I have residential customers but not any commercial. I have dropped off business cards and introduced myself to some businesses in the area.
Got any suggestions on how to get coomercial customers???? I would really like to get into some banks and office buildings
2006-12-07 21:45:13 · 6 answers · asked by Sunshine 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Small Business
I used to own a cleaning company...
House cleaning and commercial cleaning are two completely different businesses.
Commercial accounts require commercial cleaning equipment like Sanitaire vacuums, buckets and wringers, carts, etc.
You need to be able to offer carpet cleaning and tile floor restorations. That would be stripping and refinishing the floors, etc.
If you don't have the equipment or the necessary skills needed then you may have a hard time getting the commercial accounts. If you do... then you need to take on a new marketing approach.
Commercial accounts can be had by contacting the building manager. This may be a different person in each company that you approach.
Start by doing some telemarketing. Call the account and simply ask for the name of the person who would hire a cleaning company. Get the proper spelling of their name, their phone number and ext., etc.
Then come up with a simple marketing piece to mail out to your new prospect.... Detail how you clean a building completely, including the corners, etc. and ask for an invitation for a FREE walk-through of their business.
Call 1 week after your mailing and see how many appointments you can set up for that walk through.
A walk through will give you an opportunity to talk directly with your prospect. Find out what they really want from a cleaning company and what they really aren't happy with now. Make sure you keep good notes. You can use the "white glove" approach and point out a few areas that are being missed. This always works. Look behind doors that are propped open... the cleaning company never vacuums there! If you point out anything... make sure you do it.
Banks are tough... you would be better off with small companies instead. They are easier to land.
Go to the public library and take out a book called "Cleaning up for a living". This is an excellent source for easy to understand pricing guides, etc.
Best of luck
Me
2006-12-08 01:32:00 · answer #1 · answered by Whiteboard Guy 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most commercial cleaning is "won" with contract bids.
You need to get friendly with the person that is in charge of building maintenance, then submit a bid when they open the contracts for bidding.
You could bypass the person by going into the individual businesses in the building and do a survey. Find out if they are happy with the cleaning crew, how long they work, if anything has turned up missing. Then take your results to the building manager and give him your bid.
You might have a chance at getting smaller businesses, create a nice 1 or 2 page brouchure, then hand it out to local businesses. Call back 3 or 4 days later and see if you can come by and put in a bid for their services.
Good luck to you.
2006-12-07 21:51:06 · answer #2 · answered by Gem 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Being that you are getting started, starting out often requires a bit of a sacrafice to start with. One thing you could do is find out what your compeditors are charging and charge less. Send mailings to as many companies as possible. They do not have to be fancy ads, just simple. Advertise in grocery stores, and wherever possible that you can find free space. Put a poster or large poster magnet on your vehicle with bold 300 point print for the phone number. People DO read these things especially in traffic jams and buisy traffic, or slow traffic. Remember, don't overspend on fancy ads... just keep it simple. You could also put ads in symphony bullitins or your local sports arena / sporting events by helping sponsor those events.
2006-12-07 21:57:12 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Associations may be a good avenue to explore. These organizations will address many of the thoughts, questions and concerns you'll inevitably have as well as many you haven't anticipated yet. See the source box for some relevant links.
There are plenty of free informational resources out there. Check the source box for links to articles.
Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!
2006-12-08 03:54:42 · answer #4 · answered by TM Express™ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Take advantage of free online business directories like BookMyCity!
2014-08-05 09:55:57 · answer #5 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you need to get high-tech methods to get into banks to clean them out. Unless you can dig a tunnel underneath the bank
2006-12-07 23:35:56 · answer #6 · answered by Jomtien C 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