The Name Game

Good Morning Everyone. I hope your Thanksgiving was great.

I have kind of a weird situation that comes up in spurts here. We service a large area within 3 states and have a pretty common name so I guess this was bound to come up sooner or later.

We get calls from time to time asking if we are either the Septic Company or the Landscaping Company. This is all understandable to a point. However our company name is All County Window Cleaning; the septic company is All County Septic and the landscaping company is All American Landscaping. I can still after pointing out the difference totally see how we can all be confused with each other; Hey it happens to the best of us which is why I love that Bill Engvall. He is the guy who does the redneck comedy with Jeff Foxworthy, He does a bit called "Here's Your Sign" for those of you who don't know who he is. Very Funny Stuff !!

Anyway the one name game I don't like playing all the time is the one where we are confused with another window cleaning company who actually has the same name as us. This is a good thing and bad thing at times. Before I go on I must point out that this other company with the same name services some areas south of us that we don't service BUT he also services a few of the same areas we do as well. Let's start with the downside. We call a potential customer who we have never serviced before trying to gain their business and we are shot down right away because this customer has used All County Window Cleaning and was not happy. The other instance is where they insist that we already service them and we know that we don't. We really want to but we don't. All of this is usually fixable if not right then and there usually within a short period of time.

OK now for the upside. Once we put the knowledge into potential clients brains that we are another company totally separate from the other All County Window Cleaning and we prove what type of services and standards we offer to our customers we end up with the business we wanted to obtain in the first place and even better than that we are able to completely change a persons attitude toward the service industry which helps everyone all around. Plus between you and I making a new relationship with a customer and changing someones idea of us is a personal victory is my eyes. Nothing makes my day at work more than nabbing that big sale or hearing back from a customer how wonderful we were and how they are so glad they gave us the chance to work with them.

That's my story this week. Words of wisdom to go with it... If you have a similar situation out there turn it to your advantage. Offer customers your version of the service, direct them to your website if they appear skeptical of who you really are. Offer to send them literature on your company to spark a recognition and always always offer the perks of your service BUT never never down talk another company. This can and will always come back to bite you later. Karma is wonderful thing trust me.

Until Next Week Have a Prosperous One,
The Appointed One