Here’s a real story about how I built relationships with maid services, plumbers, realtors, and other business owners.
In fact, I was interviewed by one of the maid service owners that I built a referral marketing relationship with. His name is Ron Holt and he’s now the founder of the Two Maids and a Mop franchise.
This interview goes WAY BACK and DEEP into the foundations of how I started marketing my cleaning business.
You’ll hear how I built my cleaning business with referral marketing, neighborhood marketing, and client marketing.
I tell you how I originally got in touch with him, earn his trust, and built the relationships with his maid service, realtors, plumbers, and other businesses.
If you just want to get to the referral marketing stuff, go to halfway through the interview, I tell you how I got in touch with him and built relationships with his maid service, realtors, plumbers, and other businesses.
It’s kind of a Cleaning Biz Throwback Thursday.
Ad Hitman
P.S. Lots of gold ideas here. If you’re building a cleaning business, you NEED to hear this.
1. You get this card designed and BIG discounts on printing in my Ad Club. Get details HERE. Get 1000 of these glossy, thick gift cards printed for just $55 + shipping.
2. Or, for a limited time, get this template custom graphic designed with your company info for $147. Then get 1000 of these glossy, thick gift cards with rounded corners printed for just $55 + shipping. Order Info Click Here.
Some of my competitors HATED that I gave these out.
Some blatantly COPIED my gift cards and started using them.
See one of the best marketing tools you can do less than $40.
Give them to realtors, floor retailers, interior designers, general contractors, plumbers, and property managers.
Send them in sales letters to select neighborhoods…Yes, been doing this before EDDM.
Send them to commercial prospects like doctors, lawyers, private schools, and other commercial accounts.
Using these can easily double your referrals from the best referral sources.
These gift promo cards are viewed to be MUCH more valuable than a coupon or even a FREE room of cleaning offer. They look like a real gift card and, for all practical purpose, we treat them as a real gift card. The only difference is we give some special exclusions on the back of the card to keep the offer from getting abused.
Click to see larger.
3 Ways to Use These Cards:
1. Pass them out to businesses who can refer you to their clients. We pass them out to flooring retailers, realtors, interior designers, plumbers, maid services, builders, property managers, and other places that can hand you NICE jobs. We pass them out at their office or we’ll send a few to them in the mail along with a letter that gives benefits of how we can help them.
2. Hand them out at networking events. Why give out plain old business cards when you can give out gift cards? Go to networking groups as the bearer of gifts!
3. Distribute them to high-end neighborhoods. We send these out in a letter that gives compelling benefits of our service. We also use these in doorknob hanger packets.
Back side. Click to see larger.
It’s one of the CHEAPEST tools to promote referrals and set yourself apart from the competition. I’m all about setting my company apart from my competitors.
We use them in different dollar amounts…$25, $50 and $100. The potential job that can be referred depends on the amount. For example, realtors normally get $50 or $100 gift cards. A property manager who rents small homes may get a $25 gift card.
These cards are printed up to look like actual gift cards. But they’re really a thick, glossy, larger business card. Upon looking at the card, they look like a gift card. But when you hold it in your hand it doesn’t feel quite like a thick, plastic card. It does the job at an economical price so we can afford to pass out thousands of them all over the city.
See this video on how I used these cards at a Realtor luncheon.
I interviewed a couple who owns a cleaning business in Florida.
They started their business from scratch and built it up to be one of the biggest and most respected cleaning firms in their area.
I totally love some of the marketing they do on Facebook. When it comes to marketing to Realtors, Flooring Stores, and their current clients, they do it right.
So I had to interview them.
You’ve got to hear what these guys did to build a successful cleaning business.
How do you grow? Find out what other successful people are doing and then do what they did! It’s that easy.
This is the busiest time for buying and selling houses. It’s warm outside and parents can move their children to a new school.
If there’s ever a season to get referrals from Realtors, it’s NOW.
See my action plan to get referrals from Realtors:
Three things to concentrate on:
1. Know what to say when you met a Realtor. Have a quick 60-second pitch memorized. Tell them how you’ll help them sell homes fast with your guaranteed odor removal and stain removal systems. Tell them about your guarantee. Tell them about your referral program that gives them an incentive to refer you. In the referral program, maybe give them a 10% reward of what their client spends on cleaning, give them $20 in cash, or whatever you choose. The main point is to tell them they will get thanked in the form of a gift when they refer you. Keep your pitch to 60 seconds!
2. Leave behind literature and cards. You can tell them about your service, but if you don’t leave behind something for them to give to their clients, you’ll lose. Have professionally printed, educational brochures and cards to leave them.
3. Go with treats. Never stop by empty handed. Stop in with a gift bag filled with brochures, gift cards, pens, and pre-packaged cookies. Put in a couple of pre-packaged cookies like Famous Amos, Oreos, or Chips Ahoy. Maybe include a few individually wrapped chocolates too. The gift bag lowers their resistance to your sales call. Everyone loves cookies and candy.
You can use gift cards to target the EXACT clients you want. Use this to get more referrals, commercial work, and clients in high-end neighborhoods.
We LOVE getting referrals. So we do everything possible to get more. The best thing about a referral is the prospect is already sold on using you before they call. Most of the time there is no in-home estimate or price haggling required. Just set the appointment and make money.
These gift promo cards are viewed to be MUCH more valuable than a coupon or even a FREE room of cleaning offer. They look like a real gift card and, for all practical purpose, we treat them like a real gift card. The only difference is we give some special exclusions on the back of the card to keep the offer from getting abused.
3 Ways to Use These Cards:
1. Pass them out to businesses who can refer you to their clients. We pass them out to flooring retailers, realtors, interior designers, plumbers, maid services, builders, property managers, and other places that can hand you NICE jobs. We pass them out at their office or we’ll send a few to them in the mail along with a letter that gives benefits of how we can help them.
2. Hand them out at networking events. Why give out plain old business cards when you can give out gift cards? Go to networking groups as the bearer of gifts!
3. Distribute them to high-end neighborhoods. We send these out in a letter that gives compelling benefits of our service. We also use these in doorknob hanger packets.
Back side. Click to see larger.
It’s one of the CHEAPEST tools to promote referrals and set yourself apart from the competition. I’m all about setting my company apart from my competitors.
We use them in different dollar amounts…$25, $50 and $100. The potential job that can be referred depends on the amount. For example, realtors normally get $50 or $100 gift cards. A property manager who rents small homes may get a $25 gift card.
These cards are printed up to look like actual gift cards. But they’re really a thick, glossy, larger business card. Upon looking at the card, they look like a gift card. But when you hold it in your hand it doesn’t feel quite like a thick, plastic card. It does the job at an economical price so we can afford to pass out thousands of them all over the city.
2 Ways to Get these Gift Cards:
1. You get the template for this gift card and BIG discounts on printing in my Ad Club. Get details by CLICKING HERE. Get 1000 of these glossy, thick gift cards printed for just $32 + shipping.
2. Or, for a limited time, get this template custom graphic designed with your company info for $99. Then get 1000 of these glossy, thick gift cards printed for just $32 + shipping. Order Info Click Here.
See this video on how I used these cards at a Realtor luncheon.
