Before you’re done watching this fast paced video, In the Cleaning Business – You Want to Sell ‘Apples to Oranges!!’ you’ll hear Dan describe how and why you need to create a striking difference between you and the ‘other guys’ when it comes to how you deliver your cleaning services.

Thanks for watching our video – In the Cleaning Business – You Want to Sell ‘Apples to Oranges’!, but don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: You Don’t Have To Sugar-Coat Problems in Your Cleaning Business! you’ll learn how to build a janitorial business or residential maid service of people who care about more than just getting a paycheck – and why THAT is so important!

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

I mean, if you don’t take some time each day to touch base with your people, just to ‘visit’, at least for a little while, well you’re really missing the boat and half the fun of owning a cleaning company.

That’s right, if you’re not already, you should start making room for some time for sharing stories, frustrations and laughs at work – even in meetings.

Honestly, some of the best times I can remember, happened in our weekly staff meetings.

One person after another would start telling their own ‘you won’t believe what happened last night’ story about an employee or customer situation; – you know the kind we seem to collect so many of in the cleaning business.

And before you know it, we’re all in tears, crying with laughter.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit a lot of the time, it was nervous laughter, but it was definitely a welcome relief.

Ahh… good times. But, here’s the thing.

We also got a lot of done at those meetings.

Problems were identified.
Solutions were suggested.
Decisions were made.
Plans were prepared.
Responsibilities were assigned.
Progress was checked.

You see, in order to get results from meetings, you need to change what you expect from yourself and your staff at the meeting.

First, of course, you need to be prepared for the meeting. What areas do you want to cover and in what order?

Here are a few to consider:

HR
Sales & Marketing
Operations
Accounting
Customer Service & Quality Control
Safety & Security
Equipment, Chemicals, Vehicles etc.

And as you might’ve guessed, you should have a strategic plan for improving each of them.

Now, here’s the tip:

1. You want to assign someone or some small group to be responsible for making that progress happen.

2. You need to give that individual or group the authority, resources and support needed to be successful.

2. You need a way of measuring progress, or the lack there of.

3. You need to commit to meeting regularly to review how things are progressing (meeting).

Picture your meeting going something like this:

Starting with the person assigned to customer service and asking if all this week’s calls and visits were made.

Then asking the team in charge of safety and security, if they had verified that all accounts had the updated set of MSDS forms and if the new security light had been installed in the parking lot.

And then on to the person in charge of QC, and so on…

Assigning responsibility and creating measures to track are certainly two of the really BIG ways we stopped having meetings that were a waste of time… and they can do the same for YOU.

Before you’re done watching this fast paced video, You Don’t Have To Sugar Coat Problems in Your Cleaning Business! you’ll learn how building a janitorial business or residential maid service of people who care about more than just getting a paycheck – and how that allows you to share the truth about your cleaning business’ challenges – knowing they’ll be ready to the challenge with you, that’s right – as a team.

Thanks for watching our video – You Don’t Have To Sugar Coat Problems in Your Janitorial Business! but don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Should YOUR Cleaning Business Use a Butter Knife?, you’ll learn why some tools work better in certain situations than others and some basic rules about how you can decide ‘which to use when’.

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

What are these windows of vulnerability, and why do I need to know how to survive them?

Ok, let’s say the cleaning person you have assigned to one of your best accounts for a long time has just left to retire.

Or, let’s say, at another one of your buildings, your customer has assigned the office manager to work with you, because the contact you normally deal with has been eliminated.

Or, let’s say, you’ve promoted the site manager who has been supervising one of your accounts for years to another bigger account.

Or, let’s say, your customer calls to let you know some ‘things’ have been coming up missing around the office. They’re not saying it’s your people.. but they just wanted to let you know.

Or, let’s say, while trying to get your customer ready for some VIP’s coming in for a meeting, your floor crew accidentally knocked an ornamental keepsake off of one of the big bosses’ desks. And, yes, it broke.

Ok, I’ll stop.

These are ‘windows of vulnerability’ I’m talking about.

You can say, in nearly every one of the cases, it’s either no one’s fault, for example when people are
moved, promoted or retired or, at least you could say, no one did it intentionally.

You might like to just think of it that way, and get back to business as usual.

Better think again.

When a ‘window of vulnerability’ appears in your cleaning business, it’s best to treat things as, anything but, business as usual!

You see, it doesn’t matter if it was your fault or not. And, it doesn’t matter if the reason for it happening had anything to do with you at all.

The reason why these things happen doesn’t matter.

The reality is, they did happen, and you’d better realize what your customer may start thinking and feeling.

And what is that?

Well, let’s take a quick look, shall we….

The cleaning lady they’ve known and trusted for years is leaving to retire – that’s CHANGE. And that change, may make them feel nervous about who you’re planning to put at their building to replace that person with.

The new person, of course, will be a “stranger’ to them at first, as any new person is. And it doesn’t matter if it makes any sense or not, the fact is, it’s CHANGE… and it makes them feel uneasy!

And, here’s a hint, you don’t want your customers feeling uneasy, at least not about you and not for long!

Again, it’s not necessarily logical.

It doesn’t matter.

It’s change. And sometimes, many times, any change at all, can send up “red flags” for your customers, along with their radar to watch the cleaning!

Let’s look some more…

When the office manager takes over the job of your former contact, it may have absolutely nothing to do with cleaning. But, the old saying a ‘new broom sweeps clean’ can have some truth to it – as you hear that the ‘new guy’ in charge is looking to ‘shake things up’ and make some CHANGES.

You promote a site supervisor, and you begin to hear your contact say little things like.. “I don’t know, we sure hated to lose Rose, things just don’t look the same around here since you moved her!”

And you may start to hear this after only a couple days of you making the personnel move…as your customer begins to miss the way it was and complain about how it is now.

It isn’t blame that we’re worried about here. It’s mind set.

And you want to keep your customers mind set POSITIVE about you and your cleaning company.

How?

Well, here’s a few tips to survive your ‘windows of vulnerability’:

First, always keep in touch with your customers, but stay in even closer contact when you face a “window of vulnerability”.

Second, listen to your customer. Be sure to listen for what they’re feeling… when these changes happen.

Third, reassure you customer not only that you understand their concerns, but that you have a plan to make sure things work out smoothly for them.

Fourth, continue to stay closely “on top” of the situation and in touch with your customer, until you, and your customer, are convinced things are ‘well in hand’ again.

Sure, you want to have systems in place to avoid as many of the common mistakes cleaning companies can make as possible. That’s a given.

But as much as you prepare and plan, you’ll still at times be faced with these ‘windows of vulnerability’.

If you recognize them when you see them, and act proactively to deal with them, you’ll not only survive these ‘windows’, but may actually have the chance to show a level of personal commitment to your customer they won’t soon forget.

Before you’re done watching this fast paced video, Should YOUR Cleaning Business Use a Butter Knife? you’ll learn why some tools work better in certain situations than others and some basic rules about how you can decide ‘which to use -when’.

Thanks for watching our video – Should YOUR Cleaning Business Use a Butter Knife? But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Should You DROP a Cleaning Job Because Your Client’s a Royal ‘Pain-in-the-Neck’? , you’ll learn some specific things to look for – to see it you’re better off hanging in there with a ‘difficult’ client or dropping them from your business altogether

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Yesterday, you might have been able to “pick and choose” which buildings you wanted to clean.

Today, you’re just downright grateful for every customer you have and every office you clean!

Yesterday, you could expect to see at least a few decent applicants apply to work for you.

Today, you may be wondering where all the truly hard workers have gone.

Yesterday, you could go out and land cleaning jobs where you’d have enough hours to clean the way you’d like, that delivers the kind of quality you like to give.

Today, you question whether or not anyone even cares what the cleaning will actually look like – as you watch your prospects skip everything else… and go right to the price page!

Yesterday, you could count on your ‘contacts’ who’ve gotten to be friends of yours over the years, to always be there.

Today, the building and property manager contacts you’ve developed over the years – can disappear in a ‘puff of smoke’ as your friend is suddenly transferred, reassigned, laid off, or has his or her position eliminated altogether, leaving you standing there like the nervous, new kid at school, wondering who to sit next to at lunch.

Ugh!

I could go on, but I won’t, because the point is clear.

Today isn’t yesterday.

Harder? Sure, but not impossible.

In fact, the very fact, that things are harder and more challenging means that if you can find a way, or create a way to meet these challenges, then you will stand out from the crowd!

How?

Well, let’s look at two ways to ‘reinvent’ your company to meet these challenges head on…

Operational and Strategic

First, let’s look at OPERATIONAL.

Here we’re talking about finding better ways to get leads, bid jobs, land jobs, hire, train and motivate people, control expenses and manage quality with systems that work for you all the time – not just some of the time.

Then there’s STRATEGIC.

What’s that?

Well, these are ‘big picture’ decisions designed to respond to, and capitalize on, the new and changing world you’re running your cleaning business in today.

Let me tell you just a couple of the strategic decisions we’ve made over the years…

We decided to expand the geographic area we serviced from 30 miles to 60 miles by boosting on-site supervision, hiring close to the account, and cross-training associates to cover for co-workers, if necessary.

We decided to change the internal reality of our company by stepping up to, and guaranteeing, a set of higher level service standards to – set us apart from our competition!

And then we pro-actively educated our prospects to the differences between us and the competition.

Here’s an example:

Our Customer Service Guarantee:
We will return any service call within 1 hour, and respond to any service request within 24 hrs. of being received.* exception: schedule floor maintenance

We decided to increase our profit margin without raising our general monthly cleaning charge, by concentrating price increases to extra services such as carpet and tile maintenance, as well as, the consumable poly/paper restroom and lunchroom supplies.

And, a fuel surcharge on floor work and product delivery.

We decided to limit our target market to buildings requiring a minimum of (3) three times per week cleaning where we can clean after 5 PM and have key/code access.

We decided to expand our market by targeting additional types of buildings we were interested in, like churches, and then niched our marketing to speak directly to that target.

Take the time to think about what operational and strategic steps you want to make to move your company in new directions, after new markets, in new geographies, with new pricing strategies in a new way.

You don’t need to fear tomorrow.

There are answers to the challenges we face. We can face them together.

Before you’re done watching this fast paced video, Should You DROP a Cleaning Job Because Your Client’s a Royal ‘Pain-in-the-Neck’? you’ll learn some specific things to look for – to see it you’re better off hanging in there with a ‘difficult’ client or dropping them from your business altogether. Plus, you’ll hear why the story of ‘hanging in there’ can often have a happy ending.

Summary:

Thanks for watching our video – Should You DROP a Cleaning Job Because Your Client’s a Royal ‘Pain-in-the-Neck’? but don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: One Easy Way to Find Cleaning Jobs to Bid On! , you’ll hear what you and your managers can do to put together a short but promising list of buildings likely to be going out to ‘bid on cleaning’ sooner rather than later!!

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

It was one of those small trophies- the kind you get for playing little-league baseball during the summer.

But instead of a little ballplayer sitting on top, mine had a little yellow bulldozer!

That’s right, a bulldozer, the small, toy ‘hot wheels’ kind. And rather than saying “Summer League Champs!” – mine simply says “Level The Playing Field!” on it.

So I guess it’s official; the whole family is on board! They all want to see Tony and I “kick butt” on our mission to arm cleaning folks with as many sales and profit tools as we can – as fast as we can!

The kind of tools that FINALLY give cleaning contractors a leg up to compete, and win, against the ‘big guys’.

I think you know who I mean.

You’ve probably seen their shenanigans already.

Their slick marketing, overblown promises, and low-balling pricing antics give hard-working cleaning companies ‘fits’ during the day….and the ‘cold sweats’ at night!

So, we’re seriously working on it every day – trying as fast as we can to bring you ‘stuff’ you need – and that really works in dealing with these outfits!

You see, they don’t want you to think you can do it.

They want you to believe you need some ‘secret’ info that only they have, and that the only way you could get it is to work yourself half-to-death for 20 years or more.

Yep, they want you to think it’s all a big ‘mystery’.

They want you to believe it can’t happen for just anyone, or at least, not you!

And they want you to believe you wouldn’t understand it, or even if you did, you certainly couldn’t do it.

Why?

So you just give up and walk away – giving them one less competitor to have to deal with.

But don’t.

That’s right, don’t!

You can do it!

And we’re working on tools so you don’t have to.

Don’t worry, I won’t forget what Tony and I are supposed to do. I have a BULLDOZER sitting in the middle of my desk to remind me every day – all day!

Before you’re done watching this fast paced video, One Easy Way to Find Cleaning Jobs to Bid On, you’ll hear what you and your managers can do to put together a short but promising list of buildings likely to be going out to ‘bid on cleaning ‘ sooner rather than later!! You’ll hear about the costly prospecting mistake Dan made – and how it never has to happen to you!!

Thanks for watching our video – One Easy Way to Find Cleaning Jobs to Bid On but don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Why Do So Many Cleaning Businesses WANT to Compete with So Many Cleaning Businesses? you’ll hear why janitorial businesses say they don’t want to compete with lots of other cleaning companies – but the way they go after new work, unfortunately says – they do. Then, you’ll hear what they could do to instantly change how the market perceives them – so they can get out of the ‘low price’ game!

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

And, that sounds about right. Right?

Now, on the other hand, the people in the ‘PROFIT’ camp would argue just as strongly that you can’t spend sales, only profits!

Yeah, that makes sense too. So, which is it?

Ok, well, the answer is …, drum roll please – neither, as in neither is more important than the other and both, as in they are both very important.

Sorry.

Yes, like most of the answers to questions in the real world you and I live in, the answer isn’t always, in fact, hardly ever is – black or white.

The truth lies somewhere in the murky middle.

But, if you look hard to find your answers in that murky middle, you’ll discover answers that are powerful.

And, those answers are the road map to solid growth in both sales and profits.

Let’s take a look at SALES first.

You know I preach to never stop marketing.

And I stand by that.

Having an on-going marketing plan in place is like the farmer, who always has a new field being planted to give him a regular harvest.

But, you may ask what’s so bad about an on again – off again marketing approach?

Well, at best, you’ll have accounts coming in now and then – basically ‘feast or famine’.

But, in the worst case, you could get caught ‘with your pants’ down, if you were to lose several accounts or one big one – leaving you scrambling with no more in the ‘pipeline’ to replace it.

Now what about PROFITS?

Well, making a profit is one of the things that literally makes you a business. Anything else may be a hobby, charity, or promising idea – but not a business!

At least, not one you’ll be running very long.

So, yes, we’re serious about making profits, and suggest you be serious about it as well.

And my biggest suggestion to getting and staying profitable is simply this – pay attention!

That’s right, there’s a lot of things you can do to run a profitable commercial or residential cleaning business, but it all starts with paying attention.

So, let’s get right down to it.

You pick up a new account and the budgeted hours you assign to it are – let’s say, 6 hrs. per night.

Well, if you start seeing 6 1/2 or 7 hours being spent each night in the building – there’s something wrong somewhere!

I don’t know what it is, but ‘there’s a fungus among us!’ and you better PAY ATTENTION and find out what it is, and correct it -because if you don’t well, you know, no one else will.

And, by the way, this ‘paying attention’ thing goes for more expenses than just payroll.

One last example, and I’ll get off my soap box.

There’s a dumpster in the parking lot of a medical building near our office.

And for months, it may be over a year by now, I have driven by and seen that thing filled to the brim, in fact often, overflowing with people’s garbage that I know did not come from that building.

Everyone in the world has been throwing there, pardon me, ‘crap’ into that dumpster, including nearby lawn care companies that fill it with their grass cuttings.

Why do I tell you this?

Because that building has been throwing hundreds, if not, thousands of dollars down the drain having to get that big dumpster emptied – simply because they did not pay attention to what was going on.

Well, finally, the other day, I saw they switched to a dumpster with a lockable lid.

All I could think was …. about time!

The secret wasn’t a secret at all – it just needed someone to pay attention.

So, which is more important – sales and profits?

Neither, you’re gonna need ‘em both!

Before you’re done watching this fast paced video, Why Do So Many Cleaning Businesses WANT to Compete with So Many Cleaning Businesses? you’ll hear why the strategy most cleaning companies use to go after new jobs sends a clear message that they are like every other cleaning business and, as such, end up having to fall back on low price to win jobs. Then, we’ll look at what they could differently to instantly change how the market perceives them – so they can get out of the ‘low price’ game!

Thanks for watching our video – Why Do So Many Cleaning Businesses WANT to Compete with So Many Cleaning Businesses? but don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Cleaning Business Owner: Should You Invest 10% in YOU? where you’ll hear why investing time and money into your on-going personal and professional development may be the key to growing a successful cleaning business and then keeping it that way!

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

There isn’t a lot of time to waste time anymore – as if there ever really was.

But, again, certainly not today.

I ran into a friend who runs a car dealership the other day. His dad used to run a dealership, before retiring a few years ago.

So, I asked him how things were now, compared to when his dad ran the business.

He explained the difference this way…

‘There sure as heck isn’t any time to be strolling around the car dealership, smoking a cigar, like his dad used to do.’

(Yeah, “those were the days” when you could lean back in your leather office chair and light up…right there in your paneled office.)

Anyway, he went on to make the point that today you’d better be on the ball all the time – running from the time you get to work!’

Put simply, ‘If you waste time today – you’ll get run over by your competition!

Sound familiar?

Well, here’s one practical way to save valuable time in your janitorial business or residential maid service – starting today.

To explain, let me tell you a story…

Years ago, when I would get a call from a business asking for a quote on their cleaning, I would simply jot down their name, confirm their address, and set up a time and date for a walk through.

Good so far, right?

I thought so too. Until the day of the appointment, when I drove to the account, met my contact and began to ask them a few questions like:

How many times per week would you like to be cleaned? or

When can we come in to do the cleaning? or

What kinds of cleaning services do you need included?

You see, we were targeting accounts where we could provide 3-5 times per week office cleaning in the early evening from, let’s say, 6:00 – 9:30 PM.

