna? Are you gonna be in vegas in november? I am All right. I'm very excited the person then I will be thank you. Yes I will be on a panel the first night the The residential cleaning panel the first night What's up? Is it tuesday night? Is that the first night or monday? I think it's monday. I think it I think it's monday I I bought my plane tickets the other day. So I should remember but it's november. That's what I know And this is august Yes, all right. Yes, but yes, I look forward to meeting you in person. Will you be there as well tom? Oh, absolutely. Okay, cool Well, I look forward to meeting you. We're we're gonna go ahead and and call a wrap for today and uh Any last uh matters of business list? Uh, I don't think so everybody hope hope to see some of you and charleston next week on monday This is this is your last chance if you want to uh make it to the regional event on monday We're getting a big crowd, but uh, I do believe that they still have a few more slots available if you're Interested I'll go ahead and drop that link in chat again. So you really tempted me tom be clear tom I um, it is not a lot of spots. I Think there's might be like three Okay, don't get it. Don't get pushy. Don't get too pushy much room Make sure you really want to go if you're if you're not sure forget about it because we Okay, we'll uh be back, uh When next wednesday, we're gonna be kind of busy next wednesday, um, I don't think No, we're not going to be here next wednesday, but we will be Here the 30th We're going to be taking next wednesday off because we're going to be in charleston doing a lot of cool training stuff But we'll be back, uh, august 30th with the next Edition of smart business moves. So until then everybody be safe. Take care. See you soon. Bye. Bye y'all. Thank you