Marketing a domestic cleaning company

[jfkcleanservices]

Hi,
I am trying to market a new domestic cleaning business. I am on a shoe string here. I can create graphic material but printing is quite expense (even the cheapest). I have done the usual on the net (gumtree and face book local sell swap). I am much of a business person , yet, more creative. Any ideas gurus out there?

 

[GreatSEO]

Local Parish Magazines, Shop Windows, Tesco Notice Board.

Pair up with other organisations like local taxi companies, accountants etc and offer a discount in return for leaving your cards on the desk.

Try joining twitter and create a facebook group page, join the google places service (this can reap high rewards).

Speak to the local rag and explain that you have just started out in business and would love to be a part of any "ask an expert" or "I've started a new business" type questions as this again can feature you locally and does not cost much apart from the time taken and possibly travelling fees although on most occasions they come to you.

Hopefully that is enough to get you started but I have found the most effective solution to be getting out there and canvassing (by phone, email or door to door).

Also think about the local older people warden assisted flats as you will find quite a good reception from these as the elderly often find it difficult to do all of the cleaning and don't mind paying for it but be selective of the areas and make sure there is some fluency with finance.

I hope this helps

Dave

 

[jfkcleanservices]

Some great ideas there GreatSEO. I love the idea of the taxi companies and accountants. I was thinking of leaving business cards in a local play centre too. I would love to canvass but I do find it probably puts more people off than attracts them. They hate it round here (especially the elderly). I find that when I post leaflets, many,especially the elderly, have these signs up at the door saying "No canvassing". The elderly and even disabled (although sounds slightly morally wrong is something I am trying to tap into). Just through chance I have cleaned for disabled and elderly so I do have references.

Anyway... I have done the local shop think, but we do have alot of parish and local village hall activities around here so I should try and use that too.

Thank you again for you input. I'm feeling a little more positive.

James

 

[Ashley_Price]

Also think about the local older people warden assisted flat

The operative word here is "warden". Speak to the warden. It might be that they already have a contract with a cleaning company. If not, you could offer to do the warden's place for free and then they can recommend you.

Also why not speak to the local housing associations? This way you are contacting one company rather than lots of individual houses - which saves you time and money. Again, no point in contacting 20 houses only to find out their association already has a cleaning contract.

 

[jfkcleanservices]

Legend Ashley.

I have done a few elderly plots . Never really thought about a warden. Genius.

Thank you.

James

 

[maxine]

You could possibly speak with Kate1, a member on here, about telemarketing as she specialises with cleaning lead generation and may give you some ideas

 

[kate1]

Hi there, with domestic cleaning /window cleaning, leafleting seems to be the way to go, alot of the window cleaners door knock as well. Commercial as somebody was saying earlier, many of these housing associations are under contract, some are national contractors some are local. Sometimes the decision is made by head office, sometimes the decision is made my the manager at the premises. You could do your local newspaper, but just do a small advert in classified maybe every other week, local shops etc, local parish magazine. I mainly deal with just commercial James, agree with what everybody else has suggested.

Is it just cleaning or will you be doing things like carpet cleaning too?

If you need help in designing a leaflet feel free to contact us, theres some samples on my site.

Good luck James

 

[JD@fifty6]

Hi James,

I agree with pretty much all the points in here. I think if you're just starting out (relatively) though you must make sure you're giving anyone who might normally um and ah about your service a 'no brainer' decision to give you a call. This might mean you clean a load of places for free for a couple of months, but you're getting your name out there and showing what you can do first hand.

If the business can sustain it, I'd probably be thinking about two things:

- Free first clean (could limit it to a couple of rooms)
- Free clean for every referral

Both free (as close as dammit) to implement, and both potentially successful.

In fact, if I was offering a first clean free, I'd be tempted to be slightly ethically questionable and limit yourself to something like 3 free cleans a week. When someone calls to take advantage, you're all booked up but you have them on the phone - and they phoned you so the 'sale' is easy enough.

 

[chrisburge]

Firstly i would like to say "Hi" to everyone, I joined this morning and look forward to being part of the discussions on here.

Having read through many of the feeds there are some great ideas in there: on the assumption you use a vehicle to commute to and between jobs, have you thought about either vinyl stickers or magnetic branding/an advert to go on the vehicle.

Like gumtree there is a website called freeindex which is a free lead generation website.

And finally, have you thought about producing a e-newsletter, which could be emailed to friends and family and then asking them to forward on etc.. This can be done for Free from a website called mail chimp.

I have only been in business for a year myself and am finding generating new custom the most difficult part.


