How to get Clients for a Cleaning Business

If you are thinking of starting a cleaning business, or if you already own one, I’m sure that you are well aware that the success of your business depends on your ability to land clients. According to Statista, over 3.24 million people are working in the cleaning industry in the United States for over one million cleaning services. That’s quite a bit of competition for your business. So, how do you get customers for your cleaning business?

There are several ways in which your cleaning business can get customers. Some methods include:

  • Developing and implementing a marketing strategy
  • Getting referrals from current customers
  • Offering coupons or discounts
  • Optimizing your web content
  • Create and use your social media accounts
  • Networking with other professionals
  • Establishing partnerships with other businesses

In this article, we are going to take a closer look at each of these methods for obtaining customers for your cleaning business, as well as a few suggestions on how to keep your customers once you have acquired them. By the time you are finished reading this article, I will am confident to find several methods that you can put to use immediately.

How Do I Develop and Implement a Good Marketing Strategy?

A good marketing strategy is essential to the success of any business. This is especially true when it comes to your cleaning business. A good marketing strategy is so important to the survival of your cleaning business that the Small Business Administration recommends allocating anywhere from 7 to 8 percent of your operating budget for marketing and advertising.

While a majority of your marketing campaign is going to be focused on digital marketing, there are plenty of other options available for you to use to get customers for your cleaning business. Several businesses have sponsored events to get their name in front of the public’s eyes. However, I would suggest that you are selective when trying to find an event to sponsor.

Calling a local radio station about them doing a promo for your cleaning business is also a great way to reach a large number of people. You can also purchase advertising time on a local television station, or even purchase an ad on YouTube. The point is to reach the largest number of people possible in the shortest amount of time. Social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram also sell advertising spaces.

Venngage has composed a list of steps for you to take when developing a marketing plan for your cleaning business:

  • Write a simple executive summary
  • Set metric-driven marketing goals
  • Outline your user personas
  • Research all of your competitors
  • Set accurate key baselines & metrics
  • Create an actionable marketing strategy
  • Set tracking or reporting guidelines

Check out this article to know some slogan that can attract clients.

How Do I Get My Current Customers To Refer My Cleaning Business To Others?

I know that you have heard this many times before, but the old saying is true. The best form of advertising is word-of-mouth advertising. If you are ensuring that your customers are happy and satisfied with the job you’re cleaning service provides, they will gladly refer you to their family and friends. However, if you do not do a thorough and professional job, they will be much less likely to refer your cleaning business.

Another way to get your customers to refer your cleaning service is to offer a discount for these referrals. You could even set up a program in which your current customers receive a free cleaning after a preset amount of referrals that help you to land new clients. These are often seen in places such as fast-food restaurants, but they could also be a highly effective tool for your cleaning service.

Should I Offer Coupons or Discounts To Get Customers?

One of the most tried-and-true methods for getting customers for any business is to offer coupons or discounts to new customers. We have all seen one example of this at least once in our lives. The Sunday newspaper is usually filled with coupons from several different businesses. Another tactic employed by many businesses is sending coupons directly to their customers through the mail.

The idea of mailing coupons to potential customers is not ideal for you, there is always the option of printing out coupons, and handing them out yourself. Keep several of these handy wherever you go out, because you never know when the situation could arise that you have the opportunity to hand them out. Printing out flyers with coupons is also another option for your cleaning business to get new customers.

You can also use discounts in conjunction with your marketing campaign to help your cleaning business acquire customers. One example of this would be to take out an ad either on television or on the radio and tell customers that they are entitled to a percentage off of your cleaning services if they mention your advertisement when they book their first cleaning with your service.

How Do I Optimize My Web Content?

While this is mostly seen as an offshoot of digital marketing, optimizing your cleaning business’s web content can help you expand your customer base. You have to think of your web content as a tool that can help you to grow your business. However, you have to make sure that when potential customers are looking for a cleaning service, your content is optimized for the search engines they are using.

Have you ever noticed that when you search for something on Google, certain advertisements come up first? This is because these businesses have people that are familiar with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This is the ability to optimize digital media such as websites to come up when people are performing Google searches. Your cleaning business could benefit greatly from web optimization.

