“Upselling For Spring Cleaning – Why It’s Essential For Growth And Profit”

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”? Right? It’s a phrase that we as owners tend to model when things get comfortable. It can also be a phrase that acts as a brick wall, cutting us off from opportunity and the drive to push forward. I would like to introduce Kelly. Kelly is a cleaning business owner who has been operating for almost 8 years. Kelly has a fair bit of knowledge on how the industry works and has managed to secure an impressive reoccurring client load. She has a group of core, long term cleaning technicians that regularly execute the correct protocol and seem fairly content with their jobs. Yet, Kelly struggles with the idea of up-selling and has been hesitant to implement any additional specialty packages…..If Kelly sounds all too familiar, then continue reading. With up-selling and cross selling being responsible for 10-30% of eCommerce revenue, your business can’t afford you to take a back seat.
Spring Cleaning is a great option for up-selling to your clients. Not only does it pertain to the industry, but 62% of Americans still consider spring cleaning to be a yearly routine. It’s important for business owners to be able to identify these areas of opportunity. Here are a few things that should be kept in mind when implementing a Spring Cleaning Package.

Be sure not to “Out Price” the client – No matter whether you price by the hour or by job, it is important to understand what your clients are really needing. For some clients, spring cleaning may constitute as cleaning behind appliances and those hard to reach areas. Others may see Spring Cleaning as a complete start to finish over haul in every single room. Listening to what your clients need, will help you price correctly and keep the client’s budget feeling reasonable.

Use Spring Cleaning as a chance to build your recurring client list! Remember that stat mentioned earlier of 62% of clients make spring cleaning part of their yearly routine? That means brand new people are looking for a cleaning company right now. They may think they want only a spring cleaning, but that is your opportunity to show new people how easy and affordable it is to maintain a constant-clean environment, and preserve their home investment better! Turn that $300 sale into a $3000/year sale.

Train-up technicians for high dollar projects – I cannot stress enough how important training staff is when up-selling packages. You are adding a “special” option for your client so training staff to handle packages in a certain way will help speed up the amount of time it takes for them to perform the task and make the customer feel like they are really paying for something beyond the normal routine cleaning.

Promote the offer ahead of time – It’s important to have a promotional game plan. I always tell owners that if they aren’t excited about an offer than why should the customer be? Make many mentions. And yes, you still have plenty of time. Spring cleaning season goes well into June.

Create an annual tradition that adds clients and income – Just like how spring cleaning is an annual tradition, make your spring cleaning package a tradition right along with it. Slipping in packages throughout the year, is the perfect way to add profit jumps and it’s also a great way to acquire first time clients.

So roll up those sleeves, step out of your box, battle those comfortable plateaus and really expand your reach with a package that your clients can’t say “no” to!