[CleanToGo1]

Hi
We were wondering if anyone has any places they advertise that seems to work better than others.
The reason we ask this is that we have placed several adds in local newspapers and had minimal response ?
Is just quiet all round or are we missing a trick?

Thanks
J&G

[nat1]

Hi J&G, I advertise by leaflet dropping which can be a bit of a bore-but If you only get a couple of responses it's what this can then lead to(word of mouth) you cannot beat this one, I also use Gumtree www.gumtree.com or www.vivastreet.com (FREE) both quite useful, have you got any advertising on your car/van? this can help & Vistaprint do magnetic signs to put on your car which are very cheap & save sign-writing your car/van, it's surprising how many people take note of these, finally "website" Vistaprint now do these at good prices...  Good Luck!!!


Natalie

[John Kelly]

I don't know but guess you are doing domestic cleaning. Therefore try putting ads in shop windows, usually costs a quid or 2 a week. Get some good quality fliers printed and go round all your local hairdressers, takeaways, taxi offices, cafes etc, anywhere where people congregate and ask if you can leave some on the desk.

[Pristine Clean]

Try adverising with main brands like Thompson, Yell etc. We are commercially based and not domestic. Hate Domestic. My heart goes out to all that do domestic. I think its an absolute pain.. and much harder than commercial.

I find the customers are a complete pain in the rear!!!! And total unreasonable.

Anyways as mentioned the trick is word of mouth,depends on where you are based, I find small local directoies work well for the domestic side.

Leaflets are good but you wont get a great return if any but it will get the ball rolling but you have to do a large quantity of say 10, 000 to get a result.


Try adding yourself to some free indexes on the net.

apart from that its advertise everywhere you can.


Dave

[vacman]

If you advertise in shop windows, expect to get the sort of customers who will expect shop-window type prices. Leaflets are a good foot in the door, as has been said, the response will be poor but you WILL get some enquiries, from there it's word of mouth.

Some domestic customers are very demanding, it seems to be the bigger the organistation is, the worse the customer-cleaner relationship gets, possibly because the more you have to charge, the more / the better the customer will expect. At the end of the day, having a cleaner is like employing no other tradesperson in your home, and its not something all clients are happy with.

As far as leaflets go, i would personally avoid cheese; i have lost count the number of times i have seen people weaving the word 'maid' into their blurb, also that old chestnut "we don't cut corners, we clean them". How unique  :

[vacman]

My heart goes out to all that do domestic. I think its an absolute pain.. and much harder than commercial.

I find the customers are a complete pain in the rear!!!! And total unreasonable.

For these reasons i often wonder why so many people try their hand at domestic cleaning and more so making a business of it.

[nat1]

Hi Vacman & Pristine Clean,  dont you get huge problems with Office/Commercial cleans? I generally do domestic but have 1 office clean & would like to progress this side a little more, do you think staff would perhaps be easier to find for office/commercial rather than domestic due to some of the points you made regarding domestic.  I think people go into domestic cleaning thinking it's a little easier to get into & probaly alot of domestics then combine the two or ditch the domestics as the money isn't fantastic.  Out of interest did you do any courses on specific cleaning for the Commercial cleans(ie) having to use buffers and whatever other machinery is needed.


Ta Nat

[vacman]

I only do domestic work, sorry Nat.

[Pristine Clean]

Hi Nat, as for finding staff no. I would not say its any easier at all. The problem is especially with KEY jobs they go in, wiz round and go to the pub or what ever they do.

I have just taken on someone, explained what to do, what standards. Even gave them a task list and even how to go about doing it. The job is 2 hours per day. But actually providing you are not on the mobile, dossing around you can do it easily and thoroughly in 1 hour 15 minutes. After tasks are done correctly you can go. I pay for the 2 hours. So that 45 minutes a day Thats nearly over 5 hours of pay for nothing.

BUT i had a small complaint from the office, I went in spoke to the cleaner. She seems to have taken it all on board.

Then we went in done a window clean the following morning and I CHECKED HER WORK. Absoltely awful!!!! I understood why the office complained..they had a right too.

I had to spend an hour extra there resolving what she had not done. She is being sacked to day. I took photos as evidence.

So the customers are better as a whole. The staff are the same or worse. Its swings and roundabouts I guess.

But yes I would say the actual cleaning of an office is far easier than domestic. I would say its a bettr atmosphere even when they are their in the office providing the work is of good standards.

If you do want any advice into moving into commercial I am happy to assist however I am sure there are other people here with far greater knowledge and secrets to wining contracts than what I know of.

Dave

[nat1]

Thank you Dave, any advice would be greatly appreciated, how did you get into the office side of things, do you call & ask for HR and see if they are looking for cleaners,advertise in the yellow pages, website, leaflet drop? also I am sure there is a stack of paperwork involved with the offices, I do have one small office twice a week(10 offices,2 loo's,kitchen) which I got because a family member use to work there. But apart from the initial risk assessment and my monthly invoicing there is no paperwork to do. (I do this clean myself)



Thanks Nat

[Pristine Clean]

Yes we advertise in Yellow pages, It works for us. We have several websites. We also do alot of cold calling. Its a manor of all things. Cold calling is best for commercial work.

You can either get thats purchase a list of businesses in your area and call them asap! Get a database going and ask when the contract is up for renewal. Make a note and call back several weeks before.

Sometimes you need to be pushy to win and low prices! But not too low that you dont earn. You need to judge each situation on its own merits.

Leaflets do well but you need to send the leaflets out, then call a few days later. Its all about building up a repour with them.

The main bit is getting past the gate keeper! Thats the secretary, or Hells Angel as I call them.

You will also want to advertise that you do Commercial on your site.

Paper work is not that bad, Cosh sheets, the Quotation, Terms of Payment and most importantly your insurance for commercial work! Oh and T&C, Not that they take much notice. 30 days payment... will normally run into 60 days or even 90.. I am afraid that is the norm with commercial.

Main thing with commercial is storage of chemicals and have the cossh sheets there at all times, be colour coded red for toilets - Blue every where else. etc.

If you want to get commercial work I think you will need to move away from Vistaprint as regards to the website! As it is limited very limited!

You will need an employee hand book, and correct employee contracts. You must also have a task list and stick to it. Dont let them keep adding otherwise you will find you run out of time.


With commercial its not just about cleaning. Its service and what you can offer. Like Sanitary bins, waste collection, toilet rolls , paper towels, Ask what there previous contractor is not offering. See if you can offer it.

Now nobody likes undercutters! But I know and everyone knows its being done all the time. Get over it! Its business! If you can do it cheaper go for it!

If you don't someone else will!

Just dont tell anyone as thats what they all do we are in a down struggle economic climate. So its either no job and cant pay mortgage or get the job and feed the kids and get the new Jaguar Supercharged car you always wanted!

Sorry its harsh but its business! Get the strategy right and you are onto a winner!

All the best
Dave


 

[CleanToGo1]

Thanks for all of your replies.

[nat1]

Cheers Dave!!


Nat1