Canadians have been keeping a close eye on the economic situation in the U.S. Up until this week “a close eye on things” is all it’s been but I’ve felt the affects these last two days. Out of the 15-20 stores that I’ve done, at least half have grumbled about the economy, one has ask to scale back their service while 3 others have hinted that they may need to cut back on their cleanings if business doesn’t pick up.
I’m hoping this is just a fluke due to this weeks situation on wallstreet and the bailout/no bailout scenario.
Just give the client what they need without grumbling or coddling. I think our small part in riding this out is to be a positive influence against all the negativity out there. Great, now its got me sounding like Deepak Chopra. The Canadian economy is very different from our American neighbours but people here are very influenced by the fact that they watch the American news networks and think they are talking to us as well.
I am not down playing the seriousness of what is happening, but if we keep our heads and not panic as a society, we’ll ride it out.
Allow your clients to down scale the service if they need to but assure them that you are still going to be there to serve them when this is all over.
Been there, bought the t-shirt.
That’s exactly what I did with one lady. She complained that this was the first month since opening her store that she had to pay the rent with her personal line of credit. I told her to relax and don’t worry about it, “I’ll work with you.”
Hey Mark. Perhaps they lost some money in the stock market and that’s making them feel poorer.
I’ve had customers grumble even when the economy is good. Sometimes they just like to complain and it’s nothing more. If you are wanting to keep your commercial, I would suggest doing more canvassing. If not, perhaps it’s the break you were looking for to focus more on residential.
I don’t know how the economy will turn out the next two years. But I’m making some changes to the way I live, so I stop living paycheck to paycheck, and socks some money away for a rainy day, both in my business account and in my personal account.
by the way, I haven’t had any grumbling among my commercial clients yet.
Funny, on the upside I picked up a new account this week for a bi-weekly at $68 a visit. I may try to get more of these and not waste my time with smaller Mom & Pop shops.
That sounds like a great business move. I have been doing the same. I have been implimenting this as well over the last 2 months.
My answer to the people who complain about the economy is that, it will only affect us, if we let it. People ask me how business is and my answer is always, better than ever I can hardly keep up, when can I book you in 3 or 4 weeks. (it works great for me, I actually book about 75% of them this way with this comment to them)
This is not a US-only situation; it has world-wide implications. Governments around the world are involved in bank take-overs, etc.
The current news may have been triggered by events in the US, but the real issue is a credit-based capitalistic environment.
Instead of “bailing out” financial institutions that have gone nuts without regulations in place (and will do so agin, no doubt), the $700 billion should go to the citizens – the spending associated with that would certainly stimulate the economy. F Wall Street.
What about the out of control spending of people? People used to save more money for a rainy day, now many are dangerously over leveraged. With their house, credit cards, financing, and no savings.
I did read some criticism of the American Monetary Institute, who are supporters of the producer of the video, but I haven’t looked at things in-depth.
Wow, what a strange week it’s been. First many Mom&Pop stores are complaining about the economy and wanting to scale back on service then I get two larger stores give me the okay for monthly service. Just added over 2 grand to my yearly and I wasn’t even trying (they called me).
I’m thinking it would be better to raise my prices on these complainers and lose them and concentrate on bigger commercial jobs. hey, I’m not saying it’s a guarantee of better times for me but at least I won’t have to struggle to keep those $10-$15 jobs.
Congrats mark, that’s awesome!
I agree about cutting out the complainers, and raising rates on those low paying accounts, especially if it’s not worth the headache to you.
