Sales letters can be a great tool when marketing commercial cleaning accounts.
They really aren't hard to write at all and after you read the article below putting together a great sales letter will be even easier for you :)
'
Tips On Writing A Killer Sales Letter
by: Andres Munoz
Writing a sales letter doesn’t have to be that difficult all you need is the right writing style and some tips to knock out a killer sales letter
Benefits The first thing you need to do is focus on the benefits the reader will find useful. Tell the reader what’s in it for him. Promise them increased sales, better skin, better results in writing a resume or whatever it is that you’re selling. Tell them how your product can help them. Don’t beat around the bush and get right to the point. Stick to benefits, facts and features. Whatever you do don’t be vague it will turn them off.
Give additional benefits. Show additional value other than main benefit. Give product/service features. Support benefit promises with product/service facts. Show how your company will help him. Don’t start sounding arrogant and brag.
Writing Style: An emphasis should be placed on “you” and not “I”. Use words like you and your, so that the reader feels you are writing for him. Write clearly. Make sure your reader doesn’t have to think about what you’re saying. Your main points must be understood immediately. Make yourself believable. Make sure your claims or representations appear to be realistic and believable. Don’t promise a 200% increase in sales because most people won’t believe it even if it’s true! You must be able to back up your claims. Use repetition; repeat benefits throughout letter. Present the same ideas and benefits in different ways.
Ask for action. Ask the reader to place an order, return the sales envelope or the sales card or phone for more information. Give reasons to act now. For example: Make your offer time sensitive a limited supply, two-week sale, and special purchase. Most sales letters fail to do this.
Understand that people are emotionally motivated. They want to:
Make more money
Save money
Do a good job
Experience love
Have a satisfying home life
Get something for free
Look good
Use simple graphics to get the reader’s '............Read the rest of this article
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
CleaningForCancer.com
If you own or are starting a cleaning business and you have considered offering a charity cleaning or community outreach program to your list of services we encourage you to visit our Cleaning For Cancer blog. http://cleaningforcancer.blogspot.com/
This completely free to join site will open on May 29 and will provide cleaning companies with marketing items and ideas for starting their own charitable cleaning program along with a free listing in our directory.
Companies who don't have a website or who don't have the ability to add the information to their company website can use one of our free templates. We have volunteers on hand who will help you create your page if needed.
The structure of the site is to be a completely free resource to both people with cancer or other critical illnesses as well as to cleaning services wanting to reach out and give back to their community. Because our structure is free CleaningForCancer.com will not accept monentary donations instead will we have a list of organizations in which you may make donations.
Contributions of time by volunteers will always be welcomed and there is a sign up form along with tasks that could use a helping hand on the site.
If you run a commercial company and don't see what you could possibly do to help....think again. We'll have some ideas how you can have your own outreach program that will in turn benefit the residential sector of our participating companies.
Current CleanOutlook.com customers who want one of these free pages added to their website should contact Christy christy[at]cleanoutlook.com. There will be no charge for this page. In addition new customers coming on board after June 1 will be offered a free page at time of purchase.
This completely free to join site will open on May 29 and will provide cleaning companies with marketing items and ideas for starting their own charitable cleaning program along with a free listing in our directory.
Companies who don't have a website or who don't have the ability to add the information to their company website can use one of our free templates. We have volunteers on hand who will help you create your page if needed.
The structure of the site is to be a completely free resource to both people with cancer or other critical illnesses as well as to cleaning services wanting to reach out and give back to their community. Because our structure is free CleaningForCancer.com will not accept monentary donations instead will we have a list of organizations in which you may make donations.
Contributions of time by volunteers will always be welcomed and there is a sign up form along with tasks that could use a helping hand on the site.
If you run a commercial company and don't see what you could possibly do to help....think again. We'll have some ideas how you can have your own outreach program that will in turn benefit the residential sector of our participating companies.
