Is your valet trash business all set-up and you are ready to find your first client? Or maybe you’ve already established your first customers, and now you’re considering approaching the apartment complex on the other side of town. No matter where you’re at in the sales game, at some point, you will need to figure out how to get a valet trash contract.
Well, you’re in luck! Here are 7 essential tips to securing that valet trash contract!
#1 Find Leads
Finding a lead isn’t as simple as you might think. If you feel you have approached every housing complex in a 30-mile radius, it may be time to take a step back and reassess your surroundings. Have you considered senior communities? Is there college housing nearby? Don’t rule out the vacation resort, either. Also, being a conversationalist can be a good thing. When someone asks what you do for a living, your answer may strike up a conversation about a rental community that you didn’t even know existed.
#2 Secure a Meeting
There are three impactful ways you can contact your new lead: phone, in-person, or email. All three have their pros and cons. Once you have their attention, draw on those stellar communication skills of yours and make the lead feel comfortable enough to be frank with you, but still in a positive manner. Maybe it would be better to send out an email or postcard first, then about a week or two later, contact the intended recipient of the email/postcard and use the follow-up as a way to secure the meeting. At least this way, you didn’t catch them by total surprise as they will be able to draw on memory, your branding.
#3 Make yourself Available
Your call is going well and the manager of the apartment has agreed to meet with you. She asks if you are able to meet the following Tuesday at noon, which is when you typically break for lunch. Obviously, one appointment should take precedence over another. Why not see if she would like to have a business lunch? Find a way to make the meeting time work. After all, if you turn down the proposed appointment time, you may miss an opportunity to land your next customer, which will leave you without a lunch fund!
#4 Ask Leading Questions
At some point before or during the meeting, you will need to ask some questions that will help segue into the conversation about the services you can provide. Questions such as “Do you currently offer any community amenities to your residents now” or “What is the protocol for trash removal on site”. To be successful in what you can do for the potential customer, you must understand how they operate currently.
#5 Meet their Needs
During your meeting, take time to genuinely talk to the prospect about their needs. By taking the extra time to connect, you may find that not only are they interested in trash valet for their residents, but that they are interested in your add-on services as well!
#6 Following Up
About a two or three days after your meeting, be sure to call the complex representative you met with to follow up. This is where you would ask if there were any other questions, address concerns, and offer to visit again, this time with any additional paperwork they may want to view. Don’t get discouraged if your follow-up call leads to a voicemail. Leave a message and promise to call again the following week.
#7 Sign the Contract
Congratulations! This step is the final goal! Arriving at this point means that you were successful in all of the 7 essential tips and steps it took to get here, plus the management company could see that you were professional in every aspect. Don’t forget about one of the most important actions of sealing any deal: the handshake.
Everything you have worked up to has paid off. These simple tips are great to keep in mind when you are focusing on how to get a valet trash contract. Remember your trash valet business model, always follow through with your promises, and to continue to do an exemplary job, and your next job may fall into your lap!
Maybe now it’s time for that lunch!
