Case Study: Stanley Steemer of Wickliffe, OH

The Steemer Story

Like many Stanley Steemer operations, the Steemer of Wickliffe, OH is a generational one. Owned by Terry Lazar since 1979, this location has been in the hands of the Lazars since before its current operator, Joey Lazar, was born. Joey has been working at the Wickliffe Stanley Steemer since he was 13, during the summer after his seventh grade year. Starting out as a technician assistant, Joey became a technician during his college years and has since moved on to manage the location’s operations. 

He now takes on most of the restoration business that the location sees himself, citing his need for things to be done the right way and his love for cleaning as his driving passions. Joey emphasizes the importance of the age-old Steemer adage that an operator should be able to do everything they would ask of a technician, and strives to meet this expectation where he can. He takes pride in employee retention, stating that he has multiple employees who have worked at the Stanley Steemer of Wickliffe for over 15 years, and one employee who has even been with the Lazar’s for 30 years.

Working with Chatavise

In March of 2023, the Wickliffe, OH Stanley Steemer began a partnership with Chatavise with the main goals of earning more reviews and streamlining communications. Chatavise features like Soundingboard, Reputation Management, and Text Automations immediately made the Lazar’s and their employees lives easier:

Reviews:

• Prior to using Chatavise, the Stanley Steemer of Wickliffe had only 69 Google reviews. Using our Text Automations to trigger review invite texts as soon as technicians in the field close the jobs they are working on, Chatavise was able to ensure every customer received a follow up with no additional effort on the part of Wickliffe’s staff. After a year of Chatavise, Wickliffe now has 427 Google reviews.
• Out of the 69 reviews that Wickliffe had when starting Chatavise, 3 of them were only 1 star. We implemented Chatavise’s Soundingboard in all automated review invites to create a checkpoint where customers can express any issues with service before being directed to public review sites. This both increased the number of positive reviews gained, and decreased the ratio of positive to negative reviews. Out of the 343 reviews gained since starting chatavise, only 2 of them have been 1 star.

Tracking:

• Before using Chatavise, Wickliffe was experiencing problems with cancellations and technicians arriving at empty houses. Using Chatavise Text Automations, The Lazar’s now send 24 hr appointment reminders to all of their customers, cutting back on cancellations. The Wickliffe team now also sends Tracking links when technicians are en route, giving customers an ETA, a live map of their technician’s location, and a snapshot of that technician’s most recent Google reviews. This ensures customers are home, and allows them to easily text back and let the team know if they are running late.

Leaderboard:

• Prior to using Chatavise, Joey was basing his employee’s biannual bonuses off of customer comments, which were few and far between. He states that the Chatavise Leaderboard, even without implementing Rewards, is more scalable and quantifiable. He now gets more feedback to help show his best technicians, , and includes the number of 5 star reviews each technician has as a grading point.
• Joey explained that the leaderboard shows the efforts and quality of each team member in an undeniable way, and puts quantifiable proof behind the best team members and those in management positions. “The way [Chatavise] has worked and the ease of making customers give the guys either a thumbs up , or even segway them into leaving the actual review, it airifies customer impressions and who brings back repeat business.” 

Both Joey and his dad, Terry, have glowing remarks on Chatavise. On the ease of getting started with the platform, Joey said, “From the kickoff, the transition was super easy so I’ve never felt like I needed to reach out for much, and even after just talking to you originally I knew we felt comfortable reaching out to you because you seemed like you were available to help […]

We wish we’d started Chatavise sooner!”