Episode 369 – Handling a Customer Who Wants More Than What They're Paying For
Welcome back cleaning nation! In today’s blog we are chatting with Sandy Sandoval, of
Sandy is wondering how to handle a customer that wants extra services without having an increase in their cleaning bill, and luckily we’ve got some great tips to help with just that!
The most important part with approaching your client is to be honest with them. Your clients are people too, and they will understand that you have certain margins that you need to maintain, as long as you are being transparent with them. If you’re comfortable sharing your margins, you can use that as a great way to show your clients that you aren’t trying to rip them off.
Resource Alert:
https://growmycleaning.wpengine.com/how-to-price-cleaning-services/
A great practice moving forward is to make sure that as part of the service agreement, it is clearly stated what services you do and don’t provide. That way you can always have something you point to that clearly explains included services, as well as premium services.
Resource Alert:
https://growmycleaning.wpengine.com/cleaning-service-agreement/
Approaching your client with two separate offers is another great way to ease the situation. Ideally you can cover their needs as well as their budget, but if you can’t, you want to present them with two bids. One that covers all their needs but may be a bit more pricey, and one that is within their budget but may have a few less options. It is a lot easier for people to choose between two options that are right in front of them, rather than deciding on their own what to do.
This is all helpful for setting up future account, but what about current accounts?
While approaching existing clients, you always want to have the blame on yourself. You never want your clients to feel like their in the wrong. Starting the conversation with: “I’m sorry, I’ve made a mistake.” is a great way to begin the conversation. Very rarely will people get mad at you if you start out the conversation like that.
After that you’re going to want to point back to that handy-dandy service agreement. You can then explain that you now have a clear list of what services you do and don’t provide, and that you didn’t have that set up for them. You can then have them look through and get a more personalized plan that fits their needs.
The key point here is having them know that you’re at fault.
With all that wealth of new knowledge, we’re going to head into the:
Lightning Round:
Best advice you’ve received either personally or professionally?
Find a mentor, and surround yourself with people that share your passions and are pursuing their goals
What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made in the cleaning business we can all learn from?
Taking jobs that are too big too quickly. Make sure you do your research and find out what your client needs before you agree to take them on.