Ok so I have been in business for three years and every year it seems as though my gross income is exactly proportional to the amount of advertising I did that year. I want my business to grow and it seems as though the only way to do that is to get customers on a contract or agreement of some kind where I will be returning to their at a later date. This means in the future I will be bringing in new business from my advertising and I will also be scheduling jobs from retained customers which will equal a better gross income every year after year.
So here is what i have tried so far with little success:
I ask the customer how often they have their windows cleaned and then I ask them if I can call them at that time to schedule their next service. Most customers say yes. Only the problem is, 2,3,4,5 or 6 months later when I call them they don’t answer their phone so i leave a message and they never call back. I then call again a few days later and some thing no answer. I will only schedule maybe 2 out of 10 jobs that asked me to call them back for a recurring service this way.
There has to be a better way to get recurring residential accounts? Any ideas??
Here’s what I’m thinking right now - service agreement with a discount depending on how often the service is wanted. Calling the customer prior to the service to schedule if they don’t answer only service the outside of the windows and bill a credit card on file (all this in the agreement of course). If we serviced the outside when they weren’t home and they want a interior cleaning also we will return at a discounted rate and do the inside at a time they schedule and are sure to be home.
It just seems as though the more control I give my customers, the less I make. And I think of other service companies (pest control, pool service, lawn, etc) how they just show up, do the work, leave and bill the card whether the customer was there or not and how easy that must be. And I know some house cleaning companies even make copies of customers keys and lock them in a safe in their office to clean homes when customer are not home.
I am hoping to hear some success stories of things you guys have done, and have helped your business grow. I want my next year income to be better than last year. And every year after that!
Thanks
Ryan
OUCH! 20% customer retention? I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but you must be doing something wrong.
I know that I’m not especially good at this part of my business, but I must retain at least 75% of my customers from year to year. The ones that I do lose tend to not think they need them cleaned every year, and sometimes they’ll call me back a couple years later, lol.
I’m sure it depends some on your customers, but if they liked your service, working with you, paying the amount you charged… then all that should really be needed is a reminder call. for most people in my market, they only want their windows cleaned once a year. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t call back in 6 months to check up on them, though. You do need to keep in touch. Try and get their email address if possible. regular email updates are much less invasive than a string of phone calls.
You really want to take a close look at your business from the standpoint of the customer. Did you wow them with your service? (under-promise and over-deliver) your punctuality? are you easy to work with? Do they have an easy way to get in touch with you? (plenty of business cards, maybe even get fridge magnets). Are you the type of person that they want to talk to?
Finally, if you’re not sure how your customers feel about you, ask them! ask what they liked, what they would have changed, what impressed them, what didn’t.
I hope that I haven’t stepped on your toes here, but these are the types of questions that <i>I would be asking myself</i> if I had only a 20% retention rate
Half my customers were in and out. Half my customers were twice a year, the other once a year. You can’t have these people signing contracts for that. If they like you and the price they will use you again.
When I had a business partner and he would try to phone people, he would say Hi my name is blah blah how you doing tonight and he never got any repeats. I told him to say first thing, Hi, I cleaned your windows this spring. Then peolpe would arrange for fall clean up in droves. I’m not sure if that’s your problem or not…
My problem is getting them to answer their phone. If they answer it I can almost always schedule another service. But they never seems to answer. And they never call back if I leave a message. May I should stop leaving messages if they don’t answer and just keep calling them every few days until they do answer??
What time of day do you call? Try calling at a different time or even on a different day. I find that on certain days I get less answering machines and more actual call pickups.
That is a great idea! thanks. i will start that right away and ill start keeping track of what time I call and my success rates of getting a live person on the other end. Then once I find that best time to cal I will make most of my calls during that time. I really like the constant contact thing too, as of right now I do not send anything out to existing customers, but maybe I should start sending them a thank you card or even a discount coupon during our slow season.
Any other ideas? I appreciate the help.
Ryan
Rather than a phone call, I send a reminder postcard when it is time to schedule a follow-up cleaning.
Here’s why:
Phone calls be uncomfortable because it is essentially a sales call, and people dislike making or receiving sales calls. Phone messages left can often never reach their intended recipient, because they can be deleted by others who share the line. A phone message has no visual representation in the household
A reminder postcard is tactile, visibile to more than one member of the household and can be left out as a visual clue for when the customer is ready schedule that follow-up cleaning. A reminder postcard can have enticements to respond - such as limited time offers etc.
It’s quicker for me to mail out 50 reminder postcards than to place 50 phone calls. And if a postcard isn’t working for a particular client, I can always follow up with a phone call. My customers actually tell me they enjoy receiving the reminder cards.
Agreed with Pgilland… phone calls are a little rough. I’ve noticed that a lot of my customers who have used professional window cleaners before did not call them back because they actually forgot who they were. I that think 6 months after a cleaning they will remember “Chris” more than they will remember “Triple C Window Cleaners”, so I’m planning on sending out postcards with a picture of my sexy self on them. That way there will be more of a chance of it getting noticed within the pile of junk mail everyone receives every day.
There are some good ideas in there. Contracts are just a barrier to getting a yes the first time and will not really solve your problem because you will really still need to ring them. My call goes something like this “Hi – have i caught you at a bad time?” (wait for them to answer and give you permission to continue) “This is just a courtesy call as I promised to call you back about now. (Now you are someone who keeps promises) How is everything?” (wait for them to answer and listen to what they have to say. I make notes as they may talk about holidays kids etc so that when you see them you can ask more about it) " You asked me to call you to book in your next clean now. (this was their idea) What suits you better Day1 or day2? (this is a choice between to yes answers) You know the rest.
While I’m on the subject of being personal. Do you know the name of your customers dogs?
I have small unobtrusive window stickers ordered so I’ll be keen to see how that goes.
