Back To Business - Are You In Sales?

I realize with so few posts, a blog about running your cleaning business should be mostly about that. I couldn't help myself yesterday.

Ok, here is the question. Are you a salesperson or an order taker? If you think going out to provide a proposal simply means collecting the info and arranging a start date, you are sadly mistaken. I have far too many clients, some even after coaching, that don't get this point. When you are in front of a prospect you need to understand this is your opportunity to learn, share, and work on that first all important fundemental element of closing a sale, creating a relationship. This is not the time to be hastily qualifying the sale like a used car salesman. Sometimes if you do a great job in relationship development, you will leave knowing the job is yours, or at least feeling confident that at some point in the future there is a good chance of that. Then you still have to go through the process. Develop the bid, present it, and provide ongoing follow-up. The point here is to continue to develop the relationship so you position yourself to be the go-to company at some point in the future. Just because they may be happy right now, does not mean it will stay that way. I've seen far too many "order-takers" get too pushy and lose any chance of closing a sale.

At my marketing company, we often follow-up with prospects that we have set appointments for with our clients. We hear things like:
-they were too pushy on the phone
-they asked too many questions before they even came out
-they said they don't do one time jobs or one time cleans
-it was too small to come out
-they never came back with the bid

I once got a $6,000 a month building plus all their supply business that started from a once a week, $26 restroom cleaning only bid. This building also led to me getting Addidas as one of my clients, which was a fantastic reference that led to many other accounts.

I'd like you to look at your process. Review the questions you ask when you are out on a bid. Review your follow-up process. Do you have a follow-up process? Think about your own attitudes in this all important element of your business. Every contact with a prospect can be a step closer to signing if you haven't sabatoged yourself in an earlier contact by acting like an "order-taker". This is the difference between having a 5% closing rate versus a 30% closing rate.