Today I wanted to briefly discuss how to offer different levels of service to your customers.
I think it’s best to show you an example, so you can see what I mean. The example I’ll use is for carpet cleaning.
The reason why this is a good idea, especially for carpet cleaning, is because this way you don’t pen yourself in to one single price point that the customer may or may not like.
Instead you basically offer a low, medium and high-end package. This way you can appeal to a broad audience. Take a look at the example below to see what I mean. This is what I would hand to the customer once I evaluated their home (this is a residential price sheet).
When you offer your services this way, the customer tends to feel more empowered because THEY GET TO CHOOSE what fits them best, plus it really takes away the sales pressure part of you “selling”. Instead you just “offer” packages that they can choose from. It really is a win-win type scenario when done correctly.
An added benefit to this is many times the customer will take the “middle option”. They don’t want the cheapest, but they don’t want the high-end one either, so they compromise. This generally means more profit to you. Though the highest priced option won’t be chosen all that much, people do choose it from time to time (which is great for your bottom line).
If anyone out there has any experience using this approach, feel free to share your results in the comments below. I really enjoy hearing how everyone approach’s the concept of selling their services to the end-user. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask them as well!
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I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction to a company that gets you cleaning contracts that’s in south jersey? If so, please use the email above. Not getting any luck with promotions and going from business to business.
Hi Lawrence! I’m not aware of any.
As always another bit of great information! I think we should always offer our customers a choice when it comes to prices!
Thanks Tom
Thanks Terry!
How do I initially determine the price range structures for the benefit of my business and the motivation for the customer?
Hi Binda! That is going to be up to you. You need to find the “pulse” of your market, then price accordingly. All I can say is, if you don’t know where to start, is to start low and go up from there. So think of it this way… if EVERYONE is hiring you, then you are TOO LOW (as far as pricing goes), and when NOBODY will hire you then you are TOO EXPENSIVE. Find the MIDDLE GROUND (that is your mission).
I am basically New,& my choice area is Atlanta.I am from New York.I am going to need a tutorial on selling,Labour,& office (rent)
What do need to start with.
my number is xxxxxxxxxx
Hi! It was nice speaking to you on the phone. I’ll be here if you need me.
Hey Tom, I have been reading all of your emails and following the links. I really appreciate the dedication and encouragement you give to others in the field. I have s question that does not pertain to this post. I have been in the cleaning field for about 18 yrs now and recently decided it was my turn to take the lead and venture into my own cleaning business. So I did! My clientele is increasing at a steady rate. So my question is, how do I prepare to hire employees one at a time as business grows? I currently have enough to keep myself a full week every week, but transitioning to hire an employee as business peeks is my troublespot as I have never done this part before.. Its hard to find someone that wants to work 1 day week in HOPES of gaining another permanent day in the near future until they get 40hrs a week! Do you just bite it and take the income loss of paying the employee until the work fills in? Does what im asking make sense to you?? Haha! Thanks again Tom
Hi Tonya! Sorry for the delay… I moved and thing got CRAZY. Anyway… you need to find that one person who only needs a few hours per week. They are out there, though it can be tough at times. Also… the one person who is only looking for a few hours per week IS NOT the person who will want full time work down the road (that will be another person you need to hire).
And YES… you have to take a little less money (and pay someone to help you) as you move through the process of hiring people to do the work and train with you. A little short term PAIN for long term GAIN.
Great question Tonya, I experienced the exact same thing recently…. And like Tom said, there are people out there who are only looking for part-time work or supplemental income. Best of luck Tonya and as always great advise Tom!
I have been trying to come up with clever names for the different packages I want to offer. My company is American Maids and the only one I have come up with is the Presidential Sweep. Does anyone have any suggestions, I need 2 more names for lesser levels of cleaning.
Thanks for your help!
Katie
Hi Katie! I’ll put it out there is to if anyone has any suggestions.
Hi Tom,
Great information on your site. How would you apply the three “service package” choices to residential house cleaning. I can see where that is a benefit; all customer have different expectation of cleaning cost. Thanks, Pam
Hi Pam! Thanks for the kind words. Anyway… to your question…well, lots of ways to do that. It could be just based on the same premise, where you actually DO MORE CLEANING on the top tier cleaning package (like wiping out the fridge and cleaning the oven).
This added cleaning would not apply on the middle and lower level packages. And the base cleaning (lowest level) may only be “spot mopping” of floors instead of “corner to corner” type service. You can be extremely creative trying out different packages to see what works best for you. You could name them GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE “Levels” (or whatever suits you).
Hi Tom,
On a related area, how do you manage key distribution and collection for multiple cleaning locations. i.e. I have one worker who is cleaning at ten different locations, each with own set of keys. How do you manage the process effortlessly? What system do you use to distribute and collect keys to multiple cleaners who are each responsible for cleaning multiple locations?
Thanks again.
Your site is great!
Hi BJ! No easy answer to that one. For me… some (the employees that worked for me for a while and were reliable) just kept the keys (I had the masters, and a supervisor had a copy in case the worker called out). For beginners they generally had to report to the office and get the key then return it once complete.
When I didn’t have an office in the beginning (or they were too far away to make this workable) they just held on to the keys (not much choice). At the end of the day you will have to create a system that works for you. The best approach is to be careful in who you hire so you can trust them with the keys.
Thanks for straightening that out Tom! How do you feel about office cleaning in particular? Are medium and large accounts giving you more headache than smaller ones? I feel it’s harder to get small accounts but easier to get medium ones. Is this proven to be true or am I doing something wrong? I assume small accounts are easier to work with and obtain.
Thanks again for everything!
I’m a huge fan of cleaning offices. That is where the money is in my opinion (especially if you sell supplies and offer window cleaning and carpet cleaning). As far as “what’s easy”, if you are getting those mid-sized accounts then GOOD! Keep going with that. Nothing bad about that. You take what you can get!