Current CleanOutlook.com customers who want one of these free pages added to their website should contact Christy christy[at]cleanoutlook.com. There will be no charge for this page. In addition new customers coming on board after June 1 will be offered a free page at time of purchase.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Commercial cleaning contracts
Our article "Putting together a cleaning service proposal" continues to be one of our highest traffic pages. The other day I came across a binder of information I collected years ago from James Nokes at Build A Business. When I checked his site, yes the example Commercial Cleaning Contract is still there :) http://build-a-business.com/cleaning_contract_sample.html
This article gives a good explanation of necessary items for your contracts such as monthly fees, late payment fees, and a termination clause that is followed by a sample written contract for janitorial services.
Don't forget that you can also get a pre-made contract for commercial cleaning services from the Cleaning Business Forms Storefor $20.00
This article gives a good explanation of necessary items for your contracts such as monthly fees, late payment fees, and a termination clause that is followed by a sample written contract for janitorial services.
Don't forget that you can also get a pre-made contract for commercial cleaning services from the Cleaning Business Forms Storefor $20.00
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Hiring employees for your cleaning company
Hiring staff for your cleaning company
As you grow your cleaning business you will be faced with needing to hire employees.
In an industry where turn over averages over 300% annually recruiting can become expensive and time consuming.
One of the most common questions asked by cleaning companies recruiting for the first time is ‘where to advertise’ for employees.
Newspaper ads in most medium to large cities can be very expensive. If your community has a free ‘shopper’ these are usually more affordable than a newspaper ad.
Many churches will allow members to place employment ads in their bulletins.
Putting flyers on laundry mat bulletin boards in the areas you are recruiting for have proven effective for many cleaning contractors.
Local employment service directory websites are good resources but can become expensive.
Craig’s List employment ads are free and can generate a lot of applications. (If you are using Craig’s List for recruiting we recommend you read our tips here http://www.cleaningdesign.com/customerarea/showthread.php?t=2982 or you could end up with so many phone calls that you shy away from using their website again.)
Friends, family and neighbors- talk to everyone you know, let them know you are looking for quality workers and ask them to spread the word then hand them a business card.
Existing employees- let them know about the job openings you have. Offer referral bonuses for any employees that send you people you hire.
Once you find a system that works for you make sure you are always recruiting. By doing so you will be able to maintain a database (collection) of people you could interview right away and will reduce the likelihood of having to do ‘crisis hiring’.
Other articles for after you have recruited employees
Prescreening cleaning company employees- http://www.cleanpeers.com/peers/viewtopic.php?t=45
Communicating with your cleaning staff- http://www.cleanpeers.com/peers/viewtopic.php?t=42
Determining wages for your cleaning staff-
http://www.cleanpeers.com/peers/viewtopic.php?t=41
Motivating your cleaning staff- http://www.cleanpeers.com/peers/viewtopic.php?t=40
As you grow your cleaning business you will be faced with needing to hire employees.
In an industry where turn over averages over 300% annually recruiting can become expensive and time consuming.
One of the most common questions asked by cleaning companies recruiting for the first time is ‘where to advertise’ for employees.
Newspaper ads in most medium to large cities can be very expensive. If your community has a free ‘shopper’ these are usually more affordable than a newspaper ad.
Many churches will allow members to place employment ads in their bulletins.
Putting flyers on laundry mat bulletin boards in the areas you are recruiting for have proven effective for many cleaning contractors.
Local employment service directory websites are good resources but can become expensive.
Craig’s List employment ads are free and can generate a lot of applications. (If you are using Craig’s List for recruiting we recommend you read our tips here http://www.cleaningdesign.com/customerarea/showthread.php?t=2982 or you could end up with so many phone calls that you shy away from using their website again.)
Friends, family and neighbors- talk to everyone you know, let them know you are looking for quality workers and ask them to spread the word then hand them a business card.
Existing employees- let them know about the job openings you have. Offer referral bonuses for any employees that send you people you hire.
Once you find a system that works for you make sure you are always recruiting. By doing so you will be able to maintain a database (collection) of people you could interview right away and will reduce the likelihood of having to do ‘crisis hiring’.