So, I can tell you now that I was more than a little shocked when I heard them answer my first few questions by saying something like…

‘Oh no, we don’t need any regular office cleaning, we’re just taking quotes on getting our lunchroom floor stripped later this year.’

Huh? You’ve got to be kidding, I thought to myself. How did I get into this situation?!

But I only had myself to blame.

You see, I assumed because they were on our targeted list of companies that naturally they would be good prospects for our regular office cleaning.

And they generally were – note, I said ‘generally’.

But, I still should have asked a few questions when they first called just to verify they were, in fact, looking for the kind and frequency of service we were offering.

I ‘jumped the gun’ like this several times.

Until one day, when I found myself an hour from our office at an account we had no business bidding on… and all because I didn’t take one minute to make sure we were on the ‘same page’.

I can tell you it was a long ride back on those icy roads heading back to the office – thinking about how I had wasted nearly half a day.

But that was the last time.

And I’ve saved a lot of mornings and afternoons since then – by sticking to a strict practice of asking a few questions first before I start making an appointment and getting the sales wheels turning.

They say a wise person can learn from someone else’s experience - I hope you save a lot of time and money learning from mine.

Before you’re done watching this fast paced video, Cleaning Business Owner: Should You Invest 10% in YOU? you’ll hear why investing time and money into your on-going personal and professional development may be the key to growing a successful cleaning business and then keeping it that way!

Thanks for watching our video – Cleaning Business Owner: Should You Invest 10% in YOU? but don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: How Do YOU Find New Cleaning Business? Are you a gambler or a farmer when it comes to finding new jobs for your cleaning business or maid service? In this video, Dan describes both ways of growing your janitorial business – and why one way may be MUCH better than the other!

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Ever heard the expression, ‘If you want to be successful, watch what everyone else is doing – and then do the opposite!’?

I don’t think that’s always true, but it certainly is true a lot of the time… and here’s an important example – attorneys.

That’s right. LAWYERS.

To listen to the average person talk about lawyers you’d think they were single-handedly the cause of the fall of western civilization!

Be honest. Haven’t you heard that?

In fact, can you even think of a time or two, when you may have said something like that yourself?

Probably. We all have. Why?

Well, think about this. What words do you hear people use to describe lawyers?

Scoundrels, vultures… and worse, right?!

Well, it would be easy to jump on the band wagon… and simply join in and agree that they’re a bunch of crooks.

Unfortunately, I can’t -because I know better.

Don’t get me wrong, some of them certainly act like a bunch of overpaid vultures. (Maybe even a larger percentage than in other professions – who knows.)

But not all of them… not by a long shot.

And frankly, contrary to popular opinion, many of them are honest, smart and hardworking.

On top of that, they may be one of the best kept secrets to keeping your commercial cleaning business or residential maid service on the fast track.

Shocking, I know, but let me tell you a quick story.

For years, every now and then, we would come across a “touchy” personnel situation.

Now, don’t get me wrong, we already had an HR manager, and a number of policies and practices in place.

But, sometimes, things just don’t fit neatly into the rules. Know what I mean?

Anyway, sometimes we would get stuck, not knowing whether or not we could legally terminate an employee we had been having trouble with.

We had lots of questions swirling in our heads, but with no confidence that we had any good answers for any of them..

…we were virtually immobilized, stuck!

Questions like….
Did we have all of our legal “ducks in a row”?

Were we on a firm legal footing if we let the person go?

How should we handle the corrective interview?

And for a long time, we would simply do nothing when we were faced with these “sticky” situations.

That’s right, we would stumble around at work like ‘zombies’ because we were so upset about the situation but didn’t have a clue of what to do about it.

Ever been there?

Anyway, long story short, we got in touch with an attorney who specializes in employment law. T

This lawyer became a great legal adviser to our cleaning business.

Anytime we were stuck, our lawyer, yes lawyer, quickly got us un-stuck by giving us the to-the-point legal advice we needed to get over it, or through it, and back on track.

I know. I know, but isn’t it expensive getting advice from an attorney.

Yes – it isn’t cheap.

But it can be more expensive if you can’t get past those inevitable personnel problems everyone is bound to face at one time or another.

The sales we landed and the money we made by getting unstuck and back on track far outweighed the couple of hundred bucks we had to pay for good legal advice now and then.

By the way, this same idea holds for other kinds of advice as well, such as accounting. (Can you say CPA?) Yep.

If everyone says all lawyers are a bunch of crooks, and they wouldn’t talk to one if they were the last person on earth – think about the source of the information.

My guess, with all due respect, is that these people may have never built a thriving and successful company themselves.

God bless them if they have, but nearly every growing janitorial business I know that has – have found a good legal ‘adviser’ to rely on through the years.

Ok, that’s it, I won’t say anything else nice about lawyers. I don’t want it to go to their already ‘big heads’

Before you’re done watching this fast paced video, How Do YOU Find New Cleaning Business? you’ll hear how ‘gambler’ cleaning business owners rely on ‘chance’ while ‘farmer’ ones rely on ‘working their field’ (target market) so they can count on it to consistently provide for their business and their family year after year!

Thanks for watching our video – How Do YOU Find New Cleaning Business? but don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Daisy Revisited: 1 Year AND 2 Stories – That’s right, Dan’s wife, Jennifer, made him promise to ‘shoot another video’ to show everyone how BIG Daisy – their dog, has gotten in just a year!!

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Yes!

That’s right, I’m tempted to answer the question with a flat out ‘Yes!’ and call it a day, but it is probably worth talking about for a few minutes.

We had to wrestle with this – Guarantee or Not Guarantee question in the beginning too, when we first bought and started running a very small cleaning business called Jim’s Cleaning years ago.

You see, when we took over the business, there was no ‘Satisfaction Guarantee’ in place.

Heck, there were barely any rules at all.

So, we had to think about whether we should offer a guarantee, and if so – what kind.

You know, when you’re first starting off and money’s tight, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking, “Hey, if some customer simply decides, on a whim, that they’re not happy, I don’t want them to get away with not paying their bill!”

That’s understandable.

But here’s the thing – think about some of these questions:

What kind of company do you want to be?

What message do you want to send to your staff?

What message do you want to send to your customers?

What message do you want to send to your prospects?

You know the answers.

You want to be proud of yourself.

You want your staff to be proud of themselves and the company they work for.

You want your customers, and prospects, to get the clear message that you stand behind your work – guaranteed!

So, if we assume we do want to offer a guarantee, the next question is, that’s right, what kind?

Well, we suggest you offer as strong of a guarantee as possible, something on the order of a “100% Satisfaction Guarantee!”.

Why so strong?

Because anything less can send the wrong message.

What do I mean?

Well, if you start to add conditions, limitations or restrictions to your guarantee, you can quickly weaken it to the point – it may begin to work against you!

That’s right, if you offer a guarantee that is:
- only good for a short time,
- or for particular reasons,
- or under certain conditions
- or only if specific procedures are followed….

Well, then, you may actually be sending the message that:

1. You don’t trust your company to deliver on its promises

2. You don’t trust your customers to not abuse your guarantee.

And then you may have been better off if you hadn’t offered any guarantee at all!

So, we suggest you offer a strong 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.

No weasel clauses! No burdensome time limitations! No unnecessary restriction on reasons why! No lengthy procedures that have to be followed!

No, just a simple straightforward guarantee – you stand behind your work 100%!

That’s right, systems. What they are? How to create them? And what they can do for you!

First let me tell you a story….

In the first few years running our janitorial business – when we got ready to start up a brand new account, we would simply grab all the people we needed, along with the equipment and cleaning supplies.. jump in the van and go!

Sounds simple. And it was.

It just wasn’t effective. You see we’d have problems:

1. Some cleaning people we took to the account would end up simply wandering around – doing little to nothing.

Why?

Well, any number of reasons.

Either they weren’t trained properly in the first place, weren’t prepared to handle the first day at a new cleaning account, or simply weren’t being given enough direction by a supervisor.

2. We would always find ourselves missing some important piece of cleaning… so we’d end up having to send somebody back to the shop to get it.

And the reason? Well, we simply didn’t have any pre-set list of supplies and equipment to check off and be sure to bring with us.

3. And finally, we would often forget to lock a door, get a trash or turn off a set of lights…. again, because we didn’t have a set of rules and procedures to follow.

Our cleaning business didn’t have a SYSTEM.

So, we worked on it – and created a series of systems such as:

– Developing a multiple-step training program for every cleaning associate to go through.

- Creating a checklist for supplies and equipment necessary to bring to a new account.

- Maintaining a log of all important information we earned about each account.

- Designing a detailed plan to follow for the start up of any new account.

That’s what systems basically are … pre-set procedures and practices to follow to handle any number of situations.

And you know as well as I do, there are lots of situations to deal with in cleaning.

But SYSTEMS can go a long way in handling these situations. Whether it’s a system to handle a start up of a new account or start up of a new employee.

Whether it’s a system to handle a customer complaint or a client testimonial.

Whether it’s a system for checking the quality of a building or system to check the appearance of your own office.

Whether it’s the maintenance of your company vehicles or of the maintenance of your company records and files.

The key to all of them is having a SYSTEM. But, what kind?

Well, one that is well thought out, addresses the situation the way you want, gets the desired results you want… and can be understood by anyone and everyone… every time!

Will there be exceptions?

Sure, you’ll never be able to completely eliminate times when a situation calls for you to be flexible and vary from your system.

But, if you can stick to your well planned out system 95% of the time, you, my friend, are way ahead of the game.

Way ahead.

Don’t believe me? Just look at the number of so-called service companies, including cleaning companies that never seem to get it right.

They’re always forgetting to bring something.

They’re always missing a trash, light or lock.

They’re always neglecting to make a call.

They’re always losing the paperwork?

I’m not criticizing them because these problems happen. Not at all – it can happen to all of us.

What I AM criticizing them for is never finding a way to fix them, and then keep them fixed!!

It’s not easy. I know it isn’t.

I takes time to look at a problem and come up with an effective series of steps that address the problem that everyone can understand… and then follow.

But, it’s the only way.

And if you do tackle all the challenges of your business one by one, by implementing systems to handle them, you will be handsomely rewarded.

Your customers will get better, more reliable cleaning.

Your cleaning associates will be more competent, and feel more confident.

And you, well, I don’t have to tell you how you’ll feel!

We were looking at how, if we’re not careful, our marketing, selling and customer service habits can have the opposite effect of the one we want.

For example, we discovered:

Many times, the harder we nervously chase something - the less likely we are to get it!!

We may, in fact, actually drive it even further away. Let’s take a look at an example.

Have you ever had a building where your janitorial business was bidding on the cleaning – and, it was an account you desperately wanted to land?

So, what do you do?

Well, have you ever caught yourself anxiously, nervously, desperately calling them back every day ( or MORE) just to ‘check in’ to see if they had made a decision.

Only problem is – you find the more you call the less interested they seemed.

That’s right – they seem to ‘dodge your calls’, ‘be unavailable’, ‘put you off’ or give you the ‘run around’ – until you want to throw your hands up and scream in frustration…

“Why won’t they just make up their minds?!”

Well, some times, too many times – THIS problem isn’t just about them – it’s about US too!

Yep, part of it – may be of our own-making.

That’s right, when we are too needy, when we desperately want the job – we may go too far, we may call too much, and end up ‘chasing them away rather than attracting” new cleaning business.

So, now what?

What can we do to turn this situation around; to begin sending the right message?

Well, first, keeping in mind the old saying a ‘watched pot never boils’,so, rather than nervously stewing over every bid you deliver and then hounding them with endless follow up phone calls…

- you can start to make up and live by a different set of rules – rules that put you and your cleaning business in a different position so they see you and your cleaning company in a different light!

For example, you may want to make it a rule to always discuss with your prospect, in advance, when you deliver the cleaning proposal – how long they need to get the proposal seen by those who need to give final approval.

Then you can decide on a date to call or stop out – just after that. So, you can then let them know exactly when you’ll be following up.

You can certainly assure them that between now and then – they can call you anytime, with any questions – but, short of that, you’ll be contacting them on such and such a date.

From that point on, if other issues come up, again, you may want to only follow up at times you have agreed to, in advance, when the cleaning prospect says they should have a decision finalized.

Stick with some rule like this and you can be professional, BUT also send the message that you’re a busy professional too!

We want to confidently attract business, not nervously chase after it. Make sense? Yep, makes cents!

Dan’s wife made him promise to ‘shoot another video’ to show everyone how BIG Daisy has gotten in just a year!! So, here she is again, starring in another video!! Plus you’ll hear 2 stories about her antics that you might find VERY amusing! So, sit back, relax and spend a few minutes with man’s (and Dan’s?) best friend!

Thanks for watching our video – Daisy Revisited: 1 Year AND 2 Stories, but don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Do YOU Measure Success in Your Cleaning Business in INCHES or MILES?where you’ll hear what successful business people and motivational coaches have to say about the all important question of – ‘What does it REALLY take to succeed in all parts of our lives including business!’

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Well, because among other reasons, from a very early age we are taught to be helpful, generous, and available to others in need – and those are all good qualities!

But, and this is a big BUT, you have to careful in an effort to be helpful, available and generous, you don’t ‘come across’, you know, ‘position yourself’ as – too needy and too desperate!

What do I mean? Let’s take a closer look…

What if, for example, you called your doctor, and after it rang just once they personally answered the phone.

Same thing for an attorney.

What if you needed expert legal advice, called the legal office, and the attorney actually answered the phone greeting you with ‘Hi,what can I do for ya’ today?’ .

Now, it might be that in both cases, the doctor and the attorney, are actually excellent, highly qualified professionals.

Maybe.

But the point is; what marketing message does it send to current and prospective clients, when a busy, professional cleaning expert- appears to be too helpful, too generous and too available?

It can be unsettling – and it’s something to think about.

Let me start by saying, I am not suggesting you provide less than quality follow up to prospects or less than good customer service to current clients.

What I am suggesting is to consider changes to your cleaning company’s selling approach, marketing systems and customer service practices to project a professional, but not too needy image.

That’s right. When we first started, we decided we were going to be the first cleaning company with a ‘heart’.

We were determined to treat our cleaning associates with more than respect -we wanted to go the “extra mile”.

You know, treat everyone like ‘family’.

Well, in time, we discovered sometimes a cleaning business like a ‘healthy’ family has to practice some ‘tough love’ by having, dare I say it …. RULES.

Let me tell you a story.

In the early years, when we were starting out, we would give out employee pay advances.

For example, if one of our associates was in a financial ‘pickle’, let’s say needed help to make a down payment on a car, or rent an apartment, we would agree to give a pay advance of $100 or more, to help them make it through the occasional tough time.

And things went ok… for a while.

But, as time went on, and we began to grow, we soon found ourselves with a longer and longer list of employees with outstanding pay advances.

And the list of reasons given as ‘emergencies’ grew too!!

In fact, not longer after that, we began to realize that as soon as someone paid off their first advance, they would somehow magically needed to have another one to take its place. And, right away!.

That’s right, the balance on these pay advances grew rapidly as our associates started to ask to ‘add on’ to their current advance – yep, with another advance!

I’m sure you can see where this is going.

We began to feel like the local bank, credit card company, or pay-day loan office, except we weren’t charging any fees or interest!

Eventually, it got so bad, anyone could see our good intentions, without controls or rules, had spun ‘out of control’ -leaving us with an unmanageable mess on our hands.

To make a long story short, while honoring our existing pay advances to employees, we put a stopped issuing any new advances.

It took a month or two for our folks to get use to the new ‘no pay advance’ policy, but they eventually did.

Any lessons here?

Well, sure, we learned, for example, that sometime those ‘big cleaning businesses’ with all their rules, may actually have some pretty darn good reasons for having them!

And just as important, we learned, that it doesn’t make you insensitive or uncaring to have rules.

In fact, for those of you who are parents, it’s a lot like raising a family; you won’t get kids to admit it very easily, if at all, but they need rules, and deep down most would admit – they actually want them.

Look at other places where rules could help… such as in HR matters like attendance and tardiness etc.

Be sure those rules are fair and consistent – and don’t be afraid to ask an HR expert or attorney if you need to ask a question.

And there’s some good news…

Having workplace rules makes it easier to manage your operation today, and avoid some of the ‘growing pains’ of a running a BIGGER janitorial business tomorrow.

I go out to meet someone in charge of hiring the janitorial cleaning company for a building.

It can be grumpy Gary, the general manager at an auto dealership, or bored Brenda the office supervisor at an insurance company.

It doesn’t matter which one. If our Gary or Brenda are unhappy with their cleaning, or just ‘going out for bids’, here’s an almost guaranteed way to get these grumpy or bored prospects EXCITED about you and your cleaning company.

Drum roll please…

..bring them something competitive & credible! It’s as simple, and as difficult as that.

What do I mean?

Well, the competitive part is simple to understand, isn’t it? When it comes to being competitive, it’s pretty clear to nearly everyone by now that office cleaning budgets have never been watched more closely!

And as far as being credible, I think we all also understand that you can deliver the most competitive cleaning bid in the world, but if the prospect doesn’t believe you can actually deliver what you promising – you’re sunk!

Oh, by the way, let’s go back to competitive again. Let me be clear about something.

I didn’t say lowest price, I said competitive! And there’s a big difference.

We don’t now, and never have played, the ‘We’re the cheapest guys in town’ game and suggest you don’t either.

It’s a losing strategy as far we’re concerned.

No, instead, we suggest being ‘competitive’.

And a competitive cleaning proposal is one that is fairly priced for the market – for the level of service you’re offering.

And if you are offering a high quality commercial cleaning or residential maid service (which you should be) well, than – you need to be priced accordingly. (profitable)

Interestingly enough, many cleaning contractors may be surprised to learn how often the ‘higher price for higher quality’ guy outperforms the ‘lowest possible price’ guy when it comes to landing sales!

The difficult part is learning HOW to create a cleaning company that over-delivers VALUE to the customer to justify those higher prices!

