If I had to choose between a regular customer and a one-time job, I’d take the regular customer nearly every time!

You might want to do the same. Here’s why:

Let’s say I had the chance to pick up either a one time strip/wax job where I could make a whopping $400 profit in one night vs. a regular office cleaning contract where I only made $145 a month.

Yeah – I’d still take the regular, repeating office cleaning job – every time!

Why?

Well, every account takes work to get started. All the stuff that goes on before the job starts.

There’s arranging to see the building, getting the keys, learning the alarms, lining up people to clean etc.
But, while it varies a little, it’s in many ways, basically the same work to get ready.

The difference is in how often you get rewarded for all that up-front work.

With a one-time job, you get rewarded as the name implies, just once, while with a regular monthly customer, you get rewarded every month like clockwork.

And even though the $400 you could make on the one-time job sounds great at first, in less than 3 months, you’ll have made even more than that at the regular monthly job. ($145 x 3 = $435)

And from then on, it’s smooth sailing, as the regular job, continues to churn out profits every month, leaving the one-timejob… behind in the dust!

Oh, and one other thing to think about.

Which customer is MORE likely to ‘stiff you’ when it comes time to getting paid:

Your regular monthly customer, or the guy you just did a one-time job for?

You know who.

CAREFUL! Don’t fall into the trap so many janitorial business owners do – of working hard to create new services to offer to their cleaning customers, but missing most or all of the mileage they could have gotten out of the idea if they would have created and promoted them with MARKETING in mind.

Before you’re done watching this video episode – Don’t Forget To Wear Your MARKETING Glasses!, you’ll learn about ‘marketing glasses’ and how pulling them out and wearing them can help you leverage nearly everything you do in your cleaning company.

Thanks for watching our video - Don’t Forget To Wear Your MARKETING Glasses! But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: Should You Treat All Of Your Janitorial Customers The Same? where you’ll hear how making practical and informed decisions rather than rash or uninformed ones can be a big benefit to you and your cleaning business.

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

Today, let’s talk about deciding who you don’t want to clean …and why.

Let me tell you a quick story,

When Tony and I first started we would do nearly any kind of cleaning, and some things that weren’t really cleaning at all.

Let’s see, we:

-stripped and waxed retail stores,

-resealed concrete in a commercial laundry,

-opened up a reception hall for weddings, and oh yeah, hooked up the pop canisters too,

-mowed the front lawn and took the trash to the curb at a small neighborhood office

So, as you can see, we were running around doing a real “hodge podge” of things.

Frankly, it wasn’t going so well.

We couldn’t seem to grow because we had our hands “full” just trying to keep up with all the different kinds of jobs we had going already.

We were running as fast as we could, like “hamsters on a wheel in a cage”; not getting anywhere, until…

We decided we’d had enough.

We made an important decision. We decided who we didn’t want to clean - at least, a list of the kinds of accounts we didn’t want to go after in the future.

Nothing less than twice per week.

No one-time only jobs.

No jobs where all we do is the floors.

Nothing where we can’t get a key to get in and out.

Nothing that can’t be started until very late at night.

No odd-ball jobs not relating to cleaning.

No more!

Those were some of the ones on our list, as I recall. Your list may be completely different but you should have a list, probably written down… but a mental list at least.

It is NOT laziness, or an unwillingness to help a potential customer.

It’s survival! You simply cannot afford to everything to everyone.

And, frankly, the sooner you decide what the rules are for doing business with you, the better.

I know that might sound harsh. This is hard to do for many of us.

We’re taught from when we’re very young to help anyone, anyway we can, anytime we can. So it’s hard to get your “head around” this idea of limiting what you’ll do for potential customers.

But you have to do it, if you ever want things to run smoothly.

You shouldn’t have to run around frantically having to change everything about your company, just so you never have to turn down a prospect – no matter what they need.

You deserve better, and frankly …so do your customers.

Put another way, just because someone says they need cleaning doesn’t automatically mean they’re the right customer for you or frankly, that you’re the right contractor for them.

Focus on a specific type of customer, and you stand your best chance at becoming a specialist at providing “their kind” of cleaning for “their kind” of building.

And then, with a new focus on a new, tighter target market, you might finally have a chance to “delight your customers” and “have a life” outside of your cleaning company.

This approach can allow you to focus your marketing and selling efforts at one, or at most, a few types of niches.

But don’t you lose out on jobs this way?

Yes, by deciding what you won’t do, you will be turning down work. It’s the price you pay for getting focused on the kind of work you want to do, so you can create the kind of life you deserve!

