You never know when you’re schedule is too full or half your staff calls out sick and you need a reliable service to help you out.
Instead of tearing your hair out when half of your staff calls out sick with the flu that’s going around, have a back-up plan: know that you have a good, professional working relationship with a competing cleaning company (or two) that you can call as backup.
[EasyDNNnewsToken:Left Justify Embed 300 x 250]Sounds counter-intuitive, I know, but it works great. Instead of having to call your clients for the that day and a few days after to cancel or reschedule their service, you’ll be able to quickly identify the now minor hiccup AND offer them a choice:
- be cleaned today by So-and-so who does a great job cleaning like we do OR
- we can reschedule your cleaning with one of our other techs/teams
The key with this strategy is to always be certain you have first confirmed that a tech/team from the other service is available AND, more importantly, that you have direct confirmation from your client that sending a substitute service to their home is acceptable. You certainly don’t want to surprise them with strangers!
To get yourself ready to “use” your competition in a friendly and professional manner, you’ll want to make sure you are connected to reputable businesses in your area through national trade associations and/or your local Chamber of Commerce. Look for other professional groups in your area who may offer you a way to select which businesses you might approach with this kind of arrangement. Check out Guerrilla Marketing Tip #11 for more on this preparation step.
Derek Christian is the owner of My Maid Service with locations in Cincinnati, OH and Dallas, TX, as well as a business coach through Cleaning Business Builders and publisher of CleaningBusinessToday.com. Derek is now an investor in several cleaning companies including My Maid Service Dayton and Real World Services Columbus. Derek is also a consultant for industry leaders Marvelous Maids and Castle Keepers.