Before you’re done watching this fast paced video, Do YOU Measure Success in Your Cleaning Business in INCHES or MILES? you’ll hear what successful business people and motivational coaches have to say about the all important question of – What does it REALLY take to succeed in all parts of our lives including business!

Thanks for watching our video – Growth Test: Do YOU Measure Success in Your Cleaning Business in INCHES or MILES? But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Growth Test: Take ‘Cleaning’ Out of ‘Cleaning Business’ where we ask the question – Are you ready to grow? Plus, there’s a test you can take to find out the answer for your janitorial or residential cleaning business – and what to do about it, if you’re NOT!

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Here’s the strategy – DIP YOUR TOE IN FIRST!

To explain what I mean, let me tell you a story of how those words saved us a small fortune and may do the same for your janitorial business someday!

You see, one day one of our managers sat down to ‘vent’ about a frustrating problem.

One of our customers wanted a total price (more about this ‘pickle’ later) on removing what appeared to be years worth of built-up grease, grime, and who knows what else – from a concrete factory floor!

It was bad.

And our floor maintenance manager was really struggling to figure out how to price the job.

‘I mean’, as he put it, ‘This job is so strange, how in the world do I know how long it’s going to take – or how it’s going to look when we’re done!?’

He made a good point – it was tough to judge this job.

And we’ve probably all run across one or two of these kind of oddball, tricky, and sometimes potentially disastrous jobs.

And if you haven’t yet, chances are you will!

So what can we do? Well, let’s take a look.

Well, first, the customer has added to the problem by drop the pricing ‘hot potato’ in your lap saying ‘Oh, and I need a total price for what it’s going to cost – you know, for the whole job!!’

Well, here’s the rub:

Normal rates for cleaning tasks like floor scrubbing quickly go ‘out the window’ when trying to estimate prices for these kinds of oddball (code for unpredictable) jobs.

And worse yet, because of the unusual condition of the floor, you’re not only unsure of how to price the job, you’re even more unsure of how it’s going to look when you’re done!

And remember, the only thing worse, from a customers perspective, than paying too much for a job is paying too much for a job they don’t like the looks of – when it’s done!

So, here’s an idea:

Consider offering to do a ‘test patch’ for FREE, or ‘at cost’, or some minimum profit, it’s up to you.

That’s right, when you do a ‘test patch’; which is basically a small closet here or a ‘hardly ever used hallway’ there – you get a chance to safely learn the answer to two important questions:

#1 – based on this ‘test patch’ how hard is this job going to be? AND

#2 – when we’re done, what can the customer expect the results to look like?

Two important answers to know… right?

Now, back to the story…In our case, we did just a very small area, maybe 20 feet in an inconspicuous spot in the plant.

And, boy, did we quickly learn how long the floor was going to take – FOREVER! At least, that’s the way it seemed.

Yep, it was overwhelming!

But, we dodged the bullet of getting locked into doing this job, by using the ‘Dip Your Toe In First!’ strategy.

That’s right, because after the customer saw how the ‘test patch’ looked – he quickly realized even our best efforts weren’t going to save his old plant floor.

They may have to have to leave it alone for now and have it resurfaced and/or resealed one day, but for now, – it just wasn’t worth the time or cost!’.

Wheww! We breathed a long sigh of relief……

You may be wondering, ‘Why not propose to do the whole thing ‘time & materials?’

Well, you can, I suppose, especially if you have the customer check to see how he likes the results along the way.

But, in agreeing to do the whole project even time and materials, even though you may be doing a better job of protecting yourself financially – you may STILL be implying that while the job may take a long time and cost a lot, it will be worth it because the results will be great.

So, it’s still a good idea to do a test patch to make sure that it, in fact, WILL.

Frankly, I’m saying, I’m not sure the results will be great. Let’s take a look first. There’s the difference!

Anyway, the beauty of this “Dip Your Toe In Strategy” is that it positions you as a business ‘partner’ who is looking out for the best interest of your customer.

They can clearly see you don’t want to waste their money on something that may, or may not, give them the the kind of results they’re looking for.

And of course, at the same time, this strategy protects you from opening yourself up to the equivalent of ‘the money pit’, where you’ve got yourself committed to a project where you’re likely to lose money, not deliver a quality service and potentially lose a client.

All good things to avoid.

Keep this strategy in mind anytime you face any kind of very unusual cleaning request where you feel very uncomfortable with either:
1. How long it will take to do
2. How the job will look when you’re done
3. Both 1 and 2!

Again, this approach makes it clear you are not unwilling to do the work, only that you want to approach it in a thoughtful and measured way.

And that’s a good thing – for everybody.

How can I say such a thing? Well, let me explain..

Picture, for a minute, your neighborhood driving range with an army of ‘weekend warrior’ golfers lined up at the tees ‘going at it’ with everything they’ve got.

There they all are, frantically placing balls up on the tee one after another, then swinging so hard, and so wildly that it’s not uncommon to see guys practically falling over!

And actually, we’ve all been there too…haven’t we?

But this kind of ‘practice’ doesn’t make any of us any better… at anything!

So, if it isn’t practice that makes perfect, what does?

Well, here it is….perfect practice.

Yes, perfect practice!

Practicing the right things, at the right time and in the right way… that’s the ticket!

In fact, I just experienced it myself.

After not playing tennis for well over 25 years, in fact, since I was an teenager hitting balls against the wall at the local high school, I finally picked up a racquet again.

Anyway, for months I was just like the golfers we talked about. That’s right, I was going out, hitting a million tennis balls, and none of them very well. Then something changed….

One day, I decided to take a couple lessons from a local tennis instructor at one of the indoor tennis clubs.

Well, the long and the short of it is, that as soon as I started to listen and learn from the tennis instructor, my game started to improve, and not by just a little, but by a lot. And fast!

Here’s the thing…it’s the same for nearly everything.

I always tell the kids, “If you want to learn something, go out and find and expert and learn from them.”

When my son wanted to take up golf, I encouraged him to forget the new clubs, and take the $50 and get a lesson from someone who’s an expert!

That’s right, get instruction from someone who has already successfully done what you want do!

Of course, as you can imagine, this applies to business too.

We need to find good coaches, and then be coach-able.

Now, we can get back to this idea of perfect practice.

That’s right! When we take the time to learn from an expert, and begin to practice their proven skills, strategies and techniques in our own businesses, we are moving towards the idea of perfect practice.

Ok, back to the tennis story for just one last comment.

One thing I learned from the expert was to change the way I gripped the racquet. It felt awkward at first, but within a day or two, I started hitting balls harder and with more accuracy… and with less effort!

Now, I’m not saying I’m Roger Federer, but no question about it , I was getting better… a lot better, in very little time.

It felt great! And why did it happen?

Because, I knew enough to learn from an expert, and then to start practicing the “right way” over and over again.

Now, that’s different. And that works!

Remember, it’s not a sign of weakness to know you need coaching – nope, it’s a sign of strength!

Ok, here it is – ASK

It’s that simple. Well, it’s simple, but maybe not easy – at least at first.

Remember in the Bible where Jesus says “Ask and it will be given unto you..” Well, those words of wisdom relate very well to many parts of life – including business.

And an example, of where they ring particularly true in business is in the collecting of quality testimonials.

So, here’s the strategy:

When someone leaves us a message or sends in an email complimenting our cleaning staff – we want to remember to ask if they would be willing to let us use it – as a testimonial.

Not once and a while – but regularly. Any chance we get. Whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Why?

Well, because it’s a numbers game and we need to make sure we don’t miss our opportunities to request a testimonial when they present themselves.

Makes sense – right? Right.

You may want to ask it this way:

“That’s very nice of you to say, Joan! As you may know we’re trying to grow our business,and your kind comments would make a terrific testimonial.

Would you be willing to let me use them in our marketing?

You may want to explain further:

“You know, your words may be just what a potential client needs to hear to convince them to give us a try!
And, that would mean a lot to us.”

Then wait for their answer.

Most people are willing to give you permission to use them as a testimonial – if you ask!

They own – or work in a business too.

They can see how hard you work. And they know how valuable a quality testimonial can be!

So, be sure to ask.

Although you might not hear about it in the news, most people are basically good.

They want to help.

They do – but you do need to ASK.

Before you’re done watching this fast paced video, Growth Test: Take ‘Cleaning’ Out of ‘Cleaning Business’! you’ll see how you can use this exercise to identify what needs to be changed in your commercial cleaning business or residential maid service company if you want to grow quickly and profitably..

Summary:
Thanks for watching our video – Growth Test: Take ‘Cleaning’ Out of ‘Cleaning Business’! But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Why the UNHAPPY Customers in YOUR Cleaning Business Are So VALUABLE! you’ll see why unhappy clients are NOT all bad news – and, how they can instead, become your greatest source for learning in your cleaning business.

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

First, make sure that during your initial walk through, as well as during any conversations with your prospect, you are taking GOOD NOTES on each comment, complaint, ‘pet peeves’ or criticism made about their current service, or cleaning companies in general.

These are important and valuable opportunities for you – seize them!

Now what?

Well, second, list out each important complaint or problem mentioned by the building owner of property manager and identify specifically how your company will take care of the problem.

Not just once, but for good.

That will often mean explaining the way (SYSTEM) you have for not only cleaning up the problem one time, but for staying on top of it so it doesn’t happen again.

For example, identify the specific training procedures, inspections, scheduled walkthroughs, quality control steps, customer service visits, and/or the use of on-site managers your company uses to get your customers buildings clean – and keep them clean.

The real point is this:

The cover letter let’s you clearly identify these problems and then showcase how you are uniquely prepared to tackle them once and for all.

Why is listing these problems and solutions specific to their building so important?

Well, first, is how it positions you as a good listener, in the mind of your customer; someone who not only hears, but understands their problems and has a clear plan to take care of them.

This use of the cover letter can put you ahead of the competition and help you STAND OUT in a cluttered field of cleaning competitors.

Finally, now that you’ve put all this work into your cover letter, be sure to take the time to carefully review it with your prospect when you deliver your bid.

If you do, they will be able to see how you, more than any other competitor ‘gets’ them, ‘gets’ what they want their building to look like, and ‘gets’ what they are looking from their next cleaning contractor.

And then, you just might GET the account!

But the question of whether to send out 100 brochures a week or 100 brochures a month, isn’t really the right question.

(By the way, I wish they would ask, “How many strong, direct-response sales letters should I send out each week?”…but I won’t go down that road again today!)

Anyway, the right question, or at least, the better question, isn’t really one question at all, but rather a series of several questions.

Here are a few of the most important ones:

1. What is our cleaning business’ monthly sales goal?

2. What is the average monthly price of the cleaning jobs we bid on?

3. How many marketing pieces such as a sales letters or brochures do we typically have to send out to building owners and property managers to get a request for bid?

4. How many of those bids turn into new janitorial accounts?

Can you see how simply asking how many marketing pieces to send out is putting the “cart before the horse”?

Instead, try this…

Start with a sales goal first, and then work your way backwards to figure out how many accounts you’ll need on average to reach that goal AND how many bids you’ll need to submit to land that many accounts AND how many letters or brochures you’ll need to send out to get the necessary number of requests for bids.

Get the idea? Now, that’s a better way of coming up with a strategy that will get you where you want to go!

Let’s look at an example…

Let’s say, we wanted to add on about $3000/mo. in new commercial cleaning business.

By watching the response to our marketing, we might learn that it takes 50 marketing pieces per week to get 3 bid requests per week, which produce 4 new accounts per month, which add up to to a total of approx.$2,500 – $3,500/ mo. in new cleaning business.

So, we might plan on sending 50 pieces per week as a strategy to get us to our monthly sales goal.

But plans have to be ‘watched over’ – and this is no exception.

If you find your strategy isn’t producing enough requests for bids to get you to your goal, or too many requests for you to keep up with, you always need to be prepared to make adjustments

But your better off making a few minor course corrections to a well thought out plan, rather than a big overhaul-like changes to a strategy that wasn’t thought out well in the first place.

Whoever the cleaning business owner was who asked me this question may have been asking the wrong question, but at least they knew enough to ask so hey could find out the right ones!

Our teachers were right – there are no dumb questions!

Don’t believe it – It couldn’t be further from the truth!

No, in fact, put it together the RIGHT way, and your bid cover letter can become one of, if not,THE most powerful sales tools (pages) in your cleaning proposal.

But, as I said, most commercial cleaning and maid service businesses put very little thought, and even less effort, into the cover letter. To them, it’s just a short, meaningless page they feel forced to include, if for no other reason, than – they think it makes them look professional.

As a result, most cover letters simply spit out the same safe, but boring stuff that has been putting building owners and property managers for years.

‘Thanks for allowing me to bid… We appreciate your interest… blah, blah, blah.’

If it bores you, you can pretty safely assume – it’s boring your prospects too!

It’s not the cover letter that’s the problem, it’s what it says about us as the cleaning contractor – that’s the REAL problem!

And what’s that?

Well, it’s that we didn’t take the time to highlight those
important duties, issues, details, areas our customer told us about their building.

You need to see the cover letter as a powerful tool to forcefully attract your prospect to WANT to business with you, and you alone!

The bid cover letter gives you that opportunity. Don’t miss it. Here’s how:

First, don’t get me wrong, It’s ok to use some of the standard language you’re used to seeing in professional cleaning bid cover letters such as ‘Thanks for taking the time to show me your facility’ or ‘As you review the bid, feel free to call me with any questions.’

BUT- that’s just the beginning.

That’s right! Use the cover letter as THE place to clearly show that you’ve heard your prospects complaints, concerns and issues, LOUD AND CLEAR,
understand them, care about them and have a definite plan for solving them and better yet, keeping them solved.

You can do it.

Before you’re done watching this fast paced video, you’ll discover how what they tell you can help you fix your cleaning company’s weaknesses, so you can begin to grow, grow, grow – while drastically reducing the number of times you or your staff ‘drops the ball’ in your janitorial business or maid service.

Summary:
Thanks for watching our video – Why the UNHAPPY Customers in YOUR Cleaning Business Are So VALUABLE! But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: The Employees in YOUR Cleaning Business Are Watching YOU! where you’ll see through a number of specific examples, how ‘things really work’ when it comes to the critical topic of setting a good example for the employees of our janitorial business or maid service

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Well, the short answer, of course, may be something like – when the customer will happily accept it – without a fuss.

Right?

Sure, sounds simple, but when in the world will that ever happen?

‘Not in my lifetime’, you might think. Well, maybe. Maybe not. Here’s an insider tip to successfully raising prices:

It’s called TIMING. That’s right, timing.

Specifically, whenever possible, try to put through a justified price increase – when your cleaning business customer really ‘loves’ you and your current staff.

Well, ‘love’ may be too strong a word. So, how about – is exceptionally happy with – pleased, really likes, you know, is very satisfied with? You get the idea.

Why? What on earth does THAT have to do with a price increase?

Well, in running our own commercial cleaning company, even when we put through a very small and very overdue, price increase, IF our customer was NOT happy with our current cleaner associates for any reason, the increase had about as much chance as a well, a ‘snowball’s chance in you know where’!

Why?

Well, because the truth is PEOPLE make the decisions -real “flesh and blood” people; emotional people, not machines.

And when your contact – the building owner or property manager you work with, thinks about whether to approve your increase, or not – he or she is affected by things like —- whether or not they and their staff LIKE your current cleaning staff.

So, how do you know if you have that kind of highly-appreciated employee on your staff?

You know the signs, they’re the ones that get the pats on the back, the thank you’s, the holiday hams – and maybe, are even invited to the company picnics.

Well, when a company likes the cleaning they are getting AND has ‘that kind’ of a loyal relationship with your cleaner(s) – getting reasonable and justified price increase approved isn’t too tough!

Heck, we’ve had buildings where the justified price increase ‘sailed through’ – where, while we were certainly providing qood cleaning, but the cleaning associate currently assigned to the account, was, to be fair, not ‘the cream of the crop’.

And, I’ve got to believe the fact that the customer trusted our cleaning associate and considered them to be a part of the ‘team’ and ‘friend’, played some part in explaining why the increase went through without much resistance.

We understood it likely was not the cleaning alone that produced this kind of loyalty.

It was the person.

Let’s be clear, I am NOT suggesting any cleaning business or maid service owner ever take advantage of any client by putting through an unfairly large increase, nor an increase where one is not justified, simply because you know they ‘love’ your cleaner.

Not at all.

But where an increase is called for, knowing if the company has very positive feelings about you and your cleaning associate(s) can be one important thing to consider ahead of time.

So, do you simply throw up your hands, admitdefeat and hope to catch ‘em next time? You know the answer is, of course, NO.

So, what can you do to keep from “losing” these folks?; the ones who took the time to checkout your letter… but weren’t interested enough to act on your offer – give you a call?

Well, you can begin by including multiple offers in your marketing.

Here’s why.

Multiple offers provide more than one way for your prospects to “raise their hand” and say “I’m interested!”

Responding to one offer may have the prospect saying ‘I’m interested and, YES, I want a proposal NOW!’

However, responding to another may simply say, ‘I’m interested, but want to learn more about your company before I go so far as to ask for a bid.’

What would an offer like that look like?

Well, here’s an example….

“If you’d like to learn more about our cleaning systems before having us put together a cleaning proposal for your building – just visit our website, give us your first name and e-mail address to you sign up for our FREE e-newsletter “The Secrets To Consistently Superior Office Cleaning!”,

…plus we’ll send along some first hand testimonials from companies just like yours.”

From then on, at least you have ‘captured’ their contact information, and gotten them to ‘raise their hand’ and taken action… by giving you permission to communicate with them!

And that’s worth a lot!.

As you communicate with these ‘folks’ who decided to take you up on your ‘lower commitment OFFER’ of simply… more information, you will find you’re able to eventually turn some/many of these prospects into customers as they get to know you better.

So, make multiple offers to give your prospects several ways to respond; ways that match their level of interest, and in doing so, build a better list of businesses who are interested, but not quite ready to completely ‘take the plunge!’

The good news is, the more they hear from you, the sooner they’ll be ready to follow your offer to “Jump in!” – and call you to ask for a bid!!

