Marketing and Sales Thread

[thinkreadwritecode]

Has anyone here worked in marketing or sales? I worked one year as a car salesman and one year as a telemarketer for warm leads (HVAC company had recently serviced the customer). As I stated in another thread my wife and I have started a house cleaning business. I am looking for avenues to guerilla market since I don't have enough capital to go into paid ads or direct mail campaigns as of yet, but if anyone has experience I'd be glad to get some general information or stories of success and failure you know of.

Also, anyone can use this thread to discuss general life experience and knowledge of working in marketing and sales.

 

[Get2choppaaa]

Are you doing an online website?

Are you familiar with sites like SpyFu or SEMRush for search word analysis and comparison?

 

[SkiPro]

I am responsible for sales in my own company. My company is fairly established now but in the early days we started with our own client 'book' which were clients that followed us from a previous school. This helped us get started and it grew from there.

I'm reading a book at the moment that is called '$100million dollar leads'

It explains in good detail exactly how to get leads and sales for a business with no money in it for paid ads.

I

 

[thinkreadwritecode]

Are you doing an online website?

Are you familiar with sites like SpyFu or SEMRush for search word analysis and comparison

I do have a website. I am on Yelp and Facebook. I've gotten a lead on Yelp, literally today and I haven't even messed around with it. It's for a cleaning business.

 

[thinkreadwritecode]

I am responsible for sales in my own company. My company is fairly established now but in the early days we started with our own client 'book' which were clients that followed us from a previous school. This helped us get started and it grew from there.

I'm reading a book at the moment that is called '$100million dollar leads'

It explains in good detail exactly how to get leads and sales for a business with no money in it for paid ads.

I

So far for my cleaning company I am going to go around to real estate offices and property managers. Also going to flyer up specific homes in neighborhoods to help get the ball rolling. We already tapped out our network of folks we know. I've looked into SEO for Yelp and I have that prepared as we do more jobs. I figure I need 10 clients a month to survive until I can grow. Should be easily manageable. I figure 1-3% conversion rate for realtors and flyers until I have a stronger online presence.

 

[SkiPro]

You'll need to work out what separates you from the other 100 cleaning companies in your area. What's your niche, what's your specialty, what make you different from the rest?

Then you have a marketing route you can go down and aim to dominate that niche.

 

[thinkreadwritecode]

You'll need to work out what separates you from the other 100 cleaning companies in your area. What's your niche, what's your specialty, what make you different from the rest?

Then you have a marketing route you can go down and aim to dominate that niche.

Well, for one thing, I'm the only one with a good website people can go to and book online in at least 4 counties. I have good customer service experience and sales experience, so I know how to communicate in a timely and professional manner. I am a naturally curious person who does research on cleaning, the science behind it, the products in use (we use non-toxic), and I have some background in HVAC working with air quality. I don't believe in a saturated market, I believe there are plenty of homes for all the cleaning businesses in the area. One day I hope to expand to commercial and maybe even fund and run a mobile car detailing service. I am also upfront about cost. I'm sick and tired of businesses that hide the price. I am transparent on price so I only hear from people I know can afford my price. I am also American, white and speak good English and I'm not going to hire teams of immigrants or illegals.

 

[Maddox]

Yelp is a great, non-paid avenue for getting new clients because house cleaning is one of those things where you read reviews before deciding on a service.

As for your USP (unique selling proposition), many people are scared to have strangers in their house while they're gone. Make it a point to emphasize that your workers are heavily screened and have spotless backgrounds...unlike other companies who just hire whoever. This should appease those who are freaked about who will be in their house which is a good percentage of prospects.

 

[Get2choppaaa]

Yelp is a great, non-paid avenue for getting new clients because house cleaning is one of those things where you read reviews before deciding on a service.

As for your USP (unique selling proposition), many people are scared to have strangers in their house while they're gone. Make it a point to emphasize that your workers are heavily screened and have spotless backgrounds...unlike other companies who just hire whoever. This should appease those who are freaked about who will be in their house which is a good percentage of prospects.

I think being bonded and Insured is a selling point in that space also

 

[SkiPro]

Well, for one thing, I'm the only one with a good website people can go to and book online in at least 4 counties. I have good customer service experience and sales experience, so I know how to communicate in a timely and professional manner. I am a naturally curious person who does research on cleaning, the science behind it, the products in use (we use non-toxic), and I have some background in HVAC working with air quality. I don't believe in a saturated market, I believe there are plenty of homes for all the cleaning businesses in the area. One day I hope to expand to commercial and maybe even fund and run a mobile car detailing service. I am also upfront about cost. I'm sick and tired of businesses that hide the price. I am transparent on price so I only hear from people I know can afford my price. I am also American, white and speak good English and I'm not going to hire teams of immigrants or illegals.

So you need to refine this down to a few easily quoteable points that you will be able to deliver in an elevator pitch to your potential prospects.

1. Screened and American cleaning staff only.

2. Clear pricing, no hidden costs

3. Online booking

Etc

Then base your marketing around these points.

For example, in my business our niche is English speaking ski lessons for international people living in our region. We aim to dominate that sector of our market and we try not to go out of that lane too much.

 

[Pointy Elbows]

If you land a business, ask about doing the owner's/manager's residence. Ask about his/her elderly parents' home and friends. Drop flyers at the neighbors of your existing customers where you know you have a strong relation. No marketing beats a trusted referral.

