[vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]“Is it wise to do the same day walkthrough and house cleaning? Or should you give the job quote on a separate day?”
“Same day walkthrough is possible when you charge by the hour,” says Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru. “If you bid a job that is not hourly your job estimate will depend on other factors. And the same day walkthrough and cleaning are not a good idea, because you don’t know how long it will take.
The house cleaning walkthrough is on the house cleaning FAQ in every cleaning forum. These pro cleaning tips will help guide you through your job bidding process.
Today’s Ask a House Cleaner sponsors are Savvy Cleaner Training (house cleaning training.) Savvy Perks (Small business benefits for house cleaners and their employees.) HouseCleaning360 (a referral hub that partners homeowners with housecleaners.) And My Cleaning Connection (resources and tips for house cleaning.)
Listen: Same Day Walkthrough and House Cleaning?
Watch: Same Day Walkthrough and House Cleaning?
Hey there, I’m Angela Brown, and this is Ask a House Cleaner. This is a show where you get to ask a house cleaning question, and I get to help you find an answer.
Question: Same Day Walkthrough and House Cleaning?
“When you do your initial walkthrough is it the same day as your first cleaning, or are those two separate days?”
How Are You Bidding the Job?
Okay, so there are two schools of thought and what it comes down to is how are you bidding for your job? So, if you bid by the hour that’s different than if you bid by the job.
There’s a whole school of thought in the house cleaning industry from house cleaners who like to make the walkthrough a big production.
So, they go and they do a walkthrough and they have a welcome packet.
They like to build a lot of rapport and tell stories and chit chat and get to know the customer.
And then they take a tour of the customer’s house and find out all these amazing things about how the customer lives. And then they go home and they put together a proposal and then they email the proposal to the customer.
Then They Wait…
And they wait a couple of days. Or they may follow up with the customer, or the customer may follow up with them first. They text back and forth with, “When would you like to start cleaning,” and, “Was my pricing okay?” And it’s this big production.
The Other School of Thought
Then there’s another school of thought and it’s a minimalist school of thought. And this is one of the things that we teach in our Savvy Cleaner training, for house cleaners starting out in the business.
When you start out in the business, we start out charging by the hour, not the job. Because you’re new, you’re inexperienced, and there are a lot of things you don’t know to look for.
And so, I don’t want to send you in to bid a job when you have no idea what you’re looking for. Nor do I want you to end up justifying or haggling over price.
So, if you’re just starting a cleaning business you know what an hour is, it’s 60 minutes’ worth of time and it’s worth x amount of dollars.
For this particular example, we will say that your cleaning is worth $25 per hour. So, you’re going to charge $25 per hour and, because you’re charging by the hour, it doesn’t matter how clean or how messy the house is. Or how many hours it’s going to take to do the job. So, we just removed all that excess stuff that you don’t even know yet because you’re’ new to the business.
What Do You Know About Your Prospect/Customer?
What do you know about customers who call you up on the phone for a quote? They call you because they need, ta-da, house cleaning. Yes, it’s awesome.
Okay, so they call you and one of the questions that you will ask is;” How long has it been since your home was last professionally cleaned?”
Now, if it was two weeks ago you know that they are due for another cleaning. And if it’s been six months, they’re still due for another cleaning.
Don’t Be a Pansy, Go for the Close
So, what you can say is this, “Listen, I charge $25 an hour and I have four hours on Thursday. Why don’t I swing by, I will walk through your house with you? You can show me your priorities. If we’re a good fit for each other, we will start the clock right then and I can showcase my work.
At the end of the four hours, if you love my work it will cost you $100 and we’ll pull out our calendars and find you a regular spot for maintenance cleaning.
If you’re not satisfied when I’m done, your house will be clean and there will be no charge.
Does Thursday at 9:00 am work for you?”
What’s the Worst Thing That Can Happen?
Now in the worst-case scenario, they are not happy with your cleaning. They pay no money – good for them, bad for you. But they got a clean house, and you’ve got experience. Not too shabby right?
And the best-case scenario – they love you.
You get paid. Good for them – Good for you. They got a clean house and you got a new customer. Still not too shabby right?
If You Are Going to Invest the Time – Make it Count
You’re going to take time out of your schedule to go over there and do an estimate anyway, right? But what is an estimate? An estimate is you selling yourself to the customer. So, if you’re going to sell yourself to the customer, why don’t you showcase your work?
Either way, they get to see what you are capable of.
If you are a small startup business and you are doing the selling and cleaning – streamline the process.
Charge by the hour and make every hour count.
Nobody gets paid for tap dancing around the real issue which is the customer called you because they need their house clean.
Go clean it.
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Resources For This Episode
Service Autopilot – https://www.serviceautopilot.com/cleaning-business-scheduling-software
ZenMaid Scheduling Software – www.Zenmaid.com
Markate – Customer Management Software – https://www.markate.com
Launch27 – https://www.launch27.com/#_l_2y
Jobber – https://getjobber.com
How to Price Your Cleaning Services – http://amzn.to/2FSGQd2
Cleaning Business: 7 Steps to earning $50,000+ a Year from a Residential Cleaning Business – http://amzn.to/2GP4V1Z
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