| Two basic factors cause the apparent lack of appreciation that most contract cleaning customers exhibit. Once you know these, you can increase customers' appreciation within days and increase motivation and profits simultaneously... |
Increasing contract cleaning customer appreciation |
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The difference customers' appreciation makes in your motivation and profits
Not surprisingly, every cleaning company owner dreams of having contract cleaning customers who appreciate the work you do for them. We all have SOME such customers but we all have TOO FEW of those appreciative, openly satisfied cleaning clients. Bad news, complaints and negative feedback are readily given to a cleaning company by customers. But it seems that POSITIVE feedback just doesn't exist. Contract cleaning is one of those "invisible" services that people grow to take for granted from early childhood. Now it's just YOU who are the "Mom" whose task is to keep everything tidy and spotless... as part of being unappreciated on full-time basis. So, why is it so difficult for clients to show appreciation? Why is it that they ONLY seem to notice the smallest mistakes we make (and blow those out of all proportion), never perceiving the good that we do? After all, when they complain, it's about a few square feet... and yet they never pay any attention to those ACRES of well-cleaned surfaces that we leave behind us every week. Is it impossible to get them to SEE the good that we do? Well, do you believe it is possible... in fact, do you care any longer?
Contract cleaning blues
In the face of constant, one-sided feedback, it is normal to become somewhat cynical about the subject of appreciation. We're human, after all, so we tend to start believing there's NO WAY contract cleaning customers COULD be appreciative. You know. It's the old story: At first, most contract cleaning customers are satisfied with their new cleaning service... but, as time passes, they become used to any improvements... and the same old pattern of "searching for mistakes" begins to take hold. After a while, improvements are taken for granted and the attention focusses solely on omissions and mistakes. It's as if every staff member of the client-company is out on a mission to find something — ANYTHING — to complain about in regards to cleaning! So, is there any way of changing this? Or, more to the point, do YOU believe it COULD be changed at all? Well, to find out whether or not it is possible to change the level of appreciation customers show toward cleaning services, let's first look at WHY customers act the way they do.
The result of cleaning is... a nothingness
Whereas many other services create something that can be SEEN, the successful cleaning job REMOVES everything that could catch the eye, leaving a big "NOTHING" there to be seen. A cleaning job done well means there's nothing there to be seen... so cleaning doesn't really EXIST for most people as they don't see it but only see the OMISSIONS in it! The human eye (and mind) is NOT trained to see a nothingness. We always look for SOMETHING that's THERE. Therefore, when an untrained eye (read: the customer) views a well-cleaned space, it doesn't SEE the total LACK of dirt and dust. It actually takes an EXPERT to see that something's NOT there — in this case, dirt, dust and other particles which would show that the space has NOT been cleaned. So, when a customer (or anyone in the personnel of the company) looks at his or her work space or the bathroom in order to check whether it's been cleaned, they don't see that it's clean but only whether or not there's SOMETHING there that's been missed! It's a bit of a Catch 22, really. Nobody can do a 100% perfect job at all times, so there's BOUND to be some slight oversight here and there, now and again... and each of those are certain to be NOTICED because almost everyone in the client-company's personnel is out LOOKING for those omissions. So, how do you change that and make customers see the "nothingness" of a cleaning job well done? Well, first we have to understand how people think about cleaning.
People view cleaning emotionally
In spite of trying to act indifferently (or negatively) toward cleaning, most people react to the subject of cleaning in a very strongly emotional way. Everyone has been a child and had to clean when he or she didn't really want. Most adults have to clean their home... or, if they don't, put up with uncleanliness if they live alone. And if they live with a spouse then chances are that the person doing the cleaning is going to give the nonparticipating partner an earful about cleaning at regular intervals. As a result, almost every human being will have unpleasant memories about cleaning. All of those bad memories also involve a lot of BLAME — being blamed and/or blaming another for cleaning — which isn't making the subject any more pleasant for the average person. People THINK that cleaning is such a basic "no-brains" activity that ANYONE is an expert... and everyone has his or her own theories on how it SHOULD be done "correctly." So, with so much negative emotions and experience about cleaning, this is a VOLATILE subject for most people. And who is the perfect target on whom they can vent their spleen? Who's the ideal scape goat for all that blame that's inside them? Right. YOU are! You are the one whose service is under unbelievably microscopic scrutiny every day. Almost every employee will try to find something WRONG with your work. And that's why you get those ridiculously microscopic COMPLAINTS too! That's why people complain about the smallest things and that's why their feedback can be so outrageously venomous, totally out of proportion with what they claim to be the CAUSE of the complaint. But see. The ACTUAL cause of the complaint is NOT that there was a paper clip left in the corner or that someone's desk wasn't dusted. The ACTUAL reason for the complaint comes from the negative emotions most people have in the subject of cleaning! That's why those complaints are so often petty-minded, sometimes borderline the ridiculous...
