Bidding Residential Cleaning Jobs - Secrets and Tips (2017)

Hi, I'm Angela Brown and this is Ask a House Cleaner. This is a show where you can ask a question about house

cleaning

and I'll help you find an answer. Now, today's house

cleaning

question comes from a girl who is starting a cleaning company and is about to go out and bid for her first job. And she is very nervous. She says: "I have so much anguish that I can't even face myself." She says: “I am naturally a very shy person. I have no idea what I'm supposed to say, I know I'm going to ruin this, can you help me?

If I can. Well, this is a really fun place for you. Because when you start your new business there will be some angst. If it weren't like that, I would be afraid for you. Good? You are doing something new. You are taking a risk, you are trying something you have never done before. So yes! It's very exciting for me to see you in this position. Now you're about to bid on a client's house and I don't know why they called you, but you're obviously doing something right. Or it was a brochure you posted, or someone recommended you, or someone heard that you're starting a house cleaning business.

Or maybe they responded to a Facebook ad you put together. I don't know how they found you. But they called you because they somehow believe that you are the person who can solve their house cleaning problems. So, I'm really excited about that for you. You have already done something correctly. Now, when you show up, what we know as imposter syndrome happens, where you think in your head, “Well, you know, I've never owned a business. "I'm kind of new to this, I don't really know what to say, I don't know what I'm doing." Okay, that's in your head and it's okay if it's in your head.

But we need that to stay in your head. You don't want to say that to the client and have all kinds of weird body language where you know you're wringing your hands and you're slumped over and you're looking at the floor when you should be looking at your client. We don't want any of those things. Good? Confidence comes with the ability to present your offer and in a way that makes the customer believe that you have the answer to their problem. So now I have a ton of homework for you if you're going to make your first offer tomorrow, here's what you need to do today.

You need to sit down with a pen and paper and write down the questions a client is going to ask you. And it's things like, do you work on weekends? Do you have a specific set schedule that you work? Do you charge more for working on holidays? Do you bring your own cleaning supplies? Do you bring your own vacuum cleaner? What happens if they lock you out of my house? What is your plan and who are you going to call? Do you keep my key or do I just give you an alarm code? They will ask you a lot of questions.

So, run through the questions in your mind and make up answers, find answers that indicate how you will run your business. I don't want you to show up at your client's workplace and start improvising and making up those responses on the spot. Because when you show up to do your initial walkthrough with a client, that's what we call a bid estimate. When you're doing a bid estimate for a client, we call that the initial walkthrough. You're going to walk through their house and they're going to give you a little tour. And they will tell you about their house and what is important to them.

I want you to ask them; "What is important for you?" Because you will hear all kinds of crazy things that you would not have even suspected. For example, there was a woman who said that the most important thing to her were crests. What we are talking about is that on the ladder that goes down there are the ladder rails. And on the other side of the railings, there is a little piece of wood sticking out from the other side of the stairs. And those are the ridges. He was going to check the ridges so he would know his house was clean.

But then you take note of that. Well? Because if you find yourself in a position where you're running out of time and you have to run out of the client's house because you have to get to the next house, if there's something you have to skip, in this woman's house you don't want to. to jump the ridges. Because if she comes home and that's her hot spot, and that's important to her, if you skip what's important to her. (cutting sound) you're out the door. Good? She will let you go. So what you need to do is look at all the questions a customer might ask you.

Then I want you to ask her own questions. I want you to have questions that you are going to ask the client. And these are questions that will help you do your job. How many children do you have? What are your children's names? What is your dog's name? These are things you will reference as long as you have that client. “Oh yeah, I cleaned Megan’s room.” And you know it's Megan's room because when she walked you there and said “this is Megan's room,” you took note that it's Megan's room. On your tracking sheet, as you review it each time you clean, you'll write "Megan's room," right?

This is the information you need to have. Next, I need you to answer any questions you have and stand in front of the bathroom mirror. And I need you to put on your best smile, stand up straight and have great posture, and I need you to ask those questions in the mirror. Notice how you look when you ask those questions. Are you asking the questions while staring at the floor and playing with your fingernails? Are you looking the customer right in the face and you're smiling and you say, "Hey, I have a quick question for you, how about this?" Look, it's a very different presentation.

