Whether we think we can or we think we can’t – either way we’re right!

Some people view their environment through rose-colored glasses. Others in a similar environment see their world through fog-covered lenses. Some people see challenges as problems. Others see challenges as opportunities. Some folks look at a glass filled to the middle as half empty. Others see that same glass as half full. Perception is reality!

Take today’s recession-mindset as an example. The economy is undergoing a major adjustment, which was initiated by real circumstances. However, the situation has been exacerbated by media commentators who seem to thrive on sensationalizing the bad news at the expense of good news. When is the last time you saw the national news begin with a feel-good story? I bet you can’t remember when, if ever.

What’s in the news these days? India and Pakistan saber-rattling over the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Three hundred fifty Palestinians killed by Israeli retaliatory air strikes over the past three days. The Caylee Anthony murder case and the virtual certainty that it was committed by her 22-year-old mother, Casey. The $50 billion Bernie Madoff ponzi-scheme investment debacle. The indictment and impending impeachment of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich over conspiring to sell President-Elect Barack Obama’s senatorial seat to the highest bidder. And of course the ongoing news about the negative economy. All sensational stories for sure, but what about the good news?

Well, there was a great news headline in today’s South Florida Sun-Sentinel. At least, it was good news to me. After going 1 win and 15 losses in 2007, the Miami Dolphins beat the New York Jets yesterday to win their American Football Conference division title. They are going into the post season playoffs for the first time in 8 years with an 11-5 record in 2008 (not such good news for Patriots and Jets fans I suppose). Ok, I admit this is a rather frivolous piece of good news, but there IS a lot of good news in your backyard, too.

Let’s face it. You and I can’t solve the crisis in the Middle East or resolve the problems in Zimbabwe or the conflict in Somalia. We have no control over the greed or avarice of shady investment bankers or corrupt politicians. We don’t have any control over the national economy. BUT WE DO HAVE CONTROL OVER OUR OWN BUSINESSES AND OUR IMMEDIATE AND LONG TERM ECONOMIC AND PERSONAL STABILITY.

It all starts and ends with our personal mind-set.

I try to keep my ear pretty close to the ground in terms of your feedback. In talking to some of you, what I hear is mainly good news. Its like, “what recession?” I heard from Amanda Collucci the other day and she reported that her sales this month are just a hair shy of $30,000 – and this is December, a month shortened by major holidays! (I mentioned Amanda’s success in my last blog below.)

A week ago I spoke to another customer who purchased our House Cleaning Biz 101 materials in July of this year. His wife is running the business and he said she’s doing exceptionally well; no discussion about the current economic situation. It turns out that he is a franchise broker and some of the clients he represents are major residential cleaning franchises. He says one of the reasons he bought our program is because he was amazed at how much money franchisees in this industry are making (and he also said he is very impressed with our program – something I consider a compliment based on his extensive knowledge about the industry).

I hear such positive feedback from you folks out there all the time. And I love to hear it. But does this mean that everyone who buys our program will build a million dollar business? Not at all. In fact, our program does not make anyone successful; it merely provides the knowledge and teaches the skills to help them achieve success. It saves them from spending thousands of dollars and years of trial and error. But chances are they would have eventually been successful on their own. These people have a winning attitude; they always see the glass as half full instead of half empty.

I had correspondence with a very nice woman last week who chose not to proceed to open her business. She had a concern that there were not enough people in her small Midwest town to support a professional cleaning service. I checked the demographics of her town and found there were 968 home owners between the ages of 35 and 65 earning between $75,000 and $250,000 annually. We know that, on average, it only takes about 100 regular clients to have a business doing $250,000 in annual sales. There is only one other residential cleaning business in her town, meaning there is some darn good potential there.

Upon satisfying this concern, she then stated that she doubted she would be able to find people willing to work for a house cleaner’s wage in her town. Strange, considering the other customer I just mentioned is in a major metropolitan area where average wages are much higher than in her market.

These examples are, in my humble opinion, validation of the adage, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, either way you’re right.”

Ten Million New Millionaires by 2016. Could You be One of Them?

“More millionaires were made during the Great Depression than in any other era in U.S. history. Forbes magazine says that 10 million millionaires will be created by the year 2016. So what are the most common traits of the wealthy? They reject conventional wisdom. They understand the simple and powerful truths of money. And often times, their greatest successes were birthed out of adversity. They are ordinary people just like you and me!”

I recently found the above article while researching historical information about the ups and downs of our economy over the past century. The fact that the Great Depression spawned more millionaires than any other time in our country’s past was no revelation; I had known that for a long time. I also knew that there were already about 10 million millionaires in the United States, or about 8% of all households. But the statement that another 10 million would be created in less than a decade was amazing, even to me.

