Adam Sylvester (00:00):
Welcome to Jobber’s Masters of Home Service, a podcast for home service pros, by Home service pros. We’re in Las Vegas and today we’re talking about creating profitable sales funnels. I’m your host, Adam Sylvester. Today’s guest is Jon Margalit. He’s the owner of Happy Home Helpers and he lives in Vegas. So John, welcome to the studio.

Jon Margalit (00:25):
Thanks so much for having me. I’m fired up because I think what we’re going to talk about today, people can actually take what we give them and then go implement it immediately to actually see higher and better revenue.

Adam Sylvester (00:36):
Sweet. Well, that’s exactly what I want. So take a minute, tell our listeners who you are and what you do.

Jon Margalit (00:42):
Yeah, so my name’s John Marlet and I have a house cleaning business, residential house cleaning business here in Las Vegas, and we also do home organizing. And before that I used to be head of sales for a voiceover IP software company. So I took everything that I’ve learned in that experience. We got acquired and after we got acquired, I moved on and I decided I did not want to work for anybody anymore. And so when I thought about the simplest business that I could put together quickly without spending too much money, I figured that I would offer something that a lot of people need, and I settled on house cleaning.

Adam Sylvester (01:21):
Cool. Awesome. Okay, so we’re talking about sales funnel, something that you’re very good at, have a lot of experience with. So give our listeners just a simple explanation of what a sales funnel is and what it does.

Jon Margalit (01:31):
Yeah, a sales funnel is a visual and conceptual representation of the journey that a buyer takes during the decision making process, whether they’re buying a product or in this case a service. So from when they first encounter it and then they’re interested in it, the awareness that’s created all the way through whether they want to buy it or choose not to buy it.

Adam Sylvester (01:56):
Okay. And you’ve got your sales funnel with you today, your

Jon Margalit (01:58):
I do. Here’s the sales funnel. I keep them in my pocket all the time because I love funnels. So if you’re listening to this on audio and you’re not watching, I actually have a little expandable rubber funnel that I keep in my pocket and I brought it today. That’s a great inspiration. Yeah, I like it. I actually don’t really carry it on me all the time, but I thought it was cool to bring it.

Adam Sylvester (02:16):
Definitely. Yeah. So what are the key components of a sales funnel to make it work

Jon Margalit (02:22):
Exactly? Yeah, so the key components of a sales funnel, first you have to break down the phases of it, and then I’ll explain exactly the components and then how to put it in action. So the first stage of the funnel is the top of the funnel. So if you are watching, imagine a funnel that you use for cooking or a science project that you would either put liquid into or something granular like salt or sugar or something like this. So at the top of the funnel is where you create awareness for your service. And that could come from a number of ways. That can come from an advertisement, either a free advertisement or a paid advertisement or something more organic, like a social media post. And then what you want to do is you want to load the top of the funnel as much as you can with prospects or prospective customers.

(03:07):
And then you want to advance them down the funnel and get them to make what I call micro commitments down to all the way to a purchase. And so after the awareness phase at the top, that’s created through some type of promotion. Then comes the interest phase. And so when somebody becomes after they become aware and then they become interested, what you want to do in that interest phase is serve them educational content. You want to serve them with things that answer the most likely questions that they might ask, and at that point, answering their questions is going to alleviate some of the objections that they might have of your service, and then it’ll take them to the next phase, and that’s going to be the consideration stage. And so it goes from awareness, interest to consideration. Now during the consideration phase, this is the part where you want to show proof, and a really good way to do that is before and after pictures.

(04:04):
And then there’s social proof what other people say about their experience with your business. So as much proof as you can provide either actual proof or social proof, we’ll get them to advance the next phase of the funnel, which is the decision-making phase. And at the decision making phase, that’s where you want to, I think the best way is have a discovery call with them over the phone. I know you and I actually had a conversation about this, and some service providers let people go on their website and just book directly without speaking to somebody, but I’m actually totally against that because it doesn’t give you the ability to sell someone and differentiate your value propositions. If you let somebody come to your website, chances are they’re going to scan your content, but they’re not going to read every word. But if you get them on the phone, you can easily then show the personality of your company. You can establish why you’re different, and then you can explain, or I should say, confirm the value propositions to your price point and how they’re aligned. So we always try to get people on a proper discovery call, and then that way we have the chance to sell them. And the next phase would be the purchase phase where somebody decides to either go with you or go with someone else or not buy anything at all.