How to create appreciation for contract cleaning services
First of all, customers must be TRAINED to look for the well-cleaned areas. They WILL look for SOMETHING always, whether you like it or not. So, why not take the necessary steps to ensure they're looking for well-cleaned spaces instead of omissions and mistakes? It's astonishingly SIMPLE to get laymen to see the "nothingness" of cleaning (the fact that there's NOTHING there in way of dust or dirt) if only you know how. Once you achieve this, the person will forever change his or her way of looking at the results of cleaning work... and their appreciation will SKYROCKET! Secondly, customers need to be handled with very special COMMUNICATION, using THEIR opinions, ideas, and views on cleaning as the starting point. Essentially, their need to make YOU (anyone) WRONG stems from being themselves made wrong about cleaning. This may seem hard to believe but it is so nevertheless with the majority of people.
Thirdly, you need to know what to ASK your clients so they will focus their attention on the good that they receive from your services. This again is a simple set of questions — in fact, sometimes just ONE question — set in an interview or a letter. Now, this all may seem like a lot of work, but the amazing thing is that all three of these techniques can be implemented and kept going with only MINUTES spent every month... The results are nothing short of astonishing. The increase in THEIR perception of satisfaction toward your services will increase dramatically within a few days... and that, in turn, will bring you many good things.
The difference appreciation makes to your motivation and... profits!
And a significantly heightened appreciation from customers can make a massive change to the positive. Everyone NEEDS to be appreciated. It's a human trait, something that's grooved into our basic nature of existence. Appreciation is simply the essence of life, the very elixir that keeps us going. Educating your customers to see the good and activating their appreciation cannot but influence your own motivation in a very positive way. It will make work much more pleasant. It will also give you a lot more strength to keep on with the good work. Customers' appreciation will affect your personnel too. Cleaning crews will actually do a better job simply because they want to return the favour — being appreciated makes a person willing to do more... and to do it in a happier frame of mind. Complaints will diminish significantly, saving a lot of your time (and headaches) which cannot but lead to more efficient use of time, leading to higher profits. The positive feedback will actually also AUTOMATICALLY increase your efforts in acquiring NEW clients. After all, the more pleasant it is to serve existing customers and the more these APPRECIATE your services, the easier it is to offer those same services to new businesses. After all, with such an exceptionally high client-satisfaction ratio, those services are PROVEN to be of far higher quality than average, right? Amazingly, increasing the appreciation will also make a difference in how your customers PAY those monthly invoices for their cleaning service. Thus, there's a lot to be won by being able to bring into light the appreciation that customers COULD feel (and show) for your services, without changing ANYTHING in the technical nature of your cleaning. It took us years to research, test and pilot these techniques but now they exist in form of ready-to-use tools, easy to take advantage of without any prior training. These tools and techniques also put in the appreciation for NEW customers from the onset, making your work much easier and much more profitable. It will make a world of difference...
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Is it at all POSSIBLE to increase the number of well-paid contract cleaning jobs AT WILL?
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How you could increase your prices and profits in the face of competition:
But did you know that not all clients and/or facility managers are looking for the lowest price... but something altogether different? |
Sales Boosters: Are you a top sales expert who finds it easy to sell to prospective clients... or are you not confident or simply not experienced in selling contract cleaning services? Whichever, there's a booster for your sales... CLICK HERE to read the two sales results boosters which will increase your sales many times over! |
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Hand to heart — have you ever wondered what it would feel like if cleaning customers genuinely appreciated the service you work so hard to provide... and if they also let YOU know about it? Furthermore, how would such openly admitted satisfaction affect the motivation of cleaning crews and yourself? And could it actually also mean more PROFITS from each and every cleaning site for your company? |
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What do they dislike and like, suspect and trust? What's top quality and why? CLICK HERE to read how you could make a lot more by knowing what they want from cleaning! |
Many cleaning companies use huge sums of money for advertising their services. While it brings new clients, could there be a way to obtain a lot MORE clients... and at a fraction of the cost? |
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Have you ever wondered why contract cleaning customers are so insistent on finding FAULT with your work... and why they complain about the smallest things? Why do they not perceive the thousands of square feet you've cleaned so well but put their attention on finding the few square INCHES which you've possibly missed? What if you had a way to make them SEE all the well done work instead? |
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An unlimited source of top prospective clients for contract cleaning services
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The packaging of cleaning services
CLICK to read how to package cleaning services into top-selling products! |
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Would you like to publish a best-selling guide in your area and to educate facility managers on how to evaluate cleaning services and choose the cleaning company... YOURS? Would you want to increase the awareness of facility managers on how much YOU could help to improve their cleaning and rid them of the problems they may be facing with their current cleaners? And do all this so that your marketing actually pays for itself and then some? Well, if so, then here's a way to do it without ever having to write a single word... |
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Added-value cleaning services: Added-value cleaning services have a significantly higher success ratio in sales while producing clearly better profits for the cleaning company. But what are added-value services and how do you create such for your cleaning company?
