Best way to find new customers - Local Cleaning Company

[anonymous-user]

For landing pages, take a look at unbounce.com. Really simple, quite low cost and easy to test new things to enhance conversions.

[technodup]

Wing Commander said:

Maybe some sort of local publicity event to try and get the business in the papers

Find a local park or public space that's full of rubbish and clear it up. Tell the local rag, they love that sort of stuff.

[technodup]

Oceanic said:

you could use a service like ClickFunnels.com to create a landing-page and sales funnel,

I've looked at the website and watched half the video but I'm still slightly confused. Could you explain what it does and how it relates to or works with a website?

TIA

[Wing Commander]

beko1987 said:

Having a facebook page is a cheap and easy way to get started, then join lots of the local selling sites. Ours always have people asking if anyone knows any one off/end of tenancy cleans etc.

I run my Dyson repair facebook page. 150 likes in a year, but with zero advertising. (I have a full time job so almost don't want it to fully take off). What I have done is sell loads of refurbished dysons, but with a sticker on the machine saying 'Refurbished by Dyson Repair and Service, then a little blurb, serial number, model number and date. Just printed them out at work on nice avery labels.

You want to get all the unemployed facebook addicted mums singing your praises, that way when someone posts up asking for what you do, you get tagged. Then you can either just reply to that, or post the link to your page up in the comments and direct people there. I get about 5 likes every time that happens to me.

Before and afters are key too, I make sure to take photo's of the most minging before vacs, then once they are done and looking like new. Exploded pictures are good too, you could do 50/50 shots, or some particularly nice track marks in carpet etc?

Have a page and pay some money though, and it could all take off! I just haven't bothered!

I certainly need to spend a bit more time promoting things on Facebook, so will get started on your suggestions in the next few days. I have a page set up already but it is horribly out of date and needs fresh information.

[Wing Commander]

Oceanic said:

Wing Commander said:

Ok that's good. I can certainly try three things but my follow on question then is - where do I point the advert towards? The website at the moment is shocking and has a very high bounce rate, hence wanting new landing pages done. This should be much quicker to get done, and will always be useful anyway.

Can Google adverts and Facebook ads point to my "Google business" page?

If you don't have time to do a full rebuild/tidy-up of your site you could use a service like ClickFunnels.com to create a landing-page and sales funnel, using targetted Facebook / Adwords ads you could probably clean-up in your local area (excuse the pun).

Thanks for the suggestions. I have looked at using unbounce and leadpages etc for this but really struggled with making it look professional and also I noticed they are heavily biased towards creating American looking pages which just isn't in keeping with what I have in mind.

I have Jammy Git on the case though and he is working with me to get various landing pages done. Once I have this, I can plug in Google Adwords, Analytics, Facebook adverts, and start carrying out some tests to see which work.

[Wing Commander]

globalcarparts said:

Hi,

My wife has recently setup a domestic cleaning business (www.homeclean-uk.com)

She has only advertised in local village shops so far and is getting lots of enquiries.

She only wanted 3 jobs per week - which she got in the first 2 weeks of advertising... She's currently turning work away... It's got me thinking about making more of a business of it.

Andy

Hi Andy

Thanks for the info. Really pleased to hear that it is taking off for your wife! We unfortunately don't really have a nucleus centre to our village with village shops but we have advertised in them regardless. Unfortunately, not a huge response from this line of advertising for me.

All the best for your wife's venture

[Wing Commander]

janesmith1950 said:

For landing pages, take a look at unbounce.com. Really simple, quite low cost and easy to test new things to enhance conversions.

Hi

Yes, I have tried LeadPages which is similar and I can get it working technically, but I cannot ever seem to get anything to look any good, hence me calling in the services of a PHer to build it all up for me!

I then fully plan to test and enhance from there on in

[Wing Commander]

technodup said:

ind a local park or public space that's full of rubbish and clear it up. Tell the local rag, they love that sort of stuff.

That is certainly on the cards

[Wing Commander]

OK, so I realised that I had a few unreplied comments and also that I had not updated progress, so hopefully I have addressed this all now.

I have employed the services of Jammy Git from PH. He is creating some landing pages and other bits and bobs in the background to give me the leg up I need and get me over the hurdle of having decent looking landing pages. From here on in, I fully intend to A/B test various different aspects of the whole thing, including Facebook ads, Google ads, etc

I have also been carrying on getting leaflet cards being delivered. These have been pretty successful but I now have some additional questions for PH.

If I get 1 or 2 new customers in a particular area, say a street, I want to try and capitalise on this. The chances of me getting more customers on that street is high, and it also means one cleaner can go from house to house making it more efficient too.

My question is: How would you best target these houses? They have already had a card popped through the letter box. I was thinking, perhaps knocking a personalised letter for that road, and conveying the message that others in the street have signed up and we would give them a special offer if they joined too. Other than this, I am drawing a blank. I refuse to do any door to door knocking - just not how I want the business pushed.

