Using the Phone as a Filter

I'm not sharing as many of my own solo cleaning business updates as my own personal goals are beginning to shift. I am following my own ISO Model System. I am almost through the Stabilizer Phase of the plan, which focuses on growth and earning enough profit and experience to remove ALL financial stress from your family. In 2021, I'll be optimizing my company to $6,000 per month profit on 2 cleaning days per week without employees. Here are a few updates from the past week.

One of my new 2020 clients hired me to replace an amateur cleaner during the pandemic for peace of mind and optics with their staff and clients. They hired me at $800 per month with the intention of dropping to my 3rd proposal price option of $650 per month. Well, they just dropped it for January as they still don't have their full staff back in the office. Plus, I spent the second half of 2020 deep cleaning, disinfecting, and maintaining this office. They are very happy and I am glad to drop the price to serve the company and owner! It builds trust and I'm more concerned with the long-term. 

In "How to Do a COVID Clean", I shared my strategy for cleaning a house or office after a positive test. Well, that was put to the test recently. One of my clients (a vet hospital) had a positive test of a vet tech. I changed my cleaning for that week and focused on deep cleaning & disinfecting the high-touch points around the hospital. They were very thankful that I offer this service. I only charged them $100 extra as well.

Before I get to the meat of this episode, here are a few more updates. I met with my good friend and client, Dennis Gehman for breakfast this week. Dennis is the founder and owner of Gehman Design Remodeling in Harleysville, PA. Dennis is a Master Builder (like a real one, not the Lego Movie) and his company is a home design & remodeling leader in Montgomery & Bucks Counties of Pennsylvania. It's always great to connect with Dennis. He is like a dad to me and always has wise counsel on being a better dad, leader, and business owner. I so appreciate our time together. I also checked in with Matt & Laura this week. They were the perfect new house cleaning client from "An Optimizer's Website". However, I found out sad news from Matt this week and pray that things will get better with their family. In the meantime, they cannot add cleaning to their to-do list. I added Matt to my newsletter so he could stay informed on cleaning tips I send out twice per month.

Matt was a great example of my ISO Model strategy to "Use the Phone as a Filter" He was filtered in. I did an estimate in-person, sent the proposal, and should have added them as a high-paying, excellent client. Obviously, something came up that derailed this plan and that's okay. I wanted to share with you another phone call. This one was filtered out. When I say to use the phone as a filter, I mean to filter in and filter out. Both are strategic and both are helpful. You want a specific client that makes it through your filter. A woman called me on Friday afternoon, wanting to hire a cleaning service to prep their house for sale in 5 days. I said, "That's pretty short notice. Most cleaning companies need more time, but I'll check my calendar." Then I followed up as I sensed she didn't know anything about me. "How did you find me again?" "Google." Did you check out my website?" "No, I have you on a list to call and you're number 6 on the list." I thanked her for her honesty and said this. "I am a real estate cleaning specialist. I've worked with realtors and stagers for close to 20 years in selling their homes for more. I also teach this to other cleaning companies. I want to be upfront with you. My prices will probably be the highest on your list of 6 because of my experience. I wanted to let you know as I sense you may be looking for the best deal." She agreed. "Thank you for telling me that upfront. I'll call someone else." This is the wrong client now and in the future for me. In my experience, someone calling down a list of cleaners is looking for the cheapest cleaner. I will NEVER be that and I'm not afraid to share it. In fact, I have to share it. It saves them time and it saves me time. I want a client that finds me or I was referred to them. Then they research me, read my website, gain trust and realize that I'm a high-end cleaning service that probably costs more than the average. When they call me, they expect to hear higher prices. In fact, if I have low prices it will confuse them and they'll lose trust. Interesting right? Think about that! Anyway, my filter worked!