Adversity always challenges the entrepreneurial spirit.

In my favorite book THINK AND GROW RICH, Napoleon Hill says, “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed on an equal or greater benefit.” He also says, “Opportunity often comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat.”

I can vouch for the wisdom of these assertions. This has indeed been the case throughout my career in business. A long time ago I discovered that “success is not a destination; it’s a journey” and that “luck is the crossroad between preparation and opportunity.” There is no straight ascent to the top; the journey is rife with challenges, surprises and detours. And the better we’re prepared to take advantage of an opportunity, the luckier we get.

This recession can be your opportunity ― IF you’re prepared.

There’s no question that the economy is suffering a dramatic downturn. With the mortgage and financial crisis, venerable companies like banks, insurance companies and even the American auto makers have gone hat in hand to Washington looking for a bailout. People have seen their 401Ks and retirement funds decimated. Workers are being laid off in huge numbers and unemployment is rising and may even reach 10%, according to prognosticators.

OK, none of that is good news. However, looking back to the Great Depression again (and no one is suggesting a repeat of that era’s magnitude), in spite of the fact that unemployment hit nearly 25%, it also saw the creation of more millionaires than at any other time in our history.

Necessity is the mother of invention. When people can’t find work, the astute and assertive ones create their own jobs. I know; I’ve been there and done that. And you may have, too. Yes, in the depression about ¼ of the population did not have jobs ― BUT more than 75% did. While many businesses gave up and closed their doors, creative entrepreneurs found products and services to sell to the 2/3 of the population that was working and buying goods and services. And with fewer rivals competing for the business, these opportunists took advantage of a great chance to build their companies and their brands.

Be glad you’re in (or starting) your own business.

When you own your own business, the only person who can give you one of those dreaded “pink slips” is you! You’re the captain of the ship; the master of your own destiny. You can either wimp out and head for the hills OR rise to the occasion and seize the opportunity. You can either look at the glass as half empty like so many of the doomsayers, or you can see it as half full, like Amanda Collucci of Clean 4 Me, one of my students of House Cleaning Biz 101.

Amanda started her business less than two years ago and will wind up with sales in this year of about $280,000 (with only two 2-person teams). She’s just started her third team and is on track for her objective of achieving $1 million in annual sales within the next three years. I predict that Amanda will be one of those 10 million new millionaires by 2016!

An inspiring success story you’ve just got to hear!

If you think it’s unlikely that someone who owns a residential cleaning business can become a millionaire, what would you think about the potential for a young man who owns a car polishing business of becoming a millionaire?

I invite you to visit the Web site of a friend of mine for many years. Jim Cathcart (pictured at right) is without doubt one of the best authors, sales trainers and motivational speakers in the world. Please go to www.cathcart.com and click on VIDEO CLIPS. Then, choose the clip titled MOTIVATION. You’ll hear the account of Tim Seward, one of my former TIDY CAR franchisees. You’ll truly be amazed and, hopefully, motivated by the success story of how this young man became a multi-millionaire by the age of 40. He was 19 when he bought his TIDY CAR franchise from me back in 1978. He was also someone who I had predicted many years ago would become very wealthy.

NOTE: By the way, two of Jim Cathcart’s books I urge you to read are, NON-MANIPULATE SELLING and THE ACORN PRINCIPLE.

Please feel free to leave a comment below or email me.

“How would you determine if an employee is having hard time learning or just does not want to learn the proper way to clean?”

Tonya from Monkey Shines Cleaning submitted this question in response to my last blog on training.

Ever hear of students failing a class in school or college because of poor instruction by a teacher or professor? The same holds true with employees in any business who receive poor training from their instructor/supervisor. This situation is easy to identify if you have team leaders doing the field training for new employees. If the Training Review Reports on employees trained by one team leader are consistently lower scoring than employees being trained and supervised by other team leaders, you need to have a Performance Review and talk with the supervisor/trainer of the more poorly reviewed employees. In response to your question, I am going to assume this is not the case with this particular employee.

I am not sure that even Dr. Phil could answer your question in a psychoanalysis of the trainee. However, if the employee receives favorable Training Review Reports (which means she must have been following instructions during training) and then subsequent Performance Reviews indicate your worker is “doing her own thing” and no longer performing as expected, this would definitely indicate an attitude problem more than a learning challenge.

The bottom line is, Tonya, regardless of whether it’s an attitude problem or an inability to learn from a qualified instructor, my recommendation is “THREE STRIKES AND YOU’RE OUT.”