Other articles for after you have recruited employees
Prescreening cleaning company employees- http://www.cleanpeers.com/peers/viewtopic.php?t=45
Communicating with your cleaning staff- http://www.cleanpeers.com/peers/viewtopic.php?t=42
Determining wages for your cleaning staff-
http://www.cleanpeers.com/peers/viewtopic.php?t=41
Motivating your cleaning staff- http://www.cleanpeers.com/peers/viewtopic.php?t=40
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
A name for your cleaning business....
Everyday we see several people come in thru the search engines with the phrase 'name for a cleaning business' and we thought why not include that as another thing we do since helping cleaning companies IS what we do and enjoy :)
Feel free to post information about the cleaning service you are starting or hoping to come up with a name for in our forums and let's see if our staff can help you pick out a great name to get you started. http://cleanoutlook.com/portals/viewtopic.php?t=714
Who knows, if you select your cleaning company name on our site we might even throw in a discount on cleaning business logo design!
Feel free to post information about the cleaning service you are starting or hoping to come up with a name for in our forums and let's see if our staff can help you pick out a great name to get you started. http://cleanoutlook.com/portals/viewtopic.php?t=714
Who knows, if you select your cleaning company name on our site we might even throw in a discount on cleaning business logo design!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Interesting Articles
Cold Calling for Sales-
Intimidated by knocking on a door? Can’t find the right words? Afraid you can’t get past the gatekeeper? These are probably some of the most frequent requests for help READ THE FULL ARTICLE by Ken Galo of Cleanpeers.com
The History of Spring Cleaning from Plano and Lewisville, Texas Cleaning Service, RZJ Janitorial http://www.rzjservices.com/articles/
Are You The Kind of Janitorial Service Customers Are Looking For? Los Angeles Janitorial Company Advanced Cleaning Concepts: http://los-angeles-janitorial.advccleaning.com/articles.htm#choosing-a-janitor-service0
Intimidated by knocking on a door? Can’t find the right words? Afraid you can’t get past the gatekeeper? These are probably some of the most frequent requests for help READ THE FULL ARTICLE by Ken Galo of Cleanpeers.com
The History of Spring Cleaning from Plano and Lewisville, Texas Cleaning Service, RZJ Janitorial http://www.rzjservices.com/articles/
Are You The Kind of Janitorial Service Customers Are Looking For? Los Angeles Janitorial Company Advanced Cleaning Concepts: http://los-angeles-janitorial.advccleaning.com/articles.htm#choosing-a-janitor-service0
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Cleaning Business Brochure Design and Printing
Check out our new Tri Fold Brochure Design and Printing Services at http://brochures.cleanoutlook.com/
Offer Gift Certificates for your cleaning services. Printing for as little as 75 cents each. More info at http://giftcertificates.cleanoutlook.com/
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Cleaning Service Recognized by Business Peers
Cleaning Service Recognized by Business Peers
StartupNation made its selection from among thousands of home-based entrepreneurs who entered the competition.
StartupNation, a leading business advice and social networking site for entrepreneurs (http://www.startupnation.com) today named L & K Office Cleaning Services, (http://www.lk-clean.com/) a Top Ten “Highest Vote-Getters” in the first annual StartupNation Home-Based 100 ranking of the nation’s top home-based businesses. Organized into 10 categories such as Most Innovative, Boomers Back in Business and Best Financial Performers, the Home-Based 100 celebrates the innovative, nimble and resourceful home-based entrepreneurs who have gone largely unrecognized until now. The full results of the Home-Based 100 ranking are available on StartupNation’s Web site at http://www.startupnation.com/hb100.
“Although large companies often grab the headlines, home-based businesses today are thriving,” said Rich Sloan, entrepreneurial author, radio host and co-founder of StartupNation. “Millions of people are following their passions through entrepreneurship by pursuing innovative, sound business ideas.”
The StartupNation Home-Based 100, composed of ten Top Ten lists, presents a unique look at the nation’s top home-based businesses. Category winners span a wide range of revenue levels, sectors, ages and other characteristics.
StartupNation made its selection from among thousands of home-based entrepreneurs who entered the competition.
