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?

Frank Capobianco
Team Clean NY Corp.
N. Massapequa, NY

Meredith Doubrava
White Glove Cleaning Co. LLC
Alamogordo, NM

Linda Coleman
Green Cleaning Service LLC
Colorado Springs, CO

Mark Derdich
Nationwide Cleaning Services
North Huntingdon, PA

Dudley Hall
Lonestar Cleaning Solutions
Ft. Worth, TX

Lynn Rodgers
JR Cleaning Systems, Inc
Reinholds, PA

Gregory Lawson
Beneficial Building Services Inc.
Akron, OH

Mike Wilcox
Vivid Cleaning, Inc.
St. Louis, MO

Andrew Lee
Enviroclean Australia
Springfield Lakes, QLD

Lisa Herrmann
G&L Janitorial Services
Denver, PA

Carey Henning
Green Clean of Wisconsin LLC
Sheboygan, WI

Lucille Weakley
One Clean World
Charlottesville, VA

Lupe Dovi
L & G Enterprises LLC
Washington DC

Theresa Sandoval
Sandoval’s Janitorial & Floor Care
Bakersfield, CA

Kim Campbell
Servpro of East Fort Worth
Everman, TX

Glenn Cray
NAC Commercial Cleaning Company
Epping, NH

Greg Doke
CCS of Tulsa
Jenks, OK

Eric Luke
School & Commercial Janitorial
Rancho Murieta, CA

Sushil Ayri
Clean Edmonton Inc
Edmonton, Alberta

Laura Craycraft
Maid 4 You
Monroe, OH

Patricia A. Cordova
Small Business Services
Memphis, TN

Alex Alvarado
Geralex, Inc.
Chicago, IL

Chad Sandusky
Modern Cleaning Solutions
Sautee, GA

Curtis Fleming
Executive Commercial Cleaning LLC
Wauwatosa, WI

Andrew Myer
Palm Cleaning
Brookings, OR

Ricky J. Lopez
Rando Cleaning Services Inc.
Sarasota, FL

Cliff Lanning
Building Maintenance Corp.
Grand Rapids, MI

Marcella Randall
Moriah Corporation
Melbourne, FL

Gilbert Gonzales
Enviropro
Phoenix, AZ

Mario Vallejo
Crystal-Clean Services
Victoria, TX

Calvin Harris
Faith Janitorial LLC
Reynoldsburg, OH

Mark Daly
Dalys Cleaning
Jacksonville, OR

Jiri Zakopal
Xcellent Cleaning Inc.
Naperville, IL

Angel Padilla
E&G Five Star Cleaning Corp
Hialeah, FL

Mike Safy
AllCity Cleaning Service, Inc.
Brooklyn, NY

Jim Nostrant
McNos II LLC
Stanwood, MI

Eric Batch
Batch of Bubbles Cleaning Services
West Mifflin, PA

Nathaniel Altenor
Nathan Altenor’s Janitorial Services, Inc.
Pottstown, PA

Jason Ochrach
Progressive Choices Inc
Las Vegas, NV

Marlene Owen
Clean Like Mew, LLC
Norwich, CT

Ronald Carr
Carr Janitorial Services
Langorne, PA

Linda Lawson
LRL Commercial Cleaning Inc.
Chesterfield, MO

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.

Toledo, OH – January 23, 2012 – Clean Guru® LLC is pleased to announce the addition of a number of new building types to their online janitorial bidding tool, the CleanBid® Program, specifically, Radio Station, Mall, TV Station and Country Club. This update gives CleanBid® Members an even wider range of building templates to choose from when creating a cleaning bid.

These additional building-type templates will allow CleanBid® Members to quickly select a building type that’s right for the cleaning job they are bidding on, and in minutes, be able to create a customized cleaning proposal to give to their prospective customer.

This feature was added to the online program with the goal of making CleanBid® Program the online tool the most user-friendly online janitorial bidding software available to cleaning businesses today.

Dan Liebrecht, co-founder of the CleanBid® Program, explains, “It’s exciting! The addition of these new building types will make it easier and faster than ever for our members to create targeted cleaning contracts customized for the specific kind of building they’re bidding on!”