Properly Training Employees Lowers Employee and Client Turnover.

Over the years I have visited owners of house cleaning businesses in a number of cities and states across America. I had a number of occasions to go out in the field with their cleaning teams to observe how they performed their work. Many of them performed about as effectively and efficiently as you could hope. Unfortunately, the opposite was also true.

The Importance of Teaching Efficiency

In the cleaning business, efficiency is critical in order for both the company and its employees to maximize their income. The quicker the work can be done, the more homes a cleaning team can maintain in a day – or the sooner they can be finished and thereby earn a higher average hourly wage. But this does not mean moving faster on the job; it means learning to use more efficient methods of performing the various tasks involved in cleaning a home. The key is to use efficient time and motion principles, coupled with effective tools and materials, to get the job done quickly without sacrificing the quality of work and without burning out the people doing the work.

Let me give you an example. We adhere to the principles of efficient cleaning as set forth by my good friend Jeff Campbell in his best selling book Speed Cleaning. One of the principles he preaches is, “Move around the room from left to right and never retrace your steps.” This is accomplished by wearing a specially designed apron, much like a carpenter’s apron, in which all the cleaning cloths, small tools and cleaning liquids are kept. By having everything you need around your waist, you avoid wasting time walking back and forth across the room to retrieve something you need. His methods, which we adopted and teach, are full of this kind of efficient cleaning advice.

Problems I Observed In The Field.

This blog is not a discussion on cleaning methods; it’s about the importance of training. On many of my field trips I observed workers not adhering to the principles of efficiency. Oh yes, some of them worked very fast. I saw them scurrying about the house like they were in a race against the clock. They were sweating like O.J. Simpson at his 33-year sentencing yesterday! But upon inspection of their workmanship, it would never pass the muster of a discriminating client. While I did not address any comments directly to the workers, I did raise the issue with the owners of the businesses thereafter.

No Time For Training?

Invariably when I brought my observations to the attention of the business owner, the response I got was, “I have no time for training before I put them in the field. They’ve got to learn on the job.” Or, “I had intended to spend some time with that new employee, but one of my staff didn’t show up for work this morning and I had to fill a slot on the team.” Frankly, these might sound like good reasons, but it is a sure-fire formula for frustrated employees and dissatisfied clients – not to mention major headaches for the owner. Sure to follow are low morale and high turnover of cleaning staff and the loss of thousands of dollars in revenues from clients who terminate the service.

You’ve Got To Make Time For Training.

Initial Orientation: An employee’s first day on the job should be in a classroom environment, during which time she fills in all the paperwork, reviews your Company Policy Handbook, reviews a training CD or video, signs your Confidentiality Non-Compete Agreement, and reviews whatever other training materials you may use. This is also the time to explain the importance of following the mandatory procedures she will be taught, and how doing so will help her increase her income by being more efficient. It can mean either more work and more money every day, or shorter work hours for the same money every day (assuming you use an incentive for performance pay system).

Field Training: On-the-job training is the key to good training. But there are two caveats here: (1) if someone other than you is doing the training, that trainer MUST be following mandated procedures for effective and efficient cleaning herself; and (2) the new trainee should be an observer for the first few days in order to learn techniques by osmosis before being asked to go off on her own. And when the new hire is ready to participate in the actual work, she needs to be closely supervised to ensure that she is following procedures and to be corrected when she’s not. Furthermore, your new trainee should become proficient in one area before moving her on to other tasks. For example, she should not be cross-trained from cleaning bathrooms to cleaning kitchens until she is totally proficient at the first job.

Performance Reviews: Employees like to know how they’re doing at their new job and, of course, so should you. As she completes various stages of her training, it’s important to analyze her progress by using a measurable instrument, such as the Training Review Report provided on CD 3 of your House Cleaning Biz 101 program. The results of this review should be discussed in detail with the employee and her supervisor (such as the team leader). She should be praised for those areas where she has done well and gently counseled in those areas where improvement is necessary. A copy of this review should be placed in the employee’s file for future review and comparisons made against ongoing training review reports.

Training Is Not A One-Time Event.

The fact is, training is a never-ending process. Repetition is important to keep your employees on track and to prevent bad habits from creeping into their work. And rest assured, you’ll have employees who suddenly feel empowered to “create a better way of doing something.” It will take some time for them to get into the habit of putting on their apron upon arriving at every client’s home. It does seem awkward at first. But it must become a habit like fastening the seat belt is when they climb into their cars.