Go shopping when you’re hungry, and you may come back with everything in the world, except what’s good for you!

You know how it goes.

With eyes bigger than our stomachs, we load up on way more than we need. And sometimes treats have a way of sneaking in – forcing vegetable to take a back seat. Oops.

Yep, same kind of thing goes for hiring in your cleaning business.

If we make hiring decisions when we’re short-handed, behind the 8-ball, and desperate for help, in other words ‘hungry’ – and what’s likely to happen?

You know what.

We compromise, settle, and could end up hiring folks, we maybe wouldn’t normally hire in a million years – if we were thinking more clearly.

We tell ourselves, they’ll be ok – we’ll give them extra training. We’ll help them overcome their obvious shortcomings. It’ll all work out in the end – somehow, magically.

Either way, at least it’s somebody, and we sure as heck need somebody now!

Super?! And how does that usually end up?

You know. I know. We all know, don’t we?

Right – NOT so good.

So, let’s make a point of not making THAT avoidable mistake in our commercial cleaning or maid service businesses – starting now.

How?

Well, lots of ways, things like planning ahead, placing ads in advance, and interviewing earlier, and more often – basically not waiting until the last minute.

If we do that, we stand a much better chance of having a clear head and finding the kind of staff we can count on – not the ‘snack food’ variety that may take care of us for the moment, but likely ends up hurting us in the long run.

You get the idea.

Before you’re done watching this fast paced video, you’ll also hear about how great an opportunity we have hidden in the responsibility to -set a good example in our cleaning company.

Summary:
Thanks for watching our video – The Employees in YOUR Cleaning Business Are Watching YOU Why Success in Your Cleaning Business is NOT about Your Cleaning Business! But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Why Success in Your Cleaning Business is NOT about Your Cleaning Business! where you’ll see how most janitorial business decide how to run their company and what they offer their customers – and, then, why it leaves them and their sales ‘flat’.

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

In fact, we probably all have at one time or another.

Anyway, it may have sounded something like this:

‘We need to cut our cleaning expense in half, so we need you to reduce our commercial cleaning service from 6 days a week to 3 days.’

Well, BE CAREFUL, because -all things aren’t equal.

You see, like I said, our janitorial business customers had gone through ups and downs too, like anyone, and had to cut back on services including cleaning.

So, we’re all too familiar with this situation.

And when they called, they often had it – in their mind – that the price of cleaning was exactly proportionate to the number of days cleaned, you know, frequency.

For example, if they pay $300/ month for 2 times per week cleaning, they are convinced they should only have to pay only 1/2, basically $150 for that 1 time per week service.

The problem is – that is not always true, in fact, generally it’s NOT.

Without getting too detailed, if you cut the price in half when they reduce the frequency in half – YOU may be left barely making a profit or maybe only covering your costs.

Why?

Well, several reasons.

First, when you only have 1 visit per week, the building is generally dirtier and takes the cleaning staff a little longer to clean than when you had 2 visits/week.

So, if we go from needing 4 hrs. per visit to needing 5 hrs. per visit to complete the cleaning -you can quickly see how cutting the price in half, can leave you ‘holding the bag’ profit-wise!

Second, larger monthly bills often have smaller profit margins.

So, if you cut the price in half for half the number of days, you may THINK you’re OK, but what you’re likely left with is an janitorial account where the a profit percentage is TOO LOW.

Solution?

When a customer of your janitorial business or residential maid service has to go through cut-backs on services, like cleaning, always work up a reasonable new price, for the new, reduced program – rather than automatically agreeing to a proportionate price reduction.

Estimate the number of hours of cleaning you might need given the reduced schedule.

And THEN, and only THEN, calculate a fair price to cover your expenses and necessary profit.

That way you can help reduce THEIR costs – without losing YOUR profitability.

What in the world am I talking about?

Ok, let me explain.

Some strategies we suggest for running a successful cleaning business are easy to understand, that’s right, crystal clear – unfortunately, this one’s not!

Today’s tip is a little clumsy to explain -hard to ‘nail down’.

But, if you read carefully, and then consider it even more carefully, I think you’ll find it is, in fact, a very powerful idea you can use in very specific ways - nearly every day in your janitorial company or maid service!

Ok, let’s look at two examples,

# 1 If you’re actively marketing and bidding accounts commercial or residential cleaning jobs, it can be easy to talk yourself into taking a break and stopping the marketing completely.

That’s right – you might really feel compelled to ‘turn off the marketing and advertising completely, when you sense you’re going to get swamped with a rush of new business – based on all the bids you’ve got out there – ‘percolating’.

# 2 When you’re hiring and training new employees to help clean your accounts, it can be easy to talk yourself in to not bringing on any extra employees, because, you think, IF the ones you’ve got hired STICK – you should be OK – yep, able to get caught up and cover everything.

Interesting. It could happen that way.

You could land so much business from the bids you’ve got out there, you’ll be plenty busy. hmmm…?

You could get all caught up in covering your accounts, if all the folks you hire and train stay on. hmmmm..?

It could happen, I suppose – in a perfect world.

Well, here’s today’s tip:

Think about going with too many rather than too few.

That’s right – a strategy that worked in our janitorial business was to keep marketing and to bring on a few extra accounts, even though it may feel like too many jobs, and a few extra cleaning associates, even though it may feel like too many employees.

Why would I say that?

Well, we simply seemed to do better when we leaned toward pushing ourselves when it came to ‘taking on new work’.

And we simply seem to do better…when we leaned toward bringing on a couple extra people when it comes to staffing up to cover accounts.

I suppose you could simply ‘chalk it up’ to experience in running our commercial cleaning company over the years.

And experience told us we shouldn’t shut off the marketing – ever, because it’s too easy to count your chickens (sales) before they’re hatched. And, when we kept marketing – it kept all of us on our toes and hitting the ground running each day to be productive.

Now, I’m not suggesting you get reckless; that you never pull back on the marketing until you’re ‘buried’ in work and can’t take care of your customers.

And I’m not saying to hire recklessly, way beyond the number of people you need to handle your cleaning business.

You know, there’s no substitute for common sense, but what I do mean is to consider this general strategy:

We did find, however, that when we took on a few more sales than we may have, at first, been comfortable with, we generally survived, in fact, seemed to do better.

And, we didn’t get caught as often – shutting down the marketing, only to find things slowed down, and we didn’t get half of the accounts we thought were ‘in the bag’.

And we found when we hired a few more folks than we may at first been comfortable hiring – we generally survived, in fact, seemed to do better.

We don’t get caught ‘short’ of help as often – because more people left than we thought we’re going to.

I told you today’s strategy was going to be a little
clumsy, and it is, because, there’s no hard and fast rule that I can give you – other than the general way described here.

At the very least, think about the principle, the idea – the next time you’re getting close to ‘shutting down’ the marketing or ‘putting the brakes’ on hiring.

It might just help you grow, while making sure you have enough people to handle the growth.

Great! It starts with a story.

One day, while waiting in line to get my car washed, I stumbled on to what might be the easiest – yet ‘under the radar’ way to spot a great potential employee for your cleaning business.

Here’s the thing – while I was waiting in line to go through the car wash, I noticed something.

As you already know, before getting their car washed, many people vacuum out their car using the vacs available at the car wash.

I know, I know – big deal, right?

BUT, here’s the thing.

Have you ever noticed how FEW people actually take the time to put back the hose properly when they’re done.

Some, just left it dropped right on to the ground when they were done.

Many, simply left it all tangled up and threw it back up to hang there….yeah, in a knot.

No pride – none.

And, ask them why – and many would simply complain that that’s the way they found it (laying in knots on the ground).

Why should they be expected to do any better.

Right?

And we wonder why our country doesn’t seem as strong and self reliant as it used to be. Don’t get me started!!!

But a handful were very different.

And, that’s when it hit me.

Who would possibly make a great employee?

Answer – maybe the guy or gal who actually takes the time to gather the hose and hang it up properly – that’s right, ready to go for the next person… even though no one is looking!

Isn’t that right?

Aren’t we all are looking for someone who has the character to do the right thing, even when no one else is watching.

No reward – just doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.

And that’s someone with pride, and that’s someone who could potentially be a great employee for your janitorial business or maid service.

So how do we find these folks with character?

That’s up to you; personally – I’m keeping my eyes open at the car wash!

Then, before you’re done watching this fast paced video, you’ll hear how successful cleaning companies decide how they’re going to run their business and what they’re going to offer the building owners and managers at the places they would like to clean.

Thanks for watching our video – Why Success in Your Cleaning Business is NOT about Your Cleaning Business! But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Cleaning Business Alert: It’s NOT about Fault, It’s about FEELINGS! where you’ll learn about several practical situations that frequently come up in residential and commercial cleaning companies – leaving the building owner or property manager FEELING ‘funny’, unsure, uneasy.

Plus, you’ll hear exactly what steps you can take to reduce your janitorial company clients concerns – and get them quickly back on ‘solid ground’ when it comes to their confidence in your cleaning business!

Think about yours. Say it a few times. Write it down; look at it for a minute.

What does it say to you? Does it send the message you want it to send? Does it say you are credible, experienced, professional janitorial business?

So, what should your company name be?

Well, that’s depends on you, of course, your personality and what message you want to send to your prospects and customers?

Do you want it to be folksy? friendly? Do you want it to be credible? confident?

Many companies change their names over time; we did several times.

We started off with the name – Jim’s Cleaning; No surprise here, Jim was the name of the previous owner.

Later we changed the name to Toledo Commercial Cleaning Inc.. It worked well for years, until we grew to service geographic areas – well beyond Toledo.

We finally changed our name to Clean Care Inc.

It suited us well – allowing us to market ourselves outside Toledo and giving us the flexibility to market all kinds of cleaning services – beyond commercial.

Name changes can be helpful in positioning your company in the marketplace.

It does involve some expense (legal to check name availability, office expense to change letterhead, invoices etc.) aggravation (legal name change/ tax forms etc.), and confusion (explanation (to your customers).

Think about the clear message, feeling or idea – you want to send into the market – that’s the key.

BUT, in spite of the hassle and expense, if it can significantly move your cleaning business forward and help you GROW, it may time and money well spent!

You’ve probably heard this expression before, well, probably not with the word cleaning in it – but, hopefully it still rings some sort of bell.

Here are a few examples of when this ‘watched pot’ problem kicks in:

It could have been when you were nervously waiting to hear back about an important interview, or maybe when one of your kids was anxiously waiting to hear if they ‘made’ a sports team.

The ‘where’ or ‘when’ is less important than the ‘what’ and ‘why’, as in what does the expression mean and why is it so important for to know us when it comes to marketing and selling janitorial or residential cleaning services.

Well, WHAT the saying means, of course, is that it doesn’t do any good to sit around worrying about something whose outcome is out of your control.

You’ve put in the ingredients, and turned on the burner,
-simply staring at the pot isn’t going to help anything!

In fact, it even suggests, it may actually hurt your chances of getting the desired results, in this case, a boiling pot.

And, as far as the WHY, specifically, why is this important to you and me in the selling commercial cleaning, well, it’s because of ENERGY!

That’s right. Your energy.

You only have so much, and rather than waste it, or lose it altogether, you need to direct it to where it can do the most good.

So, let’s get to it. What does this have to do with your cleaning business?

Well, here it is.

All too often, I hear from anxious janitorial contractors who explain they can’t stop thinking about a commercial or residential cleaning account they just bid on.

They desperately want to get the business, so they endlessly run over and over in their minds what they should do next, whether they should call back again, and what they should say.

They are so anxious, so fixated on this account – they can think of nearly nothing else.

And that’s the problem.

They get so ‘hung up’ on landing any this one account, they let themselves become immobilized, basically ‘frozen’ by worry, and stop moving forward on all the other leads out there.

Now, I’m not saying, don’t do your scheduled follow up on every cleaning bid. You absolutely should!

What I AM talking about is not letting any one janitorial account become so important in your mind, that you lose your energy and momentum on your other marketing efforts.

Remember, it still is a numbers game. So, don’t waste your energy dwelling on the outcome of any one bid.

You’ll have more ENERGY when you don’t sit around fretting and may, in fact, improve your chances of landing more accounts because your attitude with your prospects will be one of confidence, not desperation.

You can do it. And when you do, the pot will begin to boil!

What?

Really, I mean what in the world is that supposed to mean?

It seemed sort of dumb – or at least obvious.

I never even knew what it really meant, it was so general, so old fashioned to say ‘Just keep trying your best everyday- and things will work out!’

I mean, come on dad – get with it!

Right?

Well maybe not.

Yeah, you see lately, I’m beginning to get what he’s talking about.

That’s right – I’m here to admit it, I’m beginning to believe he’s ‘on to something’.

(Oddly enough…he’s getting smarter as I get older. Weird, huh?)

Truth be told – he was right on the money about a very important principle – specifically, to keep moving forward, steadily every day. Learn from your mistakes, but above all else – maintain forward motion in you cleaning business.

Don’t let wanting to do get things just right or perfectly slow you down from getting things done – actually moving forward every day.

That’s right – do something. Do it today.

So many times we want to get everything ‘just so’ before we begin making changes to our janitorial businesses.

But, here’s the thing:

It’s better to start doing the things we know we should – than to wait, because we may just end up waiting forever; and, it doesn’t matter if we end up making a lot of mistakes in the process.

Failing and making mistakes isn’t the problem – not moving steadily forward, or even stalling completely, is the problem that can really take a toll or our commercial cleaning or maid services businesses.

Not making decisions is the problem. Not taking action is the problem.

Whether it’s improving our relationships, our personal health, or our cleaning companies, getting started and moving steadily ahead each day – is the key.

Bottom line: Don’t wait forever- just to avoid making mistakes. Instead, accept that you’re going to make mistakes.

In some ways, the sooner the better, so you can learn from those mistakes and get that much closer to your goal.

Keep moving forward. It won’t always be in a straight line, but keep moving forward.

In a nutshell, as my dad says ‘just keep trying your best every day, you’ll be fine.’

I can’t believe he’s right again. Ugh. I can only hope I get the chance to drive my kids crazy by telling them the same thing!

Before you’re done watching this fast paced video, you’ll hear exactly what steps you can take to reduce your janitorial business clients concerns – and get them quickly back on ‘solid ground’ when it comes to their confidence in your cleaning company!

Thanks for watching our video – Cleaning Business Alert: It’s NOT about Fault, It’s about FEELINGS! But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Why It’s CRAZY and COSTLY Not Having A Follow-Up Plan for Your Cleaning Prospects where you’ll hear exactly WHAT you can do to make sure you never get caught making this costly mistake in your janitorial business.

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Let’s say our cleaning business picked up a new account -an office building, which we thought should take about 3.5 – 4 hrs. to clean.

Well, when we started the job, we would simply show some new cleaning person how to clean it in about 3.5 to 4 hrs.

So far, so good – right?

Well, the first week went fine. Our cleaning person spent at least the 4 hrs. we gave them, maybe even a little more, since they were new.

But then a surprise…

As we kept watching the time sheets, we started to notice something – the cleaning times began to drop.

Slowly at first; from 4 hrs. or more at the start, to 3.75 within as little as a week or so.

AND then down to maybe 3.5 hrs/visit after another week or two.

And finally, we saw the nightly cleaning times coming in as low as 3.25 . . .or even 3!

What in the world was going on?

Didn’t we train them well enough?

Were they taking shortcuts?

Was it laziness?

Did we just estimate the hours too high! It took a while, but we began to realize something.

Drum roll please…

Our part time people LIKED to work about 3 hours per night!

Call it human nature.

Call it whatever you want, but we saw it time and time again.

Many of our office cleaning associates would eventually (sometimes almost right away) gravitate to about 3 hrs. per night – like they were being pulled by a magnet!!

We asked our part-timers about it.

There were all kinds of reasons given from …

‘After working my day job, I get tired after about 3 hours of cleaning at night.’ to

‘I don’t want to be out too late’ to

I like to be home about 9 P.M.’

In the end, the reason why may not be as important as simply being aware that this 3 hr. magnet is there and affects how our people felt about the job , at least our part time, night operation.

So, what should we do?

I mean it didn’t make sense.

Well, we could fight it, and retrain folks over and over again until they put in the exact amount we assigned them.

Or …we could try something different.

We decided NOT to ALWAYS fight this natural tendency – frankly, many of the reasons why they wanted to get done in about 3 hrs. were understandable.

So, we decided to try to work around or with, this feeling, keep an eye on it, and sometimes even find ways to use it to our advantage.

What do I mean?

Well, what if we tried to create schedules that gave each cleaning person as close to 3 hrs. per night, as possible, which is what they seemed to want?

Call us crazy, but we tried it.

We began to take our total cleaning hours per night for a building and break it into as many of these desirable 3 hr. shifts as possible.

For example, a 6-hour job was now scheduled for 2 people working 3 hours each. And, how did it work?

Great! Not only did our people like the 3-hour shifts, we quickly discovered they were easier to hire for and keep filled than a shorter 2 hour or longer 5 hour shift.

Summary: Check to see if you have an 3-hour MAGNET in your cleaning business!

If so, make sure it’s working for you, not against you!

Today, let’s look at the, maybe even more important question, of what to say when you do call back.

I hope, by now, you’re beginning to see a pattern develop in how we suggest you approach marketing and selling situations.

It’s a pattern based on a belief that the answers to nearly every marketing and selling question lies in ONE THING – …knowing your customer!

That’s right, as much as you can, as completely as you can – know your customer inside and out.

What they like and don’t like, what they have been through, what they want now, what they’re looking for in the future… everything!

Why?

Because, if we can understand our the building owners and property managers at the places we want to clean, the better our chance of creating a cleaning program they’ll love – customized to them. For example,

Our cover letter shouldn’t be a short boring page about how great we are, but rather a crystal clear explanation of how we, more than any other cleaning contractor, understand their building and what they want.

Our walk through…same thing! From taking detailed measurements and notes about every inch of their building to asking detailed questions about what they want from their cleaning service, it should be clear that
they are not just another bid to us.

