How YOU Can Stop Wasting Time in YOUR Cleaning Business!

Today can be unforgiving.

There isn’t a lot of time to waste time anymore – as if there ever really was.

But, again, certainly not today.

I ran into a friend who runs a car dealership the other day. His dad used to run a dealership, before retiring a few years ago.

So, I asked him how things were now, compared to when his dad ran the business.

He explained the difference this way…

‘There sure as heck isn’t any time to be strolling around the car dealership, smoking a cigar, like his dad used to do.’

(Yeah, “those were the days” when you could lean back in your leather office chair and light up…right there in

your paneled office.)

Anyway, he went on to make the point that today you’d better be on the ball all the time – running from the time you get to work!’

Put simply, ‘If you waste time today – you’ll get run over by your competition!

Sound familiar?

Well, here’s one practical way to save valuable time in your janitorial business or residential maid service – starting today.

To explain, let me tell you a story…

Years ago, when I would get a call from a business asking for a quote on their cleaning, I would simply jot down their name, confirm their address, and set up a time and date for a walk through.

Good so far, right?

I thought so too. Until the day of the appointment, when I drove to the account, met my contact and began to ask them a few questions like:

How many times per week would you like to be cleaned? or

When can we come in to do the cleaning? or

What kinds of cleaning services do you need included?

You see, we were targeting accounts where we could provide 3-5 times per week office cleaning in the early evening from, let’s say, 6:00 – 9:30 PM.

So, I can tell you now that I was more than a little shocked when I heard them answer my first few questions by saying something like…

‘Oh no, we don’t need any regular office cleaning, we’re just taking quotes on getting our lunchroom floor stripped later this year.’

Huh? You’ve got to be kidding, I thought to myself. How did I get into this situation?!

But I only had myself to blame.

You see, I assumed because they were on our targeted list of companies that naturally they would be good prospects for our regular office cleaning.

And they generally were – note, I said ‘generally’.

But, I still should have asked a few questions when they first called just to verify they were, in fact, looking for the kind and frequency of service we were offering.

I ‘jumped the gun’ like this several times.

Until one day, when I found myself an hour from our office at an account we had no business bidding on… and all because I didn’t take one minute to make sure we were on the ‘same page’.

I can tell you it was a long ride back on those icy roads heading back to the office – thinking about how I had wasted nearly half a day.

But that was the last time.

And I’ve saved a lot of mornings and afternoons since then – by sticking to a strict practice of asking a few questions first before I start making an appointment and getting the sales wheels turning.

They say a wise person can learn from someone else’s experience – I hope you save a lot of time and money learning from mine.

You Can Do This, You Really Can,
Dan