Good Luck
Chris

 

[JessicaAutumn]

Hi,
I am trying to market a new domestic cleaning business. I am on a shoe string here. I can create graphic material but printing is quite expense (even the cheapest). I have done the usual on the net (gumtree and face book local sell swap). I am much of a business person , yet, more creative. Any ideas gurus out there?

Distribute promotional products like mugs, umbrellas etc... of course with your business name on them. These are stuff that people use everyday and everyday they can see your business name.

 

[S-Marketing]

Distribute promotional products like mugs, umbrellas etc... of course with your business name on them. These are stuff that people use everyday and everyday they can see your business name.

Using promotional products is the worst idea for cleaners to use. Actually, they are a pretty bad idea for the vast majority of small businesses.

 

[Raith]

We set up our domestic cleaning company 2 years ago and it is far from easy however it can offer a reasonable income.

Professional website, PPC, SEO & Flyers. Make contact with your local authority and asked to be put on their supplier list (maybe via social services) if they have one. You could also consider Estate Agents, Letting Agents etc.

If cleaning professional peoples homes then expect them to get every penny's worth as this the only issues we have had in the time we have been in business ie some expect 3 hours work in 2!

You ideally want regular clients or you will be chasing your tail

Good luck

 

[jfkcleanservices]

Hi Raith,

Good idea with the local authority. Yes I have took some leaflets with prices and business cards into some letting agents. Nothing so far, but still have more to do. I am also attending a networking event shortly where I have heard landlords tend to attend.

My hope is to get regular clients really. Thats one of the benefits about the nature of this job.

 

[freemarketsite]

Hi,

I could add a bit to all the good ideas given on this topic. I think it will do you well if you would include Office Cleanning, End-of-tenancy cleaning etc and not restrict your market scope to domestic cleaning. Having a broader market scope enhances your business prospects.

I hope it helps.

All the best.

 

[Amazin]

just saw this thread, been running a domestic cleaning business for 2 years and recently lost a few customers I been mostly using gumtree but perhaps that was my greatest mistake. I didn't read the whole thread properly but in London, many cleaners charge as little as £7 per hour. No idea how they can make money from that. I'm thinking of using leaflet distribution company. know any good ones based in London?

If cleaning professional peoples homes then expect them to get every penny's worth as this the only issues we have had in the time we have been in business ie some expect 3 hours work in 2!

lol, I know that way too well! Unfortunately the ones that contact you and stays with you for long term tend to be the ones with OCD!

 

[OfferSale Distribution]

just saw this thread, been running a domestic cleaning business for 2 years and recently lost a few customers I been mostly using gumtree but perhaps that was my greatest mistake. I didn't read the whole thread properly but in London, many cleaners charge as little as £7 per hour. No idea how they can make money from that. I'm thinking of using leaflet distribution company. know any good ones based in London?

If cleaning professional peoples homes then expect them to get every penny's worth as this the only issues we have had in the time we have been in business ie some expect 3 hours work in 2!

lol, I know that way too well! Unfortunately the ones that contact you and stays with you for long term tend to be the ones with OCD!

Hi Amazin,

I see you're looking for reliable leaflet distribution company, our company does exactly that. You can visit this website for more info - offersale dot co dot uk slash distribution

BTW, at the moment we're running special offer - VAT free on all orders + free GPS tracking report

 

[SugarCubeProductions]

I can help you with flyers for £84 for 5000 A6 300gsm. Includes delivery and they are VAT free.


As for people thinking that promotional items are bad for small businesses, you are very wrong. You just have to be selective about what promotional items you give out. and who to.

I can get items for you from as little as 6p and to about £25 each. It all depends what is best for the company in question.

Giving out an umbrella (about £10) when your average job is £50-£75 is very expensive and unlikely to provide a good ROI. However, something like fridge magnets (6p) or glasses cleaning cloth (90p) are much more likely to help you. Both of them are likely to be kept, and will remind people who you are for when they want to use you.

Theres no right or wrong answer for promotional products, it just all depends on what is best for the company in question.



In regards of who to talk to though, try letting agents. They always have a few cleaning companies on their books for end of tenancy stuff.

 

[Amazin]

So what are the statistics at the moment for cleaning? My landlord is a window cleaner and he told me for every 120 flyers he gets 1 sometimes 2 customers. I know 95% of the time it will ends in the bin.

 

[SugarCubeProductions]

I know of a gym that gets a reply for every 100. But the numbers depend greatly on who you give them to, where you are, and if you get them at the time they need someone.

The only way you can tell if it'll work for you is to try.