Let’s be honest, we all would grow our cleaning companies faster if we could. We would take on more business if our sales team (or ourself) could sell more business. For must of us, sales is the bottleneck of growth in our BSC. But simply picking up the phone and making more calls just isn’t enough to grow the pipeline. While our industry is not complicated, the sales process requires intentionality, strategy, and execution. You need a plan. You need to know what components you have in place and what missing links need to be filled. In our live janitorial sales workshop we cover each component of a robust janitorial sales program. Here is a quick breakdown of the components you need to have in place.
#1 – Value Proposition
Before you start selling, you need to know what you are selling and why someone should buy it. This means more than having good quality, good people, and good customer service. That is a given! Everyone should have that. What you need is something that really sets you apart from the competition.
#2 – Ideal Customer Profile
In addition to knowing what you are selling, you need to know who you are selling to. Everyone is not your customer. You need a clearly defined ideal customer. As you begin to build your prospect list (next step), you need to know who to add to that list and where to find them. Identify the ideal client profile DNA, write it down, and stick to it.
#3 – Finding Prospects
After figuring out what you are selling and the type of customer you want to sell to, you need to go and find those prospects. In short, you need to build a list of customers that fit your ideal DNA and find out who is the contact person in those facilities. No one can give you this list. It is something you must build yourself.
#4 – Nurturing w/ calls, emails, and content
While your list may have 500 or 1000 names on it, most of those prospects are not in buying mode. Therefore, you need a way to stay connected to these prospects so that when they decide to buy, you are top of mind. This is the nurture phase. You need a plan to show prospects that you are credible and trustworthy.
#5 – Proposals and closing the deal
Finally, your BSC needs a plan for closing deals. What will your proposals look like? What members of the team will you include in the sales process? What does your startup plan look like? Assuming prices are competitive, how will you push yourself ahead of the competition?
If you have a solid plan for these 5 steps of the selling process, you are likely on your way to major growth.
If you need some help in one or all of these areas, consider attending the Live Janitorial Sales Workshop.
