Is Your Service "Worth It"?

Most marketing programs designed for the cleaning industry at the end of the last century (seems odd to read that, doesn't it?) focus on helping cleaners convince prospects to pay a higher price for cleaning services than they expect to pay.

These programs have often helped cleaners who would otherwise not survive in the competitive world of cleaning. With higher prices, these cleaners have met professional and personal financial goals and many have become leaders in their market places.

I've noticed, however, that some cleaners have learned to "market" a higher price, but are not DELIVERING a higher value. This short sighted practice results in declining repeat business, and little, if any referral business.

How can you be sure you are not "overselling and "underdelivering"? Here are a few points to consider:

Do you list several "cleaning steps" that might not truly be beneficial to your customer, or should be expected without "selling them" ("soil level testing", "demonstration of (add on service), etc).

Do you list cleaning steps in your sales material, but fail to do them?

Look for an article exploring this trend and how it can hurt your business in an upcoming article in Cleanfax Magazine.

Carpet Repair & Restretching at Winterfest

It was great to see the crowds of people who visited Mark Violand and David Behr to see their demonstrations of carpet repairs and restretching. Based on the number of those individuals who bought the needed tools and/or signed up for our Carpet Repair and Reinstallation Class in August, I think I can safely say that part of our program was a "hit".

Never depend on a carpet installer to be a carpet repair person for your customer. A good carpet installer is simply too busy putting in new carpet to do what he'd likely consider "nuisance work".

You,as a professional cleaner, need to offer this very valuable (and profitable) service to your customers. It isn't difficult, and you will be an invaluable resource to your customer if you'll just invest the time and (little bit of) money needed to be trained and equipped to offer tis service.