The Dreaded $8 Price Increase
Two of our locations recently raised their rates. The overall increase was about 10% for each current customer. So if you were you used to paying $87 per visit, you'll now be paying $95 per visit. That represents an $8 increase.
Raising your rates can be a tell-tale sign to the overall health of your business. For some, we're the only choice. We're the only choice because they are tired of receiving the same old tired cheap maid. They're tired of the maid showing up late all the time. They're tired of the maid getting too comfortable in their home. And they're tired of hiring a new maid every month or so because the last one keeps quitting without any notice. These are the customers that we want to use our service.
We want them to use our service because they understand the importance of our dedication to customer service. Making a customer happy isn't easy. It comes at a price. The price of customer service is ultimately determined by the quality of your employee base. If your employees care, then you have a decent shot at making a lot of customers happy.
The odd thing is that we still have several customers who don't care about our pay for performance plan. They don't care about our guarantee to show up on-time every time. They don't care about any of that because they only hired for one reason anyway. Of course, the reasons are diverse. Some people hire us because we were the only company to pick up the phone. Some people hire us because they like our catchy name. Some people hire us because we were the first link in a search engine. And some people hire us simply because we were cheaper than the other guy (yes, it happens sometimes).
But something happens between $87 and $95. It's called memory loss. You forget that we were the only company that talked to you when you could talk. You forget that we were the only company that consistently showed up on-time every time. And then you really forget just how bad your other maid service company was at satisfying your needs.
Raising your rates can be a tell-tale sign to the overall health of your business. For some, we're the only choice. We're the only choice because they are tired of receiving the same old tired cheap maid. They're tired of the maid showing up late all the time. They're tired of the maid getting too comfortable in their home. And they're tired of hiring a new maid every month or so because the last one keeps quitting without any notice. These are the customers that we want to use our service.
We want them to use our service because they understand the importance of our dedication to customer service. Making a customer happy isn't easy. It comes at a price. The price of customer service is ultimately determined by the quality of your employee base. If your employees care, then you have a decent shot at making a lot of customers happy.
The odd thing is that we still have several customers who don't care about our pay for performance plan. They don't care about our guarantee to show up on-time every time. They don't care about any of that because they only hired for one reason anyway. Of course, the reasons are diverse. Some people hire us because we were the only company to pick up the phone. Some people hire us because they like our catchy name. Some people hire us because we were the first link in a search engine. And some people hire us simply because we were cheaper than the other guy (yes, it happens sometimes).
But something happens between $87 and $95. It's called memory loss. You forget that we were the only company that talked to you when you could talk. You forget that we were the only company that consistently showed up on-time every time. And then you really forget just how bad your other maid service company was at satisfying your needs.
In fact, the only thing that you remember about your old maid is that she was a lot cheaper. And then you tell yourself that it's only housecleaning. Anybody can do it. So you terminate our services because of an $8 increase.
But then something funny happens right after that decision. You start remembering why you hired us in the first place. And then you call us back.
And that's when $8 doesn't seem like such a bad deal any longer. And that's also when you become one of our real customers. Because you now understand the importance of our dedication to customer service.
For you seven customers that decided to terminate our service because of our recent price increase......we'll see ya soon.
Labels: Customer Service
posted by Two Maids & A Mop at 9:33 AM
2 Comments:
$200 a year based on bi-weekly cleanings may put it out of reach for some.
Make no mistake about it. We're not cheap. And we're not for everybody.
We've set up our service to satisfy the needs of the frustrated maid service customer. For those few people, we're a savior.
For those that don't care about the added benefit of customer service, we're too expensive.
You can't make everybody happy. But the ones that want it, we've got it.
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