I know something about you. But I promise to use it for good, not evil. And just how did I come upon this bit of information? Let me explain…

As a carpet repair and cleaning pro, I get asked the same questions over and over by customers and other people. Which is fine. It doesn’t bother me one bit. But over the years, I started to notice something; people ask these questions for a reason, and the answers always point to the same thing. Once I figured out what thing thing is, I realized I was actually peering into my customers’ minds. And that’s how I know what I know about you.

Cryptic enough? I promise it’ll all make sense in just a moment. But first, let me reveal the top five questions people ask me time and time again. Now, understand, the question spoken is never actually the real question. That’s what I started to realize about my customers. There’s the spoken question, and the actual question. So below, I’ll list what people say and what they really mean:

Question 1
What they say: How long will it take for my carpet to dry?

What they mean: I have a busy life, my kids will want to use the living room when they get home from school, and my husband will grumble about having damp socks…so how long before we can get our house back to normal?

Question 2
What they say: What do we need to do before you come?

What they mean: By the time I get the kids to bed late at night I’m exhausted. When I wake up the next morning it’s a mad dash to get them to school on time, and then you’ll be here a few minutes later. I don’t have a lot of time to prep for your arrival, so give me one or two easy things I can do to help.

Question 3
What they say: Do you move furniture?

What they mean: I know the cat throws up under the loveseat and my husband spilled an entire glass of iced tea that went under the coffee table. I’m really worried you’ll tell me you don’t move furniture and I’ll still have all these stains when you’re done.

Question 4
What they say: My dog has had an accident or two in the living room. Do you have anything for that?

What they mean: I’m really worried my house smells bad because the dog pees on the carpet all the time. I’d be so embarrassed to find out my house smells like pee. Can you please help me?

Question 5
What they say: Do you pretreat or do anything for stains?

What they mean: We hired one of those “Whole house for $89” discount companies and by the time they added pretreatment, stain removal, deodorizing and deep cleaning to the estimate, it came to over $500. Can you please just do a good job at a fair price? PLEASE?

If you’re like me, maybe you noticed that these questions all run along a similar vein. Each question is unique, but as a whole they all point in one direction, revealing a simple truth about the mindset of my customers. Yes, they want good work at a fair price, and yes, they want clean carpet. But what they really want is to truly enjoy and find comfort in their sanctuary…their home. And they don’t want any major disturbances.

Once I got that through my thick skull, I started taking steps to meet not just the needs of my customers, but their wants. I realize I’m in their homes to clean carpet (or upholstery, or tile and grout, etc.), but I’m also there to help preserve the comfort, joy and peace of their sanctuary, and my aim is to do that with as little disturbance as possible. Really, the carpet cleaning is almost secondary.

So what is this little bit of information I know about you? I know that you love your home because that’s where your family is safest and most secure. You want to feel pride in your home, and when guests are there, you want them to love it as much as you do. When you need outside help to care for matters like carpet cleaning, you want the professionals to respect and honor your home as if it were their own. And you want little or no disturbances.

I can’t tell you how much respect I have for that, and I’ll do everything in my power to help you preserve what you care for the most. You should call me today and I’ll take great care of you.

In the meantime, please continue to read Part Two of this article. In the next section, I’ll address those five questions I mentioned above. I’m sure you’re just itching to know the answers!