Don’t get me wrong.

It may take you a while to make this change over to servicing only places that fit into your new, tighter, target market – or, you may simply decide to hold onto all of your current accounts, no matter what kind they are, forever, or at least until you’re able to replace them with enough profitable ones from your NEW niche.

Plus, to be fair, we make, and have made exceptions too.

For example, even after we decided on who what kind of cleaning we wanted to avoid - we still provided early AM day porter services, clean plants, and even pick weeds for some of our clients.

BUT, and this is important, it’s one thing to agree to pick a few weeds once a month for a $2,900/mo. account, and quite another, to be mowing the lawn every week for a $165/mo. account.

AND, it’s one thing to clean artificial plants occasionally for a large 5x/ week facility for $4,700 per month., and quite another, to have to figure out how to get a floor crew to show up late at night at a small hair salon, to buff the floors 1x/ week for – $165 per trip.

You get the idea.

The KEYS to a Successful Walk-through – Part 1

Ok, let’s walk-through (hehehe..I know, lame right?) some of the important keys to a successful walk- through together!

But, to be honest, this is ‘big elephant’ to eat, so let’s do it, as they say, one bite at a time.

The first key maybe the most important one of all.

And, here it is – it’s your MIND SET.

That’s right, it’s the attitude you keep before, during and after the walk-through.

I know. I know.

I hate to start with something as weird as ‘mindset’ but we gotta do it – because it affects everything else!

Bottom line: You want keep your mindset calm, open, professional, interested – a problem-solver.

And finally, we want to maintain a mind set of attracting
business to us – rather than chasing after it!

So let’s see what this kind of mind set would look like, even before the actual walk through begins.

First, we want to arrive to the building in advance, so we can be sure to walk in to the appointment at the right time – on time.

And what time is that?

You want to walk into the lobby for your appointment
- 5 minutes early, not 15 minutes early, and certainly ever not late.

Why?

Well, 5 minutes early is interested and professional.

15 minutes early is too needy. And late, of course, is unacceptable!

Next, of course, we want to arrive dressed properly in business attire.

You need to use your judgment here.

Some cleaning contractors would never consider arriving for a walk through in anything less than a business suit and tie.

However, others, including myself, find that a clean business shirt with your logo etc. is just fine- as long as you’re looking professional.

Remember the old saying, “Look Sharp- Be Sharp!”

Ok, what else, well, we want to arrive in a clean car. And why is that? Well, because showing up in a clean car shows your ‘on the ball’!.

That’s right, having a clean car is important, but notice, I didn’t say new car and I didn’t say fancy car. I said clean car.

By the way, don’t think this ‘clean car’ thing can make
a difference?

Let me tell you a story…

I was bidding on an large automotive administrative building, and the buyer said he would finish up talking to me as we walked to my car.

Fortunately, I had it clean and organized.

We landed that account. Now, I’m not saying it was the only reason we got the account, but it didn’t hurt.

That’s right, I believe he did this intentionally to ‘size me up’, logically thinking that – the way I take care of my car might give him an pretty good idea of how I would take care of his building.

I know it may sound like a small thing, but even if your prospect never sees your car, it will still keep your own mind set sharp, professional and confident.

OK, let’s get right to it, because the sooner we answer this question, the sooner you can get the kind of cleaning business you’ve always dreamed of having.

Remember last time, when we asked…”What kind of accounts would give you a steady income,
be easy to staff, easy to manage and give you a “shot” at extra work year round?”

Put another way, “What kind of accounts would give you the best chance at growing a large, profitable and stable cleaning business?”

Well, here was the answer for us…office cleaning!

Specifically; 3-5 nights per week, office cleaning, performed in the early evening, for owner-occupied professional, medical, industrial and manufacturing buildings, over 7,500 square feet,
within a 50-mile radius of our office.

You may want to take a second to re-read that because every part of it is important.

It became our target market – our niche!

So, our target account might be a manufacturing company in an industrial park near us, where we clean the whole front office, as well as the plant restrooms, locker room and lunchroom, Monday – Friday from 6 PM- 9:30 PM.

First, let me be clear.

Our answer doesn’t have to be your answer. There’s more than one road to get to a destination.

Your answer, your target market, may be floor maintenance for grocery stores and retail centers, construction cleaning, residential- maid services, or apartment clean-ups.

And IF you can profitably grow in those target markets, AND get the kind of steady income AND stable operation you need to give you the financial freedom and business lifestyle you
pictured…more power to you!

But, for Tony and I, office cleaning was “The Ticket”.