So thoughts on how I can tap into this would be very interesting!

Also, as a previous PHer said, Streetlife has been very useful. I have signed up and created a business page, and started posting in my local area. Have also done one sponsored post which got some interest. So thanks for the suggestion!!

[Landlord]

Not sure if Jammy Git is covering this with what he's doing for you but I searched "domestic cleaner Bradwell" and your site was on the middle of page 5. I, like I suspect a majority of people, don't look beyond the middle of page 1 unless it's something very specific I'm after. It would suggest to me that SEO might be a good option.

One thing, and I don't know the areas you cover at all but, where I live, I don't know any of my neighbours - we've only been here 6 months and rent plus it's a busy road so no real "community" to it by that's by the by - so I find all things like this via Google. Word of mouth is no good for me in my situation.

One other thing for your website - could you put a cost on there? Maybe "starting from x per hour". Also, is there a minimum number of hours per week? These are the first two questions I have when thinking about domestic cleaning.

Chucking thoughts out there - can the customer decide from one week to the next whether they want the cleaning done? Do you do "spring cleans" as well as weekly tidy ups? Is it just hoovering and dusting you do or can you do other things (I'm not sure what but maybe window cleaning/patio clearing/light gardening/whatever).

[technodup]

Wing Commander said:

signed up

Don't ever use that phrase for a start!

Wing Commander said:

I refuse to do any door to door knocking - just not how I want the business pushed.

So thoughts on how I can tap into this would be very interesting!

There are ways to knock doors and ways not to. Get business cards with 'one free clean to the value of...' or something on the back.

When you're at your existing customer visit the 6 closest houses. Introduce yourself and tell them who you're doing work for. Let them know your vans will be around and there might be some noise, but you'll be keeping it to a minimum. Tell them to contact you if they have any problems e.g. a van gets parked across their drive.

They have seen your van before anyway.
They can ask the neighbour if you're any good.
They know you're courteous and thoughtful.
They have your contact details (and an offer on the back which you didn't mention).
You didn't try to sell them anything.

Trades are usually pretty clumsy when it comes to selling, especially door to door. Plus it's not really the done thing any more. BUT being thoughtful will always be appreciated. The fact it might lead to more business is purely coincidental...

A face to face will always beat a letter imo.

[Monkeylegend]

Put adverts in your local parish magazines in the areas you want to work. Takes a couple of months to build up a good response but once you get a few jobs the rest will follow.

Don't make the adverts look too flash/professional, just say what you do without any outrageous claims, people like to support small local businesses.

A very cheap form of advertising but very effective. Make one customer happy and they will tell their friends about this local business doing a good job.

Worked very well for me for 15 years or so. You are a local business so keep it local, and in somewhere like Norfolk the internet is alien

[Wing Commander]

Landlord said:

Not sure if Jammy Git is covering this with what he's doing for you but I searched "domestic cleaner Bradwell" and your site was on the middle of page 5. I, like I suspect a majority of people, don't look beyond the middle of page 1 unless it's something very specific I'm after. It would suggest to me that SEO might be a good option.

One thing, and I don't know the areas you cover at all but, where I live, I don't know any of my neighbours - we've only been here 6 months and rent plus it's a busy road so no real "community" to it by that's by the by - so I find all things like this via Google. Word of mouth is no good for me in my situation.

One other thing for your website - could you put a cost on there? Maybe "starting from x per hour". Also, is there a minimum number of hours per week? These are the first two questions I have when thinking about domestic cleaning.

Chucking thoughts out there - can the customer decide from one week to the next whether they want the cleaning done? Do you do "spring cleans" as well as weekly tidy ups? Is it just hoovering and dusting you do or can you do other things (I'm not sure what but maybe window cleaning/patio clearing/light gardening/whatever).

You are correct regarding SEO. I am hoping that this can come reasonably easily as competition in my area (in terms of search results) is either from national companies which do not actually cover our area, or local companies who have a very poor (albeit better than us) web presence, so it should be reasonably easy to muscle my way up for various key search results like the one you used.

Website, as mentioned before, will be updated at some point later next year, but the new landing pages will have all the info on them ie prices, what we do, frequency of cleans etc

Thanks for the feedback

[Wing Commander]

technodup said:

Wing Commander said:

signed up

Don't ever use that phrase for a start!

Wing Commander said:

I refuse to do any door to door knocking - just not how I want the business pushed.

So thoughts on how I can tap into this would be very interesting!

There are ways to knock doors and ways not to. Get business cards with 'one free clean to the value of...' or something on the back.

When you're at your existing customer visit the 6 closest houses. Introduce yourself and tell them who you're doing work for. Let them know your vans will be around and there might be some noise, but you'll be keeping it to a minimum. Tell them to contact you if they have any problems e.g. a van gets parked across their drive.