If you want to optimize your website for SEO, the website The Daily Egg offers the following suggestions:

  • Analyze all of your website data
  • Conduct thorough keyword research
  • Produce long and value-rich content
  • Optimize for on-page SEO
  • Optimize for off-page SEO
  • Optimize the website for mobile
  • Speed up the pages
  • Get quality backlinks

You can also streamline your website as a way to attract more customers to your cleaning business. When people are searching for a cleaning service, they will undoubtedly visit your website. The last thing they will want is to have to sort through several pages of bloated and unrelated material. Make sure that your website is concise and eye-catching if you want to grow your business.

Should I Create and Use Social Media Accounts?

Social media accounts are a great way to market your cleaning business to potential clients. They have the potential to reach millions of people, and best of all, they are either free or incredibly inexpensive. Social media accounts are also quite easy to create and maintain. Just remember to keep your private account and your business account separate, and never forget that you are always representing your business.

One of the most important things to remember when using social media for your cleaning business is that people connect with individuals, not companies. If they become interested in you as a person, they will care about what you do as well. While this person may not be in the cleaning industry, a prime example of this would be Elon Musk. Because people are interested in him, they are interested in Tesla.

Perhaps the most important rule in using social media for your business is that you need to be engaging and you need to form a community. People generally like to respond and participate. When you are using your social media accounts for your cleaning business, a few examples of ways to engage your audience are to include polls and questions in your posts a few times a week.

Check out this article to get ideas how to grow your cleaning business.

How Do I Network With Other Professionals?

One of the best-kept secrets when it comes to acquiring customers for your business is by networking with other professionals. We are all familiar with the old saying, “It’s not what you know. It’s who you know.” When it comes to growing your cleaning business, it is both what and who you know. This makes networking with like-minded businesses essential to your ability to get new customers for your cleaning business.

Your local Chamber of Commerce is a great place to start if you are looking for other professionals with whom you can network. They usually can provide you with a calendar of events centered around local businesses in your community. These events are a great opportunity for you to meet other business professionals. It also gives you the chance to get your cleaning business name out in the community.

Another way in which you can network with other professionals in your community is by participating in a corporate sports league. Several companies participate in sporting events such as basketball, softball, and soccer. These events provide you with the perfect opportunity to get to know each other local business people in an environment that is much more relaxed and fun.

How Do I Establish Partnerships With Other Businesses?

This is a marketing trick that I was fortunate enough to have learned several years ago. However, this usually works best when the businesses have something in common. You can grow your cleaning business by forming partnerships with other businesses that can benefit from your services, such as moving companies, apartment complexes, real estate agencies, and any other businesses that benefit from cleaning services.

One way that a partnership with other businesses can work to the advantage of both businesses is by exchanging business cards and flyers. You can ask other businesses if they would be willing to put your flyers or business cards on their countertops. You can also agree to hand out their business cards or flyers to your customers. I have personally seen this work many times for several different types of businesses.

Summary

The acquisition of new customers is the most important element of making your cleaning business successful. There are several different strategies that you can employ to help your cleaning business grow its customer base. This starts with developing and implementing a good marketing plan. Having your current customers refer new customers to your business is another way to experience customer gain. Offering coupons or discounts is also effective.

Because your website is a billboard for your cleaning business, you should also ensure that your web content is optimized. Once you have optimized your web content, it’s time to create and start using your social media accounts. Networking with other professionals can also get you, new customers. Finally, establishing Partnerships with like-minded businesses is always a good way to get referrals from other businesses while also getting new customers.

Frequently Asked Questions 

What is the difference between cleaning businesses and commercial cleaning services?

The two main types of cleaning services are residential cleaning businesses and commercial cleaning services. As the name would imply, residential cleaning businesses primarily clean houses, apartments, mobile homes, and condos. Commercial cleaning services primarily clean office buildings or small businesses. I hope they are not necessary, commercial cleaning services will typically have more types of cleaning certifications than residential cleaning businesses.

How is a janitorial service different from a commercial cleaning service?

While many services offered by janitorial services and commercial cleaning services are similar, there is one key difference that differentiates these two cleaning businesses. Janitorial services usually offer everyday clean-up, while commercial cleaning services typically come a few times a year to do major deep cleanings. Another difference is that some companies have their janitorial services, while commercial cleaning services are usually contracted out.

To learn more on how to start your own cleaning business, check out my startup documents here.

Please note that the contents of this blog are for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Any action taken based on the information provided in this blog is solely at your own risk. Additionally, all images used in this blog are generated under the CC0 license of Creative Commons, which means they are free to use for any purpose without attribution.