Spot-on what facility managers want of cleaning

What Facility Managers think about contract cleaning services

What if you could know beforehand exactly what facility managers think about contract cleaning services?

Not general things but precise and accurate information on what they like and dislike, want and don't want... things like that.

In fact, what if you could know the actual WORDS and SENTENCES that they're listening for in order to decide whether or not your cleaning company is what they're looking for?

But, you KNOW these things... or do you?

Assumption, the mother of all foul-ups

More often than not, the cleaning company owner truly believes that he or she KNOWS these things.

After years in business, after talking with so many facility managers... how could he NOT know what they want of cleaning and what they think of cleaning companies?

And, in a way, the owner DOES know those things: When you hear the things, they won't be totally new to you at all. In fact, I wage anything that you'll recognise every single issue as something you've heard before.

Knowing the issues of facility managers isn't really the trick. Knowing WHICH ISSUES are vitally important to them is.

And even if you knew which ones are the vital issues, there's still another hurdle to cross: How to WORD those issues so that the facility manager recognises them as HIS issues (and not YOURS) and how to UTILISE those points so he feels you've taken his side in these matters.

The problem comes from the opposing viewpoints that the two parties — the facility manager and the cleaning company owner — hold on these select few issues which are most important to facility managers.

Let's take an example such as complaints.

The cleaning company owner knows that many facility managers complain about the smallest and most insignificant things in regards to the weekly / daily cleaning:

A paper clip was found behind a dust bin or a dust bin wasn't emptied. Ten thousand square feet were cleaned perfectly but the customer focusses solely on the few square INCHES that were missed.

A bit unfair, isn't it? And such complaints tend to get handled accordingly. If nothing else, you cannot help THINKING about the petty-mindedness of the complaint...

Obviously, it will not increase the mutual fondness between you and the customer either.

But let's look at this same thing from the facility manager's viewpoint.

An employee has noticed an omission in the cleaning and reported it to him, possibly exaggerating the degree of the omission. People do that, you know... the lower their status the MORE they seem to have a need to "give back" to someone... and who better to blame than the cleaner?

So, chances are this employee reports the omission to the facility manager in a less than pleasant manner. Now, many facility managers see it as their responsibility to forward this complaint. It's just the way it is — that's what they're there for, right?

In many cases, the fact that the complaint is petty does not enter into it at all. See. He sees it as his DUTY to report onwards any complaints.

Now, the good news is that most facility managers can be EDUCATED to verify the nature and order of magnitude of each complaint so that he won't pass on petty-minded complaints at all.

Also, there are ways of "taming" the personnel — those workers with a lower position than that of the facility manager — so that this, the LARGEST source of complaints, will practically dry out.

However, to do these you need to know exactly HOW facility managers think about complaints and their work... and you must have their own favourite theories on HOW cleaning companies should handle complaints and the weekly/daily cleaning.

ASSUMING that you know will simply lead to using YOUR viewpoint of these things... and you can see how vastly DIFFERENT the facility managers' viewpoint is from yours, right?

Now, let's not waste time arguing WHOSE viewpoint is the more truthful of the two. It's yours, of course. You're the expert.

However, you cannot win if you make your client wrong.

And that's what the facility manager will absolutely THINK you're doing if you push YOUR viewpoint to him in regards to complaints.

Therefore, although you would be RIGHT in feeling the way you do about petty complaints, can you see how it would work AGAINST you?

So, is it all hopeless, a dwindling spiral with most contract cleaning customers... just an automatic thing that'll keep you having to put up with petty complaints forever?

No, it isn't... not if you know exactly how to handle it.

It's relatively easy to do with existing clients. And, if you have to tools, it's even easier when acquiring new contract cleaning customers!

Prior knowledge, the ultimate weapon in selling contract cleaning services

No doubt you have a lot of experience in selling contract cleaning services... and a lot of great ideas on how to improve your sales.

But whether or not you realise it, any idea, no matter how great, is an ASSUMPTION until proven to be a fact by the test of long-term application. In other words, if it works well and keeps on bringing good results for a longer period, then it IS a fact.

If it isn't tested, piloted and proven... well, then it's an idea, not a fact. It might be an absolutely GREAT idea but the COST of testing it in real-life circumstances needs to be paid... and it can be a very steep price to pay, especially if the idea then proves to be nonproductive in the end.

In fact, it isn't commonly realised how gigantic is the true cost of testing and piloting any idea regarding client acquisition, let alone a full marketing & sales system.

It's a bit of a dilemma. As a business owner, you're creative by nature and have created a successful cleaning company out of nothing. Thus, you've come to rely on your own ideas and creativity.

Yet, when you apply the same creativity to marketing, you're entering a mine field of unknown dangers. More often than not, the end result of a seemingly great idea comes to nothing but expenses and disappointments.

It's not your fault, you know. It's not that your ideas aren't good.

It's just that marketing and sales are two games whose success depends of very specific factors.

Experience is required, not only with delivery of cleaning services but also in creating campaigns and sales tools for MANY cleaning companies. Familiarity with the innermost thoughts of the target group is a must.

To acquire such vast experience and knowledge you would have to set aside your cleaning company for a few years and concentrate wholly on...