Adam Sylvester (05:22):
So this sales funnel, does it happen over many days and weeks or could it happen in 10 minutes or both?

Jon Margalit (05:30):
It can happen either way. I think that it all depends on the awareness phase at the top. So for example, if you’re creating awareness through a Google ad, then you’re getting somebody that has intent to purchase something right away and they have a need for something, an imminent need. But if you’ve attracted somebody through a social media post or a social media ad, chances are you’ve disrupted their scrolling pattern. And they’re not necessarily looking for, in this case, house cleaning, but it doesn’t mean that they don’t need it or want it. So the lifecycle, or I should say the buyer’s journey will take a longer period of time and you’ll have to nurture those leads longer and then get them through the funnel over serving them either email, more posts, getting them introduced to a podcast that you produce, any type of content, you’re going to have to nurture them longer.

Adam Sylvester (06:21):
Are those different sales funnels for a social media post versus someone who’s looking for you actively? Are those different funnels?

Jon Margalit (06:27):
No, they’re going to be the same type of funnel, except that the speed at which somebody goes through the components and the phases of the funnel will be faster if they have an imminent need. But those that don’t will just take their time. Right.

Adam Sylvester (06:41):
They can move through the funnel at their own speed,

Jon Margalit (06:43):
Correct, correct. And the sales funnel, I want to explain real quick how somebody could build one and put it into action, because a lot of people talk about funnels, but they don’t really understand what it is, and it’s really simple. So if you don’t mind, I’m just going to break it down. So at the top of the funnel, the best thing to do is to create an ad on Google. I think Google is king. I’m all in on Google, so I go all in on Google ads, not local service ads, but Google Ads. And then I put these ads out there with my best and most valuable propositions I have for people. And since I’m a service that does same day and most of my competitors don’t, I tend to lead with that. My ad copy,

Adam Sylvester (07:26):
Same day service?

Jon Margalit (07:27):
Correct.

Adam Sylvester (07:28):
Okay.

Jon Margalit (07:28):
So I’ll put my most valuable thing out there. I’ll get people into my funnel, and then I take them when somebody clicks on my ad, I take them to a landing page, and at the top of that landing page, you’ll see three things immediately. These are the three things you must have. What is it? How does it benefit me, and how do I get it? So what is it professional house cleaning service, how does it benefit me? Then you want to list the five or six bullet points of basically the answers or rebuttals to every objection that somebody might want to come up with or to their pain. Exactly. You want to answer all their problems and position the bullet points as your ultimate solutions to those problems and those pain points. And then how do I get it, which would be call us now with a phone number, a form that they would fill out and you would call them back. And then from there, you have to be fast. So the key to building a successful funnel is speed. It’s all about speed. Speed is the number one action you can take with somebody new. That’s just discovering your business to prove to them that you’re attentive, you’re trustworthy, that you’re reliable, and that you care enough to get back to them immediately.

Adam Sylvester (08:44):
What does that look like? A phone call from your sales staff, an email, a text?

Jon Margalit (08:49):
Yeah, it’s actually all three. It’s all the above. So we’ll call them immediately. We have a rule, it’s the one minute rule we call everybody that inquires and fills out a form on our website within one minute. If we don’t reach them immediately, they’re getting a text and they’re getting an email. And if we create a client profile for them on our CRM system, which is Jobber, we immediately have automations that send them our best content that solves problems and proves to them with our before and after pictures, the quality of our work. So it’s through human interaction and automation that we make sure that we’re fast as lightning to get to them, because when people are in their consideration stage, that’s the best time to convert them into a buyer. So we want to make sure we get to them before someone else does.

Adam Sylvester (09:36):
And hopefully they become loyal to you, but they’re not loyal to you yet. So they’re keep calling. Keep calling and calling until they get to somebody else.

Jon Margalit (09:42):
Exactly.

