Ten Reasons Why Salespeople Fail to Sell Their Cleaning Services
When we started our first cleaning business over thirty years ago, the cleaning and management part of the business was fairly easy, it was learning how to be an effective salesperson that was the most difficult part. And becoming a successful business owner equates to becoming a successful salesperson.
It was through trial and error that I honed and developed successful techniques for selling our cleaning services, but it did not come without its challenges. I practiced my “pitch” so it didn't come off as rehearsed and the more educated and knowledgeable I become of my trade, the easier I found it to close sales. Overcoming objections and negotiating proposals soon became second nature.
Why people fail at selling their company's cleaning services
I discovered right away that listening is the key, determining what the prospect's wants and needs are, will help you determine what you will say next. If they want to start with small talk, by all means, begin with small talk. If they go directly into their issues or concerns about their building, listen first, evaluate what the prospect is saying, and provide solutions. If the prospect would rather have you start out, you had best be prepared with your sales presentation or you will come across as unorganized and quickly be shown the door.
Some people are born for sales, some need coaching, and others will never be salespeople. Some could sell snow in the winter time, others, not so much. There will come a time in your business, where you or your staff will be required to make sales calls to present your cleaning services. Unfortunately, making effective sales calls is one area of business where some people fall short.
I have discovered you can make your sales calls more effective by avoiding the following pitfalls:
- Going in with no clear sales objective. Make sure you know what you what to accomplish and have a goal in mind, whether that is to end up presenting a cleaning proposal to the prospective customer, finding out what specific cleaning services or needs the customer is looking for, or just making that first initial contact.
- Calling on the wrong customers. Know what your ideal target market is and focus on them. You're wasting your time selling your services to facilities that DO NOT fit your customer profile. If you're calling on medical clinics and you have no experience cleaning this type of facility, get educated first. And do your homework first. Gather as much information as you can before the meeting, such as finding out if they use a professional service or do their cleaning in-house.
- Not planning a sales presentation. Do not carry on a random, pointless conversation, wasting your time and the prospect's time. Bring in the appropriate sales aids (marketing kit, video, etc.) that you can leave with the prospect. Avoid reading directly from printed materials and losing eye contact. If you have a bunch of sales calls scheduled and go in without a clue as to what you want to say or accomplish, you are setting yourself up for failure.
- No call frequency. Think of the many times you are hit with ads for products - do you bite the first time? Multiple contacts with prospective customers are generally required to get that first sale and to also maintain a positive relationship with existing ones. So come up with a plan for multiple “touches”.
- Not talking to the decision maker. Check to be sure that the person you are going to be talking to has the authority to sign up for your cleaning services or at least has a major influence on the final decision. You're wasting your time talking to someone who is not “qualified” to make the decision to accept your proposal.
- Not talking about the benefits of using your cleaning company. Make sure you highlight the strengths of your company and what makes your services unique compared to the competition. Ask yourself, “How does my cleaning service differ from everyone else in my market”?
- Unable to answer questions. By preparing before making the sales call, you should be able to answer any questions the potential customer may have about your services or be able to present solutions to their problems. If you get stuck and need to get back to them, be sure that you get back to them promptly.
- Fail to ask for the order or not asking for another appointment. After spending time preparing and making the presentation, make sure you ask the customer the closing question "how can I be of service to you?" If you cannot close the deal today and the prospect seems interested, ask if you can schedule another appointment to present additional information.
- Poor records of what happened on a sales call. Highly effective sales people keep accurate records to see the history of each customer. Good records can help you keep track of the various needs of your customer. For example, when their current contract runs out, where they purchase supplies, or how often a specific cleaning task is completed.
- Having a poor attitude because of rejection. Being a good salesman means having thick skin. Don't bring a bad attitude into the next sales meeting because you were turned down earlier. Instead, try to analyze what had happened that may have caused the rejection, learn from it, and move on to the next one.
Being a good salesman doesn't end with the signing of the contract. A good salesperson follows up with the customer, ready and willing to answer questions and fix problems. If you have promised to follow up on certain items make sure you do so on a timely basis. A customer service oriented business is more likely to succeed and build credibility with building owners or facility managers than one that closes the deal and quickly moves on to the next one.
Avoid the above pitfalls and make your sales calls more effective by doing some advance planning. Going in prepared, bringing the appropriate sales aids and doing swift follow-ups will help you convince a potential customer that you can best meet their needs.
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Following are forms that can help keep your salespeople on track! Sales Call Log (pdf) Sales Prospect (pdf) |
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