StartupNation, a leading business advice and social networking site for entrepreneurs (http://www.startupnation.com) today named L & K Office Cleaning Services, (http://www.lk-clean.com/) a Top Ten “Highest Vote-Getters” in the first annual StartupNation Home-Based 100 ranking of the nation’s top home-based businesses. Organized into 10 categories such as Most Innovative, Boomers Back in Business and Best Financial Performers, the Home-Based 100 celebrates the innovative, nimble and resourceful home-based entrepreneurs who have gone largely unrecognized until now. The full results of the Home-Based 100 ranking are available on StartupNation’s Web site at http://www.startupnation.com/hb100.
“Although large companies often grab the headlines, home-based businesses today are thriving,” said Rich Sloan, entrepreneurial author, radio host and co-founder of StartupNation. “Millions of people are following their passions through entrepreneurship by pursuing innovative, sound business ideas.”
The StartupNation Home-Based 100, composed of ten Top Ten lists, presents a unique look at the nation’s top home-based businesses. Category winners span a wide range of revenue levels, sectors, ages and other characteristics.
Milwaukee, WI based L & K Cleaning, won in two categories, top vote achiever and grungiest. (http://www.startupnation.com/home-based-100/85/8924/winner.htm#WinnerTop and http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/TopTenVoteGetters.aspx )
L & K Office Cleaning a family owned and operated janitorial service for commercial, industrial and retail properties was started in 1999 by Laura and Ken Galo. They offer green cleaning services to businesses in the Milwaukee and Waukesha areas. Ken along with his partners, Dave Crichton and Christy Caley operate CleanPeers and Global Cleaners Association to benefit the janitorial and residential cleaning industry by provide resources and networking opportunities.
About StartupNation
Founded by Rich and Jeff Sloan, StartupNation (http://www.startupnation.com) provides entrepreneurial advice via a nationally syndicated radio program and through online content for entrepreneurs who want to start a business. The Sloan brothers are successful inventors, experienced entrepreneurs and authors of StartupNation: Open for Business (Doubleday). They appear frequently as small business experts on national television and in online and print media. More information is available at http://www.startupnation.com.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
More articles and information for cleaning contractors
Chad Burns of C&S Cleaning in Wichita, KS offers articles of interest to cleaning contractors on his blog, The Clean Slate at: http://thecleaningslate.blogspot.com/ where he not only posts articles but also provides an area for cleaning business owners and professionals to reply or ask cleaning related questions.
Some of Chad's recent articles include Be Gentle--an article advising cleaners to begin with the least aggressive method and progress with stronger agents and processes as needed. Burns also reminds pro's to utlilize the experience and assistance of their janitorial supplier.
Hiring and Staffing for cleaning business owners-'You can never have too much training' Expanding on your recruiting, hiring and management skills enables cleaning contractors to grow their businesses.
Some of Chad's recent articles include Be Gentle--an article advising cleaners to begin with the least aggressive method and progress with stronger agents and processes as needed. Burns also reminds pro's to utlilize the experience and assistance of their janitorial supplier.
Hiring and Staffing for cleaning business owners-'You can never have too much training' Expanding on your recruiting, hiring and management skills enables cleaning contractors to grow their businesses.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Cleaning Industry Editorials
There should have been a press release for this ;)
Ken Galo announced late last week that he will begin posting Cleaning Industry and cleaning related editorials on his blog at http://wwwcleanpeers.blogspot.com/
To open his new editorial site Ken writes about GS-42 the environmental leadership standard for certification of green cleaning services. In his article Galo explores the cost and benefits of this newly established certification. In addition a poll is posted where you can give your opinions about the cost of this program. Bet you wouldn't have guessed it starts at $7000. I'm NOT joking...check out his article...
Ken Galo announced late last week that he will begin posting Cleaning Industry and cleaning related editorials on his blog at http://wwwcleanpeers.blogspot.com/
To open his new editorial site Ken writes about GS-42 the environmental leadership standard for certification of green cleaning services. In his article Galo explores the cost and benefits of this newly established certification. In addition a poll is posted where you can give your opinions about the cost of this program. Bet you wouldn't have guessed it starts at $7000. I'm NOT joking...check out his article...
