Marketing

As this winter moves slowly toward springtime, I have gotten several calls and visits from cleaners who are looking for ways to "get more business". While we should all look for ways to build our business throughout the year, this season's gloomy weather, and the economic gloomy forecast, has created periods of slow or no business that create real worries among the newer members of the cleaning industry.

Just today I was visited by a concerned business owner who wanted to know what sort of postcards or mailings that he could do to help to build his fledgling business. While I advised him that such mailings can be helpful, I began to suggest that he make calls on a variety of businesses to either ask for business, or to build a referral network.

I could see by his expression that he didn't want to make such calls. The more that I explained the benefits involved in this direct, "belly to belly" selling technique, the more he "shut me out", and he simply created one excuse after another as to why he could not or would not make such calls.

The fact remains: In a service business there is no substitute for direct, face to face visits. Such "cold calls" are very difficult to do for most, which is all the more reason why cleaners should do it!

Few cleaners have the will and discipline needed to make such calls. That means you have few competitors to worry about when competing in such a fashion.

Is it easy to do? No. But remember, one definition of a successful person is this:

"Successful people do the things failures don't like to do."

Make one more sales call today; chances are, none of your competitors will be there.