If you are scheduling to buy an existing business or developing your own business, it is very important to have your own customer database. This will help your business’ progress and success. Having a customer database will give you lots of benefits as the business owner. Below are a number of benefits that you can get from having your own customer database.

A customer database allows you to determine the history of your clients and their present status with your company. You are able to see what kind of relationship you have with your customers. The QUICKEN or the MYOB may be the customer databases that accountants may say to you when you ask them. But to tell you, this is not as important as the customer database that is described in this text. The computer database that the accountants call the secretarial package would only include the customer’s contact information and what item they procured. In the industry specific customer database, it contains all the pertinent information that you need.

The customer database that you need would be one that not only includes the customer’s contact information but also the items that they are of great interest, information about how they knew of your business, information on what advertisement you have sent to them and if this advertisement clicked or not, what did they expect from you at the beginning of your encounter and what do they think about your business at present, special and private negotiations or deals that you had with them, their dollar sale and their long-term value and a lot more.

It is best to find and obtain a customer database that is specific for your own business. This way, the issues that are encircled around your business can be focused on. On the other hand, if you do not have or if you cannot find the customer database particular for the business that you are running, you can develop your own database. Investing in it would give you great rewards in the long run.

In the past years, many industry specific customer databases have been created and developed. The requirements for the management of the different industries vary so the customer databases differ from every industry. Examples of the developed customer databases include the Carpet Cleaning Business costumer database and the Sewing Machine Sales and Repairs Industry database.

Sometimes, the database doesn’t focus on the client or the customer but tracks the item that was given out for rent or for sale. This goes for businesses like the sewing machine repairs and sales industry. In this kind of industry, the sewing machines are the ones that are being tracked. The database includes the information about who have rented or owned the machine and how many people have rented or owned the machine. In addition, it also includes what repairs have been done or given to the machine, how many machines were sold and repaired.

In the carpet cleaning industry, they also don’t track the customers or the client. The homes or the houses that they clean are the ones that they monitor and keep track of. This customer database would be of great importance most especially if you are running a housing rental carpet cleaning business. Having this will enable you to monitor the place that you clean, how often you attend to that home or what you have done in order to clean the house carpets.

Having a customer database will also protect you from being fooled by disingenuous renters. An example of a situation wherein a business owner saved his business by using a customer database is a customer who accused the home carpet cleaning service of damaging and staining the carpet even more instead of cleaning it. The carpet cleaning service owner had a customer database wherein the photo of the carpet before cleaning and its photo after cleaning were filed. Therefore, the service provider was able to monitor what stains were found in the carpet before cleaning, what stains were endured in the carpet for a long time, what stains were new and what stains were removed. The cleaning business owner showed the photos to the Real Estate Agent and was saved from having to pay the damages that he was not liable for. So in the end, the renter was the one who paid for the costs of damage in the ruined carpet.

Another situation is when an owner sold his cleaning business. Since the client had a customer database, he was able to raise the value of his business for about three times the original value. So when he sold his business, he received three times the amount of pay that a regular cleaning business without a customer database would have if it was sold.

In addition, the one who bought the cleaning company was a National Company and the reason for buying the said business is because of the established costumer database. At present the former owner of the business is presently enjoying his benefits including a white Mercedes.

Having your own customer database doesn’t need to be expensive and fancy. If you can’t find a database for you business, you can develop your own by using simple software. The software that is commonly used for developing computer databases includes Microsoft Access from Microsoft. Some companies employ one person and let him undergo training for database development. After the training, he is tasked to make a customer database for the said company as part of his job. Another option is to hire Microsoft access developers so that you are able to have your own customer service. These developers are quite cost effective so you won’t shell out so much money on that. What is important is in the long run, you will be able to see the difference and the benefits that you can get just by having your own customer database. So take the risk and invest in developing your customer database so that you can also raise the value of your business.

For more info: How to start a cleaning business

Good customer service is not enough to make a business successful. But it must exert effort to achieve “excellent” customer service instead.

The first important step to have excellent service is making sure that you are always available to cater to your client’s needs. They must be able to contact you at all times by phone or email especially during official business hours. You have to be prompt to answer as much as possible.

In case you cannot be in your office, divert your calls to your mobile phone. It is annoying for customers to call you several times but they do not receive any return call. Always check the messages in your phone more often and be sure to make return calls especially the important ones. Failure to return their calls might give the signal to the customers that they are not important so they might just look for another cleaning provider.

