Depending on who you ask, you may hear that cold-calling, (pun intended) is dead, cold, and buried. Let’s face it, sales, marketing, and heck, ALL communication tactics have changed dramatically in the last 10 years. And what worked for your mom and pop’s sales department must be antiquated compared to better, more modern tactics used in today’s marketing efforts. Right?
Well… before you write off commercial cleaning services cold-calling completely (like your competitors probably have), winning prospects through cold-outreach is definitely possible in the commercial cleaning industry, (granted you know how to do it) and should be incorporated into your marketing and sales tactics. Why would such an analog technique work in a modern-day industry? Well because the commercial cleaning industry in many ways, isn’t entirely modern. In fact, technologies aside, the basics of the commercial cleaning industry haven’t changed a lot in the last 100 years.
Now that we have a general idea of WHY cold-calling works for the janitorial industry, now you must be curious about what to say when you call? Here are a few examples of draft scripts to get you going:
Want a few thought-provoking ideas to consider when calling potential clients?
If your janitorial business is like most, the competition for new clients is very real. Contracts don’t just fall into your lap. So even if your first attempt to win their business falls flat, you’ve laid the foundation of a relationship, and created a dialog. And in an industry with an average annual contract/client turnover rate of 50%, you can guarantee in the near future the prospective client will be searching for a new cleaning service and there’s a good chance your cleaning company will be top of mind because of the groundwork you’ve done.
It’s no secret that marketing can be very expensive. Cold-calling is an extremely cost-effective tactic that should be included in all sales and marketing plans. While it’s easiest to sit back and only follow up on inbound leads (potential clients who contact you directly), your business growth will be slower, and heavily based on how effective your website presence is, as well as your marketing plan, and your referral program. So if you are not willing to put all your eggs in one basket, and growth is top of mind, maybe it’s time to consider picking up that phone.
We suggest that you start small, and build the muscle, see what resonates, and refine your process from there. Set aside a small time-block per week that you only focus on this. Yes, the first few calls won’t be smooth, but the more you do it the easier it will get.
Plus as an added bonus, having person-to-person calls to clients gives you the added opportunity to give yourself free market research by proxy of simply speaking to your target audience with such a wide net! And what company doesn’t want to know more about their client base?
The only resources required to make this happen is time, and your commitment to doing your best to take the process seriously. If you go into it believing it won’t work, you’ll quickly prove yourself correct. Most other marketing tactics in your business require a lot more time, finances, resources. So you really haven’t got a lot to lose by giving cold-calling a shot!
Swept is dedicated to highlighting stories that touch everyone in the janitorial industry. Having started as a commercial cleaning company ourselves, our hearts go well beyond the janitorial software we offer. Learn more about Swept’s cleaning company software here.