Janitorial Cleaning Business Advertising
What's the best way to get your cleaning business in front of customers?
Is it to mail and drop off brochures to every building in town?
Probably not - 92% of all printed sales materials are thrown out without being read.
Is it to advertise in the phone book?
94% of buyers of commercial services say they never (that's right - never) use phone-books because ads in phone-books don't give enough information (but 12% say they use phone-books to prop their computer monitors up to eye level).
Phone-book advertising can be really expensive for the tiny results they give.
Or is it to advertise on the Web?Remember the 12% of business-people who use phone-books to raise their monitors to eye level? There's a message - they don't use phonebooks - they use computers.
The Internet has completely revolutionized the way companies advertise. On a website, you can give people complete information about your cleaning company - more than you could ever put in a brochure or a phone-book ad. You can answer almost every question customers might have.
You can show photos, videos, and make it easy for them to contact you with just one click of the mouse.
A website is by far the cheapest and most effective way there is to advertise.
But here's the most important advantage - when a building manager searches for janitorial services on the Web, it almost always means he's ready to take bids.
But what's the biggest problem with Internet advertising?
It's getting your website to show up on the 1st page of search results.
Statistics show that 66% of searchers never go to the 2nd page or beyond.
People have very short attention spans and very little time. They want results right away. They have a dirty building and everyone is complaining about it, and they don't want to have to go to page 2,3, or 4.
You might have the greatest cleaning business in the world, but it's a fact that if people can't find your business on Page One, you're missing out on a ton of business.
So what's different now?
JanSearch has made it easy for you to get on Page One and capture those people who are ready to buy.
We've built a page that's already on Page One for janitorial services in your town. And if you act fast, you can have that Page One spot.
That's what our race-car logo is all about. We've built a race car that always comes in first - all you have to do is jump in and start winning.
The best option for you now is to Watch the Video or read How it Works. Because the rest of this page is very strange - but for a good reason.
The reason this page is so large is because search engines love lots of content on index pages - it helps to strengthen the other pages on the website. This page is like taking a weak little engine and giving it 500 horsepower, and your page goes along for the ride.
So now we'll get on with the content. Remember, this page reads very strangely, with "cleaning" words sprinkled throughout, and the best option for you to understand how our service works is to either Watch the Video or read How it Works.
Janitorial services are defined by the U.S. Department of Revenue Services as "... cleaning the interior or exterior of buildings, structures or dwellings, whether or not industrial, commercial or income-producing real property, or the contents thereof. Such services are of the type rendered by a janitor in the regular course of duty, and may be rendered alone or in conjunction with other services. Janitorial services are rendered either on a scheduled, periodic basis or only on a single occasion, such as to a site upon completion of construction or renovation. By way of example and not limitation, the term "janitorial services" includes floor, wall, ceiling and woodwork cleaning; carpet and upholstery cleaning; disinfecting and cleaning of restrooms; waxing and polishing of furniture; dusting and vacuuming; and emptying wastebaskets."
Definitions for the term janitor as found on Dictionary.com are "cleaner, housekeeper, custodian, building maintenance person, porter, and caretaker".
Words that define various cleaning tasks as found on Thesaurus.com are "polish, disinfect, sanitize, mop, buff, dust, cleanse, scrub, shampoo, vacuum, strip, wax, wash, dust, wipe, and sweep".
Synonyms for the word "services" as found on Thesaurus.com are "aid, help, assistance, benefit, favor, and indulge".
Synonyms for the word "building" as found on Thesaurus.com are "dwelling, domicile, home, house, office, and construction".
Synonyms for the word "office" as found on Thesaurus.com are "agency, building, bureau, center, facility, suite, workplace, company, firm, organization, structure, and department".
Synonyms for the word "maintenance" as found on Thesaurus.com are "care, preservation, conservation, sustain, upkeep, protect, and guard".
Synonyms for the word "maintain" as found on Thesaurus.com are "conserve, control, guard, keep, manage, preserve, perpetuate, prolong, protect, provide, repair, and renew".