Another aspect to consider is listening to the complaints of customers. If they are complaining about certain portions that were not totally cleaned, always give the impression that you would do everything you can to address their concern. You may send your employees to do the cleaning or it is better that you go there personally. Your customer will feel honoured because you personally addresses his complaints. This will give a signal to the customer that you are serious in dealing with them.

When you going to your customer’s house, be sure that you show proper decorum. Smile and greet them cheerfully. Do not forget to introduce yourself and have a short conversation with your customer to know their expectations of your cleaning service. Do not show your fatigue or mood and be as professional as you can.

Ask for suggestions on what they want about things to be done and their goal after you finish cleaning. There are customers that would demand that you clean according to their style and you have to respect that.

They will be more impressed if you include some extra services to your routine which others charge extra. These can be dusting the blinds, cleaning the glass doors, or changing of sheets.

Here are some of extra services that you can offer to your customers:

Do extra things for your customer if your time permits. You will be much appreciated with these little extras.

Show some concern for their pets (if there are any). Your customer will be happy to know that you also have a passion for animals.

Give fresh flowers or gift certificates to new customers. It only costs around $9 for a presentable floral arrangement.

Leave coupons for a discount to their next schedule of cleaning or give extra service if there are special occasions such as Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Be professional in answering phone calls and replying to emails. Every time you answer the phone mention the name of your company, give your name, and ask the reason for calling. While in replying emails, be polite and professional and always include your signature.

Always be prepared when you are giving your estimates to potential customers. Bring along a list of different services, a checklist of residential cleaning, references, and of course your business card.

Always be confident because the customers love to deal with persons with high self-esteem for they feel at peace and saves them from anxiety and worries.

How to Address Your Customers’ Wants
In every business, it is common that there is a target market and competitors. But, why do some of them succeed while others fail? Some have many customers while others have difficulty attracting customers

This is because most of the business owners do not know the reason why the customers need the products. They think that availability of the products in the market is already enough to attract customers. But that way of thinking only creates resistance to customers because they just look at ways on how to avoid purchasing the products.

Another problem is that business owners are more focused on increasing their sales. So they spend a lot in expensive advertisements trying to convince the customers that they need the product.

But, customers are just looking for the products they need and not because of those attractive advertisements.

A typical example is selling weight loss products. Almost everybody, including those with normal body weight, is concerned with his weight and looks. But this does not mean that you just simply make the products available and customers would start flowing in. So even if you are claiming the health benefits of your products and the discount you can offer, it will not immediately increase your customers because of the presence of other appetizing products.

The good thing is that customers have needs. There are those who need to lose weight because they are becoming obese, overweight or because of other health reasons. You show them that you understand their situation so you may include some diet tips and some helpful exercises together with the product you are selling. And after they achieve their desired results with your help and they still want to maintain their weight, they would surely contact you because you already established a name in lose weight programs.

These things are really simple to follow but some business owners fail to do these. The reason why most people miss it is because we are all engrossed in online marketing where there are those who simply jump in for a quick profit. However, we do not realize that it is still better for a business owner, especially those who offer services, to build a strong relationship first with the potential clients and identify and help them with their needs or concerns. After doing all those things, that is the only time that you can sell your products. With this process of building your business, you can achieve a strong foundation foir your business name and eventually to gain financial freedom.

See: How to start a cleaning service

If you are assessing about building a cleaning industry or buying an existing business, the number one tool every cleaning business must have is a customer database. Without a good quality customer database, you will have no Goodwill when you decided to sell or exit your business. It is that important that without it, you will lose over half of the value of your business when you go to trade your business.

Let me explain … why is customer database so important?

The function of the customer database is to inform the history and the story of your customers over a period of time. Many accountants will tell you that your customer database is your secretarial package like MYOB and QUICKEN. In fact, I will tell you now that if you only use these application you are gravely restricting the achievement of your business as accounting packages do not inform you the full history of the relationship between you and your customers.

The customer database is the most significant tool in your whole business. It contains every bit of information about your customers where as the accounting system only contains essential contact information and what they have purchased. The sort of information that you want to store in your customer database does vary depending on the type of business you actually have.

The sort of information I would generally expect in the customer database are things like, their contact information, goods they are interested in, information about what they are expecting from you, when you have contacted them and what they discussed, what advertising material you sent to them and whether they buy off that marketing stuff, what adverts brought them to you, what their standard dollar sale is, what their predicted long term value is, any special deals you have done with them and so much more.

What I suggest to every cleaning business owner is to strive and locate an industry specific client database. Pretty much every industry has its own customized system which focuses on the issues related to your business. If your industry does not have one, then it is really important that you invest the money into building one that address the issues of client management for your business.

