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Posts Tagged ‘public relations’
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
In your business, one of the most often overlooked areas that can make-or-break your new franchise is the importance of training front-line employees in customer service.
No matter how well your business is run, the customers deal with your front-line staff. If your service company employs those with little to no social skills, it’s up to you to train them to be on time, courteous AND to clean up after themselves.
Without customers, your business is history. Although you can’t control the market or what other businesses do, you can control your business. It’s time to practice some old-fashioned HR. The following bullets are tips from Eddy Goldberg at Franchising.com:
- Customer service – This can be your most powerful marketing tool. Volumes have been written on the “customer experience,” too numerous for this article.
- Show up – Not only for training employees and monitoring the business, but also because you’re the owner. Making direct contact with customers as an ambassador for your business goes a long way in creating connections and trust.
- Upselling – Good business owners look to serve the interests of their customers (and make money). If someone orders a $1 burger special, train your staff to ask if they’d like a better deal for $1 more. If someone wants an inexpensive kitchen floor replacement, ask them to consider the long-term value of investing in a higher-quality product. Open the door to possibility, but don’t push too hard.
- Loyal customers – This is simple: reward your “frequent flyers” through discounts, special treatment, members-only offers, and the occasional giveaway. Everyone likes to be treated special, even if it’s only when buying a coffee or a couple of tacos; so treat them to specials. They’ll keep coming back … and they have friends.
- Gift cards – These have become a very popular birthday or holiday gift. They’re easy and quick to buy for the last-minute shopper. Sell them, of course, but also offer weekly or monthly gift card giveaways to new customers, loyal customers or through a random drawing.
- Charity box – If you have a store, prominently display a box on the counter to support local organizations. You can change the beneficiary each month or when a goal is reached. Instead of a tips jar, offer your customers a way to support local community groups by parting with some of their change after each transaction. You can balance the lost tips with your employees through other rewards.
At The Dwyer Group, it’s about reaching financial and personal goals while maintaining a commitment to integrity. It’s about creating businesses that communities can look to for more than just service. Through our superior franchise system and years of experience, we know how to build the best and most successful franchise businesses in the service industry. It is our mission to teach our principles and systems of personal and business success so that all people we touch will live happier, more successful lives.
We live our Code of Values by…
RESPECT
… treating others as we would like to be treated.
… listening with the intent to understand what is being said and
acknowledging that what is said is important to the speaker.
… responding in a timely fashion.
… speaking calmly and respectfully, without profanity or sarcasm.
… acknowledging everyone as right from their own perspective.
INTEGRITY
… making only agreements we are willing, able and intend to keep.
… communicating any potentially broken agreements at the first appropriate opportunity to all parties concerned.
… looking to the system for correction and proposing all possible solutions if something is not working.
… operating in a responsible manner: “above the line…”
… communicating honestly and with purpose.
… asking clarifying questions if we disagree or do not understand.
… never saying anything about anyone that we would not say to him or her.
CUSTOMER FOCUS
… continuously striving to maximize internal and external customer loyalty.
… making our best effort to understand and appreciate the customer’s needs in every situation.
HAVING FUN IN THE PROCESS!
For more information, visit www.LeadingtheServiceIndustry.com.
Tags: franchise, franchisee, Marketing, new franchise owners, PR, public relations, The Dwyer Group
Posted in Marketing, The Dwyer Group, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Tuesday, September 28th, 2010
First of all, what is a blog?
A blog is a type of journal arranged online in the form of a web page, typically linked or included in the main web page of a site.
There are many types of blogs, but for this, we will focus on differentiating between two: Personal and Business blogs.
Personal blogs can have a vast range of topics, posts and links. They can be personal, opinionative, political, etc.
Business blogs can be an amazing social tool for communicating with customers and employees in order to share knowledge and build a customer following. They are about seeming impersonal while connecting with potential customers and building web traffic on your site.
Another great thing about blogs…They are completely traceable! You can measure your success, your website’s success, your business’ success; the list can go on.
- Why do I want a blog for my small business?
- Superb question! First of all, why not? Blogs are absolutely simple!
- The software is far easier to manage than what it used to be. Beyond that, most small businesses have a Facebook. Included in that profile is a blog! Simply write in it, link your thoughts to resources or further reading, and publish! That blog will be available for all of your friends to see!
- Don’t have a Facebook, and don’t want one?(First of all, shame on you! Free advertising and a way to get customer feedback, free of charge? Don’t pass that up!)
- There are other options, besides Facebook, believe it or not. Blogger.com, Movable Type, Typepad, these all offer simple ways to get started!
- Blogging offers you not only a free to low-cost way to get advertisement, web presence and customer feedback, but it also is an inexpensive alternative to learning html, hiring a web designer.
- Making the commitment to blog at least 2-3 times a week is highly accomplishable for many. Find a topic that relates to your audience. It doesn’t always have to be solely about you! For example, perhaps an electric company wishes to post a blog. A rational topic could be how to cut back on that electricity bill, how to rewire something, the possibilities are endless!
Finally, business blogs allow your small business a chance to get a vast web presence and share your expertise. It can be a powerful tool in gaining customer trust and assurance, while establishing your name!