Our bid presentation…. remember, how we talked a while back about how our bid presentation, should always let our prospects know two important things:

So, what should you say when you call back? As you might have guessed, the answer is:

All those things, that let them know you’ve been listening, paying attention, and understand what they want.

So, you may find yourself asking them:

–If they’ve had any new questions come up from reviewing it with other managers involved in the decision process.

-If, after having more time to review it, they still felt like the program addressed all the specifics they wanted in the cleaning proposal.

-If they had time to call any of your references, and did they have any questions from those conversations.

-If they had time to review the monthly price for the commercial cleaning bid or the per visit price for the residential cleaning, maid service program – to see if there was any further adjusting or “tweaking” needed for budgetary reasons.

In all your questions and comments, be as specific as you can about their building, their issues – and, of course, your solutions.

How’d you like to never hear “Your price is too high!’ again?

Sounds too good to be true, I know, but hear me out for a minute, and see if you don’t agree it might just be possible – if you know how!
Let me explain.

Nothing is more frustrating than to put tons of work into a getting all the information you need for a janitorial bid, putting a sharp pencil to your price, only to hear a week later -

‘Sorry, your price was too high – we went with someone else!’ Ugh!

Well, here’s a strategy to help tackle that problem once and for all. Here’s how it works:

First, take more time up front with the prospective client. Sit down with them. Learn what they want. Find out what they don’t need done.

And when you get the measurements of the building, take the time to mark down which areas are difficult, and which look easy to clean.

Talk with your client. Slow things down. Then, go back to your office and run the numbers.

Second, arrange to meet with them a 2nd time.

You can explain you need to get one more measurement for your cleaning proposal, or double-check a couple of the measurements in a certain part of the building – whatever; just so you get a chance to sit down and talk again.

And then, explain you need just a minute to go over a few last questions that came up as you were working on their bid.

That’s it – no big deal.

When you meet, sit down and slowly show them all the work you have: your measurements, your summaries, your specs, your time estimates AND then here’s the important part.

Explain to them you understand budgets are more important today than ever so you’d like to: Go ahead and explain how things look now as far as price for their cleaning program – to see if it’s in the budget ‘ballpark’ for them.

You can go on to explain that these are just preliminary figures; nothing is ‘carved in stone‘ and that – you can nearly always work on the details of the duties and frequency of a commercial cleaning proposal with a client to come up with a program that meets both their cleaning as well as budget goals.

Then – you tell them where the initial price is coming in at or, at least, the price-range.

IMPORTANT: You want to see if the office-cleaning program and monthly price you’re getting ready to prepare for them not only gives them the cleaning they want, but also, at a price, they were willing to consider – that’s right, you want to get some agreement, be in the ballpark.

Frankly, it is no fun to find out you have prepared a program with a monthly price they are flat out – NOT willing to pay. Better to find out NOW when you still have a chance to work out an alternative cleaning plan.

Makes sense?

Ok, so once you tell them what the price is coming in at you may ask, ‘How does that fit in with what you were expecting budget-wise?’

Then be quiet.

You need to patiently wait for an answer. In many cases, I have found prospective building owners and property managers surprisingly willing to discuss the price issue.

Isn’t it better to deal with any price objection NOW before they look at 3 or 4 other quotes, and simply award it to someone else – without you having a chance to respond?

The worst that can happen is they say, “I’m sorry I can’t, or won’t tell you what were paying.”

Don’t worry – no problem. No need to get defensive.

If this happens, you just calmly explain that – that’s fine, and you will proceed with the plan, using the duties they gave you, or the standard layout you normally recommend for this kind of commercial cleaning project.

But, if instead your prospective client volunteers that your price is fine – in the ball park.; well, then, you’re GOLD!

Now, you know can move forward with confidence.

On the other hand, if they say, “Well, honestly, you’re high; I wasn’t thinking of paying that much”

No problem.

At least, you can work at finding a solution together.
At least you’re still in the game, right?

Before you’re done watching this video episode Why It’s CRAZY and COSTLY Not Having A Follow-Up Plan for Your Cleaning Prospects! you’ll hear exactly WHAT you can do to make sure you never get caught making this costly mistake in your janitorial business. Plus, Dan will tell you what proactive steps you can take starting today to do much better!

Summary:
Thanks for watching our video – Why It’s CRAZY and COSTLY Not Having A Follow-Up Plan for Your Cleaning Prospects! But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: The ONE Question Cleaning Business Owners Should NEVER Ask Their Prospects! you’ll hear you’ll hear exactly WHAT question we asked and why it probably cost us an account. Then, Dan will explain what questions you can ask instead when you’re trying to land an account for your office cleaning company and why they work so much better!

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

We saw how our prospects and customers are under pressure like never before to get their professional contract cleaning services outsourced at lower and lower prices.

And, we left off suggesting that while we may not ‘pull the knobs’ and ‘push the buttons’ to change global trends; we still have the opportunity in our own world, our cleaning company, to to take steps to respond proactively.

What steps? Well, here are a few:

- Taking advantage of technology
(bidding, accounting, quality control, timekeeping etc) to level the playing field with competitors!

- Using labor saving methods, chemicals and equipment - such as day cleaning, team cleaning, microfiber technology and back pac vacuuming systems to deliver cleaning at prices 1. customers will find acceptable want, 2. will still provide you with enough cleaning hours to deliver quality service and yes, 3. make a fair profit!

- Creating proper positioning: Pulling in profits by positioning yourself as an expert one or more strategic cleaning niches!

- Automating the marketing process - including sequential mailings to keep your name, and brand identity, in front of the building owners and property managers at every one of your targeted buildings!

- Capitalizing on every operational control available – such as automated timekeeping, online communication portals and quality control inspection systems to keep hard won accounts profitable, and clean, every single month!

- Identifying successful pricing strategies that recognize the sensitivity of decision makers to different kinds of services. For example, while monthly general cleaning prices may have to be ‘sharp pencil’, tile maintenance and add-on carpet cleaning work may offer opportunities for healthier profit margins and less resistance.

- Building the sale! While the profit you make on any one product or service you offer may not thrill you, if offered as a package, the total sale of multiple services (and products) may greatly surprise you.

So what, if the easy days of simply getting ‘the nod’ from your business friend may be gone forever, even better days can lie just ahead of you. Simply take a step back, look at the realities in your cleaning business, the one with all the competition and challenges, decide on a plan and get to work.

And remember this, the next time you need a laugh:

Some day, others may shock you by suggesting that these were the good old days in the cleaning business!?!

These are two of the most common questions we hear from janitorial businesses. Here’s why:

1. After so much work has gone into preparing a commercial cleaning bid or residential cleaning proposal, people don’t want to make a careless mistake right at the end that… costs them the account!

2. They worry about being too anxious, too eager and possibly… scaring away the prospect.

It’s understandable.

But, you shouldn’t feel ashamed of being eager to follow up and please your cleaning prospects. To the contrary, it’s actually a very good thing that you feel this way, because it shows… you care!

And that is important.

The only thing is… we need to know how to present that caring attitude to our prospects in a way that ATTRACTS them, rather than scares them away.

So let’s try to come up with a good rule of thumb to help us schedule our follow ups – for maximum results!!

To do that, let’s think back to another timing question, you had to answer before you even got to this point:

How long did you wait after you completed your final walk throughs of the building… before you arranged to deliver the janitorial bid?

The answer I hope is – an amount of time, a number of days, that not only gave you the time you needed, but also reflected the kind of careful thought, effort and attention you wanted your prospect to KNOW went into preparing their bid.

Put it this way, have you ever seen an office cleaning quote simply scratched on the back of a business card… saying something like.. “$285 for 2x/ wk“?.

And you know, that card was simply left there on the
desk after they took, maybe 5 minutes to quickly look around!

Well, you know by now, that’s not the message you want to be sending to your prospects.

No, you want to wait a few days or more, before you come back with a professional cleaning proposal for your prospect.

Well, it’s the SAME idea deciding when to “call back” after delivering a janitorial proposal.

You want to give it an APPROPRIATE amount of time to allow your building owner or property manager to go over it carefully.

They may need to review it with others in their company as well.

So, what’s appropriate?

Well, it depends. If it’s a large project, it may be appropriate to wait a week, or more, before calling back.

It may easily take that long for them to get to it, get through it, and put together their questions.

If it’s a small building, scheduled for cleaning only 1 or 2 times per week, you may be able to call back in as little as a couple days.

And of course, you should always listen to your prospect for CLUES as to to how urgently they want to review your bid.

As you can imagine, you should plan on “following up” a lot sooner with a building that just let their current cleaning company go, and are suddenly faced with having to cover the cleaning themselves, versus one that is simply going out to bid, to see “what’s out there”.

So, let’s not ‘dodge the bullet’. What’s a good rule of thumb?

In general, you should wait between a couple days to a week depending on the size of the bid.

And, before I forget, if all else fails, there’s always the secret, mystical, hidden strategy of … simply asking the prospect!

YOU: “Well, Steve, typically I give a client 2 or 3 days to go through everything before I call back. Do you think that would give you enough time.”"

PROSPECT: ” Sure that should be fine.”

YOU: “Ok then, if you have any questions in the meantime just give me a call, otherwise I’ll check back with you in a few days.”

When you wait a while to call back your prospects to check on your bid you show them respect by giving them time to thoroughly review everything, while at the same time showing that you’re a busy professional too. Win – Win.

P.S. By the way, I didn’t even address the BAD ideas either waiting a long time to follow up with a prospect or not getting back to them at all…. because… well, because their both bad ideas. nuf said.

While networking to meet and build relationships will always be important, the shocking ‘ice cold splash of water in the face’ of what the business world is like today requires those hoping to be successful cleaning business owners – to see things as they are truly are!!

And how is that?

Well, just pick an industry. Automotive. Manufacturing. Industrial. Textile. Medical. Apparel.

Competition is fierce. Sales are tough. Profit margins are tight. Expenses are squeezed. And if they’ve already been squeezed once – they’re being squeezed again!

Now, back to our friend on the golf course;

Today, forget about missing a putt, our friend the property manager or building owner has a lot more to worry about than that and is under pressures like never before – to cut costs wherever and whenever possible.

What else is different today?

Well, for one thing, the players are always changing. You’ve seen it.

Not only are the days when you could count on your favorite ball player staying with your favorite team for their career gone forever – so are the chances of your contact staying the same for very long at the building you would like to clean!

The result; you may end up one day soon, handing or emailing your cleaning bid or janitorial proposal in – to a total stranger (new contact) – leaving you stunned, realizing your longstanding relationship with the prior manager is gone… like a puff of smoke!

Ugh! Anything else?

Well, yes actually. The number of cleaning companies and level of price competition has never been greater.

Does the following sound familiar?

#1 Job loss in manufacturing, automotive and industrial jobs has created a rush of new eager, desperate, even reckless, competitors in the service industry – that’s right, including commercial office, as well as, residential cleaning.

#2 So, now your friend from the golf course, .may have 5 or 6 janitorial bids or cleaning quotes on his desk or in his email, rather then the 2 to 3 he used to get, plus his phone is NOW ringing twice as often with hungry new cleaning contractors asking to bid on the cleaning!!

Enough. Enough, you might say. Is there any light at the end of this dark tunnel?

Yes – it’s you.

That’s right – you may not be able to change the whole world, but you can change your world. We’ll talk about how you can change your cleaning business world for the better in the weeks to come.

Before you’re done watching this video episode The ONE Question Cleaning Business Owners Should NEVER Ask Their Prospects! you’ll hear exactly WHAT question we asked and why it probably cost us an account. Then, Dan will explain what questions you can ask instead when you’re trying to land a new account for your cleaning company – and why they work so much better!

Thanks for watching our video – The ONE Question Cleaning Business Owners Should NEVER Ask Their Prospects! But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Getting ‘Flak’ in Your Cleaning Business? You May Be ON TARGET! you’ll hear why it’s important to communicate, train and listen to your people, but why it’s also so important to be strong when it comes time to make changes designed to improve your cleaning business – for you, your employees and customers.

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Yes, but first, let me tell you a story….

Years ago, by accident, Tony and I began to provide consumable restroom supplies, like toilet paper and hand towels, for a few of our building owners and property managers, and only because, they literally told us we had to.

That’s right! They said they didn’t want to “mess with” it anymore – too much of a hassle – and inconvenience.

Oh, lucky us; more work…we thought.

So we took an inventory of what kind of supplies they needed i.e. kitchen roll towels, hand soap, toilet tissue, trash can liners, feminine hygiene items, toilet seat covers, etc.

And at first, it was a pain.

We took over this new responsibility for our clients but basically just passed along the supply items to our customers at our cost, or just a little over.

Then one day we realized how much real value we were actually bringing to the customers of our janitorial company by handling this hassle – that they didn’t want to have to deal with.

That’s right, when we really looked at everything that went into handling the supplies, we were amazed:

-We had to keep the supply closet clean and organized plus, watch the inventory level, or count, of each item.

-We had to track the rate of use, to know when to order, to keep supplies on hand, without getting overloaded.

-We had to contact the distributor to order the supplies.

-We had to take delivery, and then make a trip to the account to unload each box, stock the shelves, and get rid of the cardboard etc.

-We had to take care of the paperwork and accounting from generating a purchase order and matching the packing slip to paying the jansan distributor, and then charging our customer.

Here’s the thing:

When it finally occurred to us how much work, and hassle, went in to this process – it quickly became clear that we needed to charge something more for handling these poly/paper, consumable type cleaning supplies.

So, we increased the mark up on each item we sold to the customers of our cleaning company to cover all of these costs- and allow for a small, but tidy, profit!

It wasn’t a jackpot of profit on each item, but right away it was started to add up!

Note: We simply itemized or listed these supply items separately on their regular monthly bill.

Well, there’s more to this story.

From then on, we began to ask every new customer if they would like us to take care of the poly/paper supplies for them.

And many started to say, YES!

Well, to our surprise – some of the janitorial accounts we landed really went through a lot of these restroom supplies. They had lots of employees, using lots of toilet tissue and hand towels.

And it was a good deal for our customers too, because, in addition to saving them all the time and hassle, we also began to get better pricing from our Jan San suppliers because of the increasing size of our orders.

WIN-WIN!

Eventually, we were ordering so much we were able to arrange for our distributor to deliver the supplies directly to our customers for us… with little, or no cost!!

Well, the end of the story is this:

We not only improved the monthly profit at the accounts where we provided these consumable poly/paper supplies, there were actually times we made as much on supplies – as we did in profit on the cleaning!

So there it is, one question that can JUMP START your profits:

“Would you like us to take care of tracking, ordering and stocking your consumable supplies for you?

Lesson:
In an ultra-competitive market, like commercial office-cleaning; being able to keep your monthly general cleaning price tight, by having other sources of monthly income, like handling the consumable poly/paper products – can be smart customer service as well as PROFITABLE!

One idea may not make you an overnight cleaning business millionaire, but a number of good ideas, like this one, can make you one -quicker than you think.

Shooting straight with building owners and property managers about what is, and sometimes, more importantly, what isn’t possible, is a better approach than mindlessly agreeing to any request thrown at you.

Now, I expect some may feel following this advice of saying ‘NO’ now and then to a prospective customer is reckless at best, and at worst, a virtual fast track to sales disaster!

I understand.

I felt the same way in the early years of starting our commercial cleaning company – when I was so nervous and yes, desperate to land new accounts – I probably would have said yes to nearly anything no matter how ridiculous.

But, that was then, and this is now!

And now, I know better. And hopefully, you’ll know better, a lot earlier in the game than it took me.

You see, now I know, that if I provide quality cleaning services to my customers, then, not only am I allowed to have limits to what we offer, but most prospects won’t mind that I have limits as long as those limits are reasonable…

and, I explain why they’re important!

In fact, when you explain the reasons behind your decisions (the WHY), you can actually increase your credibility with building owners and managers.

Doesn’t that make sense? Think about it.

If during the selling process, the cleaning contractor says “YES” to everything, it can begin to send the same unsettling message as when you’re interviewing applicants for a job…

and the applicant quickly snaps with “No problem!” to every-single-one of your questions. Don’t you actually begin to have your doubts about them?

I know I do. I mean, really, how can everything be “No problem!”

Wouldn’t you, in fact, select the cleaning applicant who answers your questions honestly and thoughtfully, even though it may mean they don’t always necessarily agree with you about everything.

You want the ‘real deal’. Your janitorial business prospects do too!

And the real deal is someone who is accommodating, while still having the confidence in themselves to occasionally say ‘no’ to some requests – some of the time.

Let me finish up with a quick story …

Not long ago, I was working on a cleaning program for a company in an industrial business park.

It was going well. The level of service was just what they wanted. They were convinced of our ability to take care of them, and we had worked out the numbers too.

But then, they called back just prior to giving us the go ahead, with one last request – to see if we’d clean them during the day – specifically between 2 PM – 4:30 PM.

Well, I had to say ‘No’ – it just didn’t fit into our plan for consistently delivering service and maintaining quality.

So, after I respectfully said ‘no’, I took the time to explain that..’I wished we could provide our cleaning services during every possible shift, but that we simply couldn’t.’

I went on to explain that we’ve been able to grow because our customers can count on us to show up, deliver a quality service, and check our work – every time!

‘To do that’, I continued, ‘we need to have our managers and supervisors be active in training our people and inspecting our work. And,for us, those managers and supervisors are scheduled in the evening starting at 5 PM.’

‘While I hate to say no, I’d rather respectfully do it now, and explain the reasons why, than let them down later.‘

So what happened? What’s the end of the story?

You guessed it…. we got the account!

Prospects are always “sizing you up”, “checking you out” to see if you’re the real deal.

And, what is it? Ok, well, here it is… drum roll…

To stop marketing!

Now, I’ll admit when you first hear it, it’s easy to think…”That’s no big deal!” or “Don’t worry, I’ll never do that!”

But it’s not necessarily that easy. Let me tell you a quick story…

There was a time, years ago, when for a while things were going pretty well. It seemed like we had enough accounts, and we were finally making pretty good money to boot.