Adam Sylvester (09:43):
So once they click and you call them, are they out of the funnel at that point or are they still in the funnel?

Jon Margalit (09:49):
So that’s a good point. So the leads that get through certain phases of the funnel actually get directed to different automations. So if you get to speak to someone on the phone, they’re not going to get triggered to that content that goes in where you’re in the discovery mode. But if you don’t get to discover about them, they’re going to get content that is asking them questions so you can get the information you need to give them an accurate quote or recommend the right solution.

Adam Sylvester (10:16):
And what’s Discover exactly finding out why they called in the first place?

Jon Margalit (10:19):
Well, discovery is about, it’s a term that goes back to a legal process, right? There’s discovery. So usually one side will send over information about whatever proof that they have and to hold up their argument of the case. Now, if you take that same discovery process, but you apply it to the sales funnel, what happens is, is that you spend time, and again, time is the key here because I want to preface this, the most valuable thing you can get from somebody is their money. But if they’re not ready to give you their money and become a customer, the next most valuable thing you can get from them is their time.

(10:57):
Every minute, every second they spend with you is another minute or second, they’re not going to want to spend with somebody else explaining everything over again. So with this in mind, we go through the discovery call and we ask a series of questions that will lead to the information we need to give them a quote to gain leverage to know what value propositions to show them and prop up the most. And then ultimately, it solidifies our pitch so we know what we’re selling them and why.

Adam Sylvester (11:25):
Yeah. Okay. So I want to make sure that I’m following you and our listeners are following because I think this is really good. The sales funnel starts at any point. They become interested in your product, whether it’s they see a Facebook ad or they talk to their friend who recommends you, whatever the case may be, they’re at the funnel, then they enter the funnel. What kind of, obviously Jobber is one of them, but are you using other apps to facilitate all of this?

Jon Margalit (11:47):
Yes. Okay. So for the email content that we serve, depending, we segment it out. So depending on where they get caught up in the funnel, if they’re not advancing to the next stage, they’re going to get an automation email sequence that’s going to drip to them through the course of five days. They’re going to get five emails. But if they make contact or they take an action and click through on one of those emails, then the automation’s no to stop. So we’re doing all the above, and that’s how we make sure that we’re nurturing the leads. So it starts at the awareness. After they become aware, that’s when they become interested, and when they become interested, that’s when you want to serve them the educational content so they can better understand if you’re a good fit for them. And then after that, when they start to consider, that’s when you show them the proof. And then after the proof you want to get on a discovery call,

Adam Sylvester (12:38):
Are you using Zapier to determine logic where they’re going? Is that what you

Jon Margalit (12:41):
Correct? Yeah, to answer your question, it’s in integration with MailChimp to Jobber,

Adam Sylvester (12:47):
And

Jon Margalit (12:47):
Then those are executed with actions through Zapier. So you take a client’s information, you enter it into Jobber because you’re creating a client profile. And then once you’ve set up the client profile based on the actions you take, if you create a job, then you know that person’s becoming a customer. If you don’t, they’re going to get a separate set of content based on the no action taken. Exactly right. And so Zapier is delivering the status of where they are in the funnel to MailChimp or to the automation text messages that are actually built into Jobber because Jobber has automations too.

Adam Sylvester (13:25):
John, this has been great. Let’s take a minute to pause and talk about what we like about Jobber so much. So from a day-to-day operations standpoint, what is the one thing that Jobber gives you that’s transformed your day-to-day operations?

Jon Margalit (13:38):
I think specifically it’s the ability to add someone’s credit card and payment information to the client profile prior to creating an invoice for them, because while you’re on the phone with them and you’re getting that initial set of information that you need, just basic things like email, phone number, address, if you can get them to make that micro commitment of putting their credit card on file, that’s one step closer to actually using it to pay. So the fact that it has a feature where you could add a credit card to a client profile without advancing it to an invoice is a total game changer.

