In the summer heat of Arizona, you live and die by the almighty swimming pool. The blazing desert sun delivers a whallop to outdoor pool equipment systems, so in the greater metropolitan Phoenix Valley (population: a smidge under 4 million), the care and maintenance of pools is a good business to be in.
There’s heavy competition, though – today, literally hundreds of pool care companies (many of them one-man operations) exist in the valley. Anyone with a basic knowledge of water chemistry and pool equipment can make a decent living.
So, how can a company set itself apart? By choosing One Little Thing that will make a big impact. Jason at Evolution Pools realized that early on, and his business is growing by leaps and bounds.
When you call Evolution Pool Repair, you’re assured of talking directly with Jason, the owner. Leave a message, and he’ll call you back within two hours. He sets the appointment, gives you a window of time for the service call, and then calls again to confirm the night before the appointment.
That’s nice and all, but then he unloads his One Little Thing: he narrows the window of time in which he’ll make his appearance.
For example, the first time we hired Jason, he told me he’d be by sometime between 9a.m. and noon. The night before the appointment, he called and informed me it would actually be between 10:30 and noon. And he delivered. He always does.
His One Little Thing is to operate at maximum efficiency; he has developed his own personal system of time tracking so that he can narrow down the appointment time and beat the negative stereotype of “the repair guy who never shows up when he says he will.”
With that One Little Thing, Jason gave me 90 minutes of my life back and strengthened the trust I have in his services. Having originally found him through our home warranty company, we now call him for all of our pool needs, whether the equipment is covered under warranty or not. Jason has made hundreds (or is that thousands?) of dollars from our account alone, simply because of his consideration for the customer’s time. I’ve also referred a number of neighbors.
Jason has made his business boom, without spending a penny on advertising.
You don’t need circus tents and balloons to make an impact on a customer, and if you’re a one-man operation, you can’t always overachieve the way One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning does. But you can still make your mark by choosing One Little Thing, refining your system, and delivering on your promise every time.
What One Little Thing can you do that will have customers telling your story to everyone they know?
Great points. We also have a small business in the Phoenix Metro area and have enjoyed success by not being the "typical" contractor. People are always surprised that we are on time, follow up, and are efficient. By the way...I enjoy reading your blog.
Posted by: waterrose | August 19, 2008 at 10:20 PM
We own a Boutique store in Bombay, India.
My mother runs it and my father funds it. and me and my brother go there in our free time after work, and help my mother sell the clothes to the customers.
We make sure every customes goes back fully satisfied. we customize garments, alter, home deliver for their convinience.
We have installed a tea/coffe machine, and offer them complimentary tea, coffee/mineral water.
We do not offer any discounts on the garments.
But we offer personal styling,if u might call it that, to each and ervy customer. and make them feel like a princess.
Small talk is our biggest trump card, and the tacker family is too damn good at that!
Our customers remember our name, and always bring back a friend along to shop.
Posted by: Sasha Tacker | August 31, 2008 at 11:40 AM
Really love this article, as I manage a sales team that sells to retail Travel Agents that are in what I would deem "chronic struggle mode". This encourages all of us to go back to that which makes us different and doing those things consistantly. I am now linking to you from my blog -- thanks for the insight!
Posted by: Janet Engel | September 20, 2008 at 12:43 PM