by Brandon Boushy
It is tough to find great information on how to get clients for a cleaning business. There are plenty of Facebook scammers, pay-per-click advocates, SEO “experts,” CRMs, and people trying to sell us a bunch of nonsense.
Fortunately, we found Chris Mondragon! He owns Queen Bee Cleaning Service, and has found a lot of marketing, technology, and strategies to find clients. He’s sharing all the lessons he’s learned through trial and error, hard work, and a few mistakes on his way to making $1.5 million in one year. His strategies will help you book clients faster.
He’ll share ways to get cleaning clients including:
- Where to include your branding
- Software that helps get cleaning jobs
- Ads that get clients for a cleaning business
- Scripts for a successful cleaning business
Get ready for 21 proven strategies that get cleaning clients.
Tip #1 Always Start with a Marketing Plan
Marketing is a huge part of finding clients. Without it, most businesses struggle to succeed. You’ll need a marketing plan to keep you on track. There are a lot of moving pieces, and you’re sure to forget something if you don’t create a plan to drive what’s important to you. Chris provides an example in his business plan presentation. It’s a single page but easy to follow:
- The sales process will begin by generating leads through our marketing campaign ads on Google, Facebook, and Yelp.
- We feel confident that the leads are more likely to be impressed with our professional and responsive customer service.
- For clients over the phone, we will quote them a price. We will explain in detail why our service is priced a bit higher than most.
- Queen Bee Cleaning Service will explain all the different cleaning systems and what the customer should expect.
- The conversation will leave the prospective customer with the impression that Queen Bee is indeed different from the run of the residential cleaning services and that the price differential is justified.
While a marketing plan is a great start, you’ll also want to build a distinct brand.
Tip #2 Target Marketing
Make sure to narrow your target market as well as you can. Research the wealth distribution of neighborhoods if you’re doing Airbnb cleaning. If you are trying to find how to get commercial cleaning clients, narrow your search to specific types of businesses.
For example, you might want to clean a family business, or you might want to focus on cleaning banks. We discuss a lot more about how to get clients for a commercial cleaning business in our blog about how to get a cleaning contract. Check out the commercial cleaning blog.
Find out how your name can help you find clients for a cleaning business.
Tip #3 Win with Your Name
Your name conveys who you are. The words you use matter. They have connotations and dual meanings, and when they are combined with other terms, different images come to mind.
Let’s look at Queen Bee Cleaning Service as an example.
What do you picture when you hear the word queen?
How about the word bee?
Now, when you combine them into Queen Bee, does it take on other meanings?
For me, when I think of Queen Bee, I think of the top of the hive, the best of the biz.
Then Cleaning Service tells us what business.
We have more great advice in our blog about cleaning business names. Check it out!
Tip#4 Branding a Cleaning Business
You’ll want to make sure to get a logo and put it on the following items:
- House cleaning business cards
- Car magnets
- Apron
- Shirts
- Website
- Social media
- Invoices
- Print materials
Check out the Queen Bee Logo:
Visible branding makes your cleaning service stand out to potential customers. Your branding should be on everything your company does. You want the customer to instantly know what company you are when they see the logo.
Next, you’ll want to have your cleaning prices ready so you can use them in other steps.
LEARN MORE: If you haven’t already check out our blog about how to start your your own cleaning business.
Tip #5 House Cleaning Prices
Before thinking about how to get your first cleaning client, you’ll want to have prices put together in a way that is easy for clients (and later employees) to understand.
Chris has a separate price list for house cleaning customers and Airbnb clients because they need different services. He also offers various add-on services from which his target audience can choose.
Tip #6 ClickFunnels Built for A Cleaning Company
In our interview with Chris, he told us he uses ClickFunnels and ActiveCampaign to assist with his marketing needs. He has recently changed to HighLevel because it replaces both software and saves nearly $1,800 to create email offers and campaigns to attract customers.
Having well-defined marketing funnels is a crucial part of how to market your business.
If you have different segments, you’ll probably want a separate funnel for each type of cleaning service. Potential clients for an office cleaning company will have different needs than residential cleaning customers. Your funnels should be built to make it easier to get clients. If they don’t speak to the target market, they won’t work.
You’ll need email templates in your funnels and Chris shared some with us.