Adam Sylvester (14:10):
I love that. And the automatic invoicing, take it one step further, has been game changer for us too, in terms of collecting hundreds of invoices every week. Exactly. You need Jobber two, you need to make your operations better, smoother, and more effective and more compelling for your client. So if you don’t have Jobber, you need to get Jobber today, go to Jobber.com/podcast deal. New users can get an exclusive discount and start using Jobber today. So John, a lot of people, they search your services and they book right away. That’s pretty straightforward. But for all the other people who don’t, what are some of the things that cause friction that lead to people not converting either right away or ever? What are some things we can

Jon Margalit (14:45):
Avoid? Sure. Well, I think that the things that you want to avoid, number one, you never say the N word. No, we never say that to anybody at any phase of the funnel. As soon as you say the N word, you’re shutting it down, and in their minds, you’re not a good fit for them anymore. You’re not the solution for them. So number one thing is avoid saying no to anything. That’s our number one rule. And then after that, it’s really about uncovering their pain point. Let me give you a specific example so people can visualize this. If somebody calls in, a common request is for a move out clean, so they need to get their place clean because they’re moving out. Now, do they actually care if the place is clean? No, they don’t care because they’re moving out, but they have a problem and a pain point, and we understand what that is.

(15:33):
Their problem is they want to get their security deposit back. So our competitors will say, oh, you need a move out clean. Well, here’s your quote for us. We have a different set of questions to uncover that, and so we can leverage it. So for example, when somebody calls and says, I need a clean, because they don’t know the terminology, they don’t know if it’s called move out clean, the first question we ask, are you moving in or moving out? And then if they say, yes, we’re moving out, do you own the place or do you rent it? Because if they own the place, chances are they’re prepping it to show it for a prospective buyer. But if they’re renting is because the landlord is going to do a walkthrough to make an assessment on whether or not they get their security deposit back or how much they get

(16:18):
Immediately. When we uncover, whether it’s a renter or a homeowner, if it’s a renter, then we talk to them about having the checklist of their property management company. I try to archive all the property management’s checklists, so I can say to them confidently, I know exactly what they’re going to be looking for. And our move out clean includes every specific thing on their list, so you’re going to have the best chance. So when we sell these types of cleans or during the discovery call, we’ll say things like, well, the goal is to get your security deposit back. And then every time, that’s called trial closing, and that’s the technical name of it. I actually call it the Yes game. So the objective of the Yes game is to get as many yeses out of the prospect as possible on the phone call. So when you go and you ask for the credit card, they’re already conditioned to say yes.

(17:10):
It starts right in the beginning, and we’ll ask them rhetorical questions that we know they’re going to say yes to. Even something simple, if they say their address, if they’re telling us their address, we quickly type it into Google because everybody knows Google will fill in the rest of it. As you’re typing, I’ll cut them off and say, oh, I know where that is. Is that 8 9 1 3 1 zip code? And they’ll say Yes. And then all of a sudden, I have my first yes, and it makes them believe that I’m familiar with their area. And then from there, we just keep getting as many yeses as we can until the end.

Adam Sylvester (17:46):
I love that. So it’s peeling out the onion. There’s always a reason behind the reason, oh, wow, I want my house clean, but why? Well, we’re having a ceremony for my dad who passed away last year. It’s one year anniversary. That’s important to know. But an amateur will just say, great, it’s $200.

Jon Margalit (18:03):
And one of the, I’ll give you two really great nuggets here that anybody can apply to any home service funnel. The first one is called the assumptive close. So when you’re doing the discovery call, because every phase of the funnel is designed to get to that discovery call, and during the discovery call, the assumptive close is the premise that you are assuming that they want what you’re selling. So instead of asking somebody if they want to get their house cleaned, you ask them when they want to get their house cleaned, and you only give two options. So they’re not on information overload, right? So they don’t come back to you and say, I got to check my calendar. I got to think about it. So towards the end, I’m asking them, do you want Tuesday or Wednesday and do you want morning or afternoon? Things like that. I’m not asking them if they want to do business with us. I’m asking ’em when they want to do business with us.

Adam Sylvester (18:54):
John, what kind of content can we be using? We talked about this a little bit already, but I want to rehash it for our listeners. What kind of content is important for the nurturing process?

