An expert’s guide to guaranteeing a sale and sealing the deal !
In Today’s podcast, we are speaking with Rene Serios owner of hello housekeeping which serves the Boston MA area with expert residential cleaning services! Rene stumbled into the cleaning business following a lay off from a big corporate investment job and not being able to find work. After deciding to have another baby Rene had to make the decision if she would like to return to the corporate world where she would have the fear of receiving punishment if an illness were to strike her children or do something for herself. Rene then started cleaning for friends and her cleaning business grew from there! Hello Housekeeping has now been in business for five years and Rene is still doing some of the cleaning herself but is looking to focus solely on the business rather than doing the cleaning herself. If you want more information then hop over to our guide on building a cleaning company.

RESOURCE ALERT: Don’t fall short on closing the sale https://oldsite.growmycleaningcompany.combid-on-cleaning-jobs/

Three major rules to follow!

1. Give the bid in person
2. Set ground rules before you go
3. Don’t talk about budget before you know their pain

Give the bid in person! It is not good business etiquette to do everything electronically. You will want to visit the homes and meet with potential clients in person. This gives all parties the opportunity to meet and ask any questions of each other that may arise. In doing so you are putting yourself in front of the customer and seeing the property for yourself which will in return give you a better idea of what the contract will entail and help to be able to provide a better estimate for the customer. It’s important to set yourself up within the first call and prequalify the client. During that first bit of communication you can ask “what made you reach out and call me.” Within that question you will be able to figure out their pain and why they need you to clean for them. Once you have figured out what their pain is you can set ground rules, let them know that if you feel that you are not a good fit for their needs you hope to be able to openly express that and give them a great recommendation. This also will work vice versa if they are not comfortable with you or what you bring to the table, they should know that it will be okay to openly express that as well! Once those ground rules have been set, you are opening the lines of communication to ask what would happen after the meeting. Coming to the same conclusion of being a great fit would be ideal but unfortunately it does not always work out that way. You can find out if there are any obstacles in the way of the client providing a definitive answer at the end of the meet on whether the sale will be concluded at the end of your time spent overlooking the residential property and providing your bid. If there are potential obstacles stated in the initial call, this will give you time to plan ahead or think of ideas on how to resolve those potential issues. Next, if the client is asking about price you will want to let them know upfront your minimum and at that time you can also tell them what your most expensive client is, this gives them an idea as to what the average customer is paying. It also lets you have the budget conversation upfront where you can incorporate talking about their pain and why spending the money to have to you take away their pain will be an asset to them.

RESOURCE ALERT: Be prepared for anything that may come your way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRIKS-xhM1E

You will want to figure out your pricing. Research the average home value in the area, ask the client how many times per month you will be providing in home cleaning, and what you are willing to clean at what price. Come up with what a standard cleaning will include, whether you will have add-ons and what types of cleaning will come at an extra cost to the client. Having a pricing guide laid out is helpful for not only the customer but you as an owner as well! When you do go out to the appointment you’ll want to go over their pain and why you are there, reinstate that you have agreed upfront to tell each other whether you feel you will be a good fit, also ask what they would like to see happen if the initial meeting goes well and they would like to hire you.