If you think that delivering quality work will land you a stable place on the market, you’re wrong.
Building a reputation and growing your business takes a lot of time and effort. But it’s definitely worth it. Businesses that occupy strong positions in the market can build their client base quickly and gain more resources for growth.
Here are 5 ideas to help you grow your cleaning business and spread the word about your excellent services to a broader audience.
#1. Develop your brand
The first step to growing the business is developing an idea for a brand. You may have started your company with a specific goal in mind, but it’s very likely that your objectives have changed over the years or you may have just forgotten about them.
Now that you’re back to thinking about growing your cleaning business, it’s best to take a step back and consider your goals from today’s perspective. Where do you see your business in 5, 10, or 20 years? How do you plan to focus on making the customers and your employees happy?
You need to come up with a set of conditions your business should meet in order to provide satisfaction and stability to everyone involved. Design your ideal customer and develop your business in a direction allows you to address their needs better and solve their problems.
#2. Start networking
Nothing helps to grow a business like networking. In fact, a strong network is the heart of every business. And it doesn’t matter if you are interacting with your suppliers or accountants – even if you’re meeting with people who won’t become your customers, make sure to leave a good impression. That’s how you get referrals and grow your customer base.
You can look for networking opportunities outside of your circle too.
Try visiting trade shows – you can meet both clients and other business owners there. If you have specialized products or services, consider renting out a booth to display them. Catch people’s attention by hosting a contest for a free cleaning package.
Are there any community associations in your neighborhood? For example, if you have cleaning services nyc then Joining one in NYC will help you meet new people and make connections with new audiences. You can volunteer or contribute to community events as well. That’s how you build a reputation for your business – it’s also an excellent way to get your hands on low-cost advertising.
Practically every event needs cleaners so if your team has some spare time, put on your company t-shirts and get to work. Making a good impression on your local community might lead to successful referrals.
#3. Set yourself apart
Differentiate yourself from your competitors. It’s likely that customers who see your business are wondering what you can do for them that other cleaning companies can’t. So start your branding process by taking a closer look at your competitors.
What do they advertise as unique? How did they communicate their uniqueness to customers? You can use online reviews, websites, social media, and word of mouth to learn what customers think about the services provided by your competitors. Is there any customer needs that your competition doesn’t manage to address? That’s your chance to make a mark on the market.
You might have to switch to green cleaning products, introduce flexible cleaning schedules to accommodate the needs of your customers better or add extra services that might fit your target. Have a look at the website of a waste removal company to see how it differentiates itself on the market.
Make your services more up-to-date by managing all the bookings online. Find a hassle-free and affordable cleaning booking software and let it handle the bookings, send automated reminders to your staff and clients, accept payments on your behalf and generate invoices. It’s also a good way to grow your business with promotional offers. For example, you can offer a 50% discount for new clients who register on your booking system.
You can implement these strategies in your marketing messaging as well. For example, you can start a blog where you share cleaning tips or send out newsletters with professional advice. Do your competitors introduce cleaning teams on their websites? If they don’t, make sure that you do. Include photos, videos, and detailed information about the members of your cleaning team, so your customers know who they are dealing with.
#4. Target customers at each step
Since you’re running a small business, you probably rarely have an occasion to take a step back and see how marketing could help you grow it. That’s why you need a marketing strategy to follow. Define your buying cycle first. You probably have prospects and clients at every stage of your cycle:
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Awareness – customers who become aware of your services but aren’t yet sure what exactly,
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Discovery – customers who learn more about your business,
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Engagement – customers that engage with your company and take action that might lead to purchasing,
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Referral – that status means that customers are so happy with your services that they’re willing to spread the message to their networks.
Your marketing strategy should address customers at every single stage of the cycle. It doesn’t make sense to deliver a similar call-to-action to a customer who is only beginning to learn about your services and to someone who has already used your services once.
Use direct marketing campaigns to steer prospects to your website so they can learn more about you. Customers who are in the engagement phase will benefit most from coupons and special promotions.
#5. Keep on spreading the word about your services
It might sound like traditional sales techniques are on the out with the widespread digitization of business. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Door-to-door sales can be a very effective sales strategy for cleaning business. So keep on knocking on doors and look for new prospects. Talk to people, but also get their names and phone numbers or email addresses, so you contact them later. Make sure to follow up because these new contacts could help take your business to the next level.
If you’re running a cleaning business and wondering how to grow your customer base, here’s the answer: you need a reliable marketing strategy. Use these 5 tips to stand out from the crowd and make sure that your business pursues a path toward growth.