Years ago I looked into a top (maybe the largest in the US) painting company franchise. This is a highly fractured market like cleaning. Come to find out - it is really a marketing mechanism that sub-contracts the work to existing painters in a given area. Some of their top franchises don't even own a paint brush. They market and contract themselves - then sub-contract all the work. They are big on direct mailing, flyers, and door to door sales knockers in a kind of uniform with an ID card. Of course, they've graduated up to TV/Radio ads, but that's a different stage. They were impressive.

There are still guys that specialize in direct mailing operations. It might be worth a targeted campaign in areas you like most. Then follow up with flyers and maybe some door-knockers.

 

[pole85]

One advantage of doing commercial cleaning is that you can begin cold calling businesses, which can be pretty lucrative for something that has a decent lifetime value when sold.

If you're extra personable, you could probably treat every failed call of selling commercial cleaning services as an opportunity to pitch the person on the phone home cleaning.

Your success rate is going to be low. But if you can call 50+ people a day, and get one customer from it which stays on average 18 months, it's not the worst.

Problem is many people that sell inbound leads are used to 25% and up close rates, and simply can't handle the 2% of outbound emotionally. I'd still say it's worth a try if you have the time.

 

[pole85]

I've looked into SEO for Yelp and I have that prepared as we do more jobs.

I'm somewhat of an Internet nerd and I don't know what SEO for Yelp means. Maybe it's the obvious, make sure you come up onyelp results pages of top 10 cleaning in xx city.

What the other poster was recommending was SEO for your website.

You can test this yourself. If you search "housekeeping services your_city xx", are you on the first 10 listings?

What about for all the other cities you want to serve near you?

What about for "move out cleaning", "rental cleaning", and every other phrase one of your customers might use, for every one of those cities?

Coming up for your own city for the main service is usually the most diy web people pull off. Becoming a student of SEO can, if done right and thoroughly, be a pretty decent competitive advantage.

 

[SkiPro]

One advantage of doing commercial cleaning is that you can begin cold calling businesses, which can be pretty lucrative for something that has a decent lifetime value when sold.

If you're extra personable, you could probably treat every failed call of selling commercial cleaning services as an opportunity to pitch the person on the phone home cleaning.

Your success rate is going to be low. But if you can call 50+ people a day, and get one customer from it which stays on average 18 months, it's not the worst.

Problem is many people that sell inbound leads are used to 25% and up close rates, and simply can't handle the 2% of outbound emotionally. I'd still say it's worth a try if you have the time.

Exactly this. It takes years of cold calling to learn and develop the thick enough skin to realise the rejection isn't personal.

Ive been there and done it but if it's the difference between eating and not eating, then you pick up the phone

 

[TooFineAPoint]

Marketing & sales here.

Lots of good advice in this thread so far.

House cleaning is ultra local so focus on driving your happy customers to review you on Google (make it really easy for them; QR code, link, clear instructions, whatever... just ask for reviews).

Social media like IG and FB could work for this type of business as well, since you can use local-signal hashtags (neighborhood, city, generic keyword, maybe one custom hashtag that helps you position your brand as unique). Normally "post to social and hashtag, get more reviews" is a basic-bitch marketing 101 comment that doesn't really affect the bottom line but it's extremely effective for local businesses. Just don't post transactional garbage like "get X% off", "cleaning is important, book now!", "it's international mop day". Post funny, interesting, personable things that subtly show -- from the old pickup phrase -- amused mastery.

I just hired a move-out cleaner in my area and I found that most people didn't have a searchable website that was well indexed on Google (eg. "house cleaning {my city}", so then I hit up Facebook with the same search. After I checked for a few decent reviews that stretched back a few years, I started emailing people.

The first lady that replied sent me a 3-sheet page of homework ("I can only quote you if you give me all this info"), I was in a hurry so I ignored her. All the rest of the people replied a day or two later, sloppy emails/messages, vague quotes, trying to address pain points I didn't even bring up, or just being annoying. I remembered the first lady -- in comparison to all the others she now seemed serious because she was insisting on the hurdle of hearing my actual requests before diagnosing them (powerful positioning).

Sure enough, once I filled in her form she replied promptly, we discussed expectations and pricing, and then when she came she did a fantastic job. After I paid her invoice via e-transfer, I immediately got an auto-responder message to please review them.

If she can find and keep staff long-term, she will be able to take over whatever cleaning demand exists in my little town, no problem.

EDIT: I don't know if this is an issue where OP is from, but where I live everyone knows about and talks about how all staffers now churn super fast and when they do stay on to work they make fake sick-day excuses to take Monday and Friday off (so Fri-Mon "holidays" each week). If I were doing cleaning I would advertise that when you book, no matter what, the booking gets honored and if the owner has to come themselves and scrub your windows/toilets they will do it. Doesn't matter if you never planned on having staff and you and your wife (the owners) are the only workers. Just get ahead of the narrative that the current staffing issues will not affect your service. Or if your town is not experiencing staffing issues then find out what the local issue is and craft a pithy narrative about how you have solved it for your clients.

 

[cosine]

So far for my cleaning company I am going to go around to real estate offices and property managers. Also going to flyer up specific homes in neighborhoods to help get the ball rolling. We already tapped out our network of folks we know. I've looked into SEO for Yelp and I have that prepared as we do more jobs. I figure I need 10 clients a month to survive until I can grow. Should be easily manageable. I figure 1-3% conversion rate for realtors and flyers until I have a stronger online presence.

Talk to Title companies and tell them you'll keep the closing room spotless!