About Clean Guru™ LLC:

Dan Liebrecht and Tony Dietsch, are co-founders Clean Guru LLC and CleanBid® Program, and are Co-Authors of the book, Discover the Guru in You!® The 7 Insider Secrets to Finding, Landing and Keeping Profitable Cleaning Jobs!

Clean Guru™ LLC takes away the “big guys” advantage, and gives YOU the tools you need to compete and WIN.  The first of these powerful tools is the CleanBid® Cleaning Software Bidding Program. Janitorial Bidding Made Easy® is our motto because it’s the fast and easy way to get a competitive price recommendation for any cleaning job you’re bidding on. Plus, you get a professional cleaning contract ready-to-deliver or email to your prospective customers.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.CleanBid.net

The NEW CleanSuccess™ Video Coaching Program teaches members advanced marketing, bidding, selling and profit strategies they used to build their own fast growing, profitable and fun-to-run cleaning business.  Want to get more cleaning leads? The marketing strategies explained in the CleanSuccess™ videos are designed to teach experienced janitorial business owners as well as those just starting a cleaning business – an advanced approach to finding janitorial leads without expensive telemarketing, painful cold calling or awkward networking.

You can learn more about the CleanSuccess™ Program at http://www.cleanbid.net/cleansuccess

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?

Toledo, OH – January 13, 2012 – Clean Guru LLC is pleased to release its new ‘easy enter’ measurement form which allows members to easily scroll through a list of building areas and with a simple touch – move from area to area as they enter measurements and floor types during building walkthroughs. The new measurement form was designed to optimize the mobile experience for members who use the CleanBid Online Software Program for janitorial bidding using either a Smartphone such as a Blackberry, iPhone or Android or tablet device such as the iPad.

The CleanBid Program provides janitorial workloading, specific price recommendations and customized cleaning proposals. It offers commercial cleaning companies and maid services  seven separate modules to pick from including: Janitorial/Office Cleaning, Tile Maintenance, Carpet Cleaning, Post-Construction Clean-up, Apt. Move In/Out, Window Cleaning and Residential Cleaning / Maid Services.
Dan Liebrecht, co-founder of the CleanBid® Program, explains, “Our new ‘easy enter’ measurement form is really incredible – a big step forward, and we think our members are going to love it!  It instantly makes the cleaning contractor look like a real professional during walkthroughs – and that’s a great edge to have!”

About Clean Guru™ LLC:

Dan Liebrecht and Tony Dietsch, are co-founders Clean Guru LLC and CleanBid® Program, and are Co-Authors of the book, Discover the Guru in You!® The 7 Insider Secrets to Finding, Landing and Keeping Profitable Cleaning Jobs!

Clean Guru™ LLC takes away the “big guys” advantage, and gives YOU the tools you need to compete and WIN.  The first of these powerful tools is the CleanBid® Cleaning Software Bidding Program. Janitorial Bidding Made Easy® is our motto because it’s the fast and easy way to get a competitive price recommendation for any cleaning job you’re bidding on. Plus, you get a professional cleaning contract ready-to-deliver or email to your prospective customers.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.CleanBid.net

The NEW CleanSuccess™ Video Coaching Program teaches members advanced marketing, bidding, selling and profit strategies they used to build their own fast growing, profitable and fun-to-run cleaning business.  Want to get more cleaning leads? The marketing strategies explained in the CleanSuccess™ videos are designed to teach experienced janitorial business owners as well as those just starting a cleaning business – an advanced approach to finding janitorial leads without expensive telemarketing, painful cold calling or awkward networking.

You can learn more about the CleanSuccess™ Program at http://www.cleanbid.net/cleansuccess

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?

Toledo, OH – December 19, 2011 – Clean Guru LLC is pleased to announce that their popular janitorial bidding program is now available for use on tablets as well as Smartphone mobile devices.  CleanBid’s mobile web app, which recently made it possible for janitorial businesses to use Smartphone devices such as the iPhone, Blackberry and Android to bid on cleaning jobs, has now been optimized for commercial cleaning companies and residential maid services wanting to use one of today’s popular tablet mobile devices.