We felt pretty satisfied. We let out a much-needed sigh of relief – Ahhhhhhh…

That’s right – we told ourselves it was OK to slow down, and stop our marketing efforts for a little while. Why not? We were already “busy” and it would give us time to get “caught up” on “loose ends” – we told ourselves.

You guessed it -big mistake!

Suddenly, we lost 3 accounts! And it all happened in just a couple of weeks; As I recall, one – was going to move, another, a BIG account for us- was going to start having a couple of their own employees take care of the cleaning, and I can’t remember what the deal was at the 3rd.

Thud! Ouch!

Losing one of our accounts would have hurt… but all three really stung! So we scrambled!

I remember being so shook up that I immediately went out cold calling, of all things, up and down the major industrial roads, racing to get more business to replace the ones we lost.

It was scary, I hated it and I vowed to never let it happen again.

The good news, it doesn’t have to happen to you … if you make up your mind to never pull the plug and completely stop marketing – ever again.

That’s right, on-going marketing is the KEY!

An ongoing, series of sequential marketing pieces delivering your most powerful service messages consistently to your prospects can insulate you from having to face the fear and desperation that comes with not having a steady flow of new business.

Before you’re done watching this video episode Getting ‘Flak’ in Your Cleaning Business? You May Be ON TARGET! you’ll hear why it’s important to communicate, train and listen to your people, but why it’s also so important to be strong and ‘stick to your guns’ when it comes time to make changes designed to make things better for you, your employees and customers.

Thanks for watching our video – Getting ‘Flak’ in Your Cleaning Business? You May Be ON TARGET! But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Make Some Time for ‘Business Talk’ you’ll learn why today’s technology makes it easier than ever to improve our janitorial businesses by ‘talking’ to other vendors, manufacturers and cleaning contractors!

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

So, how do we do that?

Well, there are various ways. Here are two of the best:

First, Testimonials. The actual endorsement of real customers is hands down -hard to beat! To be able to include the positive comments of a current customer about your work is powerful.

For example, Mr. Joe Smith from Acme Widget Company says, ‘ABC Cleaning Company always keeps our offices in tip top shape. We’ve been using them for 2 ½ yrs. Their staff is reliable -we would recommend them to anyone looking for quality cleaning!’

Second, Visual Proof. Another way to create believability is visual proof. An actual photo showing the amazing results of a recent carpet or tile project can do wonders to win over your prospect.

Remember: What others say about you (testimonials) is usually much more important to your prospect – than anything you could ever say about yourself!

Same thing goes for before and after photos (visual proof). Taking the time to take before and after photos of your work can be a powerful selling tool. As the saying goes “a picture is worth, well, you know the rest!”

NOTE: In all cases, whether testimonials or photos – be sure to get written permission in advance from your customer to collect and then use them in your marketing.

It’s not always easy to do, but it’s important. So, let’s take a closer look…

In fact, let’s start with one of the examples we had last week.

If you recall, the prospect was tired of having to act as a ‘supervisor’ for the cleaning company – handling day-to-day issues and complaints, that frankly, the cleaning company should have handled.

So, now that we understand the problem… HOW do we tie it to a plan?

Let’s try this out..

“Mr. Jones, I want to take just a minute to show you HOW we attack that problem so you don’t end up having to take care of day to day nuisances about cleaning.

“First, before we assign someone to your building – we make sure they’re fully screen them and have received both classroom and on the job training.

Second, each cleaning associate gets an update each night from the on-site leader on the PLAN for the evening including – such things as the details that need to be completed that night.

Third, we run an on-going series of quality control measures including having a nightly building check list completed and faxed to our account manager by the on-site leader, a weekly inspection by the area manager, and monthly report to you from our
customer service manager.”

I want to let you know the exact PLAN we use to stay ahead of problems – so they don’t end up in your lap.”

Now, how do you think your prospect, or really anyone, feels about an explanation like that – one that has a detailed PLAN to get them what they want?

Great, right? Absolutely!

So, if you’ve worked hard to create a company that delivers quality cleaning, be sure to let your prospects know you “GET IT” and then take the EXTRA step of ‘TYING IT TO A PLAN’!

Then, when other cleaning companies start ‘scratching their heads’ wondering how you land so many accounts… you’ll know why!

What are ‘hi-octane’ headlines? Well, let’s first say what they’re not.

Hi-octane headlines are not lies, half truths or outlandish promises meant only to shock the reader. For example, here’s what were NOT talking about:

‘Call WE’RE PERFECT CLEANING CO., where we promise to do every thing perfect every night, guaranteed, or you’ll get triple your money back!’

Simply promising the moon in your headline to get the attention of your prospect doesn’t work – your prospects know better, and so do you.

So what does work?

Well, let’s look at a famous headline that provides a good example of a Hi-Octane Headline:

Can you remember Domino Pizza’s guarantee from years ago- “Fresh, Hot Pizza… delivered in 30 minutes or less, or it’s FREE!”

This headline, this guarantee, was incredibly successful for Domino’s and shows what does work in headlines for ads, especially for ads in the service industry.

And, what made that headline so powerful? Could it be this…

It made a bold and measurable guarantee of performance. Let’s take a look.

What kind of pizza? Fresh and hot

When? In 30 minutes or less

or, What? It’s FREE

What might a similar approach in the cleaning business look like? Well, how about this:

“Need a cleaning service that can respond quickly to your problem, question or special request?”

We’re ABC Cleaning Company, your local, professional, full-service cleaning contractor, and we’re so confident we can deliver unparalleled customer service to you – we make the following guarantee:

Our Customer Service: Response Time Guarantee
1. You will receive a call back to any service request within 1 hour!
2. You will receive a service response to any request within 24 hrs! *
*exception: floor maintenance projects needing to be pre-scheduled

NOW how different is that! Powerful, huh?

Before you’re done watching this video episode Make Some Time for ‘Cleaning Business’ Talk you’ll hear why today’s technology makes it easier than ever to improve our janitorial businesses by ‘talking’ to other vendors, manufacturers and cleaning contractors!

Summary:
Thanks for watching our video – Make Some Time for ‘Cleaning Business’ Talk But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Nothing’s a Problem Until It’s a Problem – THEN, It’s a Problem! you’ll learn a few simple things you should do now rather than ‘drag your heels’ – and end up ‘kicking yourself’ later for landing in a mess – you could have easily avoided!

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

And, a great place to start is to see how FEATURES of your cleaning service can provide clear and desirable BENEFITS to your prospect.

Start by using some 3 x 5 index cards to jot down all the features of your service.

Heres’ just one example:

1. Proven track record of satisfied clients; with a list of current references.

Then jot down the important part to the prospective customer – that’s right, the corresponding BENEFIT they prospect could receive from each FEATURE.

For example:The confidence of knowing they’re dealing with a proven company.

Let’s do a couple more…

Feature:
2. Fully trained associates; using both classroom and on the job training.

Benefit:
2. The pride they’ll feel when tenants, or better yet, his boss, ask him how he found such a great a cleaning company that does such a wonderful job!

Ok, here’s another example…

Feature:
3. Full service provider offering other cleaning services, i.e. tile maintenance.

Benefit:
3.The convenience of being able to easily take care of extra jobs like carpet cleaning, on request, by calling you; that’s right – one-stop shopping!

Alright, one more…

Feature:
4. Staff certified in safety requirements.

Benefit:
4. The peace of mind of knowing your staff has necessary safety training!

Now, how do we put these features and benefits into our marketing piece?

Let’s look at an example.

One feature of your company may be that in addition to standard office cleaning, you offer other special services like carpet care & tile maintenance.

You may describe this feature and related benefit, to your customer in your sales letter as follows:

“Got VIPs coming with short notice? Don’t worry!
Any time you need your tile stripped & refinished, or your carpet cleaned, you can sit back and relax, make one quick-call to us, and watch as we promptly have our fully trained & certified floor techs use their 5+ years of hands-on experience handle every detail.
The 1st class results are 100% guaranteed to make you SMILE!”

Can you see how powerful this process of identifying features and describing the related benefits to your prospect can really be!

Take some time to identify as many features of your service as you can, as well as, the benefits they bring to your client.

Your Attitude, Your Professionalism, Your Thoroughness, Your Attention To Detail.

All that’s true, no doubt about it.

But today, I want to point out one thing you can do to move beyond a good presentation to what makes a REALLY great presentation.

Here’s the first part…

You have to absolutely, without fail, make sure your prospect knows that…‘You Get It!’

That’s it, they have to know that you clearly understand their cleaning problems, how they feel about it, what they want fixed, … everything!

It’s tempting for a cleaning contractor to think he or she has made a good presentation if they simply and politely deliver a professional looking proposal, review the various parts of the bid…and answers any questions the prospect may have.

That may be enough for most people, but it shouldn’t be enough for someone who wants to be the best – like you and me!

And it certainly isn’t enough for any of the really great salespeople. No, not only is it not enough, it’s actually just the beginning.

That’s right, the real pros know that their job is much more than simply being the delivery man for the bid.
They know it’s their job to let that prospect know – they GET IT.

And how do they do that?

By listening and explaining, and then listening and explaining some more until the two of you… your prospect and you both KNOW you’re on exactly the ‘same page’.

Let’s take a look at what that would look like:

“Mr. Jones, I once had a prospective customer tell me “He felt like he should be on the cleaning company’s payroll… because he felt forced to practically act as the onsite cleaning supervisor!”

I think I heard you saying something similar when you mentioned that with the new projects you’re in the middle of you won’t have time to be dealing with cleaning issues on a daily basis.

Am I understanding that right?”

or

“In our first meeting, you made a brief comment about two problems you were having.

1. Smear marks on the walls in the restrooms from mopping, as well as…

2. Areas of the building where the tile wasn’t as shiny as you’d like to see.

So, when I went through to measure the building I noted bathrooms where I spotted the smear marks you were talking about, as well as, three areas where I did see the uneven appearance and shine of the tile.”

Now, by the way, in the second example regarding the smear marks and dull tile appearance, I am NOT talking about putting down the current cleaning company.

Not at all. We don’t need to tear down the competition in an attempt to make us look better. You don’t want or need to play that game.

What I’m talking about is something different.

Instead, I am trying to give you a couple practical examples of how you can take your presentation to the “next level” by showing your clear knowledge of:

-Their history and experience with cleaning companies
-Their challenges, complaints and issues with cleaning companies
-What they would like the relationship with their cleaning company to look like
-What they need to be done different this time
-The list goes can go on and on…

Again, when it’s all said and done, they need to know that “You Get It”. And that’s the guy they will most likely want cleaning their building.

No doubt about it, it takes more effort to carefully listen, and then structure a presentation in such as way that the customer realizes you, maybe more
than anyone else, paid close attention to what they are looking for.

But the rewards that come in the form of new sales make it well worth the extra effort!

This week, let’s talk about what messages we should be sending when we contact them by calling or by sending them a sales letter, brochure or post card etc.

To do that – let’s back up just for a second.

What do you or I look for when we hire a service tech – plumber or electrician etc?

Well, of course, credibility and believability. Isn’t that right?

First, is the service person credible? Are they trained? Certified? Insured? Licensed? Are they experienced?

Those are some of the things we look for to see if we think they are qualified to handle the job; in other words credibility!

But, credibility is just the beginning. It’s NOT the only thing we look for – not by a long shot.

The second thing we ask ourselves is, ‘Is the service person believable?’

We want real stories from real people! Proof. Testimonials. Isn’t that right?

We want to hear, or read, about real-life experiences from others who have done business with that service person or service company.

That’s one of the biggest ways we decide if they’re BELIEVABLE.

Summary: What do we want to send?

Well, it should be something showing our company is both credible and believable.

Important Note #1:
Have you ever noticed, how every building owner or property manager seems to have a horror story about a cleaning company.

Why do I mention this?

Well, because based on these negative experiences -proving our credibility and believability may possibly be even MORE important than in other types of service businesses.

Important Note #2
In our line of work, we often have a high level of unsupervised access to nearly all areas of a customer’s building. In fact, in many cases, we’re the only service provider trusted to operate alone in the building – after hours!

It’s another important reason why – proving our credibility and believability is so important to our prospects!!

Before you’re done watching this video episode Nothing’s a Problem Until It’s a Problem – THEN, It’s a Problem! you’ll learn a few simple things you should do now rather than ‘drag your heels’ – and end up ‘kicking yourself’ later for landing in a mess you could have easily avoided!

Summary:
Thanks for watching our video – Nothing’s a Problem Until It’s a Problem – THEN, It’s a Problem! But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Why I’m SICK of National Cleaning Management Companies! Where you’ll hear not only WHY Dan is sick of ‘em, but WHAT you can do to beat ‘em NOW.

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Specifically, you want to get your company info. i.e. sales letter, brochures etc. into your prospect’s hands and then into their file – the one they keep in their office about cleaning.

Oh, and I’m not talking about sneaking into their office in the middle of the night to do it. (Hint; sending a great direct response sales letter by mail will do just fine… more about that later.)

So why is it so useful to get in to their file anyway?

Well, over the years, we’ve discovered something very interesting about the person in charge of hiring the cleaning company.

It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s an office manager, maintenance supervisor, facilities manager or President of the company…even in a world of online ‘search’ – many of them still keep a physical file in their office labeled CLEANING or JANITORIAL SERVICE.

But why in the world would we want to have our company info just sitting in an old fashioned file drawer gathering dust?

Simple.

Because it’s THAT file many of them pull out when they get ready to change contractors.

And it is THAT file where they put the brochures, business cards and sales letters of the cleaning companies they will choose from.

But don’t we want to get hired now, not later?

Sure, we all love it when we send a sales letter, or make a call, and almost immediately get an interested prospect.

It sometimes happens. And when it does, it’s great!

But our experience is many times, maybe… 9 out of 10 times a prospect isn’t ready to change services right away. They may want to in the future, maybe even soon, but not just yet.

So, we want them to remember us, and think of us, as the next company they will turn to when that time comes. (NEXT? Sound familiar?)

Getting our company in their mind, and in that file, is one great way to do just that!

The kind of clues, that if we learn to look for, listen for and react to in the right way can dramatically improve our chances of success during the a walk through, or really during any visit, with our prospect.

So, let’s get to it, what are these clues? What do they look like? Well, let’s look at a few examples.

If when your prospect comes out to the lobby to get you, rather than take you to back to their office to sit down to talk about the cleaning, they explain to you that they “really have a lot going on”, but you’re “free to walk around to take a look if you want” – It’s a clue.

If you notice they’re talking short and fast, seem distracted and stressed out, and seemed to be rushing you, constantly checking their watch – That’s a clue too.

Now, if on the other hand, they take their time to walk you back to their office, seem willing to “visit” a little, and are in no particular hurry. You get the idea, – that’s a clue as well.

I’m sure you get the point by now. And it probably seems so obvious it may hardly even need to be said, but let’s spell it out anyway:

If your prospect is in a hurry, don’t ignore it – pretending it doesn’t matter. It does.

In the same way, if your prospect wants to get to know you a little bit, and seems to want to “visit” a while at first, well, to snub your nose, and plow right on to business issues can also be a recipe for disaster.

Instead, when you spot these “clues” of how a prospect wants to proceed – deal with them the right way.

For example, if the clues indicate that the prospects is
pressured on the morning you arrive, you might explain that you can see they’re in a hurry.

Then consider suggesting a way to make things a little easier,such as: “If you only have the time to give me a “quick tour”, I’ll “take care of things from there” by gathering all the measurements…on my own….

Then offer to get back to them later to set up a follow up appointment at a convenient time to go over everything.

Now, on the other hand, if you realize you’re prospect is taking a minute to “sit back” in their chair, trying to make small talk with you, then for heaven’s sake, “visit” a while.

You get the idea.

It’s understandable, though, how we can sometimes miss these “clues”.

When you’re nervous, it’s easy to get your mind set on simply plowing through every thing you want to say as fast as you can, and the heck with whatever else is going on around you.

But, you might want to take a deep breath, and think twice about doing that.

Instead, be on the look out for how your prospect is doing, and then to react in a way that shows you understand what they’re going through.

It shows you’re willing to listen to them, respect them, and adjust your style to fit their needs.

Remember, companies don’t buy cleaning – people do.

And, to go a step further, those people don’t really buy
cleaning – they buy YOU, the person selling the cleaning.

So, take a minute to watch for the clues. It shows you are the kind of person they might like to buy cleaning from today…and tomorrow.

You make S.M.A.R.T calls.

What’s that?

Well, “SMART” calls are phone calls that help you learn specific facts about every prospect on your list.

Here’s what a SMART call is all about:

S – Speak calmly & explain why you’re calling.

M – Make updates and changes to basic info like company name, address and phone number.

A – Ask for the NAME of the person in charge of hiring the cleaning company- the decision
maker. And, YES, spelling counts!

R – Remember to listen for other info they mention like how often they are being cleaned now, who’s doing it, and when.

T – Thanks -”Thanks, that’s all I needed!”

Now, here’s how a SMART call might sound:

***ring, ring, ring

Them: Hello, Acme Manufacturing, How can I direct your call.

You: Oh, yes, thank you, this is John Smith from ABC Cleaning, and I’m trying to send a brochure to the person there at Acme Mfg., who would be in charge of hiring the office-cleaning, janitorial company …who do you think I should send that to?

Them: Oh, I don’t know for sure, but probably Ted Stevens the Plant Manager. But, I know, they already have a service that comes in three nights a week.

You: Oh, no problem, that’s fine, I just want to send a brochure to him he might like to keep in his files. I see you’ve changed your name to Acme Manufacturing?

Them: Yes, it use to be Acme Widgets.

You: Right, and are you still on Opportunity Drive?

Them: Yes.

You: Ok, great, that’s all I needed; Thanks for your help!

NOW, LOOK what you’ve learned:

1. Their NEW company name,

2. That they already have a cleaning contractor – so you know they use contract cleaning, rather than doing it in-house.

3. That the cleaning is done at night.

4. That the cleaning is done 3x/ week.

5. The name of the decision maker!

Bottom line – you’ve learned a lot! Now, you can target your marketing campaign to the right person!!

