Some carpet cleaners wonder why they aren’t getting more clients and why some of their competition is getting the lion’s share of the work.

It is probably something very simple: They aren’t portraying trust in their marketing or in how they position their companies.

Consumers purchase cleaning services when they want them and when they need them. When they are ready to make a purchasing decision, the trust factor plays heavily in whom they choose.

If you can’t get their trust, they will not buy from you. So how do you build trust? Instead of broadcasting about you or your company, tune in to what she wants.

She doesn’t care about your super sucker, your chemicals, or your sales. She wants to know what you can do for her carpet, for her stains and for her family.

You build trust by what you say and what you do. When you meet someone for the first time, your non-verbal skills are the most important. It has been proven in communication that seven percent of what you say, 38 percent of how you say it and 55 percent of your body language makes up these skills.

There are four areas here you can work on:

1. Appearance

2. Posture

3. Eye contact

4. Facial expressions

For appearance, dress for the clients you want. Wear a nice shirt with your name, perhaps patches of associations you belong to. Make sure everything you or your technicians wear is clean and pleasant.

Your posture should be erect and confident. When arriving at the home, stand about three feet back when introducing yourself.

You should make constant eye contact 3-5 seconds at a time. If someone won’t look me in the eye, I think they are hiding something! What about you?

Your facial expressions should match what you are saying. All of these go with you being pleasant and believable. Practice this with a co-worker or friend.

Finally, you want to be “customer focused”. After introducing yourself, pay attention to the surroundings. Ask questions, and show interest. This may be one of five jobs you are doing in any given day, but to the customer it’s a special event. Treat it that way.

Randy Pierce is an IICRC/Clean Trust approved instructor with Chemspec. He teaches carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning and odor control certification seminars, as well as business marketing classes. He can be reached at (443)277-1874 or at randy@wwcir.com.