They have seen your van before anyway.
They can ask the neighbour if you're any good.
They know you're courteous and thoughtful.
They have your contact details (and an offer on the back which you didn't mention).
You didn't try to sell them anything.

Trades are usually pretty clumsy when it comes to selling, especially door to door. Plus it's not really the done thing any more. BUT being thoughtful will always be appreciated. The fact it might lead to more business is purely coincidental...

A face to face will always beat a letter imo.

Love those ideas!! Have already started getting this in place. Will keep you posted. Many thanks for the post - genuinely helpful in giving me a new perspective on door to door

[Wing Commander]

Monkeylegend said:

Put adverts in your local parish magazines in the areas you want to work. Takes a couple of months to build up a good response but once you get a few jobs the rest will follow.

Don't make the adverts look too flash/professional, just say what you do without any outrageous claims, people like to support small local businesses.

A very cheap form of advertising but very effective. Make one customer happy and they will tell their friends about this local business doing a good job.

Worked very well for me for 15 years or so. You are a local business so keep it local, and in somewhere like Norfolk the internet is alien

Hi ML,

Thanks for the feedback. We already advertise in the local parish mags, with good success. Customer referrals are also pretty good. We made sure our advert is still "quaint" but still professional. It seems to be well received.

Glad it works for you too! Internet is indeed a bit alien around some of these parts. Many of our customers are elderly and do not have the internet so it is all down to having a mixture of advertising methods.

Thanks

[technodup]

Wing Commander said:

Customer referrals are also pretty good.

What's your process or do you just wait until someone recommends you?

I could write a book on this sort of thing. In actual fact I am writing a book on this sort of thing.

[skinnyman]

You need to appeal to the ladyfolk of the house.

I suggested we hired a cleaner, as we have a 3yr old and my missus is pregnant, I thought she'd appreciate the idea as it would give her more time with the children. I was told the idea was insulting as I was insinuating that she's not capable of looking after her own house (she's right, I was)

[Wing Commander]

technodup said:

hat's your process or do you just wait until someone recommends you?

I could write a book on this sort of thing. In actual fact I am writing a book on this sort of thing.

The process is very much a passive one. Once in a while, I might offer existing customers a discount if they sign up any friends or relations, but normally, it is completely off their own initiative to refer us.

When I try to think of it from a customer's perspective, it is probably really tricky to recommend a cleaner unless the conversation is being led from the 3rd party. People are unlikely to say "oh, I know this brilliant cleaner you should try" out of the blue. Rather like the most recent poster, this might have a negative response from the person!

Seeing as you have a book underway on the topic, would it be possible for you to impart some thoughts on how I might improve this?

Thanks

[Wing Commander]

skinnyman said:

You need to appeal to the ladyfolk of the house.

I suggested we hired a cleaner, as we have a 3yr old and my missus is pregnant, I thought she'd appreciate the idea as it would give her more time with the children. I was told the idea was insulting as I was insinuating that she's not capable of looking after her own house (she's right, I was)

Indeed, the majority of our customers are either female on their own, or the female of the family unit. Our advertising reflects this, I hope.

Getting a cleaner is a livestyle choice. It isn't necessarily that the home needs the help (although this can often be true), it is that they would like the help so that they have time available to do other things, either other chores or something more interesting.

[technodup]

Wing Commander said:

The process is very much a passive one.

Mistake. Don't let customers effectively decide the success of your business. Take charge.

I have a client who isn't very tech savvy and hadn't noticed he had one Google review. A bad one. I encouraged him to actively seek reviews from customers BEFORE they leave his premises. Two reasons- one, most will be happy to hit 5 stars and a few words, and those who aren't he's got an immediate opportunity to resolve their problem, rather than have them disappear to their PC and write a load of ste. He's now got a poster on his wall saying 'we love customer feedback etc etc' and he knows how to direct them to Google or FB on their phones. Taking control.

Back on referrals think of what motivates customers. Usually time and money. Not done this with cleaning (and it depends on price) but it works in our business. Say we charge £500. We agree the deal and get the cheque (or better cash). Then we would say, I know you're happy with everything or you wouldn't have done the deal, but I bet you'd be happier if I gave you £200 of this back... obviously the response is affirmative.

Explain that you set aside X of your profit for marketing/advertising, but you prefer word of mouth and you'd prefer the money to go back to your customers than go to the local rag. Ask them to make a list of people/businesses they know who might benefit from your cleaning service, so you can send them some information/call them. If 1 person becomes a client they get £x back. If 2 do they get 2X etc. They'll be only too happy to make a list AND recommend you if there is something in it for them.

If you keep that going you'll have a never ending source of new business.

The really clever way is when you're explaining the money back bit you drop in at the end 'or pick out more of our products for free'. So that they actually end up with X cleans for nothing, which obviously costs you less than physically giving them money back.

I'll put you down for the first copy of my book.