The CleanBid Program provides janitorial workloading, specific price recommendations and customized cleaning proposals. It offers commercial cleaning companies seven separate modules to pick from including: Janitorial/Office Cleaning, Tile Maintenance, Carpet Cleaning, Post-Construction Clean-up, Apt. Move In/Out, Window Cleaning and Residential Maid Services.
Tony Dietsch, co-founder of the CleanBid® Program, explains, “We’re thrilled to now be able to make our new mobile web app available to our members for use on the devices they use most – such as today’s popular mobile devices!  We think they are going to love the ease and professionalism of being able to perform bid walkthroughs using their mobile tablet devices!”

About Clean Guru™ LLC:

Dan Liebrecht and Tony Dietsch, are co-founders Clean Guru LLC and CleanBid® Program, and are Co-Authors of the book, Discover the Guru in You!® The 7 Insider Secrets to Finding, Landing and Keeping Profitable Cleaning Jobs!

Clean Guru™ LLC takes away the “big guys” advantage, and gives YOU the edge to compete and WIN.  The first of these powerful tools is the CleanBid® Cleaning Software Bidding Program. Janitorial Bidding Made Easy® is our motto because it’s the fast and easy way to get a competitive price recommendation for any cleaning job you’re bidding on. Plus, you get a professional cleaning contract ready-to-deliver or email to your prospective customers.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.CleanBid.net

The NEW CleanSuccess™ Video Coaching Program teaches members advanced marketing, bidding, selling and profit strategies they used to build their own fast growing, profitable and fun-to-run cleaning business.  Want to get more cleaning leads? The marketing strategies explained in the CleanSuccess™ videos are designed to teach experienced janitorial business owners as well as those just starting a cleaning business – an advanced approach to finding janitorial leads without expensive telemarketing, painful cold calling or awkward networking.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.cleanbid.net/cleansuccess

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!

Toledo, OH – December 7, 2011 – Clean Guru LLC is pleased to announce that over 55,000 cleaning bids have been created using their online, cloud technology based program. These cleaning proposals have been prepared by commercial cleaning and maid service businesses from the U.S., Canada, UK and Australia. This convenient online bidding tool provides janitorial workloading, price recommendations and customized proposals

The CleanBid® Program offers commercial cleaning contractors six separate modules, or types of cleaning, to pick from including: Janitorial, Tile, Carpet, Construction, Carpet, Move In/Out, Window and Residential.

The 55,000 cleaning bid mark is another important milestone towards the company’s goal of providing the most effective and user-friendly online janitorial bidding software available to cleaning businesses today.

Tony Dietsch, co-founder of the CleanBid® Program, explains “It’s really great –seeing our members trust our online program to create over 55,000 bids to date.  It speaks to the growing popularity of, and trust in, online janitorial bidding software programs like ours!”

About Clean Guru™ LLC:

Dan Liebrecht and Tony Dietsch, are co-founders Clean Guru LLC and CleanBid® Program, and are Co-Authors of the book, Discover the Guru in You!® The 7 Insider Secrets to Finding, Landing and Keeping Profitable Cleaning Jobs!

Clean Guru™ LLC takes away the “big guys” advantage, and gives YOU the edge to compete and WIN.  The first of these powerful tools is the CleanBid® Cleaning Software Bidding Program. Janitorial Bidding Made Easy® is our motto because it’s the fast and easy way to get a competitive price recommendation for any cleaning job you’re bidding on. Plus, you get a professional cleaning contract ready-to-deliver or email to your prospective customers.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.CleanBid.net

The NEW CleanSuccess™ Video Coaching Program teaches members advanced marketing, bidding, selling and profit strategies they used to build their own fast growing, profitable and fun-to-run cleaning business.  Want to get more cleaning leads? The marketing strategies explained in the CleanSuccess™ videos are designed to teach experienced janitorial business owners as well as those just starting a cleaning business – an advanced approach to finding janitorial leads without expensive telemarketing, painful cold calling or awkward networking.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.cleanbid.net/cleansuccess

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?

Toledo, OH – November 22, 2011 – Clean Guru LLC is pleased to introduce a new 12-month easy reactivation feature for the CleanBid Online Janitorial Bidding Program. This convenient new feature allows any previous CleanBid Member for a period of 12 months to automatically re-activate their account online without having to contact the Clean Guru LLC office or re-enter their basic account information – instantly giving them access to the CleanBid Plan they select as well as all prior bid information in applicable modules.