A big thanks and a site worth mentioning
I wanted to post a big thanks to The Cleaning Entrepreneur, James Nokes. Chances are if you are reading my blog you've been doing a lot of searches about starting a cleaning business and have come across his site. But just in case you can find him and his wealth of information at: http://www.build-a-business.com/
The Cleaning Entrepeneur was the first cleaning business related site I found when I began my quest for information almost 4 years ago. So you can imagine my delight when my business was featured in their latest newsletter. You can read it here in Edition 134 http://www.build-a-business.com/newsletter_134_A.htm
When you have a chance look thru the rest of the website. There are tons of cleaning business related articles not only from Mr. Nokes but now also from the Janitorial Store, there are free reports, free ebooks, resources and there is even a start up cost comparission for commercial and residential cleaning. If you are looking to see an example of a cleaning contract this is the site to visit.
Thanks again James! It was an honor to be included in your newsletter.
The Cleaning Entrepeneur was the first cleaning business related site I found when I began my quest for information almost 4 years ago. So you can imagine my delight when my business was featured in their latest newsletter. You can read it here in Edition 134 http://www.build-a-business.com/newsletter_134_A.htm
When you have a chance look thru the rest of the website. There are tons of cleaning business related articles not only from Mr. Nokes but now also from the Janitorial Store, there are free reports, free ebooks, resources and there is even a start up cost comparission for commercial and residential cleaning. If you are looking to see an example of a cleaning contract this is the site to visit.
Thanks again James! It was an honor to be included in your newsletter.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Janitorial Communication Books- A New Approach
Communication Books left at a reception desk or worse yet in the janitorial closet are ineffective tools for the cleaning business with employees.
Although the thought behind them is with good intentions
Unless you are monitoring the communication book at all times you are missing out on important communication that you should have NOW not next time you inspect the account.
By using an online version of a Cleaning Communication Book you are able to monitor communication between your employees and your customer. In addition to monitoring resolution of conerns these portal type systems allow you a secure area for employee and client imformation, specifications and printables.
www.cleanoutlook.com offers Cleaning Portals for commercial cleaning services that are practically priced and easy to maintain. Visit us at www.cleaningportals.com to learn more about these innovative solutions to 'Communication Book Break down'
Although the thought behind them is with good intentions
- Customers write down concerns or special requests for the cleaners
- Cleaners in an ideal scenerio complete the task and leave a note in response to the client contact
- The cleaning business owner or supervisor reads this documented communication during their next visit to the building
Unless you are monitoring the communication book at all times you are missing out on important communication that you should have NOW not next time you inspect the account.
By using an online version of a Cleaning Communication Book you are able to monitor communication between your employees and your customer. In addition to monitoring resolution of conerns these portal type systems allow you a secure area for employee and client imformation, specifications and printables.
www.cleanoutlook.com offers Cleaning Portals for commercial cleaning services that are practically priced and easy to maintain. Visit us at www.cleaningportals.com to learn more about these innovative solutions to 'Communication Book Break down'
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Why You Should Have An Original Logo For Your Cleaning Business
Why you should purchase an original licensed logo for your cleaning business
A logo is the first step in developing a corporate identity. By using stock images, clipart or free logos you are likely to end up with a logo identical to another companies or possibly a mascot image that is over used across several industries.
A vast amount of our traffic comes from people surfing to find free logos for cleaning services. While we will provide these as a free service we can not endorse the use of free or stock logos as a corporate identity.
Please take a moment to look thru the options and features that come with our purchased logo packages. These include various file sizes and versions and best yet we never create two alike. Cleaning service logo packages >>
Why are Clean Outlook's regular logo packages so expensive when I can get a logo on graphics or elance sites for $50?
Please understand our logo packages are not just a logo image. We use your original logo image and give it to you in over 10 formats and include black and white copies for newsprint. In addition we create templates for letterhead and envelopes that use your image in the proper format for printing. From your logo we also create over 10 sizes in gif format for use on your website and we create a minimum of 3 website banners from your logo.