Remember, too, that on average it takes about 90 days for a new employee to become efficient and cross trained for every job. Some employees may learn more quickly, some others may take longer. This is another good reason for your periodic training reviews to determine the progress and potential for success on the job for each employee.

When Your Advertising Doesn't Work, is it the Media or the Message?

If you listen to the pundits, when it comes to advertising you’ll get scores of opinions on what works and what doesn’t. Some people will tell you that newspaper ads don’t work; others will say that radio doesn’t work; still others will say that flyers don’t work; and so on. THE FACT IS….EVERYTHING WORKS!

The real question should be, “What is the most effective and efficient media for YOU at a given point in the growth of your business and based on the resources you have available to advertise."

Secondly, when a particular media doesn’t get the results you desire, you need to ask yourself…”Is it the media or the message?” Let me give you an example:

Several years ago in the auto appearance business, I directed a high-power Toronto advertising agency create an ad to sell popup sunroofs back in the days they were in vogue. This agency came up with a full page ad that we placed in the Toronto Sun newspaper and we ran it on the back page of the first section of the newspaper – a very expensive position to buy. The results were abysmal, to say the least.

I didn’t fire the media; I fired the agency! We then created a new half page ad in house with the headline that read: TIDY CAR SUNROOFS ARE GUARANTEED FOR LIFE! HERE’S WHY! The copy included 10 bullet-point features of the sunroof. We ran this ad on an inside page and wound up selling over 100 sunroofs on the first day it ran! Obviously, it wasn’t the media that didn’t work; it was the message in that media that made the difference.

The Headline is the "Ad" for Your Ad.

Regardless of the media you choose, you only have a matter of about 3 seconds to grab the reader's, listener's or viewer's attention. In print advertising (newspaper, flyers, brochures, Yellow Pages, billboards, etc.) the headline needs to appeal to the immediate interest of the reader. Of course, graphics can also help in this cause and, with television, the screen animation serves this purpose (as evidenced by the fact that many people tune in to see the big budget commercials during the Super Bowl).

For example, the headline "HOUSE CLEANING BY JENNY" does not have the attention-grabbing impact of "NEVER CLEAN YOUR HOME AGAIN!" Professional advertising copywriters often spend as much or more time thinking up the headline as they do in creating the copy for the ad -- and so should you. Your headline needs to STOP the reader and stir an interest in moving on to the content of the ad or brochure itself

The Body of the Ad (or Commercial) Needs to Convey the Benefits

Most consumers know something about house cleaning, but they usually know little about the "business" of house cleaning. For example, when a client calls you inquiring about your service, what's the first question they normally ask? "What do you charge for a "X" square foot home?" Right? Why? Because they don't know what else to ask you. They don't know (or even think about) the importance of you carrying $1 million dollars of general liability insurance, that you carry a third-party bond on your employees, that you use green cleaning products, that your employees are trained and supervised, that you pay all payroll taxes, etc. -- all for THEIR protection.

Remember the Sunroof Ad When Designing Your Advertising

I used my experience with the sunroof ad to illustrate the fact that when the first ad didn't work, it wasn't the fault of the media; it was the fault of the message. Now, I am not suggesting that you rush out and buy 1/2 page ads in a major metropolitan newspaper! In fact, in large urban centers display newspaper advertising would be prohibitively expensive. But you should consider these factors when advertising with other media, such as door hanger and direct mail campaigns. Our suggested NEVER CLEAN YOUR HOME AGAIN brochure (illustrated in our House Cleaning Biz 101 materials) has been tested and proven effective and efficient for many years now. Like the sunroof ad, it has a provacative headline and contains 9 bulleted reasons why prospective clients shoud hire YOUR COMPANY to clean their homes. There's nothing wrong with being creative, but you should study the elements in this piece and other samples of advertising illustrated in the program.

Recession Proof Your Thinking to Recession Proof Your Business

We spent Thanksgiving Day with relatives in Miami yesterday as I am sure you did. Well, maybe you didn't spend the day in Miami -- although you may well have preferred the warm 80 degree temperatures in South Florida over where you were! But I'm sure your turkey dinner was just as good as ours.

The Subject Turned to the Current Economy

One of the women present specializes in selling high-end homes here in South Florida. Her typical listings are in the $1 million to $4 million range and some for even more. I asked her if the current economy has affected her business. She said there are lots of buyers in that market; perhaps even more than usual. Why? Because today's home shoppers are looking for real bargains and making ridiculously low offers. It's not that they don't have the money, they're just taking advantage of today's economic climate to strike the best price they can. In fact, many of her clients pay cash for their million-dollar-plus real estate purchases.