The CleanBid® Program offers commercial cleaning contractors six separate modules, or types of cleaning, to pick from including: Janitorial, Tile, Carpet, Construction, Carpet, Move In/Out, Window and Residential.  The new feature is another important step towards the company’s goal of providing the most effective and user-friendly online janitorial bidding software available to cleaning businesses today.

Tony Dietsch, co-founder of the CleanBid® Program, explains “We’re happy to make this new feature available to our members, specifically, to be able, for a period of 12 months, to instantly reactivate their account without having to contact our office or re-enter their basic information.  And, when they do, they’ll have immediate access to the CleanBid Plan they select as well as any prior bids in applicable modules!”

About Clean Guru™ LLC:

Dan Liebrecht and Tony Dietsch, are co-founders Clean Guru LLC and CleanBid® Program, and are Co-Authors of the book, Discover the Guru in You!® The 7 Insider Secrets to Finding, Landing and Keeping Profitable Cleaning Jobs!

Clean Guru™ LLC takes away the “big guys” advantage, and gives YOU the edge to compete and WIN.  The first of these powerful tools is the CleanBid® Cleaning Software Bidding Program. Janitorial Bidding Made Easy® is our motto because it’s the fast and easy way to get a competitive price recommendation for any cleaning job you’re bidding on. Plus, you get a professional cleaning contract ready-to-deliver or email to your prospective customers.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.CleanBid.net

The NEW CleanSuccess™ Video Coaching Program teaches members advanced marketing, bidding, selling and profit strategies they used to build their own fast growing, profitable and fun-to-run cleaning business.  Want to get more cleaning leads? The marketing strategies explained in the CleanSuccess™ videos are designed to teach experienced janitorial business owners as well as those just starting a cleaning business – an advanced approach to finding janitorial leads without expensive telemarketing, painful cold calling or awkward networking.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.cleanbid.net/cleansuccess

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?

Toledo, OH – November 7, 2011 – Clean Guru LLC  announces the release of a new mobile web app for its CleanBid Program; an online cleaning software for janitorial businesses and residential maid services.  The new mobile version is the latest in a series of improvements designed to move forward with their company’s goal of making CleanBid the most effective, popular and user friendly janitorial bidding program available today.

The newly released mobile app comes with a completely new look and feel designed specifically for the display screens of today’s popular smart phones and mobile devices such as the iPhone, Android, Blackberry and iPad.

Users will find the wording, layout and navigation of the new mobile program to reflect an attention to detail and ease of use desired by users when working on site in a prospect’s building.  The mobile web app is a natural choice to take along on initial bid walk-throughs when commercial cleaning contractors are looking for a software program to record measurements and other bid data in.

Dan Liebrecht, co-founder of the CleanBid® Program explains “We are thrilled to make this exciting new mobile web app for CleanBid available to our members, and are confident they will love having the convenience and professionalism it can deliver in the palm of their hands!”

Tony Dietsch added, “We’ve had a lot of requests for a mobile version coinciding with the widespread availability and use of smart phones!  This trend is here to stay, and we’re thrilled to be a part of bringing our members these kinds of exciting new features!’

These  new developments are part of Clean Guru LLC’s mission to make CleanBid® the fastest, easiest and most professional online janitorial bidding software program for experienced cleaning business owners or those wanting to start a cleaning business today!’
About Clean Guru™ LLC:

Dan Liebrecht and Tony Dietsch, are co-founders Clean Guru LLC and CleanBid® Program, and are Co-Authors of the book, Discover the Guru in You!® The 7 Insider Secrets to Finding, Landing and Keeping Profitable Cleaning Jobs!

Clean Guru™ LLC takes away the “big guys” advantage, and gives YOU the edge to compete and WIN.  The first of these powerful tools is the CleanBid® Cleaning Software Bidding Program. Janitorial Bidding Made Easy® is our motto because it’s the fast and easy way to get a competitive price recommendation for any cleaning job you’re bidding on. Plus, you get a professional cleaning contract ready-to-deliver or email to your prospective customers.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.CleanBid.net

The NEW CleanSuccess™ Video Coaching Program teaches members advanced marketing, bidding, selling and profit strategies they used to build their own fast growing, profitable and fun-to-run cleaning business.  Want to get more cleaning leads? The marketing strategies explained in the CleanSuccess™ videos are designed to teach experienced janitorial business owners as well as those just starting a cleaning business – an advanced approach to finding janitorial leads without expensive telemarketing, painful cold calling or awkward networking.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.cleanbid.net/cleansuccess

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?