And that’s it, unless:

-You’re happen to be talking directly to the actual decision maker, in which case, you might say, “Well that’s all I needed; I’ll be sure you get our brochure, unless you’d like a free estimate now.”

or

You’re speaking to the receptionist And he/she mentions that she knows that they are unhappy with their cleaning, and offers to put you right through to the decision maker.

Remember:

-Keep your SMART calls slow and easy; you don’t have to worry about hard-selling anybody. If you keep it “no-pressure”, so will the person on the other end of the phone.

-SMART calls are the way to get your target list of prospects ready to mail for maximum results!

-And SMART calls save you tons of time and money by getting your message to the right person the first time!

Before you’re done watching this video episode Why I’m SICK of National Cleaning Management Companies! you’ll learn what you can do to beat these low balling characters without having to lower your price!

Thanks for watching our video – Why I’m SICK of National Cleaning Management Companies! But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: What a Junk Removal Business Can Teach a Cleaning Business where you’ll learn about a dramatic formulae for reinventing a service business, like cleaning. Could yours be next?

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

It’s an important question.

And the answer is… well, both.

But in our strategy, we do each for very different reasons.

Call?

Yes, we suggest calling, but primarily to identify the name of the person who is the decision maker; the one who hires the cleaning contractor.

In general, we don’t SELL on initial phone calls, we IDENTIFY.

We find the target.

Why?

Well, personal calling sounds great, at first. And when it occasionally works, it’s exciting. But our experience tells us, that it’s generally too time consuming, expensive and ineffective.

Some of the problems include:

It’s often hard, if not impossible, to catch people in. Most, if not nearly all the time, your call is screened, or put through to voice mail.

What else?

Well, many business people are so busy, or stressed out, you can sense it right away; they may feel suspicious, or put-off by your sales pitch.

Remember, while people do like to buy, they don’t like to be sold! So, we don’t want to hound after them; we want to attract them to us!

Also, the painful rejection of cold calling makes it hard, if not impossible, to stick to a strict discipline of scheduled calls.

Now, to be fair, we do make a few exceptions to this no-telemarketing rule:

when during the initial survey call, we call it a “SMART” call, the person comes right out, says they’re interested, and asks for a bid – right on the spot,

or when the call is simply one step, in a long series of scheduled steps, in a marketing sequence. But these exceptions, are mostly that, exceptions.

So what about SEND?

Yes, we strongly do suggest sending regular mailings i.e.sales letters, brochures, mailers, reports, etc. to your prospects as a great strategy to GROW!

We recommend regular scheduled mailings – not a one time. Not a mailing only because things are slow.

Nope, we suggest regular mailings.

The magnetic marketing POWER comes from marketing messages going out on a scheduled basis.

That’s what keeps our prospects thinking about us – giving them a series of powerful sales letters and marketing pieces that attracts the to us and to calls them to take action.

NOW, that’s a strategy to grow every month; not just this month!

but the main reason you’re there is to find out
what the prospective customer WANTS.

Think about it.

You’re there to ask the questions ranging from basic things such as “How often do you need cleaning?” and “When can we get access to the building to clean”….

to more in-depth ones such as “What cleaning problems have you had in the past you WANT fixed” and “What do you really WANT from a cleaning service?”

Simply put, you’re trying to learn what they WANT.

And the more you ask, the better off you’ll be as long as you do one thing – listen to the answer.

Carefully listen.

Ask follow up questions – to learn even more about their answer, and the possible reasons behind it.

Listening to the full answer and asking follow up questions to learn the WHY behind their answers, will help you learn what this person and their company, is really looking for.

And that is why you’re there.

Because, it’s in learning what they WANT that you can begin to create a custom cleaning program that fits what they WANT best!

Here’s the tricky part.

You may think you know what they NEED!

That’s an easy trap to fall into. You’re experienced. You’re knowledgeable…probably more than they are when it comes to cleaning.

It’s tempting to fall into the “I know what’s best for you.” or “I know what you NEED.” syndrome.

Be careful.

Frankly, trying to convince prospects to buy what you think they NEED, rather than what they WANT, is a recipe for disaster.

The old saying that there’s a lot of struggling salesmen trying to sell what they think people NEED rather than what the customer WANTS – still rings true!

Now, if what a customer WANTS isn’t what you offer, isn’t what you’d like to offer, or isn’t what you’d be proud to offer, then, for crying out loud, don’t do it.

You can’t, and shouldn’t try to be everything to everybody.

For example, if someone wants you to clean their office during the day, one time every other week, and cares only about getting the lowest price possible… well, I don’t know about you, but our philosophy always was – we’re not the ‘right guys’ for them!

You don’t need to offer every possible type of cleaning, during every possible time of the day or night, and, last but not least; no account in the world is worth losing your reputation over.

However, if you do take the time to learn what the customer really WANTS, many times you’ll find you have an opportunity to create a custom program that really “hits the nail on the head!”

And when you do that, you take a big step forward in separating your company from your competition’s ‘one size fits all’ approach.

Answer: We suggest you make some kind of contact with them no less than every six weeks!

Let me quickly explain.

Last time, we left off talking about the importance of positioning your company as the next solution to your prospect’s cleaning problems.

Today, let’s talk about how. And, again, the basic strategy is this:

Make some contact with your prospect about every six weeks.

It can take many forms such as sale letters, marketing mailers,special reports, or a brochures.
But, the point is to get something about your company in front of your prospect about EVERY (6) SIX WEEKS.

Why six weeks?

Well, because every six weeks comes across as a gentle reminder; not so often to be seen as a nuisance, and not too little for you to be easily forgotten.

Like the “baby bear said about the porridge”, we find about every six weeks is “just right”!

Interestingly, it has been suggested by many marketing experts that very often you need to make ‘marketing contact’ with your prospect a minimum of 7 times, or more, before you get a response.

But don’t feel overwhelmed by this.

You can make your “marketing contact” part of an automated sequential system that ‘remembers’ for you!

We’ll explain all about how this can work for you in the weeks to come.

Before you’re done watching this video episode What a Junk Removal Business Can Teach a Cleaning Business, you’ll learn about a dramatic formula for reinventing a service business. Could yours be next?

Thanks for watching our video – What a Junk Removal Business – Can Teach a Cleaning Business! But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Risk Reversal – How To Use It in Your Cleaning Business! where you’ll learn why some prospects simply won’t ‘take the plunge’ and hire your janitorial business even though you’ve agreed on basically everything from duties to price – and what you can do about it.

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Well, if you want to grow like crazy in the cleaning biz, here’s a secret:

Aim to be NEXT! Not second, but NEXT!

Next in line. Next in the mind of your prospect. The next one to get the account.

If your prospect is looking at switching cleaning services for whatever reasons, you want to be the NEXT cleaning company they’d give a shot at their building.

Cleaning is a “funny” business.

It’s a daily challenge for the owner of any cleaning business to make sure everything goes smooth – in every building-every night.

Don’t miss a trash. Don’t forget to lock a door. And of course, hope they like, or at least get along with, the latest cleaning person you put on the account.

It’s a lot that has to go right.

You try hard to make everything go smoothly – so the customer doesn’t get upset and decide to take his business elsewhere.

In a business, like cleaning, where so much can wrong, if a company isn’t ‘on their toes’, at all the times, it can often be just a matter of time before problems boil over and suddenly, the
building manager takes steps to make a change.

So what can you do? Well, here’s one thing:

Find a way to take advantage of the often fragile, sometimes unpredictable, nature of cleaning, by how your position your company.

You want to position your company as THE cleaning company the prospect would consider the NEXT time they look to make any change.

You want to be “waiting in the wings”; You want to be next in line.

Like the baseball coach, that walks to the mound, and touches his left or right arm to make a pitching change… you want your prospect to pick up his phone and automatically call YOU!

Now what?

Well, of course, when your contact comes to the lobby, be ready to meet him or her with a pleasant smile, warm handshake, and professional and positive attitude.

Those things seem obvious.

But here’s a tip to remember when you’re waiting to greet your contact, that’s maybe not so obvious:

Don’t sit down.

That’s right, don’t sit down – at least not in the lobby!

Let me explain by sharing an embarrassing story that
yes, actually happened, to me.

You see, years ago, when we were just getting started, I went out to do a walkthrough. So far, things were going fine.

At least, they were up to the point when the receptionist started by explaining that my contact would be out in just a minute, and then finished by saying those three infamous words, “Have a seat!”

So, I did.

Big mistake.

Yeah, you see the problem was, when I went over to sit down, the only place available was – a big, soft, thick, modern sofa…

And so, as soon as I began to lower myself into the sofa…I sank down so far and so fast, that the cushions literally “ballooned” up around me…like a car air bag!

I felt like I was was literally sitting on the floor with those soft air-filled pillow cushions enveloping me from all sides.

Oh, yeah, it gets better.

So, as my contact comes through the door and into the lobby to get me…I’m frantically leaning forward and helplessly flailing my arms reaching for anything to help me get up and escape this “quicksand” piece of furniture, they call a lobby sofa.

Nice scene, huh?

And, of course, this whole sofa “fiasco” is happening just as I’m about to meet my contact for our walkthrough. Nice “first impression”?!

Actually, in went fine. If nothing else, you learn to have a sense of humor.

Now, I can’t remember, if I eventually landed that account or not, but, I do remember promising myself to NOT let this happen to me ever again.

That’s right, I haven’t sat down in a lobby waiting for my contact now for over 15 years.

Call me silly or superstitious. Whatever.

At least, I know, when my contact comes through that lobby door — I’m ready!

And if you have any questions, you know where to find me, I’ll be the one… standing in the lobby.

They do, and quickly answer together, “Aim small, miss small!”

They knew if they wanted to improve their chances of hitting the target, they needed to narrow down their view, and focus their attention.

Same thing is true for hitting any target.

We’ve already touched on this before, when we talked about the importance of deciding which kind of accounts you want to clean, your niche, and which you don’t.

Today, we want to look at creating a very select group, or list, of highly targeted prospect companies – ones that have as many of the characteristics you’re looking for as possible.

Your target list may consist of 50, 500 or more prospective buildings, a lot depends on the kind of accounts you want.

For example, if you’re going after post-construction clean-up work within 50 miles of your office, you may to have a small list of say, only 25 general contractors – who you want to direct the focus of your your marketing efforts towards.

If your looking to do residential, home cleaning, you may have hundreds or even a thousand or more homes that fall into your targeted service area with the demographics you’re looking for.

As we’ve mentioned, our niche was providing general office cleaning and related services, three to five night per week in the early evening to professional, industrial, and manufacturing facilities
within 50 miles of our office.

We worked on narrowing down our list as much as possible!

We determined our very best accounts would be professional, industrial and manufacturing companies that had between 25-150 employees.

Why 25 -150 employees?

Because those were the companies that generally had enough employees to warrant hiring a cleaning service… but not so many they handled the cleaning themselves using their own in-house staff.

Interestingly, a lot has changed in recent years.

Now, with the increased trend towards outsourcing…even companies with 250 or more employees became good prospects for us.

Anyway, back to the story;

We used a business database company to find out who met our guidelines and came up with a list of about 375 companies that “fit the bill”.

That was our target -the companies we would direct our marketing efforts towards.

You can do the same thing.

Find out who your absolutely best accounts would be, and make a targeted list of them.

Soon, we’ll explain what to do next, once you have your target list. For now, remember… Aim Small – Miss Small.

Before you’re done watching this video episode Risk Reversal – How To Use It in Your Cleaning Business!, you’ll learn what keeps some prospects from buying and what you can do about it.

Thanks for watching our video – Risk Reversal – How To Use It in Your Cleaning Business! But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Don’t Forget To Wear Your MARKETING Glasses! where you’ll learn how to avoid falling into the trap so many janitorial business owners do – of missing out on all the marketing ‘mileage’ they could have gotten out of a new idea for a feature or service to offer their clients.

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Today, let’s talk about big jobs vs. small jobs.

Let me tell you a story…

For a long time, we were afraid to take on bigger customers. We got use to cleaning places for $250 to $500/month.

1. The profit margin on the jobs was good
2. We knew how to take care of them, and
3. We were happy just trying to get as many of them as we could.

We thought by getting a lot of these smaller accounts, at least all of our eggs weren’t in one basket. And there was some truth in that.

Frankly, there were lots of jobs in that price range, and we were glad to simply get as many of them as we could!

But, after a while, we began to realize that starting a bigger job, say large $1,500- 4,500/ mo. job was not much more trouble than starting a smaller $250/mo.- $500 job.

By the way, does this sound familiar?

It should, because it’s similar to last time, when we talked about how it takes about the same amount of effort to start up a one-time – as it does a 5 night per week regular account.

Anyway, back to our big job vs. small job story, where Tony and I discovered that managing a bigger job, is not much more trouble than managing a smaller one.

Eventually, we began to understand that while the profit percentage (%) on the smaller job was usually much higher than the bigger one, the total profit dollars ($) coming in from the bigger account was usually greater, and, well worth any additional work.

In fact, to our surprise, sometimes it was easier to manage the larger account.

Why? Well, really several reasons:

1. Bigger jobs allowed us to offer “better”, more stable jobs.

For example, we might be able to give two people 3½ hours of cleaning three nights per week, at a big job, vs.just one person, a couple hours, once or twice a week, at the smaller job.

And for us, jobs with too few hours or too few days were hard to keep filled. Maybe, you’ve noticed the same thing.

So, with better jobs to offer our staff, our turnover was generally lower at the bigger accounts.

Plus, of course, keeping turnover down helps keep quality UP!

Nothing can wreak havoc on how a building looks more, than to have new people coming and going all the time. And while the quality goes down, the training costs and employee problems go up, up, up!

So, look at ‘casting your marketing net’ a little deeper to where the bigger ‘fish’ swim.

The bigger “‘fish’ may be just about as easy to catch, while giving you a whole lot more to eat.

Today, let’s discuss another important key to success – once you’re past the doors and standing in the lobby.

That’s right, first, comes the receptionist.

How you treat the receptionist tells a lot about you,
sets the tone of the walk-through, and may even
determine whether you get the job!

Don’t believe me? Think about this for a minute.

What means more to the prospect,

1. “What you say about yourself” or

2. “What others say about you”?

That’s right, we’ve talked about this before, when we were discussing the value of testimonials.

Often, the answer is, “What others say about you” because first hand “reports” about you are more believable.

So, let’s get back to the receptionist. Let me ask you this:

Have you ever noticed when your contact walks you out to the lobby, when your appointment is done and you’re about to leave -

WHO is there right next to the contact as you walk out the door?

The receptionist! Right?

Yes, that same receptionist you spoke with just 30 minutes or an hour ago.

And if you don’t think the receptionist and the contact very often chat about you after you’re out the door… then you’re crazier than half politicians in Washington!

The truth, of course, is they often do talk about you when you walk to your car and what the receptionist says about you can make a difference.

Sometimes, it’s just a small thing, like:

Receptionist: “He seemed very nice and professional”

Contact: “Yes, I thought so too!”

If you impressed him or her with your respect and professional manner, you may have just got some FREE, but priceless PR delivered to your contact.

On the other hand, if the conversation goes more like:

Receptionist “Boy, I gotta tell you Sue, he was so rude and pushy when he first came in. I was surprised.”

Contact: “Really, thanks for telling me that” “Hmmm … we’ll see.”

So, it’s a good idea to follow the advice we hopefully all got at a very young age, “Treat everybody, the way you’d like to be treated.”

Mom was right… again!

You might want to do the same. Here’s why:

Let’s say I had the chance to pick up either a one time strip/wax job where I could make a whopping $400 profit in one night vs. a regular office cleaning contract where I only made $145 a month.

Yeah – I’d still take the regular, repeating office cleaning job – every time!

Why?

Well, every account takes work to get started. All the stuff that goes on before the job starts.

There’s arranging to see the building, getting the keys, learning the alarms, lining up people to clean etc.
But, while it varies a little, it’s in many ways, basically the same work to get ready.

The difference is in how often you get rewarded for all that up-front work.

With a one-time job, you get rewarded as the name implies, just once, while with a regular monthly customer, you get rewarded every month like clockwork.

And even though the $400 you could make on the one-time job sounds great at first, in less than 3 months, you’ll have made even more than that at the regular monthly job. ($145 x 3 = $435)

And from then on, it’s smooth sailing, as the regular job, continues to churn out profits every month, leaving the one-timejob… behind in the dust!

Oh, and one other thing to think about.

Which customer is MORE likely to ‘stiff you’ when it comes time to getting paid:

Your regular monthly customer, or the guy you just did a one-time job for?

You know who.

Before you’re done watching this video episode – Don’t Forget To Wear Your MARKETING Glasses!, you’ll learn about ‘marketing glasses’ and how pulling them out and wearing them can help you leverage nearly everything you do in your cleaning company.

Thanks for watching our video - Don’t Forget To Wear Your MARKETING Glasses! But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Should You Treat All Of Your Janitorial Customers The Same? where you’ll hear how making practical and informed decisions rather than rash or uninformed ones can be a big benefit to you and your cleaning business.

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Let me tell you a quick story,

When Tony and I first started we would do nearly any kind of cleaning, and some things that weren’t really cleaning at all.

Let’s see, we:

-stripped and waxed retail stores,

-resealed concrete in a commercial laundry,

-opened up a reception hall for weddings, and oh yeah, hooked up the pop canisters too,

-mowed the front lawn and took the trash to the curb at a small neighborhood office

So, as you can see, we were running around doing a real “hodge podge” of things.

Frankly, it wasn’t going so well.

We couldn’t seem to grow because we had our hands “full” just trying to keep up with all the different kinds of jobs we had going already.

We were running as fast as we could, like “hamsters on a wheel in a cage”; not getting anywhere, until…

We decided we’d had enough.

We made an important decision. We decided who we didn’t want to clean - at least, a list of the kinds of accounts we didn’t want to go after in the future.

