What You Can Do To Generate More Referrals From Your Janitorial Clients
One of the easiest ways to gain new cleaning accounts is through referrals from your current clients. This type of referral is very powerful because most business people don't make referrals unless they are truly impressed by your service. And when they ARE impressed with your service, they become your cheerleaders, which makes for a pretty easy sale on your part.
So are your existing customers referring your cleaning business? If not, then you might want to ask yourself some questions:
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Do your clients like you? If you don't have a friendly relationship with your customers then you're probably not going to get referrals from them.
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Do your clients trust you? They not only have to trust you personally, they need to feel they can trust your employees. So make sure you have a good hiring and screening system in place to reassure clients and prospects that they can trust your staff in their building.
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Can your clients depend on you? Clients want to know that they can pick up the phone and get a quick response. And, they want to know that you'll do what you say, when you say you'll do it. The more dependable you are, the easier it is for your customers to refer you.
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Do you have a good track record? People will refer you if they have good history of experiences with your cleaning service. But if the quality of your service is inconsistent, then get to work fixing the problem before asking for referrals.
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Are you an expert in your field? People like to refer their friends and colleagues to experts - no one wants to work with a novice who's still learning their craft. Learn all you can about your industry and become an expert in your field.
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Are you a valuable resource for your clients? Can your clients call you up if they have a problem and know they can rely on you for a solution? In order to be a valuable resource you must have an insatiable appetite for learning and staying on top of all the changes in our industry.
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Do you give referrals to your clients? Don't wait for your clients to give YOU referrals, get to work giving THEM referrals! This should always be at the forefront of your mind when networking in your community. You'll not only impress them, but they'll think of you when the time is right for them to refer you.
If you can say Yes to all of the above, then you should be receiving referrals from your clients. But sometimes they need a reminder that you welcome referrals. So if you are confident you're doing a great job for them, then be sure to ask them to recommend your company when they have the opportunity.
And one more tip... A great way to leverage referrals from the clients that think you're the greatest thing since sliced bread, is to ask them to give you a video testimonial. Put these on your website and let them keep referring you every time the video is played!