Over the last few years my team and I have built a number of business specific database for industry like the car cleaning business, the sewing machine sales and repair industry, the carpet cleaning industry, the recruitment industry, the industrialized industry and so forth. In each and every case, their requirements for their customer management structure were very different.

In the case of the Sewing Machine industry, there value in their business was being able to track and manage the actual sewing machine not the customer. It was more significant for them to be able to know what repair work was done on the machine and how many diverse people had owned it. The real money in the sewing machine industry is in repairs and sales of their material etc.

Where as, in the carpet cleaning industry, the most significant element to track and manage in their industry is in fact the homes that they clean not the clientele. This was particularly significant when you are doing housing rental carpet cleaning. In this industry, renter’s can be a very misleading group of people; one of my customers had a situation arise where the occupant actually accused her carpet cleaning business of wrecking the carpet and streaking the carpet and not them.

Well because my consumer had track the past of the carpet in that home, they were able to show to the Real Estate agent, what stains were at first in the house from preceding work to what was in there now. In fact, since they photograph every home once they begin and when they end, they had a complete photo history of this home on file. They were able to show to the real estate agent the full account of work carried out and which stains were enduring and what were new and this meant the earlier renter had to foot the full bill for the damage they had completed not our client.

If my client had not invested in building this customized carpet cleaning customer database, then she could have been in a real bind. Further to this, when my client decided to sell her business, she got three times what others were getting for their carpet cleaning commerce, because of the value that was established in her customer database.

The corporation that bought her out was a National Carpet Cleaning Company and they wanted her business because of the customer history she had. This is a perfect example of how the Customer Database illustrated the true value of the Goodwill in her business to the prospective buyer. I should note, she now drives roughly in a white Mercedes because of the cash she earned from the sale of her business.

Customer databases do not need to be costly and they can be easily built in Microsoft Office applications like Microsoft Access. The reason many companies are using Microsoft Access is because of the ease of being able to build the systems and get people to help them. What a lot of companies do is to train one person in using Microsoft Access and then get them to construct the database as part of their job. Alternatively, there are lots of Microsoft Access Developers out in the market place and they are really cost effective to hire. Always though check with preceding clients to see what they thinking of their work and how first-class they really were.

See: How to start a cleaning service

Providing an exceptional customer service, not just a good customer service, is what will make a cleaning business a successful venture.

The first step in giving an excellent customer satisfaction is to make sure you are there for your clients. Your clients should be able to reach you at all times (during normal business hours) either by phone or by email. Be sure to answer all your clients’ correspondents as prompt a possible.

If you will be out of your office, have your calls forwarded to your cell phone. It would be very annoying for your clients if they will keep calling you but they keep on getting voicemail messages and you didn’t return their call. They understand that you can’t be physically sit by your phone at all times, but they do expect a call back shortly after they leave a message. Check your messages several times a day to make sure you return all important calls. Remember that not returning your clients’ calls might prompt them to go somewhere else.

Another important aspect of giving an excellent customer is listening to your clients’ complaints. If they call to complain about something that wasn’t cleaned properly, let them know that you will make a remedy to the problem. Go back to the home and re-clean the part of the house that the client isn’t happy with or send one of your employees to do the cleaning. This will send a message to your client that their satisfaction is your utmost concern.

When arriving at a client’s home, make sure to greet them and smile to them. Always smile as you walk through their door. Make sure you introduce yourself and do a little talk with the customer to know what they expect from you after your work is done. Show interest in how your client is doing. Don’t show that you are fatigued and that you are in a bad mood. You are there as a professional cleaner, you need to behave and prepare yourself as a professional.

Ask your clients what they want you to do, and how they want the house to look like after doing your work. They will let you know how they want their home cleaned and what cleaning tasks you need to prioritize.

Try to include a few extra services on your cleaning routine that other services may charge for (changing sheets, dusting blinds, cleaning glass doors are a few examples)

Here is a list of little extras you can provide for your clients:

If you will still have time, do a few extra things for your clients while cleaning. Most often, it is the small things that mean so much to clients.

If the clients have pets, then bring treats for their pets. Your clients would really appreciate that fact that you also care about their pets.

Bring fresh flower or gift certificate for your new clients. A nice floral arrangement only cost around $9 in your local grocery.

During special occasions like Christmas and Thanksgiving, leave a coupon for a free extra service or a discount on their next cleaning.