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The Internet is here to stay. With more than a billion people, the Internet has become the primary source used by companies to find new services and information about business-to-business services. Yet, only about 4% of cleaning companies utilise the Internet efficiently for prospecting and marketing, even though it is practically a COST-FREE way of acquiring a constant flow of new contract cleaning customers. Regardless of whether or not you have a web site, this article is quite an eye-opener in terms of Internet marketing of contract cleaning services... |
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In selling cleaning services, one of the weak points of the traditional sales technology is that you have to state CLAIMS about your services and about your own excellence. Surveys show that facility managers automatically SUSPECT any self-promotional claims made in a sales situation. Thus, those claims are NOT believed and the end result of stating claims is a lowered believability toward you and your services. The best way is to AVOID making such claims... but, if you don't TELL him about the quality, how is he to KNOW? |
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Telemarketing How could you set up a cost-efficient and highly lucrative telemarketing activity to ensure a constant flow of preselected potential contract cleaning clients at a moment's notice, starting and stopping it as needed?
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Is there
a way to acquire new prospective cleaning customers by way of
direct mailing in a high-quality, |
More Referrals?
CLICK HERE to read about obtaining referrals from existing cleaning clients! |
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These articles explain the findings of a long-term cleaning service marketing project by a team of top marketing experts and with the participation of more than 50 cleaning companies over several years. But how did the project come to start and what did it take to bring it to a successful ending? |
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Have
you ever been sick and tired of complaints and the lack of appreciation
that so many clients seem to have toward cleaning services?
Let's
face it, if you receive ANY feedback from a contract cleaning
customer then chances are that it is NEGATIVE in one way or another.
Cleaning
is a funny task in that its goal is to leave NOTHING there.
Believe
it or not, cleaning is a VERY emotional subject to most people.
When
dealing with people who have so much negative charge in the subject
of cleaning, you need to be clever. The obvious solution —
showing them how things really are — doesn't really work.
It is a question of emotional things, not logical reasoning.
Even
a slightly higher level of appreciation toward your services
can make a huge difference to your work.
Indeed... is it possible
to CONTROL the number of new contract cleaning customers we obtain
on monthly basis? Is it possible to increase the PROFITS of each
cleaning site well above the industry standards... and do so
without having to invest an arm and a leg before you know whether
or not it works?
Competition
is tough and pricing is often the only weapon used to win contract
cleaning bidding.
The difference customers'
appreciation makes in your motivation and profits
Do the math: Cost and results of
passive
versus active
methods of finding prospective clients
Client-Satisfaction: Making cleaning customers
SEE how much they receive from your cleaning services!
What if you could find
an UNLIMITED number of great potential contract cleaning customers
from within your area at will? Just imagine how it could affect
your business and income! Well, why not check out this article
to find out how some cleaning companies have managed to obtain
prospective customers on continuous basis...
The
task of marketing is to PACKAGE the service to be sold. But just
HOW that is done and what benefits it can bring you is generally
not known.
Publishing: A unique way of creating HUGE interest for your
contract cleaning services FREE!
Utilising the Internet
in marketing & selling contract cleaning services
How to present & sell contract cleaning
services without having to state self-promotional claims
effective manner while
creating a top image for your cleaning company?
What
if you could get each of your contract cleaning customers activated
into bringing you several new prospective clients every year...
now, wouldn't that be quire something?
History of the cleaning
service marketing project that changed the success odds within
the cleaning industry forever in favour of smaller cleaning firms