Nothing less than twice per week.

No one-time only jobs.

No jobs where all we do is the floors.

Nothing where we can’t get a key to get in and out.

Nothing that can’t be started until very late at night.

No odd-ball jobs not relating to cleaning.

No more!

Those were some of the ones on our list, as I recall. Your list may be completely different but you should have a list, probably written down… but a mental list at least.

It is NOT laziness, or an unwillingness to help a potential customer.

It’s survival! You simply cannot afford to everything to everyone.

And, frankly, the sooner you decide what the rules are for doing business with you, the better.

I know that might sound harsh. This is hard to do for many of us.

We’re taught from when we’re very young to help anyone, anyway we can, anytime we can. So it’s hard to get your “head around” this idea of limiting what you’ll do for potential customers.

But you have to do it, if you ever want things to run smoothly.

You shouldn’t have to run around frantically having to change everything about your company, just so you never have to turn down a prospect – no matter what they need.

You deserve better, and frankly …so do your customers.

Put another way, just because someone says they need cleaning doesn’t automatically mean they’re the right customer for you or frankly, that you’re the right contractor for them.

Focus on a specific type of customer, and you stand your best chance at becoming a specialist at providing “their kind” of cleaning for “their kind” of building.

And then, with a new focus on a new, tighter target market, you might finally have a chance to “delight your customers” and “have a life” outside of your cleaning company.

This approach can allow you to focus your marketing and selling efforts at one, or at most, a few types of niches.

But don’t you lose out on jobs this way?

Yes, by deciding what you won’t do, you will be turning down work. It’s the price you pay for getting focused on the kind of work you want to do, so you can create the kind of life you deserve!

Don’t get me wrong.

It may take you a while to make this change over to servicing only places that fit into your new, tighter, target market – or, you may simply decide to hold onto all of your current accounts, no matter what kind they are, forever, or at least until you’re able to replace them with enough profitable ones from your NEW niche.

Plus, to be fair, we make, and have made exceptions too.

For example, even after we decided on who what kind of cleaning we wanted to avoid - we still provided early AM day porter services, clean plants, and even pick weeds for some of our clients.

BUT, and this is important, it’s one thing to agree to pick a few weeds once a month for a $2,900/mo. account, and quite another, to be mowing the lawn every week for a $165/mo. account.

AND, it’s one thing to clean artificial plants occasionally for a large 5x/ week facility for $4,700 per month., and quite another, to have to figure out how to get a floor crew to show up late at night at a small hair salon, to buff the floors 1x/ week for – $165 per trip.

You get the idea.

Ok, let’s walk-through (hehehe..I know, lame right?) some of the important keys to a successful walk- through together!

But, to be honest, this is ‘big elephant’ to eat, so let’s do it, as they say, one bite at a time.

The first key maybe the most important one of all.

And, here it is – it’s your MIND SET.

That’s right, it’s the attitude you keep before, during and after the walk-through.

I know. I know.

I hate to start with something as weird as ‘mindset’ but we gotta do it – because it affects everything else!

Bottom line: You want keep your mindset calm, open, professional, interested – a problem-solver.

And finally, we want to maintain a mind set of attracting
business to us – rather than chasing after it!

So let’s see what this kind of mind set would look like, even before the actual walk through begins.

First, we want to arrive to the building in advance, so we can be sure to walk in to the appointment at the right time – on time.

And what time is that?

You want to walk into the lobby for your appointment
- 5 minutes early, not 15 minutes early, and certainly ever not late.

Why?

Well, 5 minutes early is interested and professional.

15 minutes early is too needy. And late, of course, is unacceptable!

Next, of course, we want to arrive dressed properly in business attire.

You need to use your judgment here.

Some cleaning contractors would never consider arriving for a walk through in anything less than a business suit and tie.

However, others, including myself, find that a clean business shirt with your logo etc. is just fine- as long as you’re looking professional.

Remember the old saying, “Look Sharp- Be Sharp!”

Ok, what else, well, we want to arrive in a clean car. And why is that? Well, because showing up in a clean car shows your ‘on the ball’!.

That’s right, having a clean car is important, but notice, I didn’t say new car and I didn’t say fancy car. I said clean car.

By the way, don’t think this ‘clean car’ thing can make
a difference?

Let me tell you a story…

I was bidding on an large automotive administrative building, and the buyer said he would finish up talking to me as we walked to my car.

Fortunately, I had it clean and organized.

We landed that account. Now, I’m not saying it was the only reason we got the account, but it didn’t hurt.

That’s right, I believe he did this intentionally to ‘size me up’, logically thinking that – the way I take care of my car might give him an pretty good idea of how I would take care of his building.

I know it may sound like a small thing, but even if your prospect never sees your car, it will still keep your own mind set sharp, professional and confident.

Remember last time, when we asked…”What kind of accounts would give you a steady income,
be easy to staff, easy to manage and give you a “shot” at extra work year round?”

Put another way, “What kind of accounts would give you the best chance at growing a large, profitable and stable cleaning business?”

Well, here was the answer for us…office cleaning!

Specifically; 3-5 nights per week, office cleaning, performed in the early evening, for owner-occupied professional, medical, industrial and manufacturing buildings, over 7,500 square feet,
within a 50-mile radius of our office.

You may want to take a second to re-read that because every part of it is important.

It became our target market – our niche!

So, our target account might be a manufacturing company in an industrial park near us, where we clean the whole front office, as well as the plant restrooms, locker room and lunchroom, Monday – Friday from 6 PM- 9:30 PM.

First, let me be clear.

Our answer doesn’t have to be your answer. There’s more than one road to get to a destination.

Your answer, your target market, may be floor maintenance for grocery stores and retail centers, construction cleaning, residential- maid services, or apartment clean-ups.

And IF you can profitably grow in those target markets, AND get the kind of steady income AND stable operation you need to give you the financial freedom and business lifestyle you
pictured…more power to you!

But, for Tony and I, office cleaning was “The Ticket”.

Nothing is perfect, but in general, office cleaning was the right target market for us for several reasons:

It gave us a steady, reoccurring monthly income.

It allowed us to grow, grow, grow.

It was relatively easy to staff.

It was relatively easy to manage.

It gave us extra, specialty work year round.

By the way, if the description of our target market sounded very specific; it is!

We find the more specific we are about our goals, the better chance we have of achieving them.

Isn’t that true for everyone?

So, we determined to aggressively go after our target market, while avoiding, whenever possible, taking on other types of cleaning.

The impact of this decision was huge!

It focused us like a laser beam, and helped us quickly create a stable, profitable business, like the one we pictured.

You can use this strategy to FOCUS your company too.

Before you’re done watching this video episode – Should You Treat All Of Your Janitorial Customers The Same? you’ll hear how making practical and informed decisions rather than rash or uninformed ones can be a big benefit to you and your cleaning business.

Thanks for watching our video – Should You Treat All Of Your Janitorial Customers The Same? But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: The Secret to Marketing Your Janitorial Business where you’ll hear how switching the focus from you to your prospect may be the single hardest, yet most important factor in improving your marketing and as a result business fortunes.

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Here it is….

Picture something.

That’s right, I know it may sound lame, but stop for just a second and try to picture exactly what you’d like your cleaning business to be like.

Take a moment to really think about it…

If you could make a wish… and see it magically come true – how big would your cleaning business be, how many buildings would you cleaning and what would you average day be like?

Done?

OK.

Now, was any of this in your picture?

#1. Having a whole lot of customers.

#2. Having those customers like your company, and trust your cleaners.

#3. Having a team of cleaners, who not only know what to do, but really want to do a good job for the customers.

#4. Having some FUN each day and enjoying the work you do;

#5. Having time to actually “kick back” and relax when you’re not at work!

And I mean really r e l a x ! – not having to constantly worry half-to-death about whether or not you’re going to make it!

Wait, there’s one more… and, YES, I’ll say it,

#6. Getting paid an amount that does a LOT MORE than just covers your bills!

That’s right, your cleaning business is suppose to cover all your expenses, plus give you enough profit for financial security NOW, relaxing vacations NOW, and then someday, a wonderful retirement!

Now, was that in your picture too? I hope so; because that’s the kind of fun and profitable cleaning business you deserve to have!

Is any other kind really worth having?

But, to have that kind of cleaning business, the fast-growing, profitable and fun-to-run kind, we need to start by asking some questions – the right questions.

Who do you want to clean…and why?

That’s right!; deciding who you want to clean is one of the big secrets to getting a cleaning company like the one you pictured – the one you dreamed of!

So, let’s get right to it:

What kind of accounts would give you the BEST chance to create a business life like the one you pictured? Put differently, what kind of jobs would give you the best shot at getting a fast-growing, profitable and fun-to-run cleaning business?

What kind of cleaning accounts would:

-give you steady income – rather than a ton of work one month and none the next?

-be easy to staff - so you don’t have to struggle with constant turnover?

-be easy to manage – so you don’t get bogged down with employee problems?

-plus, give you a shot at extra, specialty work year round – so you can pick up additional profits now and then?

Hint; Compare these different types of jobs: Construction Cleaning? Retail Floor Strip-Wax Jobs? Apartment Cleaning? Nightly Office Cleaning? Bar & Restaurant Cleaning?

Well, in general – the BOLDER the BETTER!

To see why that is, let’s first go back and look at a what can happen when a guarantee is not bold.

Let’s say, for example, that a guarantee read something like this:

GreenBranch Commercial Cleaning’s Guarantee:

If you are not happy with our office-cleaning services*, you need to report it to us, in writing, by the 10th of following month, explaining in detail what you were not satisfied with, and then, give us a 3 days to correct it.

THEN we will refund the pro-rated amount of your bill for the portion of the month that the cleaning was not up to your expectations.

* Restriction: applies only to regular office cleaning.

This kind of guarantee – one that makes a customer ‘jump through a series of hoops’ to get a refund if they’re not satisfied, is hardly a guarantee at all, or at least not one we would recommend you even offer!

Think about it…

Do you really want your customer feeling, in any way, worried or skeptical of your guarantee, having to carefully study the exact wording of every step of how to get a refund?

No, I don’t think so – instead, you want them to feel secure.

But instead, this petty demand for particular time limits, rules and exceptions may simply end up unnecessarily putting up your prospect’s cautionary radar…and increase your refund rate!

That’s right …. the more restrictive you word your guarantee, the more you may actually be encouraging prospects to go through it with a ‘”fine tooth comb’ – committing to memory the steps needed to get their refund.

Is that really what you had in mind?

No, I didn’t think so. Interesting, huh?….

Now, on the other hand, if you offer a BOLD guarantee; one that is so strong that the customer feels completely comfortable, and in no hurry to secure a refund, then, you may have actually ‘killed two birds with one stone’.

1.Securing your customer’s trust, while actually
2.Lowering your refund rate.

For example, how about this for a BOLD guarantee?

ABC Cleaning Company 100% Satisfaction Guarantee

If Your Not 100% Satisfied With Any Of GreenBranch Commercial Cleaning’s Services At Any Time, For Any Reason – it’s FREE. No Questions Asked.

Now, that’s the kind of guarantee that puts a prospect’s mind at ease. They like the strength of the guarantee, and they like you more as a result.

And they’re probably less likely to feel the need to take advantage of you, or the guarantee.

Makes sense?

Don’t get me wrong. I think every cleaning company should guarantee their work- and mean it!

A proper guarantee should protect customers, and keep cleaning business on their toes by rewarding dependable quality service and discouraging mistakes!

The fear of a refund is by no means the most noble reason to want to deliver quality service and maximum customer value, but it doesn’t hurt.

By the way, if you ever do run across that rare, and I do mean rare scoundrel of a customer, who is taking unfair advantage of you and your bold guarantee to get out of paying for his cleaning, well…

…then, as long as you have a 30 day cancellation provision, by either party, in your agreement, at the very least, you have a way of stopping the ‘abuse’.

And, ideally, you should want to guarantee your work to keep you ‘on your toes’ by helping you to identify your weaknesses, by listening and acting on what customers report to you

You should be glad to offer a BOLD guarantee because it tells something about your company.

And I GUARANTEE it tells a lot about you too!

Well, if so, you’re not the only one, because that’s exactly how we felt.

Let me tell you our story….

For too many exhausting years, our cleaning business “pounded” on us, every day.

It was bad.

Tony and I were just barely making it, many times needing to use credit cards just to cover the payroll and monthly bills!

We ran around like crazy during the day trying to get more account, and then turned right around and cleaned until late at night.

Yep, you guessed it, we had to race right back to work early the next morning, to fix problems, at the accounts we didn’t have time to check the night before!

And there were always problems. But, we thought, “if we just worked hard enough”, it would somehow make us successful.

It never did!

…and we’ve often wondered, “how many other people were stuck just like we were, working like a dog, but just barely getting by?”

And why?

Probably because, just like us back then, they simply don’t know WHAT things to change, HOW to change them, or even WHERE to start.

Back to the story;
Well, if just hoping our hard work would make us successful didn’t work, what did?

Well, here it is. We finally did discover the hard-to-find secrets to 1. Getting Accounts, 2. Staying Profitable, and 3. Having FUN in the cleaning biz!

Hint: the secrets aren’t what you might think!!

For several years, we told only a few people, mostly just “close friends” in the cleaning business.

Then something changed!

We got sick and tired of seeing cleaning contractors, just like us, desperately struggling, just to survive in today’s world of low balling franchises and empty promising national cleaning outfits – especially when it doesn’t have to be that way!

We decided – we had enough!!

That’s right! Now, we’re on a mission to ‘level the playing field’, so you too, can begin to compete and win against the “big guys”!

We’re eager to give YOU the keys to getting a fast growing, profitable cleaning business ASAP!!

But, first, before we start, we should be clear – we’re definitely NOT for everybody.

If you’d rather do things the hard way, and are perfectly willing to spend the next 20 yrs. slowly and painfully trying to learn how to pick up a handful of accounts along the way, we’re probably
NOT for you.

And if your satisfied with how fast you are growing and how much money you’re making now, then we’re definitely NOT what you’re looking for.

And if you’re not open to change, or easily offended by new ideas, explained in a direct, pull-no-punches approach, then we’re probably not going to be your cup-of-tea!

Feel free to look elsewhere…no hard feelings.

But, if you DO want to get your hands on the stuff that really works – and if you’re ready to start NOW to quickly create a FAST growing and PROFITABLE cleaning business… then, you’re definitely in the right place!

What you’ll hear may surprise, or occasionally shock you, but it may also be, just what you’ve been looking for!

Each week, we’ll reveal tips, ideas and strategies to help flip your cleaning business from painful to profitable!

And that’s important – because it sure isn’t any fun when it’s not profitable!

Before you’re done watching this video episode – The Secret to Marketing Your Janitorial Business, you’ll hear how switching the focus from you to your prospect may be the single hardest, yet most important factor in improving your marketing and as a result business fortunes.

Thanks for watching our video – The Secret to Marketing Your Janitorial Business
But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Receptionist: Friend or Foe? where Dan will show you how following your mother’s advice to ‘treat everyone the way you would like to be treated’ is not only good for you, but for your business too.

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Before you’re done watching this video episode - Run Your Cleaning Business… Like You’re Selling It! you’ll see how identifying things to improve and then making the effort to make those changes now, can not only give you the edge when it comes time to sell – it will also give you the enjoyment and financial rewards that come from running an efficient and professional cleaning business in the mean time.

Thanks for watching our video -Run Your Cleaning Business… Like You’re Selling It! But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Does YOUR Office Need A New Cleaning Company? where you’ll hear how Dan and Tony got tons of marketing ‘mileage’ by making sure their office was cleaned to the same high standard as the clients they served.

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Before you’re done watching this video episode – The Receptionist: Friend or Foe?
Dan will show you how following your mother’s advice to ‘treat everyone the way you would like to be treated’ is not only good for you, but for your business too. Very often, people believe what others say about you more than what you say about yourself – so what the receptionist says to your contact about you may very well be important.

Thanks for watching our video - The Receptionist: Friend or Foe? But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Run Your Cleaning Business… Like You’re Selling It! where you’ll hear how identifying things to improve in your janitorial company and then making the effort to make those changes now, can not only give you the edge when it comes time to sell – it will also give you the enjoyment and financial rewards that come from running an efficient and professional cleaning business in the mean time.

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable. Want to Flip Yours?

Before you’re done watching this video episode – Does YOUR Office Need A New Cleaning Company? you’ll hear how Dan and Tony got tons of marketing ‘mileage’ by making sure their office was cleaned to the same high standard as the clients they served.

Thanks for watching our video – Does YOUR Office Need A New Cleaning Company? But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: What ONE Janitorial Business Owner Can Do – ANOTHER Can Do!! where you’ll learn  how you can use other people’s experience as a road map to your own success.

You’ll watch a few, short minutes of video loaded with practical ideas, tips and strategies about what it really takes to flip a cleaning business from painful to profitable.  Want to Flip Yours?

Simple right? So, why even mention it?

Well, even though the idea is a simple one, doing it – is not. Think about this question:

How much do we really change in our cleaning businesses in a year?

How much do we actually change about how we market, how we sell, how we bid, how we train, how we clean – in a year? For many of us, the honest answer can often be a rather disappointing – little.

It’s understandable.

Here are two reasons why we don’t make the changes we need to make:

1.  We feel we’re overwhelmed and don’t have the time or energy.

2. We don’t know WHAT to change or HOW to change it.

Personally, I think, if we had good, solid, exciting answers to #2, we would begin to find the energy and make the time.

Interesting.

Think about WHAT needs to be changed in your cleaning business.

Then, find out HOW it can be done.

Start doing it – making those changes, and you may suddenly find yourself excited about making changes you once found to be too hard or too painful.

Before you’re done watching this video episode – What ONE Janitorial Business Owner Can Do – ANOTHER Can Do!! you’ll learn the truth, that in many ways, the highly successful people you admire – may actually be you too – if you find the right plan and implement it with determination.

Thanks for watching our video – What ONE Janitorial Business Owner Can Do – ANOTHER Can Do!!  But don’t stop