One of the best ways to grow your commercial cleaning business is to get referrals. That is because people take their friend or colleague at their word that they are happy with the company they are referring. After all, they surely wouldn't put their own reputation on the line by referring a company they are less than thrilled with.
While most cleaning business owners are thrilled to receive a referral, they aren't actively pursuing referrals. That is the slow route to growth. To really get your clients to work for you, it's important to encourage referrals. You do this by developing and implementing a business referral strategy.
A business referral strategy may sound complicated, but it's really quite simple. All you need to do get started is set up a system to track where referrals come from, and then reward the individuals (including your own employees) that have sent new business your way.
What to do before seeking client referrals
Before you begin actively seeking referrals, take a look at your clients and make sure that they are happy with your services. If you're not sure how they feel about your cleaning services, send out a customer survey to see what areas they are happy with and where you might need improvement. There are also a few simple, but often neglected rules of courtesy that you should adhere to:
- Be on time in everything you do. In fact, don't just be on time... be early!
- Respond to clients quickly. If they call with a concern, make sure you or a key person in your company is available to talk and then take care of it as quickly as possible.
- Do what you say you are going to do. If you promised to do some extra cleaning that night in preparation for an executive visit the next day, then make sure your staff understands what that means and that they follow through on your promise.
- Make sure you and your staff are courteous at all times. Teach your cleaning technicians how to behave around employees working in the building. Remind them to say please and thank you, and to smile when they encounter tenants.
You may provide the best cleaning service in town, but what your customer will remember is that one time you or a staff member dropped the ball by not taking care of a problem, missing a deadline, or treating a building employee with disrespect.
Set up your Referral Machine
Once you are happy with the level of service you are providing your customers, it's time to set up your "referral machine". Think of it as a 2-step process. The first step is to reward any referral you receive, whether it is a good referral or not.
Sometimes we receive referrals from clients or networking buddies that are not exactly what we were looking for. I know that in our business, we didn't like cleaning hair salons, restaurants and bars. So when we received a referral to clean a hair salon, it was a nice feeling knowing that our client made the effort to refer us, but it was also a let-down that it was not our ideal client.
2-Step Referral Process
We always take a 2-step approach when receiving referrals.
- After talking to the prospect who was referred to us, we immediately send the person who made the referral a Thank You card - regardless of whether or not it results in a new client. This acknowledges that we are grateful they took the time to refer our company. If the referral was not ideal for us and we know that they will not become a client, we will let the referrer know that it did not result in a new client but we still appreciate the gesture.
- If the referral DOES result in a new client, we will then send a gift of appreciation to the referrer after onboarding the new client. This gift usually depends on the size of client. If it is one that generates a few hundred dollars a month we might send movie tickets and a gift certificate for dinner. If it's a new client that generates several thousand dollars a month, we might buy tickets to a sporting event, concert or weekend getaway.
The gift itself doesn't matter as much as the fact that you're acknowledging your clients, employees and networking buddies for their generosity in referring your business.
More ideas for getting referrals
How do you get more referrals? Ask! Think of the different ways you communicate with your clients and others who could refer your business.
- GIVE referrals! When people receive referrals from you, they are much more likely to try and reciprocate. So the more referrals you give to clients and networking friends, the more referrals you will receive.
- Do you send out a newsletter? That's the perfect place to let your clients know you appreciate your business and that you are accepting new cleaning customers. It's also a great way to educate them on what type of clients you're looking for, and who is NOT ideal.
- Call or schedule an appointment with your current clients to discuss how things are going. Assuming they're thrilled with your service, ask if you can give them a referral form that they can keep on hand. Make sure you have a tracking number on the form or a place where your client can write their name so they get the credit for the referral.
- Put together a list of the individuals and businesses that could send referrals to you. This includes not only current customers, but employees, networking buddies, suppliers and professional service providers (your accountant, lawyer, insurance agent, etc.). Send information to all the individuals on your list letting them know you are building your business and are looking for referrals. Let them know who is a good referral for your business.
As any successful business owner will tell you, referrals from current customers are the best way to grow your business. Indeed, it is more cost-effective to give gifts to individuals that send referrals your way than to it is to run an ads in your local media. Provide exceptional service to your cleaning clients and remind them you are growing your business and the referrals you get just might pay off much better than a spendy advertising campaign.