
As a cleaning contractor, this can prove to be a major setback for your business, because according to Harvard Business Review, acquiring a new customer costs up to 25x more than retaining an old one does. If you have been dropped in the past, you might even wonder what measures must be taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again. If you haven’t, you might want to take preventive measures.
Here are 5 proven techniques cleaning contractors can implement to improve their client retention rates and boost profits:
1. Focus on customer delight
As a cleaning contractor, you must focus on understanding your customer’s expectations and delivering more than what they expect. So after you have on-boarded them, make it a habit to ask for monthly feedback, identify the gaps and keep filling them. Know when you have missed fulfilling their KPIs and make every effort to improve your performance. Call the clients who dropped you in the past and ask for feedback. This activity will not just tell you where you need to improve, but will also develop trust.
2. Be open to new technologies
Cleaning technology (like any other technology) is evolving everyday. The market is consistently coming up with new automated solutions, which bring efficiency to the entire process of cleaning - cleaning robots, self-cleaning solutions and noise-free vacuum cleaners. Keep a check on new solutions and keep implementing them in how you operate. Your clients stand a better chance of sticking around if they are sure you are updated. By staying current, you will also improve your cleaning results – and your brand’s reputation.
3. Invest in your employees
Good equipment can improve your cleaning process but not unless your cleaning staff is amazing. So invest in your employees as much as you invest in your equipment. Keep providing regular training to your janitorial staff. Ensure that they know what to clean and how to clean it. Make sure that they are happy enough to put in their best effort. Happy employees tend to stick around longer. They also tend to gain more expertise and in turn create happy customers.
4. Reward loyalty
Whether it is your client or your cleaning staff, reward them for their loyalty. Unlock some creative benefits for them once they have been associated with you for a certain time. For the former, it could be a discounted price. For the latter, it could be a bonus or some perks that work to their advantage. This will motivate them to stick around longer!
5. Provide SOLUTIONS, rather than services
Instead of focussing on your services, focus on being a problem solver. Identify areas where your clients are experiencing problems and provide them with SOLUTIONS instead of making a regular sales pitch.
Discover more ways to retain your clients as a cleaning contractor here.