Always be professional in everything you do. When answering the phone, introduce your company, your name and ask for the business. Example: “Smith’s Personal Cleaning, This is Tommy, how can I help you?”
This also applies when replying to email. Be polite, friendly and professional. Always include your signature in emails.

When giving estimates to potential clients, be prepared. Always bring your business card, list of services you provide for different types of cleanings, references and your residential cleaning checklist.

Be confident. Clients love dealing with confident people. It makes them feel secured and relieves them from worries.

How Can You Really Give Your Customers What They Want
Every business has a targeted marketplace. In every marketplace, there are a lot of competitors. So what spells the difference of success and failure in any business? Why do some businesses drive customers away, while others cannot make any sales at all?

The problem is that most of us business people simply cannot comprehend the reasons why these people really need our products! We tend to think that our products already make themselves appealing to the prospective buyers by their main presence in the market. This kind of thinking tends to create a resistance from our customers- now they are looking for ways to avoid buying our product and they are getting further and further away from being sold on the prospect.

The second part of the problem is that we are constantly giving more focus on pitching for sales. We are being bombarded with pitching wherever we go; from our first breakfast radio show to the last commercial break at night- it looks like the world is trying to outdo each other in vying for customer attention. The problem is the customer is not really looking for the best product with the most advertisements.

As an example, let’s consider selling a weight loss treatment. Just how easy is it to sell weight loss program? Everyone you meet- even those who are in their ideal weight- seems to be concerned about their weight, their health and how they look. So does this mean that you need to just produce a catalogue and they’ll be handling over their credit card in no time?

Not quite. The problem is that hamburger and fried chicken are simply more appealing than a healthy alternative. So the killer pitch you have, proclaiming about the amount of nutrition in your products, how much healthier they can get and how much saving they can get on these products- is really going nowhere, because all the time, they are thinking how much better a hamburger tastes.

The good news though is that you know that your customers still has a need. In this case, they still have a problem of being overweight. So why don’t you connect to that person directly, without even mentioning that you have a product to sell. You can give them some exercises and diet ideas, as well as some healthy ways to achieve their desired bodies. Let them know that you understand their situation and you can help them. Now when they think they have already achieve the result that they want with your help, and they want to continue that weight loss path- they will give you a call for you already established yourself as an expect in the field of losing weight.

This is really simple. The reason why most people miss it is because we are all about instant gratification from online marketing. True-there are many online marketers who can just jump in and make money right away. But the best chance for an average person in this industry is to start building relationships with prospective customers-help them with problems and then selling comes next. If you will just build your business this way, you can have an incredible strong foundation for financial freedom in the future.

See: Start a cleaning service

The success of your house cleaning business is not only dependent on the quality service you provide but also on a highly exceptional customer service. Your employees might be the best in the business but you can only keep your clients if they will be satisfied with how you and your company relate with them. Your accessibility to your clients during business hours, either by telephone or email, must be guaranteed. You, or a trusted and trained representative, must reply to emails or return phone calls as soon as possible. You do not want to keep your clients waiting the whole day for an answer to a question or solution to a complaint.

You are not expected to stay by your business phone throughout the day as you have other matters to attend also. In situations like this, you should have your business calls forwarded to a cell phone so that you do not keep your clients waiting. You should also check your voicemails frequently to make quick reply to an important phone call. Failure to respond to clients who have complaints or requests could mean losing their business.

You can always expect complaints about a job that was not done properly. You keep your client by letting him know that all efforts will be exerted to correct the problem, either by sending back the employee for a re-clean or send another employee who can do a better cleaning job. This will make the client satisfied with the overall performance of your business.

In order to provide good customer service, your employees must be trained to be polite and pleasant upon arrival to the house to be cleaned. Friendly greeting must be made to the client and all members of the household. A smile for everybody in the household will always be appreciated. Your employees must know the client’s expectations on how their house is to be cleaned. A few extra services like dusting blinds or changing sheets may be included as a show of appreciation for the business the client has given the company. Those little things may mean a lot to the clients.

For new clients, appreciation can be expressed in terms of a flower arrangement or gift certificate. A $9 floral arrangement can go a long way in getting your clients happy and satisfied with your house cleaning service.

During special occasions like Thanksgiving or Christmas, a discount for the next cleaning schedule can be offered.

Being polite and professional is good customer service. Answer phones and emails professionally. Be ready with business cards and a brochure of services provided whenever you meet a potential client. Be ready also to provide references and a checklist of cleaning services that you offer.

Always project professionalism and confidence. Clients will know that their house will be in good hands.

See: How to start a cleaning business