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SubscribeAlright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Luke Krohn. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Luke, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?
As I was starting to clean a living room carpet for a new customer I found out that she was the main caregiver for her mother. This customer was on a very tight schedule because she had to take her mother to a doctors appointment and seemed to be at her wits end that day. I also started to ascertain that her budget was extremely tight as well. I had a lot of empathy for her because my wife had been a caretaker for her mother for her final years as well. I especially had lot of respect for this woman though because my wife had all of her siblings to help where as this woman did not have any help and was on her own!. Long story short, I did not charge her at the end of the job. She was in such disbelief that I was not charging her. Which made me feel sad because this made me realize that she was not used to getting much help, Because when someone actually did help her, it was such a big surprise! I was able to offer her some words of encouragement and commendation. I let her know that my wife and I had been through the same thing, but that she deserved a lot more for taking care of this job solo. She seemed to have an extra bounce in her step and a smile when I left. It wasn’t much, but I felt I at least had done something to help.
Another thing that I get satisfaction out of is when I show up at a job that I have already estimated over the phone according to the customers square footage measurements, and the customers measurements end up being way larger than the actual area. When I let the customer know that they were incorrect with their measurement of area, they always assume that it was too little. When I let them know that the measurement was too much they often seem to be stunned and sometimes look at me in disbelief. I am particularly happy if this is a single parent or if this happens to be an older client.
Luke, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I started in this industry, doing this specific type of work, over 23 years ago in 2001. At the time I already had experience working in an industrial laundry and dry cleaning and had extensive experience with learning and then teaching fabric identification. As I was then, I continue to be amazed with the science and more specifically the chemistry of this industry. There always seems to be a way to take care of a problem, for instance, as long as one knows what a stain’s ingredients are, one has an excellent chance of eradicating it. What is even better is that the majority of these cleaning agents that are doing the “eradicating” are now plant based! I also really like using specialized equipment that helps with not just the aesthetics of cleaning, but also equipment that aids in providing real sanitation. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to meet and become good friends with leaders of the industry. I’m very proud of the years of experience I have gained in this industry which has been accompanied by many many certification classes over the years. This ultimately has allowed me to achieve a triple master certification with the IICRC (Institute of Inspection Cleaning & Restoration Certification). I feel that knowing who I know, and having the education that I have helps me with taking care of My clients needs. When I run into a challenge that I need a second or third opinion on, I’m simply a text message away from an industry leader’s opinion on the matter. This has proven to be extremely valuable over the years. The certifications that I have achieved over the years have helped me to keep a foot in the door to a lot of different corners of this industry, allowing me to be kept aware of advancements being made. I am very grateful for this.. I do my best to pass these advancements on to the customer..
Having said all of this, my goal with each client, is to simply take care of the customer and their needs. The first thing I try to find out with each individual client is: what is their prime concern or “pet peeve” at this moment in time. What is bothering them. What is important to them. And then do my best to take care of them. I try to remember what my wife tells me when she says “do not bore the client with needless details!!” lol… simply put, I want to provide a good service in a timely fashion that meets each particular clients need.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I was able to build my social media presence using a friend of a friend. Usually stories like that seem to end badly… But in this case my “friend’s friend” does this for his vocation. He did such a good job that some of my associates and friends noticed my social media network-set-up and knowing that I was not competent enough to set that up on my own, asked me where I got it from. I was able to help out my friends with my newly acquired highly valuable. connection.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
It goes without saying that anyone who keeps a small business open for 20 plus years has had to develop a large amount of resilience. In our case we have made the decision several times to steer away from becoming a larger company. Staying a small company has been surprisingly difficult to do over the years but it has afforded me the ability to continue offering specialized services and allows me to deal personally with each customer myself. True this means that I am not able to do the volume of business that I could with a larger crew, but it does mean that the work that I do is completed by me, and completed with my standards.
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