Technology: Making a Difference In Pressure Washing

As pressure washing professionals, we often fall into the "bigger is better" trap. We are always searching for more gallons per minute, more pressure per square inch, and the largest surface cleaner our machine can handle. We do this in the interest of serving the customer better, faster, and making more money in the process. As much as we concentrate on our equipment and chemicals, many of us lose sight of the tools needed to get us to the job. Technology has afforded us the opportunity to excel at customer service and many of us are not taking advantage of it.

Blackberry’s, email, and GPS units are simple ways to improve your customer service by offering instant communication in ways that are unprecedented in our industry.  My company has sold many jobs based solely on our response rate.  In addition to doing exactly what we say we’ll do, we try and make communication  as instant as possible.  This includes late night emails, instant call backs on holidays, and making the extra effort to contact potential customers instantly and when it’s convenient for them.  Today’s consumer is not only intelligent, but technologically savvy.  It is your job, as a business owner, to keep up with your customers by meeting their demands…in this case their demands being instant communication. 

These tools can be expensive, but will often pay for themselves quickly.  Let’s use the example of GPS.  Since purchasing GPS for our trucks we have not only saved paper and gas, which is an important “green” step for our company, but we have saved time in responding to quotes and adding jobs.  In this case, we paid for our new technology within a week.  There are many contractors that are resistant to new technology.  You gain an instant advantage over them by gaining the knowledge necessary to keep up with the average consumer.

The next time you are considering an equipment upgrade, or more gallons per minute, consider making yourself more money by saving time.  Spend the extra money on the tools that will allow you to be more efficient, leaner, and meaner.  The ability to offer better quality customer service will make your business better…and in terms of your bank account, bigger is certainly better.

John Greene, Pressure washing Charlotte and all surrounding cities.