Jon Margalit (19:04):
It’s a great question, and this is really easy. So first, you want to think of the most common questions that people ask you, and then in the content, you want the answers to those questions. But if you’re not sure and you need more clues, you can simply type it into Google and Google will give you two clues. One, it’ll autofill in the rest of that question. So if you type in half the question, Google will tell you and it’ll drop down what the most popular questions are with that sort of theme or line of questioning. But even better, once you hit enter on that search, if you scroll down about a quarter way of the page on Google search results, it’ll say, people also ask and it’ll show you that box. That’s the gold. If you look at those and analyze those questions, and Google’s giving you that insight, all your content should be the answers to those questions.

Adam Sylvester (19:56):
I love that hack. One time I use chat EBT to come up with the 52 biggest pain points people have with their gutter system, and some of them are a little cheesy and off, but most of ’em are spot on. And so then I started to make blog posts and social posts for each one of those and release once a week. That’s another way of doing it, which I like that way a little more.

Jon Margalit (20:18):
Well, because the thing is that if you’re not making data-driven decisions, then you’re just guessing and Google, everything they do is algorithmic and predicated on data.

Adam Sylvester (20:29):
And if you listen to your customers, you’ll find out pretty quickly. I mean, even if you start your business today, if you listen intently to your customers, you’ll hear what matters to them very quickly.

Jon Margalit (20:38):
Absolutely. And really, I think the key is getting people to make micro commitments and spending as much time on the discovery call and as much time consuming your content that you’re serving them, and you could serve it to them a number of ways. You could have a YouTube channel that you email them about, so you can have a trigger that emails a welcome email and then says, check out our YouTube channel to see the most awesome transformations from a mess you wouldn’t believe to something that looks so clean and shiny, and then all of a sudden they get caught up. Transformations are very powerful. So if you’re thinking about what content to serve, if you’re in the lawn business, the cleaning business, the handyman business, you could show that blank wall and then boom, you could show it with that TV hanging there with the redone fireplace, and that’s everything. If you look at a and e and these different channels that have these real estate shows, the Property Brothers and all these things, what do people wait for at the end? The transformation. So when you’re designing your content in your ideas, think about how you could give people a visual transformation because then they’re going to start to think, how can that happen in my home?

Adam Sylvester (21:50):
John, this is great. I’m going to try to boil our conversation down to three actionable items here. Number one is you want to get as many yeses in the process as you can, and you also want to go for when, not if so, when do you want us to come? Not if do you want us to come? Number two is show transformations, have these big reveals, make sure your clients can see what it’s like before and then after that really sells. Number three is speed is the winner. People need to have fast response time. Exactly.

Jon Margalit (22:21):
And when it comes to speed, I think everybody’s familiar with that old biblical story, David versus Goliath, right? And if you’re just starting a home service business, or even if you’re two, three years in, you’re still fighting some of these really large companies that have been around a long time. So when you think about David and Goliath, I think it’s the perfect analogy because everybody can gain confidence by doing one thing that their competitors don’t do and some of them can’t do, especially the bigger ones. If you’re a small company just starting out, you have that speed and nimbleness. The big companies, they have a lot of red tape. They have to get approval from different departments where you can move as fast as you want.

Adam Sylvester (23:01):
John, this would be great. How do

Jon Margalit (23:03):
People find out more about you and what you do? You’re trying to shake my, how do they find you? Yeah, so again, my name’s Jon Margalit. If you go to JonMargalit.com, J-O-N-M-A-R-G-A-L-I-T.com, you can find me. I’m running Rags to Riches University, where I teach people how to start and grow cleaning business, and that’s also ragstorichesu.com.

Adam Sylvester (23:26):
Great. Well, thanks for being here. I really appreciate it, and I think that you’re having a really big impact. You have a great business in Vegas. You’re teaching people how to do this stuff, so keep it up. It really makes a big difference.

Jon Margalit (23:35):
I’m so appreciative of being on here and helping people is the way I get the most fulfillment of

Adam Sylvester (23:40):
Anything I do. Well, thanks to you two for listening. I hope you heard something today that will help you build a successful and profitable sales funnel. I’m your host, Adam Sylvester. You can find [email protected]. Your team and your clients deserve your very best, so go give it to ’em.