-	researching and surveying facility managers and their wants; and,
-	testing and piloting marketing & sales tools with dozens of OTHER cleaning companies until those tools produce results unerringly in the hands of ANY cleaning company owner.

And it can be a very confusing jumble of opinions, facts and possibilities. That's because any marketing and sales system is not just ONE thing but a mixture of TENS of major steps (each of which is again built for tens of smaller steps)... which each must be tested and proven... and which each must be in CORRECT SEQUENCE as well.

Testing each combination of ideas can take a year. Testing several combinations... well, you get the idea. It's just beyond any cleaning company owner's resources in terms of TIME. Nobody can set aside YEARS just to develop the superior marketing & sales system... it's just not possible.

That's the reason why there's this strange situation: Cleaning companies have the knowhow and experience of the field but they don't have the TIME to develop these into a fully piloted, superior marketing system.

Obviously, there's always also the risk of being prejudiced without noticing it:

A cleaning company owner will always view the cooperation with clients from the viewpoint of an expert in cleaning as well as with the eye of the service deliverer... whereas the facility manager looks at things from the angle of a client (and a non expert of cleaning at that).

Those two viewpoints cannot but clash at times. Thus, if you leave a single clashing issue in your system, it can factually undo all the good work you've done until then. And it can be VERY difficult to locate those issues because they're so logical and truthful for you.

Again, we need to remember that clients and potential customers aren't viewing things from the viewpoint of expertise — and often they also look at it from an emotional viewpoint as opposed to a logical one.

This is why it's best to let a marketing expert develop a system, PROVIDED that he works with cleaning companies when testing and piloting each method.

A third party will be able to listen both sides' views objectively. An outsider that has neither party's viewpoints at heart emotionally can take onboard both theirs wishes and then, working with dozens of cleaning companies, build a system whose desirability is high for the client and whose benefits for the cleaning company are even bigger.

And that's exactly what has been achieved in a 3-year marketing pilot programme in which more than fifty cleaning companies participated and during which thousands of prospective contract cleaning customers were acquired.

Now you can obtain these proven tools to get an almost unfair advantage in competition in your area... CLICK HERE to read the introduction of the Cleaning Service Client-Acquisition System!

It might just be the very thing you've been looking for in order to know EXACTLY what facility managers think about cleaning services and how they react to things...

HDK CONSULTANTS LTD 32 Manning Close Richmond Square East Grinstead, RH19 2DR West Sussex United Kingdom Telephone: (01342) 328 116 (from US: 011-44-1342-328116) CONTACT FORM

Is it at all POSSIBLE to increase the number of well-paid contract cleaning jobs AT WILL?

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?

CLICK HERE to read about a new approach to finding better-paying contract cleaning customers at low cost IF you can be among the first in your area...

How you could increase your prices and profits in the face of competition:

Competition is tough and pricing is often the only weapon used to win contract cleaning bidding.

But did you know that not all clients and/or facility managers are looking for the lowest price... but something altogether different?

CLICK HERE to read how you could set up your prices and profits and still INCREASE THE PULL of your contract cleaning services and utilise this special market for obtaining high-profit cleaning sites!

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!

The difference customers' appreciation makes in your motivation and profits

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?

CLICK HERE to read an eye-opening article on how you can increase the awareness of clients on how much they receive from your cleaning services...and how much it could affect your profit margin!

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!

Do the math: Cost and results of passive versus active methods of finding prospective clients

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?

CLICK HERE to compare the costs and results of passive and active client-acquisition methods for cleaning companies!

Client-Satisfaction: Making cleaning customers SEE how much they receive from your cleaning services!

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?

CLICK HERE to read the amazing, groundbreaking innovation on client-satisfaction and how you can increase it ten-fold with only a few minutes spent monthly!

An unlimited source of top prospective clients for contract 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...

CLICK HERE to read how you could acquire practically ANY number of great prospective contract cleaning customers every day of the week!

The packaging of cleaning services

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.

CLICK to read how to package cleaning services into top-selling products!

Publishing: A unique way of creating HUGE interest for your contract cleaning services FREE!

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...

CLICK HERE to read how you could publish and start selling an authorative guide to contract cleaning services and get PAID for selling your services!

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?

CLICK HERE to read about added-value cleaning services!

Utilising the Internet in marketing & selling contract cleaning services

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...

CLICK HERE to read how you could start utilising the Internet efficiently for acquiring contract cleaning customers!

How to present & sell contract cleaning services without having to state self-promotional claims

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?

CLICK HERE to read about a new groundbreaking presentation & sales technique for contract cleaning services that'll bring the quality of your service to the attention of faciilty managers without you EVER stating any claims!

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?

CLICK HERE to read about telemarketing of cleaning services!

Is there a way to acquire new prospective cleaning customers by way of direct mailing in a high-quality, effective manner while creating a top image for your cleaning company?

More Referrals?

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?

CLICK HERE to read about obtaining referrals from existing cleaning clients!

History of the cleaning service marketing project that changed the success odds within the cleaning industry forever in favour of smaller cleaning firms

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?

CLICK HERE to read about this unique cleaning service marketing project and the team behind this cleaning service marketing web site.