Toledo, OH – October 24, 2011 – Clean Guru™ LLC is pleased to announce the release of a series of updated video demos for the CleanBid Modules and mobile version of the popular online janitorial bidding software. The CleanBid Program is an online tool designed to help janitorial businesses and residential maid services bid on janitorial jobs and create professional cleaning proposals to deliver or email to their prospects.

The seven modules represented are Janitorial, Tile Maintenance, Carpet Cleaning, Apt. Move In/Out Services, Post Construction Cleaning as well as Window Cleaning and Residential Maid Services.  Plus, a new video demo was produced for the new Mobile Version of CleanBid as well.

Tony Dietsch, co-founder of CleanBid explains, “We’re thrilled to make these new video demos available on our site for commercial cleaning contractors and residential cleaning business to watch and see just how effective and easy-to-use the CleanBid Modules and convenient new mobile version are!”

About Clean Guru™ LLC:

Dan Liebrecht and Tony Dietsch, are co-founders Clean Guru LLC and CleanBid® Program, and are Co-Authors of the book, Discover the Guru in You!® The 7 Insider Secrets to Finding, Landing and Keeping Profitable Cleaning Jobs!

Clean Guru™ LLC takes away the “big guys” advantage, and gives YOU the edge to compete and WIN.  The first of these powerful tools is the CleanBid® Cleaning Software Bidding Program. Janitorial Bidding Made Easy® is our motto because it’s the fast and easy way to get a competitive price recommendation for any cleaning job you’re bidding on. Plus, you get a professional cleaning contract ready-to-deliver or email to your prospective customers.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.CleanBid.net

The NEW CleanSuccess™ Video Coaching Program teaches members advanced marketing, bidding, selling and profit strategies they used to build their own fast growing, profitable and fun-to-run cleaning business.  Want to get more cleaning leads? The marketing strategies explained in the CleanSuccess™ videos are designed to teach experienced janitorial business owners as well as those just starting a cleaning business – an advanced approach to finding janitorial leads without expensive telemarketing, painful cold calling or awkward networking.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.cleanbid.net/cleansuccess

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%!

Construction Cleaning Bidding

Carpet Cleaning

You’re going to love the Carpet Module any time you’re bidding on janitorial jobs requiring carpet cleaning services using a number of methods including hot water extraction, dry chemical, bonnet pad and absorbent compound. You can choose from any number of commercial or residential building types including: home, office, bank, medical, school, church, retail store, public arena, day care, auto dealer, grocery, movie theater, fitness club, night club, bowling alley, warehouse and restaurant. You can instantly select a frequency for the cleaning bid ranging from 7 days a week to one-time only. Plus, it’s easy to make changes to customize the cleaning tasks, job pricing or cleaning bid proposal to reflect your janitorial business or geographic location. The CleanBid®Program- Janitorial Bidding Made Easy!

Tile Maintenance Bidding

Janitorial Bidding

You’re going to love the Janitorial Module any time you want to prepare a cleaning bid requiring regularly scheduled commercial cleaning services. You can choose from any number of building types including: office, bank, medical, school, church, retail store, public arena, day care, auto dealer, movie theater, fitness club, night club, bowling alley, warehouse and restaurant. You can instantly select a frequency for the janitorial bid ranging from 7 days a week to one-time only. Plus, it’s easy to make changes to customize the cleaning tasks, job pricing or cleaning proposal to reflect your janitorial business or geographic location. The CleanBid® Program - Janitorial Bidding Made Easy!

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?

Toledo, OH – October 10, 2011 – The CleanBid Program is an online tool designed to help janitorial businesses as well as residential maid services create professional cleaning proposals.  Clean Guru LLC is pleased to announce a new ‘custom task’ feature – allowing CleanBid Members to create new tasks with customized wording and an assigned time for the bid they are working on.  The custom task wording can be ‘saved’ to be available on future bids – where it can easily be selected and assigned a time appropriate for the bid being created.