Why do we do that?
The first few logos we sold we, as most graphic artists and e-lancers do, only provided the original image of the logo. As time went by we noticed our customers saving or printing their logos in the improper format or creating web graphics from them that ended up as distorted versions of the original.
You own a cleaning business. Imagine if you will stripping and waxing a vct then burnishing it until you could see your reflection only to come back a week later and find out that your client had cleaned up a spill with bowl acid! Of course you would see the etches in your once show room perfect floor and wish the client had consulted you before trying to take care of the problem themselves.
We're no different...Our finished product is important to us yet we realized that our customers need more variety for the ways in which they use their logos. They don't always have time to contact us and they don't always have the graphics tools that we own and use daily. Purchasing graphics software or learning a program to edit your logo is nothing more than downtime and lost money for you.
By providing images for every possible use for your logo we eliminate the need for you to make edits and revisions yourself. The time you save from this far exceeds the money you would save using a site that provides you with one version of your logo.
Remember our business was developed to take care of YOU!
A logo is the first step in developing a corporate identity. By using stock images, clipart or free logos you are likely to end up with a logo identical to another companies or possibly a mascot image that is over used across several industries.
A vast amount of our traffic comes from people surfing to find free logos for cleaning services. While we will provide these as a free service we can not endorse the use of free or stock logos as a corporate identity.
Please take a moment to look thru the options and features that come with our purchased logo packages. These include various file sizes and versions and best yet we never create two alike. Cleaning service logo packages >>
Why are Clean Outlook's regular logo packages so expensive when I can get a logo on graphics or elance sites for $50?
Please understand our logo packages are not just a logo image. We use your original logo image and give it to you in over 10 formats and include black and white copies for newsprint. In addition we create templates for letterhead and envelopes that use your image in the proper format for printing. From your logo we also create over 10 sizes in gif format for use on your website and we create a minimum of 3 website banners from your logo.
Why do we do that?
The first few logos we sold we, as most graphic artists and e-lancers do, only provided the original image of the logo. As time went by we noticed our customers saving or printing their logos in the improper format or creating web graphics from them that ended up as distorted versions of the original.
You own a cleaning business. Imagine if you will stripping and waxing a vct then burnishing it until you could see your reflection only to come back a week later and find out that your client had cleaned up a spill with bowl acid! Of course you would see the etches in your once show room perfect floor and wish the client had consulted you before trying to take care of the problem themselves.
We're no different...Our finished product is important to us yet we realized that our customers need more variety for the ways in which they use their logos. They don't always have time to contact us and they don't always have the graphics tools that we own and use daily. Purchasing graphics software or learning a program to edit your logo is nothing more than downtime and lost money for you.
By providing images for every possible use for your logo we eliminate the need for you to make edits and revisions yourself. The time you save from this far exceeds the money you would save using a site that provides you with one version of your logo.
Remember our business was developed to take care of YOU!
Monday, May 21, 2007
Cleaning Business Brochures
Cleaning Business Brochures
With spring over and cleaning business owners already looking toward getting their Fall Marketing in full swing we have been getting numberous inquiries about using and creating brochures for cleaning and janitorial marketing.
Using color brochures when you are out cold calling, as inserts in proposals or as mailings are a great way to showcase your business and give quick information about the services you provide.
Putting together information for your brochure is as simple as writing an outline of the services that you provide. Rhonda Pressgrove founder of HelpMeRhonda Cleaning Services in greater Memphis and Residential Cleaning Bidding Peer Mentor at the Global Cleaning Association has often hired students for the final product after providing layout and content.
Printing brochures is best left to the pro's though unless you have a high quality laser printer.
Several online editors such as Vista Print will allow you to create your brochure online and Microsoft Word is just as effective in putting together a nice brochure as the more expensive MS Publisher.