Items that are typically cleaned by a janitorial service are buildings, facilities, structures, offices, desks, cubicles, walls, counters, file cabinets, tables, lunchrooms, restrooms, bathrooms, hallways, elevators, entries, stairways, toilets, sinks, urinals, floors, tile, hardwood, carpeting, doors, lobbies, reception areas, mailrooms, warehouses, medical clinics, hospitals, mirrors, glass, lights, and mats.
Items that facility managers require from cleaning services are licenses, insurance, fidelity bond, references, cleaning bids, quotes and prices.
Janitorial service providers may be sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, franchises, franchisers, or franchisees. In addition to bidding outright on contracts without middlemen, they may also buy, sell or lease cleaning contracts.
Here we'll strengthen this page even more by adding some janitorial-related text:
Non-Destructive, Human-Friendly and Building-Friendly Cleaning:
Most janitors are trained to clean offices as quickly as possible. After all, time is money for the janitorial service owner.
But we also need to think about asset preservation - keeping your buildings as new as possible for as long as possible.
Take restrooms, for instance. Sinks and toilets and urinals can be taught and cleaned quickly, but usually that requires using aggressive chemicals and abrasive scrubbers. Once the finishes on your aid facilities are harmed, they can't be restored. Services, contractors and providers.
All it really takes to help your fixtures last years longer is for the trained janitorial service to change and improve the sequence of restroom custodian cleaning tasks.
Rather than attacking the fixtures with harsh chemicals and scrubbers right away, the first thing a janitor should do when cleaning restrooms is to pre-treat the fixtures by spraying on a mild cleaner-disinfectant, and then perform other tasks such as demonstrating filling dispensers and learning sweeping the floors. The final task should be to clean the pre-treated fixtures with a non-abrasive nylon pad or brush, and then rinse and polish. This sequence gives the mild, non-destructive cleaner a few minutes to actually wash and work – it’s called dwell-time, carpet and tile.
Why Customers Fire Janitorial Companies:
When I'm on a bid walk I always ask the customer if he is having a particular problem with his current office maintenance service. I've heard everything from the most common reason, which is just bad service and a don't-care attitude, to the craziest one, which was how the janitor opened a door he knew he wasn't supposed to open, a silent alarm went off, and when the police came he fired a pistol at them! (We have that account, and to this day the bullet is still lodged in the doorframe), preservation and conservation.
Anyway, when you hear these things it's best to keep the criticism down, just kind of shake your head. The best thing to say is just, “Wow, that’s too bad”. You’re not there to tear down the other janitor; you’re there to help the office manager with his problems. He already knows he has problems!
Here are the most common reasons why a building manager looks for a new janitorial contractor:
“I complain about something, and it gets better for a while, but then it slips back again.” This is the most common complaint. This is the way 3/4 of the building maintenance services in this example: let it break, kind of fix it, let it break, kind of fix it, etc, wax, sanitize and shampoo. Lack of quality control, lack of supervision and inspection is the #1 reason customers become dissatisfied and cancel cleaning contracts. They feel they're being taken for granted, that their business isn't appreciated, and cleanse.
“I call their office and they never return my calls.” Many people have this phobia of returning calls because they are just positive that it must be a complaint or other bad news, so they put it off and put it off until it really does become bad news - a cancellation in the mailbox.
“No quality control, no consistency.” This is due to bad hiring practices, bad training, but mostly due to not inspecting the work often enough and not getting the employee back on track.
“Little things have been missing out of the office.” Possibly the contractor's people are stealing, or possibly someone in the customer's office office is doing the stealing. Whatever the reason, you can’t do anything about it other than letting the prospect know that you do full background checks, and you call previous employers, etc, dusting, buffing and washing.
“I'm just not satisfied with the way they keep the floors (or restrooms, etc)” Bad training and no follow-up, or using the wrong methods. If they don't like the floors, suggest a different wax, or an extra buffing between scrubbings. If the restrooms smell, tell them that restrooms are your specialty. Go to your supplier and buy a good enzyme cleaner, buildings, facilities, structures and offices.