This convenient new ‘custom task’ feature was created in response to CleanBid Members asking for the ability to create their own custom task and the freedom to give those duties a time for the actual bid they were preparing. The feature is extremely user friendly – allowing any member to create a new task with custom wording and then just as quickly, assign a time for it, in hours and minutes, for the bid they are working on.

The CleanBid® Program offers commercial cleaning contractors six separate modules, or types of cleaning, to pick from including: Janitorial, Tile, Carpet, Construction, Carpet, Move In/Out, Window and Residential.  The new feature is another important step towards the company’s goal of providing the most effective and user-friendly online janitorial bidding software available to cleaning businesses today.

“We’re excited to make this new feature available to our members!  We try to identify and implement improvements consistent with our goal of having the CleanBid Program consistently delight our valued members!” explains Dan Liebrecht, co-founder of the CleanBid® Program.

About Clean Guru™ LLC:

Dan Liebrecht and Tony Dietsch, are co-founders Clean Guru LLC and CleanBid® Program, and are Co-Authors of the book, Discover the Guru in You!® The 7 Insider Secrets to Finding, Landing and Keeping Profitable Cleaning Jobs!

Clean Guru™ LLC takes away the “big guys” advantage, and gives YOU the edge to compete and WIN.  The first of these powerful tools is the CleanBid® Cleaning Software Bidding Program. Janitorial Bidding Made Easy® is our motto because it’s the fast and easy way to get a competitive price recommendation for any cleaning job you’re bidding on. Plus, you get a professional cleaning contract ready-to-deliver or email to your prospective customers.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.CleanBid.net

The NEW CleanSuccess™ Video Coaching Program teaches members advanced marketing, bidding, selling and profit strategies they used to build their own fast growing, profitable and fun-to-run cleaning business.  Want to get more cleaning leads? The marketing strategies explained in the CleanSuccess™ videos are designed to teach experienced janitorial business owners as well as those just starting a cleaning business – an advanced approach to finding janitorial leads without expensive telemarketing, painful cold calling or awkward networking.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.cleanbid.net/cleansuccess

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?

Toledo, OH – October 2011 – Clean Guru™ LLC, is pleased to announce reaching a new milestone of 8,000 -in the number of professionals and commercial and residential cleaning businesses registered receiving the weekly email and videos in the ‘Flip My Cleaning Business from Painful to Profitable’ series!  The emails and video ‘shorts’ are designed to give existing janitorial business owners or those just starting their own cleaning business – ideas, tips and strategies to succeed in spite of today’s challenging economy.
Building service contractors who follow the series learn unique approaches to finding, landing and keeping profitable cleaning jobs. The subject matter includes advice on topics such as how to identify prospects, generate leads and price a cleaning contract for profit.

The new instructional video series is intended to compliment Clean Guru’s other products, such as the CleanBid Program; their online janitorial bidding and work loading tool. Subscription to the online video series “Flip My Cleaning Business from Painful to Profitable!” is FREE at http://www.cleanbid.net/.

About Clean Guru™ LLC:

Dan Liebrecht and Tony Dietsch, are co-founders Clean Guru LLC and CleanBid® Program, and are Co-Authors of the book, Discover the Guru in You!® The 7 Insider Secrets to Finding, Landing and Keeping Profitable Cleaning Jobs!

Clean Guru™ LLC takes away the “big guys” advantage, and gives YOU the edge to compete and WIN.  The first of these powerful tools is the CleanBid® Cleaning Software Bidding Program. Janitorial Bidding Made Easy® is our motto because it’s the fast and easy way to get a competitive price recommendation for any cleaning job you’re bidding on. Plus, you get a professional cleaning contract ready-to-deliver or email to your prospective customers.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.CleanBid.net

The NEW CleanSuccess™ Video Coaching Program teaches members advanced marketing, bidding, selling and profit strategies they used to build their own fast growing, profitable and fun-to-run cleaning business.  Want to get more cleaning leads? The marketing strategies explained in the CleanSuccess™ videos are designed to teach experienced janitorial business owners as well as those just starting a cleaning business – an advanced approach to finding janitorial leads without expensive telemarketing, painful cold calling or awkward networking.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.cleanbid.net/cleansuccess

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?