To assist our community of cleaning business owners we have created a free brochure template that requires only MS Word to edit and print. It's downloadable in zip format at our website http://www.cleanoutlook.com/freebies/marketing.html
The cleaning pictures in this brochure template were provided free by CleanPeers and can easily be replaced with your own.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
How To Write A Cleaning Proposal
One of the top searches at my website this past week was 'How to Writing A Cleaning Proposal', 'Writing Cleaning proposals', 'Cleaning Proposals, creating', and the like so we put together a page of information ranging from finding the components to put in a proposal package, what to present the proposal in, what is the bid sheet? and how to present the proposal package to your prospective client. Links thru out this article will take you directly to the information on our home site.
Creating a Cleaning Proposal can seem overwhelming if you have never seen one before. Structurally a proposal package is easy. The time involved to put together the perfect packet to represent your company can be a process that spans over the course of your years of operation as new qualifications, services, certifications and programs are added.
What is the difference between a cleaning bid and a cleaning proposal?
How large or how many pages should my cleaning proposal have?
A basic cleaning proposal would be composed of the following items
Optional Items That Can Be Included In Your Cleaning Proposal Packages
How do I present it? What do I put it in?
Saving yourself time with commercial cleaning proposals!
Starting off with a great template that can be edited and revised on the fly will save you loads of time. Cleanpeers.com features a great Commercial Cleaning Template in Microsoft Word Format. Priced at only $40 this complete proposal pack with 3 sets of cleaning spec's, green cleaning, communication program documentation, if a time saver that no building service contractor should pass up. After customizing it to your company many pages could be pre printed and ready to go increasing your delivery time for professional looking cleaning bids.
Creating a Cleaning Proposal can seem overwhelming if you have never seen one before. Structurally a proposal package is easy. The time involved to put together the perfect packet to represent your company can be a process that spans over the course of your years of operation as new qualifications, services, certifications and programs are added.
What is the difference between a cleaning bid and a cleaning proposal?
How large or how many pages should my cleaning proposal have?
A basic cleaning proposal would be composed of the following items
Optional Items That Can Be Included In Your Cleaning Proposal Packages
How do I present it? What do I put it in?
Saving yourself time with commercial cleaning proposals!
Starting off with a great template that can be edited and revised on the fly will save you loads of time. Cleanpeers.com features a great Commercial Cleaning Template in Microsoft Word Format. Priced at only $40 this complete proposal pack with 3 sets of cleaning spec's, green cleaning, communication program documentation, if a time saver that no building service contractor should pass up. After customizing it to your company many pages could be pre printed and ready to go increasing your delivery time for professional looking cleaning bids.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Putting Together a Cleaning Service Website
For months and maybe for years you’ve probably came across other websites you admired and made a mental note that you would like to have something similar eventually. However to have a designer come right out and ask point blank to spell out everything you want is similar to being thrown a set of keys and thrown into a new building. You get a ‘where do I begin’ feeling.
No more staring at a blank screen trying to drum up an idea of what you want to say.
Listed below are ideas for putting together content (text) for your web pages. Just pick a few and before you know it you’ll be writing a new proposal presentation-online style that is.
List of items done in each area/room Large or flashy graphics
For months and maybe for years you’ve probably came across other websites you admired and made a mental note that you would like to have something similar eventually. However to have a designer come right out and ask point blank to spell out everything you want is similar to being thrown a set of keys and thrown into a new building. You get a ‘where do I begin’ feeling.
No more staring at a blank screen trying to drum up an idea of what you want to say.
Listed below are ideas for putting together content (text) for your web pages. Just pick a few and before you know it you’ll be writing a new proposal presentation-online style that is.
Rule number one, don’t over analyze yourself. Remember your best ideas will be the first ones that fly from your fingers!
Content and interaction
- Services provided and any specialty services
- Certifications
- Service Area
- Request a quote for service (form)
- Customer Survey (feedback form)
- Contact page (may or may not have a form but should include your phone #, email address, fax number, and possibly address)
- Company history
Mission statement and/or core values - If you have employees
1-Any aspects of training or employee selection process that you would like to highlight
2-Team and team route cleaning, systematic cleaning, uniformed staff, bonded staff, supervised staff, etc. that you would like to highlight to the prospective client
3-A place for prospective employees to apply online (form) or inquire about employment opportunities
4-Listing of employment opportunities with your company - List of customers to use as a reference. We recommend asking your client’s permission before publishing their contact information online.