Nothing is perfect, but in general, office cleaning was the right target market for us for several reasons:

It gave us a steady, reoccurring monthly income.

It allowed us to grow, grow, grow.

It was relatively easy to staff.

It was relatively easy to manage.

It gave us extra, specialty work year round.

By the way, if the description of our target market sounded very specific; it is!

We find the more specific we are about our goals, the better chance we have of achieving them.

Isn’t that true for everyone?

So, we determined to aggressively go after our target market, while avoiding, whenever possible, taking on other types of cleaning.

The impact of this decision was huge!

It focused us like a laser beam, and helped us quickly create a stable, profitable business, like the one we pictured.

You can use this strategy to FOCUS your company too.

Be careful -you might be tempted to answer the question with an automatic ‘YES’ – but, what if I said, ‘No’. Would you think I’m crazy? In this video I’ll tell you about a painful, but important lesson Tony and I learned about customer service that may help your cleaning business too.

Before you’re done watching this video episode – Should You Treat All Of Your Janitorial Customers The Same? you’ll hear how making practical and informed decisions rather than rash or uninformed ones can be a big benefit to you and your cleaning business.

Thanks for watching our video – Should You Treat All Of Your Janitorial Customers The Same? But don’t stop there – Be sure to check out our video: The Secret to Marketing Your Janitorial Business where you’ll hear how switching the focus from you to your prospect may be the single hardest, yet most important factor in improving your marketing and as a result business fortunes.

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

Last time, we tackled the question of whether you should guarantee your work. This time let’s talk about what kind of guarantee it should be.

Well, in general – the BOLDER the BETTER!

To see why that is, let’s first go back and look at a what can happen when a guarantee is not bold.

Let’s say, for example, that a guarantee read something like this:

GreenBranch Commercial Cleaning’s Guarantee:

If you are not happy with our office-cleaning services*, you need to report it to us, in writing, by the 10th of following month, explaining in detail what you were not satisfied with, and then, give us a 3 days to correct it.

THEN we will refund the pro-rated amount of your bill for the portion of the month that the cleaning was not up to your expectations.

* Restriction: applies only to regular office cleaning.

This kind of guarantee – one that makes a customer ‘jump through a series of hoops’ to get a refund if they’re not satisfied, is hardly a guarantee at all, or at least not one we would recommend you even offer!

Think about it…

Do you really want your customer feeling, in any way, worried or skeptical of your guarantee, having to carefully study the exact wording of every step of how to get a refund?

No, I don’t think so – instead, you want them to feel secure.

But instead, this petty demand for particular time limits, rules and exceptions may simply end up unnecessarily putting up your prospect’s cautionary radar…and increase your refund rate!

That’s right …. the more restrictive you word your guarantee, the more you may actually be encouraging prospects to go through it with a ‘”fine tooth comb’ – committing to memory the steps needed to get their refund.

Is that really what you had in mind?

No, I didn’t think so. Interesting, huh?….

Now, on the other hand, if you offer a BOLD guarantee; one that is so strong that the customer feels completely comfortable, and in no hurry to secure a refund, then, you may have actually ‘killed two birds with one stone’.

1.Securing your customer’s trust, while actually
2.Lowering your refund rate.

For example, how about this for a BOLD guarantee?

ABC Cleaning Company 100% Satisfaction Guarantee

If Your Not 100% Satisfied With Any Of GreenBranch Commercial Cleaning’s Services At Any Time, For Any Reason – it’s FREE. No Questions Asked.

Now, that’s the kind of guarantee that puts a prospect’s mind at ease. They like the strength of the guarantee, and they like you more as a result.

And they’re probably less likely to feel the need to take advantage of you, or the guarantee.

Makes sense?

Don’t get me wrong. I think every cleaning company should guarantee their work- and mean it!

A proper guarantee should protect customers, and keep cleaning business on their toes by rewarding dependable quality service and discouraging mistakes!

The fear of a refund is by no means the most noble reason to want to deliver quality service and maximum customer value, but it doesn’t hurt.

By the way, if you ever do run across that rare, and I do mean rare scoundrel of a customer, who is taking unfair advantage of you and your bold guarantee to get out of paying for his cleaning, well…

…then, as long as you have a 30 day cancellation provision, by either party, in your agreement, at the very least, you have a way of stopping the ‘abuse’.

And, ideally, you should want to guarantee your work to keep you ‘on your toes’ by helping you to identify your weaknesses, by listening and acting on what customers report to you

You should be glad to offer a BOLD guarantee because it tells something about your company.

And I GUARANTEE it tells a lot about you too!