Toledo, OH – September 9, 2011 – Just over a year ago, Clean Guru LLC founders Dan Liebrecht and Tony Dietsch penned and published the cleaning and janitorial business book, Discover the Guru in You: The 7 Insider Secrets to Finding, Landing and Keeping Profitable Cleaning Jobs! Tony and Dan are proud that cleaning business owners are still discovering this book and finding it as a valuable resource to help bolster their business.

The book can be found on Amazon.com, where it is described as follows:

This book is a powerful guide to the commercial janitorial cleaning business. Filled with proven ideas and concise guidance for those wishing to succeed in the cleaning business, this book covers professional business practice in finding, landing, and keeping commercial accounts. Written in an easy-to-read style, the principles discussed are not limited to cleaning businesses, but can open topics of discussion that are of interest to all sales categories. Discover the Guru in You is a professional approach from two entrepreneurs who have proven to be experts in developing solid and successful business practices.

Dan Liebrecht, co-author of Discover the Guru in You: The 7 Insider Secrets to Finding, Landing and Keeping Profitable Cleaning Jobs! and the Co-Founder of the CleanBid® Program remarks, “Even more satisfying than writing this book, is reading some of the real-life examples of how cleaning business owners are using our ideas every day to help grow their business and provide their clients with great service.  We know that providing a great customer experience and being profitable can go hand in hand, and doing business the right way can be a win-win for everyone!”

Some of the readers of Discover The Guru In You have weighed in with reviews on Amazon.com.

Rosie B., Owner RMB Cleaning Service, writes, “I have anxiously been waiting to purchase this book, I am not disappointed! It is really helping me in my janitorial and housecleaning business…I have already begun implementing ideas they suggest and all THE IDEAS WORK!”

Brooke C. writes, “Don’t Buy It – So I can use all the information in this book and have a GREAT ADVANTAGE over you! Love it! AND Amazon for delivering within 18 hours? AWESOME!”

“I am delighted of the ease of understanding and all the abundance of information. The Janitorial sector needed something like this!,” remarked
Carmen M.

Discover the book that is helping cleaning and janitorial businesses around the world at http://www.amazon.com/Discover-Guru-You-Profitable-Cleaning/dp/061534206X/ref=dp_return_2?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

You can learn more about Dan and Tony’s CleanBid® Program at http://www.CleanBid.net

About Clean Guru™ LLC:

Dan Liebrecht and Tony Dietsch, are co-founders Clean Guru LLC and CleanBid® Program, and are Co-Authors of the book, Discover the Guru in You!® The 7 Insider Secrets to Finding, Landing and Keeping Profitable Cleaning Jobs!

Clean Guru™ LLC takes away the “big guys” advantage, and gives YOU the edge to compete and WIN.  The first of these powerful tools is the CleanBid® Cleaning Software Bidding Program. Janitorial Bidding Made Easy® is our motto because it’s the fast and easy way to get recommended prices for any cleaning job you’re bidding on. Plus, you get a professional cleaning contract ready-to-deliver or email to your prospective customers.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.CleanBid.net

The NEW CleanSuccess™ Video Coaching Program teaches members advanced marketing, bidding, selling and profit strategies they used to build their own fast growing, profitable and fun-to-run cleaning business.  Want to get more cleaning leads? The marketing strategies explained in the CleanSuccess™ videos are designed to teach an advanced approach to finding janitorial leads without expensive telemarketing, painful cold calling or awkward networking.

You can learn more about the CleanSuccess™ Program at http://www.cleanbid.net/cleansuccess

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.

Toledo, OH – August 24, 2011 – Clean Guru® LLC is pleased to announce the upcoming release of their new Window Cleaning Module, giving cleaning businesses the ability to bid on an even greater variety of cleaning projects using their online work loading and janitorial bidding software.

First, the new CleanBid® Window Module is flexible; allowing the owner of the window cleaning business to simply choose whether the project is commercial or residential – and by doing so, get pricing recommendations, as well as proposal and task wording specific to that kind of work.

