I get asked this question quite a bit via email, so I thought I would tackle it today with a post on the topic.
Becoming successful is a combination of many different things, but two things stick out to me more than anything else.
Ready for the first big secret? This will probably come as no surprise, but “working hard” is secret number one! This one was really a no brainer, as it is pretty cut and dry. You need to place one foot in front of the other to get the process moving forward.
At the end of the day, if you are not dedicating your full attention to starting your new business or are not spending enough time building your existing business, you will NEVER get ahead.
You must get up early and work late. Sales people who work for successful companies are in the office early and staying late at night perfecting their sales pitch and making appointments to grow their commissions.
After all if they don’t make their quota every month they are out of a job. Look at your business the same way. If you are not out selling your services, you will be out of business too.
Having an abundance of customers will do a lot of good things for you. They allow you to take care of BOTH your “needs” AND your “wants”. You just need to dedicate your time to building your customer base.
Customers pay for the food on your table, put clothes on you and your family’s back, cover your bills, buy you that new car or home repair that you want and and hopefully leave enough to finance your vacations.
The next “secret” that comes to mind is always remembering to “ask for the sale”. This is a huge mistake many people simply don’t take advantage of despite it being so easy to do so.
When you are with a potential customer going through his facility or if it is a house cleaning client, when you are finishing your sales pitch to them, remember to ask for their business. It never hurts to ASK!
Remember you want to be a trusted source for your customers, the GO TO person. Reading Book on sales and marketing can help you also. Watching TV CANNOT!!
Reading our Blogs can be a great resource for you, we cover many topics about starting and growing your business, so pay attention to all the Cleaning-4-Profit blogs.
Remember no one will care about your business as much as you do. If you want to be wildly successful you must put the time and effort into your business. ♦
If you are looking to start your own highly profitable cleaning business that beats the daylights out of competition at their own game then check out one of my Cleaning Company Start-Up Guides. They are guaranteed to get you started faster and easier than you ever thought possible!
Hello I agree to this. especially secret no.1 “Hard work”, if you are working hard it will end up succesfuly i any kind of business. I may add good employees. with good employees it will help your bussines gain som trust from costumers.
I agree! Having good employees is also a key to success. Without them the road is much harder.
I would like to add “Setting goals” is also a great key for success. by setting goals you will inspire and motivate yourself to achieve them, you will work hard to over-sea, reach and see how your business is growing.
You are SO RIGHT! Goals are the stepping stones that lead you to your dreams. Thanks for adding that Cesar!
Hi, my name is Kelley Oman and I live in Washington State. I have been in customer service for over twenty years. The company, I worked for closed the office at the beginning of June 2012. I have been unable to find work. My girlfriend is in the same boat as I.
We have decided to go into the house cleaning / janitorial business and wanted to ask you a couple of questions. I wanted to know what made your company stand out. Did you create a flyer and distribute them? Can you give me any tips like what things you did to help with your success or what pitfalls to look out for? What has worked and what hasn’t for you.
With age comes wisdom. I am simply trying to not recreate the wheel.
Anything you would be willing to share would be much appreciated.
Thank you very much, Kelley Oman
Hi Kelley!
I’ll jump right to your questions…
1 – As I look back I was different for a few reasons. First off, I was eager to please. What I mean by that is that I listened hard to what the customers problem was (they are calling me because the last company STINKS for some reason). I worked at finding out what the problem was (poor vacuuming, bad mopping of floors, poor customer service ETC…), and gave them my word that I would fix that problem for them once and for all. Keep in mind that ALL the problems I described above are EASY FIXES! You are not fixing rocket boosters on a rocket, just mopping better, vacuuming better ETC… SOLVE PROBLEMS, MAKE MONEY!
Secondly, I was willing to give a big discount (25 to 50% off their first full month). This made them ACT. Who would be so CRAZY to do that? (me, because the MATH is in MY FAVOR). Once people sign up, they will stay with you as LONG AS YOU DO AS YOU SAID YOU WOULD.
2 – YES… Made flyers and sales letters (both together work the best by a mile). Handled out, mailed them, whatever I had to do to get them out. NON-STOP!
3 – Fyers and sales letters (handing out / mailing) along with networking built my business.
4 – What didn’t work? Newspaper ads and other traditional print media.
5 – You are RIGHT. Don’t reinvent the wheel! The wheel works fine, just make it work for you.
Thank you for your time!!!
No problem!