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| Here's what our members are saying...
"Jean and Steve, this is a big thank you for your knowledge and expertise in operating your company. There is an old familiar saying, 'only in America'. Well that is how one should feel about The Janitorial Store. 'only at THE JANITORIAL STORE'. Where else can one go to find the wealth of information that you provide daily? Where else can one have experience people like you and people like Sharon Cowan, Dick Ollek and Debbie Sardone, just to name a few, share their knowledge of how to run a successful business. These are people who have been there and done that. Thank you and continue doing what you do best."
William Briggs
One Briggs Janitorial Service,
Woodbridge, VA
"You two have been a blessing to our business. Your knowledge, wisdom and tools on your website has allowed us to bid on our first contract feeling like an expert. We have continued to acquire more clients with your help. Thanks again for all you do."
Norman and Alecia Smith
Covenant Commercial Cleaning Services
Little Elm, TX
"Thank you for the web site. I'm on it for hours at a time. I'm a newbie and I have learned so much already!!"
Kimberly Spicel
KAS Cleaning Service, Inc.
Brunswick, OH
"Steve, it amazes me how much time you and Jean dedicate to helping all of us out here. You guys truly provide 'positively outrageous' customer service and it is not the just for the money because we get so much more than what we pay for with you guys and it is such a blessing especially in times like these."
Erica Castano
A Personal Elf
Gainesville, FL
"This website is excellent. I shouldn't say this but with the all the information on it I would have expected to pay a lot more for it. Highly recommended and an excellent job done."
Ken Bond
Canaan Contracting Janitorial
Ontario Canada
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Sales and Marketing
Having a successful cleaning business requires more than knowing the proper tips and techniques to effective clean residential homes and commercial properties. You have to know how to market yourself and your cleaning business. This will get you not only your first cleaning account, but can build your one-person shop up into a profitable cleaning company. Do you know where to find cleaning customers? Have you developed a networking circle so your business name will be passed around to others in the community?
It's not always easy to pick up the phone and make that cold call that may or may not lead to a new account. Doing the right research beforehand and knowing the right things to say might just get your foot in the door. Being successful in your business means looking like a professional. Have you developed the right tools to market your business to prospective customers? Do you know what tools you should have on hand when someone asks for information about your cleaning company? Once you've developed your core customers, what happens next?
You can grow your cleaning business by adding more customers, but you can also offer your customers more services. The articles in this section will help you market and grow your cleaning business, as well as give you tips on handling customer complaints and how to deal with price increases.
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Why You Should Diversify Your Cleaning Services
Steve Hanson
The cleaning business is one of the most obvious examples of what we call being in a service industry, the key word being "service." There are thousands of cleaning services, and therefore thousands of competitors. On the surface, many of them appear to offer basically the same thing: trash removal, restroom cleaning, vacuuming, dusting, etc. You may have a superior "product" by having the best training, best equipment, best employees, and best management techniques, but in a competitive market, an extra edge will put you at an advantage. One way to get that edge is by offering additional services that other companies do not offer. Diversifying your services gives you an opportunity to taking advantage of potential sales. . . . keep reading
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Cold Calling for Cleaning Companies: The Right Approach Can Open Doors
Steve Hanson
Cold calling is the one marketing tool that strikes fear in the hearts of many cleaning business owners. In reality, it is one of the most effective tools to use if done properly. There are several right ways to go about cold calling and there are definitely WRONG ways to go about it. Don't be intimidated. When you prepare yourself with the right approach, you will find your efforts are worth it in the end. Business owners want to know what is in it for them. Look at the situation through their eyes and you will be much more successful. . . . keep reading
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Diversify Your Commercial Cleaning Services by Offering Window Washing to Your Clients' Employees
Steve Hanson
Many cleaning business owners are looking for ways to diversify their service offerings during the down economy. One way to do that is to provide window washing services to customers you might not normally work with. For example, if you clean commercial buildings, you may find that the people working in those buildings need window washing services at their homes. See if you can post a flyer in the break room, offering window washing services to employees' homes. . . . keep reading
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Using Your Proposal To Close The Sale
Dick Ollek, CBSE
Most of us have been to workshops or seminars that are aimed at teaching us all the right questions to ask at a sales presentation to get the prospect to say yes. We are told if the prospect says this, we say that and we are even taught the names of each of the different closes. . . . keep reading
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Very Effective Selling On A Very Limited Budget
Dick Ollek, CBSE
After nearly 45 years in the Building Service Contracting business, the question I get asked most, next to where do I get good people, is" how can I secure the good customers"? This is a universal problem with the emerging company attempting to compete in the market against the larger, many times better known, companies. To complicate the issue, most of the time, we are attempting to compete with a very limited or sometimes non-existent budget. . . . keep reading
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How to Use Reference USA to Build Prospect Lists
Jean Hanson
One of the most frequently asked questions we get is about how to find prospects for a cleaning business. There are several paid services available, but there is also one resource that you can access for free as long as you have a library card and your library makes it available to you. The resource is called Reference USA. In this video, we show you how to search for specific target markets in your local area so you can start building your prospect list! . . . keep reading
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5 Critical Questions To Ask BEFORE You Hire a Web Designer
by Donna Gunter, The Online Biz Resource Queen (TM
Whether you're building a website or a blogsite, the investment in a designer can be fairly significant. It's at this point that many service business owners decide to cut costs and have their 16-year old nephew design their site. This works out well until something breaks (with technology, it's never a question of IF it will break, only WHEN) and your nephew is out of touch because he just started his first year of college and can't be bothered. What are you going to do? . . . keep reading
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BOOK: Selling Contract Cleaning Services 101
Dick Ollek
If you are new in the Building Services Contracting business or an emerging company wanting to grow and improve, this is the book for you. Dick takes you through who and what you are, to finding the prospects, getting the appointment, securing the walk through, preparing the proposal, and closing the sale. . . . keep reading
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Putting Your Cleaning Business Website on the World Wide Web
Jean Hanson
Is your cleaning company on the World Wide Web? If not, you could be missing out on potential customers. Don't even know where to begin? You can hire a professional website designer, a student or even do it yourself. But before you begin you need to sit down and plan what will go on your cleaning business' website. . . . keep reading
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Make the Home Page of Your Cleaning Business Website a Sales Tool
Jean Hanson
Every day, millions of consumers and businesses either buy products online or use the Internet to find out more information about the products and services they need. You may have customers out there who are "surfing the web" looking for a new cleaning company. Just remember, most people will stay on your home page for a short period of time - only 10 to 15 seconds. . . . keep reading
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How to Leverage your Best Cleaning Clients to Get More Sales
Jean Hanson
Most businesses, including those in the cleaning industry, find that they get most of their business from just a few key clients. And these companies soon realize that this has something to do with the 80/20 rule. What is the 80/20 rule? Simply stated, the 80/20 rule means that 20% of your resources (or cleaning clients) bring in 80% of your results (sales) . . . keep reading
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Turning Setbacks into Success
Jill Konrath
Do you get frustrated when things get challenging for your cleaning company? Is it difficult to set up appointments with prospective clients and our your competitors under-cutting your prices? Don't get discouraged. There are ways to turn these setbacks into success! . . . keep reading
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How to Raise the Prices You Charge to Your Cleaning Customers
Jean Hanson
Are you finding that the prices you charge your cleaning customers are not high enough to cover your costs and make a profit? It's never an easy decision, but it might be time to raise the price of your cleaning services. So how do you raise your prices and not lose customers? . . . keep reading
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