Whether you are in the house cleaning business or over on the commercial side, one thing is clear.
People need to feel comfortable with you BEFORE doing business with you.
When I look back at my success at getting accounts, my ability to make others feel at ease with me stands out. Now you may think price has a lot to do with who they choose too, and it does to a point, but their comfort level with you is just as important.
A cleaning company can be the cheapest company in the area, but if the person making the decision isn’t comfortable with the person they meet with, that company will not get hired. It’s that simple!
The potential customer must like you, believe you, have confidence in you, and trust you. But it begins with liking you. Without that, you get NOWHERE!
Think of it as going shopping. You probably have a favorite store and you frequent that store because you are comfortable there. When a new competing store opens up you may decide to try shopping there. But for some reason you don’t feel as comfortable as before.
Maybe it’s with the layout of that store or you don’t resonate with the associates there. Who knows! YOU JUST DON’T FEEL COMFORTABLE. So what do you do? You go back to the store you felt comfortable with.
That is why COMFORTABLE is so important!
Another benefit of that concept is when they like you PRICE BECOMES LESS OF A FACTOR. This doesn’t mean your service can be twice as much as the other company, but it does mean reasonable price differences mean less when customers CONNECT with you.
I know this principle is true because I’ve seen it happen to me over and over again. My cleaning company is NOT the cheapest in town. I’m generally on the high side when it comes to prices, yet I get hired time and time again over the cheaper competitors. I attribute this to me working very hard to get them to like me and feel comfortable with me.
Other factors play a role in getting hired as well. Customers must feel they are getting “value” from you, not just a good deal for their money. The decision maker has to feel that your business is a good fit for their company.
Keep in mind that you won’t always win them over. Sometimes you will resonate with the decision maker and sometimes you won’t. That’s life. But just keep this post in mind when you go out on a bid. It should help you out.
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This is so true Tom!
Thanks Francisco!
Exactly!! until and unless your customer is happy with you, your business can never reach heights, so it is important to satisfy your customer with your services.
Thanks Jenelia!
How do you go about starting your a house cleaning business? If you have experience in this business, do you get alot of problems with your customers. I’m also scared if something gets missing from their home and they have just misplaced it I might get blamed. What do you do if that happens?
Hi!
I did a post on starting a house cleaning business here – http://wp.me/pO3Aj-46R
The post only spells out the general process, but it has some good links that give details that are very useful.
Problems…no, I have no more than any other part of my business. Sure, you have a few people that push the limits from time to time, but that is true in ANY business. Just view those people as the “cost” of doing business!
Missing from the home…NEVER had that happen. I really don’t think that is a major issue as long as you take the time to hire correctly. Just don’t ever get “restless” and hire anyone (keep the standards high). If it did happen, your bonding insurance (very cheap to get) would cover it IF it was proven your employee was responsible.