Stockport-based The Tile Master is using social media to聽bring cleaning into the 21st century, says commercial director Alex Rimmer.
The company has adapted the technology behind electric toothbrushes for its hardware, and also uses聽social media for demonstrations of how to clean different floors.
As requests come in for help and support the company is able to use Snapchat, WhatsApp or Facebook Live to walk customers through problem solving issues, with over 1,500 posts, comments and reactions on its private Facebook group in the last 28 days alone.
鈥淧otential customers should know what they can expect from our products and our service offering,鈥� says Rimmer.
鈥淚t鈥檚 also very important for us to keep evolving and innovate. We listen to what is required and needed.
鈥淲hy be the best-kept secret when the world can hear about it?
鈥淭he customer judges by any mistakes and we deal with those should they arise and ensure they don鈥檛 happen again, so social media has been fantastic for us.鈥�
It also has a section on the group for instructions, guides and video help and its website has a password-protected resources and video tutorial page for those that aren鈥檛 Facebook users.
鈥淔acebook Live has been fantastic for us,鈥� says Rimmer.
鈥淚t鈥檚 enabled us to see the problem, deal with it and then the guys on site can effectively clean it.鈥�
Using social media has allowed the company to stand out from its competitors and offer customers something above and beyond what they鈥檝e been getting previously.
鈥淭he key thing for us is that we deliver a package to customers,鈥� says Rimmer.
鈥淓very time any of our guys go out there it鈥檚 very much about delivering a demo and test patch on the floor to meet customer expectations.
鈥淥nce we鈥檝e got that we know exactly where we鈥檙e at and we can replicate it across the floor.”
For any companies that also want to embrace social media but are unsure of how to tackle such a complex arena, the best thing is just to give it a go says Rimmer.
鈥淢anaging expectations is also key,鈥� he says.
鈥淕ive the correct advice on your products or service and the feedback should be great. Giving incorrect advice to sell a product or win service work may leave you open to negative feedback.
鈥淯nderstand your client鈥檚 requirements, and demonstrating your service or product can help.
鈥淏ad feedback shouldn鈥檛 happen if you agree service levels with your clients and constructive feedback can be a good thing as it allows you to version and make changes.
鈥淎s for the trolls, don鈥檛 waste your time, focus on the positives. Potential customers will see past them.鈥�
The company鈥檚 customers range from home owners and small businesses to, more typically, a business owner carpet cleaner or tiler.
Rimmer, whose work history includes Hewlett-Packard, says that the company is one of very few disrupting the traditional industry with technology.
鈥淭he way that social media has gone with the boom is that everyone has a mobile phone in their hands so they鈥檝e got access to all these different platforms,鈥� says Rimmer.
鈥淭he cleaning industry is not sexy. Polishing or cleaning is usually left to cleaners or individuals so we鈥檝e tried to make it easy for them by bringing apps in and bringing them the support they need live on site.鈥�
Up next the company is planning on offering an app to go alongside the existing support, if it can source the funding.
鈥淲e are looking to offer an app guide,鈥� says Rimmer.
鈥淚t will ID a floor, then show which correct products to use, have guides on how to clean and seal, and then show customer expectation and coverage rates.
鈥淎t the push of a couple of buttons our customer will be able to spec a floor and order the products.鈥