Tip#7 Email Templates for a Cleaning Service
Have response templates ready for common and predictable emails. That way, you can provide prompt service without putting much thought into it. Chris has templates for the following types of emails:
- Airbnb Cleaning Quote
- Bad Service Apology
- Breakage
- Cancellation Request
- Deep Cleaning Quote
- Difference Between Services Questions
- Move-Out, Move-In Cleaning Quote
- Office Cleaning Quote
- Price Increase Email
- Recurring Cleaning Quote
- Termination of Services
I can’t include them all here, but I can hook you up with one of them today. The example below is meant to be used with CRM and email automation. Check out how he responds to customer requests who want deep cleaning quotes:
You can get the rest of the templates from our cleaning course. Sign up now
The occurrence of “${words}” means that this is pulling from a spreadsheet or CRM to provide the information. It helps automate emails. Just make sure to leave some time between receiving an email and responding with automation. Make sure to remove the red asterisk if you copy and paste into your system.
Some people don’t like automation and may take offense if they get a response unnaturally fast. Make sure to have a few minutes delay.
Are you ready for another way to get clients?
Tip #8 Google Business Profile
If you aren’t already familiar with Google Business Profile (Formerly Google My Business), it’s a service Google offers that helps cleaning businesses get clients by displaying them prominently on Google Search and Google Maps.
You have to input your business information, then wait for them to send you a postcard in the mail. You can start adding all your information while waiting for the postcard. Once you put the code from the card into the website, your business is authenticated and shows up in search results (like Queen Bee above).
Chris told us:
Chris is full of all kinds of unique cleaning business ideas. Watch our interview with him below to hear how he runs his company.
I’d use a 20-mile radius as your maximum service distance, but you could use an even smaller radius.
Chris has a complete optimization guide he’ll share with people who take the cleaning master course. You don’t want to miss it. Any local business could use the information he shares for great results.
In addition, Chris offered some input on direct mail and door hangers.
Tip #9 Direct Mail and Door Hangers for Cleaners
Direct mail, door hangers, and cleaning flyers should be part of the answer for how to advertise your cleaning business.
Chris told us:
If you clean three houses per day, that’s another 18 people who can become potential customers. Just be careful in gated communities. I’ve seen companies banned for doing door-to-door marketing in some neighborhoods.
Tip #10 Facebook Can Help Get Cleaning Clients Fast
Facebook is a great social media platform for cleaning companies. Most people are on it, so you can find your first clients by asking friends and family if they need their homes or businesses cleaned.
In addition, Facebook owns other social media like Instagram and WhatsApp. If you want to get cleaning clients fast, you can use Facebook Ads to get more cleaning clients.
Chris spends between $500 and $750 on Facebook ads each month, accounting for approximately 23% of his ads spending.
It’s just one of the ways to promote your business. Keep reading for more ways to get cleaning jobs.
Tip# 11 Invest in Paid Ads
Most successful cleaning businesses will run catchy house cleaning ads on social media and search engines. It’s one of the best ways to get clients for your cleaning business.
Last year, Chris spent between $2,150 and $5,400 per month on eye-catching house cleaning ads. Here’s the breakdown:
- Google Local Leads: 67%
- Facebook Ads: 17%
- Craigslist Ads: 7%
- Yelp Ads: 8%
It gets better. Check out his ads!
Keep reading for more strategies on how to market a cleaning business.
Tip# 12 Koalas Help You Book Online
Booking Koala is an excellent service that makes it easy to book more clients. While some people in the cleaning industry make it a priority to have that personal touch to get your ideal clients, Chris realizes that not everyone wants to interact. He told us:
Check out his implementation. It’s one of the best booking tools I’ve ever seen.
Tip #13 Local Ads: Best Way to Market Your Business
Google Local Service Ads are the preferred method when paying for ads to attract new clients. They are only available to local businesses that have passed Google screening. The process requires verifying entity formation and business licenses, background checks, and insurance.
Once a business owner and any relevant staff has completed all the checks, they qualify as either a Google Screened or Google Guaranteed provider. You’ll see them at the top of a Google search like “cleaning quotes for business.” They will show the Google Guaranteed checkmark like the picture below.
Chris told us:
You’ll want to have Google Analytics set up to easily prove where your home or commercial cleaning clients are coming from to find your site.
Chris also emphasized the importance of how you communicate with potential clients.