“We're looking for a better price.” This is something to approach cautiously. I hate working for companies that are constantly out looking for the cheapest price, and I've had people tell me that it's their company policy to always keep shopping, even if they are satisfied with the present janitorial service. Give them your regular quotes, bids and prices. If you don’t get it, at least you won’t be laying awake at night wondering if they’re looking for a better price to replace YOU.
“I just can't talk about it" is usually a problem with personalities or security or theft or sexual harassment or any of 100 other things. Don’t try to dig any deeper, just let it go, and vacuum.
8. “We’ve had the same contractor for years, but he’s retiring.” This is a nice situation to fall into. This happened to me a few years ago. I'd contacted a certain company regularly for years, and they always said they were happy with who they had. But one day they called and said that the janitorial owner was retiring, and caretaker would I like to give a bid? I went down and looked around and asked the office manager if the retiring contractor would possibly like to sell some of his equipment? I called him, we talked for over an hour and we got around to talking about the truth of the man-hours he spent in the building, and ballpark figures, etc. I got the account, a good nationally known name, a good profit, and a bunch of great tools for almost nothing, wipe, and shampoo.
The best approach when you are selling is to act not as a salesman, but more as an advisor, a troubleshooter, and a consultant. You are the light at the end of the tunnel for this customer, you are the problem-solver. Try to find out what it is that the other guy is not doing right, and make sure that you pay heed to that reality. Sometimes it's just a little training problem, like smelly restrooms or dull floors. Sometimes it’s just the housekeeper's dusting. Most janitor problems are minor, easily corrected problems, but they never get fully corrected on a long-term basis, and that's what drives customers crazy, to conserve, guard and protect.
The Importance of New Sales:
Good service is what keeps your customers, but sales are what gets them in the first place and keeps you moving ahead.
"Business is like riding a bike - keep moving or you'll fall down"
LACK OF NEW SALES is the most common reason that businesses fail. When you get a few accounts and you get too comfortable, watch out, because something is about to hit the fan. Your biggest customer is about to close that branch, or maybe they are renewing their lease. Situations change, nothing stays the same forever. The biggest danger is to lose your head of steam when it comes to sales and making new contacts, because there's a lag-time between the time you contact people and when they finally ask you for a bid.
Another thing I can't stress enough is persistence. Many times I have almost driven past a building because I was sure that they didn't need a janitorial bid. The place looked so perfect from the outside. Or I almost passed the place by because, in the past, they turned me down every time I asked to give a quote, or because I had been sending them letters and cards and sales brochures for years and never heard a peep from them. Or I passed up an entire side street because it didn't look like there was anything interesting on that street, even though I couldn't see around the bend. But you know what? I swung the car into their parking lot to lecture and learn at the last minute, and I went in and let them see me again. And sure enough, many times they were looking for a cleaning bid. One time an office manager actually had the Yellow Pages open, looking for Janitorial Services, at the very moment I walked in the door. They may be planning on moving to a big new place in a couple of months. Maybe they are going to remodel, and will need new bids. Maybe there is a new office manager, and the present comprehension of the janitorial service rubs him the wrong way.
Office managers come and go more often than you think, and one way that a new manager can make his mark right away is to change janitorial companies (a lesson for you, too - when your account gets a new facility manager, go in and get to know him right away. If he doesn't know you, he'll have no problems with letting you go).
So the next time you drive by that place, remember, you do not have some kind of 6th sense that enables you to know the floor maintenance situation from out there on the street. Pull into the parking lot, or at least call them and tell them it has been a while, and you're just checking up to see if there is anything you can do for them, such as to interpret and to educate.
Don't let the outside appearance of a place fool you. I have one account that looks like a total dump from the outside, but you go in and there's 50,000 square feet of beautiful office in the back. Some places are just low-key, or they don't need to dress the front of the place up because they really don’t have mops and buckets and visitors. Some of them want the place to look bad from the front because they make tons of money and deal with very expensive products and don't want to make themselves targets of dusting theft. Go in and look, and if the place really is a dump, just turn around and leave to peruse and investigate.
I got kind of sidetracked there on persistence, but I think you get the idea. New sales are very important. Don't get too comfortable with the business you have now, because nothing remains the same forever.