So, I need you to be really comfortable with presenting it before I present it in front of a client. If you have a family member, a best friend or someone who can come today, today, and tour her house. And make a simulation of the initial route, that would be my great wish for you. Well? Because if you walk around the house they can throw things at you like “well that's not important to me.” “Do you clean that anyway? That's not important." “If that's not important to you, let's not clean it. Let's not spend your money cleaning something that is not important to you.

Let's focus on the things that are important to you because I am one person, I have a lot very finite time. It's limited. I don't have much time to spend at your house. So, you should focus on the things that are important to that client and not on those that aren't. ; “What do you do every time you come?” (Silence) This is the first time you come to the client's house. You don't do anything yet. This is your first house. But you want to act like “In my company every time we come. we do this series of things here is a little checklist and I check them off as I go through the house the things I check off on this checklist are things that I guarantee in my satisfaction guarantee If there is anything on this list that I don't.

It's important to you, let me know right now. And when I come to your house we won't do that. That's not where I'll spend my time and focus. And suddenly it seems like you're really professional and you know what you're talking about. because you have the confidence that comes with it. Well? Then when you get to the client's house, it will actually be tomorrow when you show up to bid on the job. Wear your uniform. Wear your uniform and act like it. “Yes, this is how I dress every day when I clean my houses.” They don't know that this is the first house you've cleaned.

And don't tell them this is the first house you've cleaned. Don't tell them that. Just show up and act like, “Yes, I do this all day, every day.” Make sure your car is clean. Make sure you are in your uniform. And make sure you arrive on time. Arriving on time will be key. Because what you're sending is a message from day one that when I tell you I'm going to be there at 10 in the morning, I'll be there at 10 in the morning. Aren't you 20 minutes late for your job interview or guess what? You won't get the job.

Just plain and simple. If you tell someone something, make sure you keep your word. That is very important from the beginning. Now, when you get the client, the most important thing you can do is take your smile with you. Because it's so disarming when you show up and say, “Hey, I have answers to your house cleaning problems. I'm a happy person. “I'm easy to get along with and this will be a fun job.” This is the secret you need to think about: the person who invites you to their house. They don't want eight house cleaners coming to their house and offering work.

They don't want to do this 5 times. They want to do it once. If you are the first person they call, they want you to be the person who says, “Yes, I can help you. This is what it's going to cost. “This is how we can work together.” They want you to solve their problem and they don't want to have to keep interviewing people. So don't just show up and say well, I hope I get the job. He shows up hoping to get the job. “I hope to get this job. I don't want to go out and find 8 other people that I have to bid

jobs

for.

You don't want to have to interview eight people. Let's make a Deal. What do we have to do? And be willing to negotiate. I arrived at a woman's house once, she was offering a job and she says; “HIS PRICE OF IT IS TOO HIGH.” "Alright, how far away are we?" What is the difference between my price and what you are willing to pay? Do you know what she told me? "Four dollars!" She was charging $4 too much to clean her house. And I said, “Well, I'd hate to lose a client over $4 a house. And I'm sure you don't want to go through all of this again, because how many people do you have to interview before you make back the four dollars you're losing by sending someone away?

So let's split the difference. I'll lower the price by two dollars, you'll raise the price by two dollars, and we'll come to an agreement. She is like; "Well!" Two dollars difference! Hurrah! And I booked a deal on the spot. What's that? Who does that? But how far away are you? And if you can reach an agreement with a client, do it. So, be willing to negotiate a little. Be a little flexible. Find out if they are just pulling your leg. I think she was just teasing me. I think she was just trying to get a deal or a discount or something.

What's that? Okay, so when you show up, you want to show up with that confidence. You want to appear with a smile. And then the last thing I have to remind you is that you need to apply for the sale. I have said this. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, you have to ask for the sale. So, when you're at the client's house and you go through the whole process, you've asked all your questions, he's asked you all his questions. At the end, you should say these words: "I would love to be your house cleaner, when do I start?" "I have an opening Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.

Is that enough for you?" And you have to ask for closure. Because you will never make a sale without asking for closure. You just won't make it. So don't joke. Don't waste too much time. Go expecting to get the job. Appear. Give them confidence that you are the right person to get the job. Ask about the sale and then guess what? You are hired. Boom! That was amazing, right? Well, you have this. Go out tomorrow, do an amazing job, and remember what we talked about today. Because I want this for you. This is the start of a really great, fun and exciting career for you.

And that is my answer. So until I see you again, leave the world a cleaner place than when you found it.