Recessions Have Little Impact on Upper Income Households

A couple of days ago I read an article in our South Florida newspaper on the current sales picture for upscale automobile retailers across the country. I wasn't all that surprised that sales of high end Mercedes, BMWs, Bentleys, Alfa Romeos, Aston Martins and the like are as brisk as ever. And there's still a long waiting list for customers waiting to plunk down a few hundred thousand dollars for a new Ferrari.

But It's Not Only the Wealthy Willing to Spend NOW!

Just this morning my wife and I visited a local big box store chain selling household appliances and home entertainment products. BrandsMart has a number of stores in the states of Florida and Georgia and they're absolutely enormous in size. Even on a slow day they have to have attendants outside directing traffic. Well, I knew it would be extra busy today, being the day after Thanksgiving when American retailers generally advertise big sales events. But I was amazed! Busy wasn't the word for it. Cars not only jammed the humongous parking lot, they lined local streets for blocks. After finally parking, we stood in a line to get inside the store that was just as long as the voting line I waited in during the recent presidential election. People were walking out loaded down with multiple boxes and bags of electronics and related items. Big screen televisions were flying off the shelves like hot dogs at a ball park. I have no idea how many millions of dollars of "non-essential" goods that one store will sell today, but I hazard a guess that it will be more than some of their competitors sell in months. I turned to my wife and asked, "what recession......!?!?!?!?!?"

Yes, they have a huge array of every brand appliance and home entertainment product on the market. Yes, they offer great prices on their merchandise. BUT, what they do best is marketing their store and their merchandise. Throughout the year, in good times and bad, they advertise heavily in the media. They have several full page ads in the major newspaper almost every day, and at least once a week they'll insert an 8 to 12 page advertising supplement in addition to their normal advertising schedule. They never stop advertising, unlike the approach taken by so many retailers in a poor economy. Simply put, they outmarket their competition -- including the big guys like Walmart, Sam's Club and Costco.

Lessons We Can Learn

Never Stop Advertising: It stands to reason that if we have to advertise to get customers in a strong economy, we're not going to get new house cleaning clients if we don't advertise in a weak economy. As I have said over and over again to people in the residential cleaning industry, "If you could clean an entire house for one dollar, how many clients do you think you'd have if nobody knew about your service?" Obviously, not a single one. NEVER STOP MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS IN ANY ECONOMY! Just because someone doesn't buy your service today doesn't mean they won't buy it tomorrow, or next week or next month. People don't buy when you're ready; they buy when they're ready, That's why you MUST keep advertising in order to be "the master of the moment."

Target Your Market:: Get demographic information on the various neighborhoods within the geographic area you want to service. Target your advertising at the top 20% household income bracket in your this market and select the dual income and single professional homes in that group between the ages of 35 and 65. Use proven advertising messages to reach this target audience and advertise to this group frequently. If you only advertise to this market once or twice, you may as well not advertise at all. It's the frequency of your message which brings brand awareness and what is referred to by advertising experts as "share of mind."

Your Potential Clients ARE BUYING NOW: I have spoken to several cleaning business owners lately and I always ask how their business is faring. Among those who indeed abide by the above advice, their answers are always something like, "Well, I did lose a client last week, but I also picked up 4 new ones. We're doing just fine, Gary." Remember that if you target the correct demographic households, the majority of these folks are not substantially impacted by an economic downturn. This is why you MUST deliver your advertising message to the right demographic audience. As I have often said, you don't waste time and money trying to sell a $30 bottle of wine to someone on a $5/bottle budget.

IN SUMMATION

Think about the mad-house I experienced at Brands Mart today. Literally thousands of people spending $1,000, $3,000 and more on televisions and home entertainment equipment. Do they really need this stuff? Well, society got along for thousands of years without Desperate Housewives, The Sopranos and Animal Planet. They don't NEED a 50" plasma or LCD TV set do they? No, they WANT a 50" big screen high-definition television and, on top of that, they're willing to fork out another $100/month or so to receive high definition signals and premium channels from their cable company. Most of the folks I saw today were by no means in the upper echelon of wage earners either.

Yes, I will not argue that the hordes of shoppers who flock to retailers like BrandsMart on black Friday are motivated by great prices. However, price is only ONE of the 4 Ps of marketing discussed in our House Cleaning Biz 101 program. Price is unquestionably a factor in the successful marketing of any product or service, but the other three Ps are in many ways even more important (Product, Positioning and Promotion). Once you grasp and utilize all of the four elements of marketing your business and recession proof your thinking, you'll be well on your way to recession proofing your residential house cleaning business.