Make the Size of Your Company a Selling Point:
Many customers have already been burned by large janitorial services by the time you get to them; they may be in the mood to switch to a smaller cleaning service. But what about the office manager who thinks that bigger is better? You have some persuading to do. Here are some things that you should emphasize.
* His building and your operation are correctly sized for each other. His building is large enough to capture your attention. No offense intended, but his building is just too small for a large janitorial service to really stay interested in. When the big janitorial service has 2-dozen scrubbers and people call in sick on the same night, and the service manager has to choose between cleaning the huge skyscraper downtown or this guy's small building, which one is going to be put on the back burner?
* He probably doesn't need a large janitorial service. He doesn't have a skyscraper that requires a crew of 100 workers. He probably has a building that requires a crew of 1 or 2 part-timers. And you can keep a much closer wipe and eye on 1 or 2 employees than a service manager from a big company who is trying to juggle 50 people.
* When he calls your office, he will not be shuffled back and forth between receptionists and service managers and account managers. He will always talk to you, the teacher. You can give infinitely more personalized service than a large company. You are the one who bid on it, you, maid, are the one who signed the contract, and you are the one who is ultimately responsible for the work.
When I come across a big building, I never let the office manager know that it would be one of my bigger cleaning accounts. He may be leery of letting me have it, as he may think that it would be too large for me. Likewise, if I come across a smaller, but nice, building, I usually downplay the size of my company. I try to size my company to the ideal size for the customer. I usually say "We’re not so small that we couldn't fill in for an employee in case of illness, but we're not so large that we would ever put your building on the back burner. Your account will always be valuable to us."
Relationship Building:
Many studies have shown that businesses could grow from referrals much more than they do, but most janitorial business owners are terrified of asking their current customers for referrals or letters of recommendation.
Why? Because they’re afraid of hearing how their customers actually feel about their services. They’re afraid of hearing “You know, we’re not really 100% satisfied with the cleaning that we’re getting from you now, so no, I don’t think I’d feel comfortable with referring your company to others”.
I’ve had that happen to me, and at first it scared the heck out of me. At one point when my business was growing like crazy, my biggest customer said that a referral wouldn’t be appropriate at that time. And then I knew that they might be in the market for another janitorial service. Maybe they weren’t actively soliciting cleaning bids, custodian but if the right salesperson came along, they could probably be talked into getting a bid. I couldn’t afford to lose that account, because it was a total of 5 buildings and it amounted to about 25% of my business.
My first move was to tell the customer that I wanted to fix that situation as quickly as possible. People will give you a chance as long as they can tell you’re sincere. They would much rather give you the opportunity to fix it than to have to go out and find another janitorial service. We had, after all, been doing a good job since we started with them, which was about 2 years earlier, and after talking to them a little more, I found out that the problems had just started to surface in the last 2-3 months.
We walked through this customer’s buildings with them and together we pinpointed the areas that needed improving. Most of the cleaning services were being done correctly and on time, but some were very glaring, especially to the people who worked in those buildings for 8-10 hours a day. Most of the problems were dust and vacuuming related, especially under desks. I felt that much of the problem stemmed back me; I needed to do a better job of coaching, teaching and supervising, and I said so!
When you’re wrong, admit it, and it usually works much better to admit personal responsibility rather than trying to blame it all on your employees and the moon and stars.
I corrected this problem in 4 steps. First, I told the customer about my plan for fixing the problems. Second, I held an employee meeting and explained the problem to them, and then I went through every building with every employee. Third, I placed a “just-in-case” help-wanted ad on Craigslist. Then I fired two employees who weren’t responding to the correctional training, replacing them with new people that I found through my ad. And fourth, I dropped a couple of marginally profitable cleaning accounts to free up more of my time for supervision and inspecting.
I stayed in close touch with this customer and let her know what was happening each step of the way. A month after we began to make improvements, she reported that there were basically zero complaints and many tenants had asked her “if we have a new janitorial service”. And about 3 months after that, I again asked her how she would feel about a letter of recommendation, and she wrote up a glowing report. One thing she did put in the letter was that I was “very responsive to the occasional problem that comes up”.