Have a look at some of The Dwyer Group concepts’ blogs here:
http://www.rainbowintl.com/blog/
http://mrsrooter.com/
http://www.mrappliance.com/blog/
Tags: franchise, franchisee, Marketing, Mr. Appliance, Mr. Rooter, PR, public relations, Rainbow International, The Dwyer Group
Posted in Aire Serv, Glass Doctor, Mr. Appliance, Mr. Electric, Mr. Rooter, Rainbow International, The Dwyer Group, The Grounds Guys, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
 Do you remember as a child wanting to grow up and be a superhero, like Clark Kent or Batman? Wear a cape, fly around, always beat the bad guys? Unfortunately, we all grow up and realize that’s one dream that may never become a reality.
At Mr. Rooter, we breed a different kind of hero – the hometown hero. They don’t wear capes, and the service vans don’t go quite as fast as the batmobile, but every year select Mr. Rooter technicians are called upon to step up and become heroes. From diamonds to ducklings when duty called in 2009 Mr. Rooter was there to answer.
Mike Roberts, general manager of Mr. Rooter of Phoenix came to the rescue of two damsels in distress over the past year. First he undertook an eight hour rescue mission in a Phoenix restaurant to recover a $70,000 wedding ring a woman had accidentally flushed down the toilet. He had to search the pipe with video inspection equipment, rip up the floor and battle a deteriorating sewer line to retrieve the ring.
Three months later Roberts’ phone rang again. This time it was a frantic 24 year-old who had flushed a $6,000 dollar 4.5 carat sapphire ring down the toilet. After only five minutes of searching he located the ring. The girl’s father tore up the floor himself and Roberts returned the next day to retrieve the family heirloom.
Jewelry isn’t the only thing that Mr. Rooter can rescue. George Jessup, from Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Pittsburgh, between service calls one day noticed a duck sitting on a storm drain. Thinking that was odd, he pulled over and looked down the drain to see trapped baby ducklings. He knew he had to do something. After attempting to lift the heavy drain, Jessup called the fire department and within 30 minutes all seven ducklings were safely returned to their mother. Wanting to double check Jessup got out his video inspection equipment and investigated the pipe just to make sure all the ducklings were safely rescued.
Robert Plantic, a technician at the Mr. Rooter franchise in Toronto solved the mystery of the missing cat. After two hours of searching for the cat named Karma, Plantic located the feline using his video inspection camera. Karma had worked her way under the floorboards that the renovators were putting down to cover holes in the customer’s house.
There is a reason they call us Mr., Gerald Johns of the Mr. Rooter franchise in New Orleans helped recover a one carat engagement ring that had slipped off the customer’s finger in her home. The woman hadn’t wanted to tell her fiancé so John’s arrived quickly, found the ring, and her secret will be safe with Mr. Rooter.
We may not be able to give you a cape. Our training sessions and systems won’t make you fly, but we can give you the opportunity to be someone’s hero. Whether it’s rescuing a precious pet, recovering a priceless treasure, or just doing a quality job with a smile at Mr. Rooter you have a chance to make a difference.
Tags: franchise, hero, Mr. Rooter, public relations, ring rescue, Texas, The Dwyer Group, Waco
Posted in Mr. Rooter | Comments Off
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Is your company in the news as often as it should be? Does your local media run stories about seasonal checkups and how your company can help?
With a franchise, you get active public relations support to share your good news with your local media. You’ll be the number one source for any news about home service. This article about effective media relations comes from Julina Macy, the PR Specialist for Aire Serv. Join our team and you’ll have a public relations and marketing team working to make your business stand out.
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Whether you’ve witnessed the demise of a local newspaper firsthand or just heard about the collapse of newspapers and TV stations, you may be thinking that the general public isn’t interested in the news anymore.
While a common idea, it just isn’t true. In fact, a recent study on American journalism from the Pew Research Center found that audiences consider newspapers more valuable now than in past years, but readers are turning to more online sources for information instead of print media.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of resources or manpower from media down sizing, information provided to them must be timely and relevant. Today’s news environment is in overdrive and a consumer’s news interest must be fed 24/7 to keep them coming back for more, whether that news is sent in real time to Internet news Web sites or mobile phones.
In order to adapt to the new forms of communication, it’s more important now than in ever (while it was always important) to provide timely and interesting news stories to your local reporters. To grab their attention quickly — and not lose their interest in the first three seconds of a press release — it’s important to provide solutions to their readers’ problems and to make community interest stories available as they happen.
Gone are the days where a story would sit in a reporter’s inbox or take 24 hours to get printed and read by its audience. Now a story becomes old if it takes 24 hours to get into the reporters hands. As the forms of communication continue to expand and evolve, remember that it is not an option to hold on to a story opportunity for a couple days or more.
With an Aire Serv franchise you get the marketing and public relations support you need to make your company the name in home service.
Tags: Aire Serv, franchise, home service, HVAC franchise support, Marketing, PR, public relations, Texas Monthly, The Dwyer Group, Waco
Posted in Aire Serv, Marketing | Comments Off
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