If you asked an employee at your company what they do they'd probably say something like, "I clean homes", or "I do the bookkeeping", or "I answer the phones".
What if they responded, "I'm in sales and service"? Do you think your sales would increase?
If everyone felt individually responsible for sales in your home cleaning company, then you bet your sales would increase!
So how do you get your employees to recognize sales opportunities that are right under their noses every day? Here are a few tips:
- Make sure they understand who your ideal client really is. Just because you clean homes doesn't mean you clean just ANY home! You may target certain neighborhoods, types of homes, or income levels. If your employees understand who your ideal client is, they're much more likely to recommend your company to the right person when opportunities arise.
- Make sure your employees know all the services you provide. If an employee sees a spot on a carpet, they should know that you provide carpet spotting services and should recommend it to the client.
- Make sure they know if you're currently offering any specials so they can let your clients know about this week's "window washing coupon".
- Customer service "Wow" moments. There are many ways to "wow" your clients. One idea is to get your office staff involved with service after the sale by sending your client a photo of themselves and thanking them for the opportunity to serve them every day. This creates loyalty from your clients, which means you can grow your business faster.
- Brainstorm ideas with your employees to come up with ways they can help your company increase sales. You may be pleasantly surprised at some of the creative and imaginative ideas they have. But they probably aren't going to share those ideas unless you ask!
- Study other companies with a customer service oriented culture. Zappos is a great example because every employee feels a responsibility to increase sales by providing expert customer service.
Did you know that the cost to capture a new client is about 5 times the cost of retaining a current client?
How well your employees interact and engage with your clients will have a large impact on their decision to continue service with your company, and whether or not to give you referrals. Sometimes the only contact your clients have with your company is with your cleaning technicians or office personnel, so it is very important that your employees are trained to interact, engage, and respond to your clients in a positive way. Your clients want to feel important and appreciated while taking care of their requests and concerns.
Below are some characteristics that all your employees should possess to facilitate positive engagements with your clients and provide exceptional customer care:
- Knowledge. They should know about your company's history, services you provide, the type of clients you serve, etc.
- Confidence. Ability to engage and communicate with your clients while maintaining eye contact and sustaining a friendly demeanor.
- Technical Skills. Ability to perform their jobs efficiently and effectively.
- Patience & Respect. Being able to communicate with clients that are unhappy, displeased, or annoyed in a patient and respectful way can defuse the situation.
- Polite & Positive Disposition. Radiating a polite and positive disposition will show your clients that your employees and your company are friendly and positive. A smile and thank you will go a long way with your clients.
Providing your employees with the proper customer care training can be just as important to the success of your home cleaning business as your cleaning procedures and training programs. One compliments the other and can be a major player when it comes to sales from your front line workers and all your employees.
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Jean Hanson helps owners of Residential and Commercial cleaning companies build a more profitable and successful cleaning business through her online community at myhousecleaningbiz.com and TheJanitorialStore.com. Jean is also the host of the popular Web TV show CleaningBiz.tv and author of the newsletter Trash Talk and House Cleaning Profit Tips.- sign up today!
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If you would like to provide your employees with the proper training program so they can communicate, interact and respond appropriately with your clients, then our Customer Care Training Program is exactly what you are looking for. The program will help your employees develop the skills necessary to provide exceptional customer service for your clients plus much more. The Customer Care Training Program is available through MyHouseCleaningBiz.com |