In a way, I guess they did have a new cleaning company. I learned a big lesson about the importance of asking for referrals, because not only are you asking for a way to grow your business, you’re also asking the ultimate question, “Are you happy?” Asking for a referral is a great way to get an idea of how the customer really feels you are doing, the housekeeper.
Okay, I got a little sidetracked there, but I needed to give you that story first. I’ll get back to the referral system.
After you have had a customer for about 4-6 months, tell them that you’d like to ask for a letter of recommendation, and ask if they mind if the occasional prospect gave them a call to confirm the letter.
If you’re doing a good job, most people will say that’s fine. They will write you a letter saying something like “ABC Maintenance has been cleaning our building since May of 2009, and they are doing a fine job. They are a good value and we are happy to recommend their cleaning services to you” etc.
That original is very valuable. Scan it if you can, and save it on your computer, so you can have a permanent copy, and then have copies made. If you’re going to include it in your mailings, have a couple of hundred copies made. They don’t have to be color copies; just black and white is fine. Don’t waste your printer ink on making copies; just go to a fast printer-copier service. Then put the original in your show-off book, which is a nice binder with plastic 8.5x11 sleeves. You will use this show-off book when you visit new prospects and when you present bids.
There are a number of ways you can use this recommendation. You can quote it in emails. You can quote it on your website on a “References” page. You can send copies to prospects, and put the text on the back of postcards.
When you get a call from a prospect, at some point, ask them this question: “Can I ask, was there something in my advertising that prompted you to call?” And quite often they will say that it was your references. Whatever their answer is, find out if they called any particular references, and make a note of that. Whomever they called and got a good recommendation from is like gold to you, and cleaning, vacuuming, protect and guard.
If your prospect says that he called Bob Jones at XYZ Engineering, be sure you say that Bob Jones is a really nice guy and a good customer. This will put it into your prospect’s head that if he becomes a customer, you will also say nice things about him someday. I’m very serious here; you should always be “growing” relationships and mindsets in your sales efforts.
Whether you get the job or not, be sure to do the following things:
Thank your prospect for the opportunity to give a quote. Use a hand-written thank-you card and envelope.
Thank your “reference” customer, using a thank-you card. Never email “thank-you's”. You’re trying to make your gratitude personal. Thank you cards should always be hand-written and the envelopes hand addressed.
If you get the contract, you will, of course, thank your new customer, and you will also want to thank your “reference” customer in an appropriate and classy way.
Some appropriate thank-you’s for reference customers are a gift basket of cheese and crackers and deli meats sent to the office for everyone to share, a fruit plate, or a big plate of cookies. Avoid giving a gift to one particular person - some companies have policies against their people accepting gifts, or accepting gifts over a certain dollar amount. And if you give a gift to your reference's whole office, such as the gift basket, he or she will be a hero to everyone. Gifts are tax-deductible.
Janitorial Services Houston TX Janitorial Services Phoenix AZ Janitorial Services San Antonio TX
Janitorial Services San Jose CA Janitorial Services Lincoln NE Janitorial Services Riverside CA
Janitorial Services Denver CO Janitorial Services Dallas TX Janitorial Services Greensboro NC
Janitorial Services Orlando FL Janitorial Services Hartford CT Janitorial Services Memphis TN
Janitorial Services Portland OR Janitorial Services Boise ID Janitorial Services Long Beach CA
Janitorial Services Nashville TN Janitorial Services Albuquerque NM Janitorial Services El Paso TX
Janitorial Services Little Rock AR Janitorial Services Columbus GA
Janitorial Services Arlington VA Janitorial Services Des Moines IA Janitorial Services Indianapolis IN
Janitorial Services Montgomery AL Janitorial Services Seattle WA Janitorial Services Spokane WA
Janitorial Services Redwood City CA Janitorial Services Philadelphia Pennsylvania PA
How it Works | Watch the Video | Frequently Asked Questions | Order
Notice - This entire website is copyrighted by JanSearch Web Directories. Under no circumstance does anyone have permission to copy, rewrite or spin any of the content of this website and make it available to the public in any manner, for any reason.
Copyright © 2011 by JanSearch Web Directories
