Episode 144 – Getting Your First Commercial Cleaning Account
How to Get Your First Commercial Cleaning Account
Even if you DON’T have tons of experience or ANY current commercial cleaning accounts…
Episode 144 Matty Bilal NCS Properties Service Group
How do you move from a subcontracting commercial cleaning accounts to your very own commercial cleaning account base? In today’s post/ podcast we travel all the way to Australia to help Matty Bilal with NCS Properties Service Group transition from subcontractor to business owner complete with his own commercial cleaning accounts.
Matty asks how do you get a commercial cleaning account when you don’t have any references since all the commercial accounts he has cleaned have been as a subcontractor.
First Rule of Fight Club/ Owning a Cleaning Business- The prospect doesn’t care about you or your experience!
The cleaning business isn’t brain surgery. If you are going to be cutting into my brain I want to make sure you have the right credentials, experience and references. On the other hand if you are going to clean my home or office, my requirements aren’t quite as strict…
More often than not, if you do a good walk through (FREE podcast on how to do that HERE). Present your bid properly, and do it all with confidence- they won’t even going to ask about your prior experience.
BONUS LOVIN: CLICK HERE for awesome video playlist FREE on bidding jobs for your cleaning business
If you have a good set of references, by all means include them in your bid, but if you don’t that’s almost never a deal breaker.
Matty asks what to say if they directly ask about his commercial cleaning account experience. Easy peasy… Be honest.
If your only commercial cleaning account experience is as a subcontractor, tell them that. Explain that because you are new and just getting started you are doubly committed to make sure that they have an amazing experience so they can be your first referral. Turn your lack of commercial cleaning experience from a weakness into a strength.
KEY POINT: When people ask a question like “do you have references” there is typically a reason they asked. You want to know that reason.
How do you discover that reason? Ask! It might sound something like this “great question, and I am sure there is a very important reason you asked, tell me about that…” Once they share their true concern, you can address it.
Often, people don’t know what to ask and just ask about references because they feel like they are supposed to. This can be an indication you haven’t done a good job leading the sales process.
SUPER NINJA TRICK- Do a good job understanding their needs (listening), and they will almost never question your ability.
Now that you know how to get a commercial cleaning account without a strong resume, let’s talk about how to get that conversation started in the first place.
Mike’s favorite way to get a new commercial cleaning account is by referral. The best way to do this is NOT to ask for a referral. Ask them how you are doing. If they tell you that you aren’t doing great, quit worrying about the referral and fix their problem. Crisis averted!
More often than not, they should be happy with how you are doing and tell you so. When that is the case, it’s still not time to ask for the referral just yet…
Instead, offer to create a fun little video featuring them and how awesome they and their business is. Pull out your smartphone and video you asking them who they are, what they do and their story of connecting with you and your company.
You won’t even have to ask them to say nice things about you- they will do it naturally and now you have a video testimonial of a raving fan customer.
BONUS LOVIN: This process will make them an even better customer and MORE connected to you and your company!
Once they’ve had that opportunity and told the world how amazing you are, NOW is the time to ask them who they know that would enjoy working with you as well.
RESOURCE ALERT: FREE video on how to get tons of 5 star reviews
Once you have gone through this process with all of your customers and had a ton of fun doing it, lets move on to the next best way to attract commercial cleaning accounts.
You are probably getting hundreds or thousands of people visiting your website on a monthly basis, but 99.99% of the time they are visiting your website and leaving. End of conversation.
Everyone that downloads your lead magnet and gives you their follow up info has effectively raised their hand and identified themselves as a good prospect. Create a follow up sequence of calls, emails, or direct mail sharing your message with them.
Even if you only collect twenty five prospective customers information per month, you will have 300 good prospective clients in a years time. If just 10% of them buy- that is 30 new customers a year from your website alone!
CLICK HERE for a complete walk-through of exactly how use lead magnets and make your website awesome!!
As with every blog/ podcast/ youtube video, Mike offers his guest an opportunity to share their experience with Cleaning Nation in the…