In addition, members can get pricing for several different kinds of windows – from standard panes and French panes to sliding patio doors. And, pricing suggestions are programmed to reflect whether the windows are on the first or second floor of a home or business.

Plus, the CleanBid Window Module will make it easy to get prices for other kinds services commonly offered by to window cleaning companies such as the cleaning of grids and screens, as well as hard water deposit removal, which can then easily be shown on the customizable cleaning proposal.

The Window Module will become the seventh most recent addition to the growing list of CleanBid® Modules including Janitorial, Construction Cleaning, Tile Maintenance, Carpet Cleaning and Apartment Move In/Out and Maid Service (Residential Cleaning).

Dan Liebrecht, co-founder of the CleanBid® Program, explains “Many of our CleanBid Members have been asking for a module to bid on window cleaning jobs for both homes and office buildings.  After a great deal of layout, programming and testing, we’re excited to have the new window cleaning module ready to go!”

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.CleanBid.net

About Clean Guru™ LLC:

Dan Liebrecht and Tony Dietsch, are co-founders Clean Guru LLC and CleanBid® Program, and are Co-Authors of the book, Discover the Guru in You!® The 7 Insider Secrets to Finding, Landing and Keeping Profitable Cleaning Jobs!

Clean Guru™ LLC takes away the “big guys” advantage, and gives YOU the edge to compete and WIN.  The first of these powerful tools is the CleanBid® Cleaning Software Bidding Program. Janitorial Bidding Made Easy® is our motto because it’s the fast and easy way to get recommended prices for any cleaning job you’re bidding on. Plus, you get a professional cleaning contract ready-to-deliver or email to your prospective customers.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.CleanBid.net

The NEW CleanSuccess™ Video Coaching Program teaches members advanced marketing, bidding, selling and profit strategies they used to build their own fast growing, profitable and fun-to-run cleaning business.  Want to get more cleaning leads? The marketing strategies explained in the CleanSuccess™ videos are designed to teach an advanced approach to finding janitorial leads without expensive telemarketing, painful cold calling or awkward networking.

You can learn more about the CleanSuccess™ Program at http://www.cleanbid.net/cleansuccess

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.

Toledo, OH – August 10, 2011 – Clean Guru LLC is pleased to announce the introduction of a newly redesigned version of their online janitorial work loading and estimating software, CleanBid, which includes iconic cleaning industry images for each of its modules including janitorial, tile maintenance, carpet cleaning, post-construction clean-up, apt. move in/out, maid service and now window cleaning too.

In addition, everything from wording and point size to layout and category headings have been revisited – and changed wherever necessary, to create an overall look and feel that is even more user friendly and intuitive.  The new, redesigned look was created with the goal of consistently delighting users of the online janitorial bidding software.

Tony Dietsch, co-founder of the CleanBid® Program, explains “We believe the new, redesigned version of our janitorial bidding program delivers the kind of modern, yet ‘soft and simple’ look and feel that our commercial and residential cleaning businesses are looking for.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.CleanBid.net

About Clean Guru™ LLC:

Dan Liebrecht and Tony Dietsch, are co-founders Clean Guru LLC and CleanBid® Program, and are Co-Authors of the book, Discover the Guru in You!® The 7 Insider Secrets to Finding, Landing and Keeping Profitable Cleaning Jobs!

Clean Guru™ LLC takes away the “big guys” advantage, and gives YOU the edge to compete and WIN.  The first of these powerful tools is the CleanBid® Cleaning Software Bidding Program. Janitorial Bidding Made Easy® is our motto because it’s the fast and easy way to get recommended prices for any cleaning job you’re bidding on. Plus, you get a professional cleaning contract ready-to-deliver or email to your prospective customers.

You can learn more about the CleanBid® Program at http://www.CleanBid.net

The NEW CleanSuccess™ Video Coaching Program teaches members advanced marketing, bidding, selling and profit strategies they used to build their own fast growing, profitable and fun-to-run cleaning business.  Want to get more cleaning leads? The marketing strategies explained in the CleanSuccess™ videos are designed to teach an advanced approach to finding janitorial leads without expensive telemarketing, painful cold calling or awkward networking.

You can learn more about the CleanSuccess™ Program at http://www.cleanbid.net/cleansuccess

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!