- A photo or two of site that you service
- Reasons why a prospective client should choose you. Don’t overlook including items in terms of:
1-Safety and safety Programs
2-Training programs/procedures
3-OSHA compliance
4-Hazmat certifications, etc.
Graphics Images should be kept to a minimum but great things to include are:
- Photo of owners
- Photos of employees (you should get a signed release to use photos)
- Logos from any associations you are involved with
- Logos from any certifications you hold
Items to consider avoiding
Rule number two, write your content before you even start looking at page layouts. Remember your text is the information (content) of your website. By trying to fit what you want to say into a format not only will you overlook important information that you should have included you will waste time. As as business owner your time is money.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
How do I Make an Interactive Website for my Cleaning Business?
Interactive sites give the user some control over what they do on your page.
There is a general misconception that interactive means lots of flash or animated graphics. That's not the case.
For a cleaning service website nice ways to add interaction would be:
We never encourage the use of forms that calculate pricing for customers as there are too many variables and nothing beats a good old fashioned walk thru.
There is a general misconception that interactive means lots of flash or animated graphics. That's not the case.
For a cleaning service website nice ways to add interaction would be:
- Feed back forms or guestbooks where someone can leave a testimonial for your service
- Photo albums-if they can scroll thru the pictures thats even better
- FAQ's- a place where they can find answers to specific questions
- A place to request an estimate or sales call.
We never encourage the use of forms that calculate pricing for customers as there are too many variables and nothing beats a good old fashioned walk thru.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Do I need a logo? What domain name to choose? Should I list my customers?
- Do I need a logo for my cleaning service?
- What domain name to choose, does it need to match my business name?
- Should I list my cleaning customers on my business website?
These are just a few of the questions we receive from cleaning service business owners when they are considering establishing an identity for their company.
Do I need a logo for my cleaning service?
A logo to identify your cleaning service is not a necessity however it is nice to have.
What domain name to choose, does it need to match my business name?
No it does not need to be the same as your business name. In many cases the name will already be taken or may be too long to work well as a domain name. Focus on something catchy that people will be able to remember easily. A couple of my favorites are lk-clean.com (reminds me of 'look' clean) and hoosierclean.com (I'm from Indiana so that name sticks).
A long domain name such as christycaleyscleaningservice.com might look great but imagine having to type that into your browser or worse yet type it for an email address! Think short and sweet for your domain name ;)
Should I list my cleaning customers on my business website?
That is entirely up to you.
Smaller companies don't always do this because of the competition at that level of the game. Larger corporate services oftentimes showcase a larger reference account or two.
In either case you can always have photos without additional information. Better yet showcase testimonials or positive feedback from your customers listing only their first name and city. Housecleaning customers especially will enjoy seeing that you've placed their comments on your website.
Should I Build My Cleaning Service Website Myself?
Let's face it as business owners you are used to just doing things yourself. So your first instinct will be to save money by building your own website.
In reality unless you are quite experienced in building sites your creation may take up a lot of time that is if it ever gets completely finished.
Just remember if web design isn't your core then doing it yourself isn't the best decision financially for your business.
We create websites affordable enough that even small contractors can afford them. In reality the couple hundred dollars you pay for your site could easily be recooped in one afternoon of passing out business cards with your website address listed. Just something to think about. Feel free to visit us at www.cleanoutlook.com and see the options and packages available for cleaning services wanting to establish a coporate identity as well as a Web presence.
In reality unless you are quite experienced in building sites your creation may take up a lot of time that is if it ever gets completely finished.
Just remember if web design isn't your core then doing it yourself isn't the best decision financially for your business.
We create websites affordable enough that even small contractors can afford them. In reality the couple hundred dollars you pay for your site could easily be recooped in one afternoon of passing out business cards with your website address listed. Just something to think about. Feel free to visit us at www.cleanoutlook.com and see the options and packages available for cleaning services wanting to establish a coporate identity as well as a Web presence.
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