Tip# 14 Manners Matter
Remember, a cleaning company is part of the service industry. Clients for your cleaning business will occasionally have complaints or need to cancel. Regardless of the reason, you need to be polite. That’s why Chris suggests:
“Beginning with “May I” is a surefire way to soften just about any question well. Try these on for size:
- “May I have your telephone number?”
- “May I ask what company you’re with?”
It sure does. The email templates we discussed earlier also help prevent business owners and employees from making the common mistake of sending an emotional email.
Keep reading for information about how to turn bad reviews into a better cleaning business.
Tip #15 No! You Can’t Ignore Bad Reviews
Even if you have a reasonable price and consistently get more clients, you will occasionally have a bad review. Whether it’s from a current client, potential client, or just someone who doesn’t like the marketing campaign, you need to be ready for it.
That’s why Chris has email templates for complaints. He also told us:
This solution is great! If potential clients see the review and that you handled it amicably, you will be able to minimize the impact it has on your business.
Get ready to learn about how SEO helps get clients.
Tip #16 Optimize Your Site
I know search engine optimization can be frustrating. I deal with it every day by looking at what keywords Google wants to see, but you have to do it. Think about it for a minute…ask yourself:
Unless you have a vast professional network, lots of friends, and a large family that can all afford to pay for commercial cleaning, your business will have to play the SEO game. Here are some strategies:
- Create a lightning-fast website (under two seconds, or you start losing mobile users).
- Research keywords using SEMRush.
- Scatter them throughout your website content.
- Write blogs about subjects that interest your customer.
- Post them regularly.
- Use sites that help you get high-quality backlinks. There’s a list of 700 sites you can use to build your own backlinks.
- Any time you update your site, submit a sitemap to the Google search console.
While your website isn’t the only way to get new customers, optimizing it for search engines helps.
You’ll also want to optimize your phone conversations. Keep reading to find out how.
Tip #17 Phone Scripts that Make Millions
Once you get a new client on the phone, you’ll need a great script!
Chris shared his with us. Here’s part of it:
I’d love to give you the rest of the script, but our team is working hard to create our cleaning business course. I can’t steal all their thunder.
Your team should get so good at it that they can narrate it in their sleep.
Sometimes you’ll get commercial cleaning clients that are angry. If you have a potentially angry customer, soften your voice to a calming state, listen to their concerns, apologize for the inconvenience, and ask, “How can I make it better?”
Chris told us:
He said it’s okay to call back as long as the call was accidentally dropped.
Another way of getting and keeping cleaning clients is recurring discounts.
Tip #18 Recurring Discounts
Most businesses in the cleaning industry know that current clients cost less to keep than finding more customers. That’s why they offer discounts to get your house cleaned more frequently.
If you played with the Queen Bee Quote System, you probably noticed that he gives an 8% discount for monthly cleaning and 20% for weekly cleanings.
With enough weekly cleanings, you can lower your spending on digital marketing campaigns and increase profit. You just have to reach the point that existing clients request enough services to make the money to take care of your family and employees.
You’ll also want to pursue references from current clients.
Tip #19 Seek Referrals
Customer referrals tend to be your ideal client. Referrals carry more weight than marketing materials, and they are more likely to contact you. You can even give discounts when people refer new clients or companies looking for cleaning services. Chris sends emails with some tips for his customers on how to review and refer people to help maximize the benefits.
Another way he brings in new and recurring clients is sending SMS discounts if he has a slower week. He told us he gets a 90% open rate and about 1 in 10 clients take him up on the offer.
Get ready for another tip for finding quality clients.
Tip #20 Value-Added Pricing
If you are doing Airbnb cleaning or cleaning for other properties where cleanliness is their selling point, you may want to charge a value-added price.
For instance, Chris uses AirDNA to establish what the rental properties in an area go for and charge the property owner based on the cleaning fee. This can improve margins or prevent you from taking unwanted jobs.
next, you’ll find out why Yelp is so important to cleaning businesses.
Tip #21 Yes! Yelp! Matters!
You see so many businesses use Yelp because customers love it. It helps the cleaning business get more clients and offers high-level backlinks. Plus, Yelp penalizes businesses that incentivize reviews. That means customers can know the reviews are legit.
You’ll Book More Clients Soon!
If you follow all these suggestions, soon, you’ll be featured in blogs about how to get clients for a cleaning business. If finding clients sounds like a challenge, you might want to buy a cleaning business.
Do you have any unique approaches you’ve tried while trying to figure out how to get clients for your business? Share your successes and your failures below.
