UPDATED 10/17/2021: The act of getting your marketing and promotional material in front of your target market is only half the battle.
The other half is getting them to TAKE ACTION. In other words, that “action” is convincing them to call you. This may seem easy to do, but it’s not.
Your target market gets BOMBARDED with all types of offers on a daily basis. Know how I know this? Because we all get pounded with advertising each and every day. If we are, then they are!
For instance the other day I received two different credit card offers, a supermarket coupon, a charity request, a Valpak coupon pack and a department store sales flyer. That was just ONE DAY!
To break through THAT TYPE OF CLUTTER you really have your work cut out for you. A run of the mill or otherwise “ordinary” offer doesn’t stand a chance! That’s why you see so many special promotions.
This is why one company may offer 25% off, another company is offering 35% off and every now and again you see some 50% off and more type specials. These companies realize that they need to create some separation between them and their competitors.
These special promotions help to differentiate you from everyone else and this is why you need to do the same. Not all the time of course, but every now and then to be sure.
When I have run promotions in the past for our commercial cleaning operation we have offered AT LEAST 25% off the customers first full monthly invoice. Many times we offer 50% off their first full month!
That type of offer is HUGE. I don’t know of another cleaning company in my area that does anything remotely the same. I believe this plays a large role in why my phone rings when I make that offer.
Every once and awhile someone will say “isn’t that too much” to give away? I say NO, it isn’t. This is because without that special promotion, your offer will just get lost in the pile of junk mail sitting on their desk.
And besides, the money you give away in the special promotion to get the customer will be easily made up over the long haul. Most newcomers don’t see it that way and only think “short-term” instead of “long-term”. This causes them to lose out, sadly!
From my experience once a customer switches over to your company odds are you will have them for AT LEAST a few years if you are doing a good job and a lot longer if you run a first class operation.
This is because customers go through a lot of trouble in many cases to switch cleaning companies. They don’t generally like to give up too fast on something after they have so much invested in it.
This doesn’t mean a few oddball clients won’t take advantage of that special offer and cut you lose once the special is over. I’ve had it happen a few times, but on the whole it’s extremely rare and I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
So to make a long story short, get inside your potential customers head and craft an offer that they simply can’t refuse. When you do, your phone will ring, you will get more chances to prepare a quote and you’ll no doubt get more customers.
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hello Tom,last year I share with you that I started my cleaning business but I didnt think I gotten started with any directions, made and given out some flyers but they seem to apply more toward residential,people in residential pay nothing for their dirty homes.anyway Tom I am having a different approach I AM moving forward and want to attract commercial customer,the truth be know I dont have any insurance or bonded,any idea to get my first contract and get my name out there.interested only in apartment, offices,ect..
Hi Jean! Ok… well the commercial market is a good place to get started. One thing though, you’ll need insurance to work with this group. No way around that sadly. Anyway… if you only want to work with apartments and offices just market to those groups. That’s it! The flyes you speak of work great for this market, you just need to be constant with it. Also, mailing out a flyer with a business card works if you have a good offer.
hi i registered my business, i have a cleaning proposal but stil no contract what must i do.
Hi Ajli! You need to get the word out you own a cleaning business. Networking, handing out flyers, using direct mail and visiting real estate offices with a sales letter and flyer are all very good ways to get accounts. You need to make it your “mission” to tell the world you own a cleaning business and are seeking customers.
Hi Tom! My question is We have started a cleaning business and we made cold calls to client requesting our services. The ones who responding wanted a package of what services we offered. Inside I put a Introduction letter instead of a sales letter and our services without price quotes attached. Did we do something wrong? Its been over a week and we having heard from anyone. What would you suggest?
Hi! No… don’t beat yourself up on that. While we would just LOVE to have them get back to us ASAP, they are on their on time table. You could follow up with a call to check in though. I would also keep their address separate and mail to them maybe every 6 weeks or so if you don’t hear from them. Always remember what the BIG CREDIT CARD COMMPANIES do… they keep sending you offers until you finally break down and say YES.