How to get more cleaning clients
Cleaning is a trust business more than almost any other. You are in someone's home, often on your own, sometimes with their keys. Getting more clients is mostly about making that trust easy to give, and then keeping the clients you win for years.
Make trust easy to give
Show what a careful customer wants to know before letting you in: your name and a photo, whether you have public liability insurance, whether you hold a DBS check, how you look after keys, and whether the same person comes each time. Only list what is true, and put it on your website and Google profile where people can see it before they ring.
Individuals can apply for a basic DBS check themselves. If you have one, say so. It answers a question many clients want to ask but feel awkward raising.
Turn one-off cleans into regular ones
A business built on one-off deep cleans has to find new customers every week. A business built on regular weekly or fortnightly clients knows what next month looks like. After a deep clean, when the house looks its best, offer to keep it that way with a regular slot.
Regular clients are worth far more over a year than any single clean, so it is worth making it easy: a fixed day, a fixed person and a simple way to skip a week when they are away.
Group your clients by area
Travel time is unpaid time. When you have a client in a street, ask them if neighbours might want a cleaner, and offer slots on the days you are already there. A round of clients close together is more profitable than the same number spread across a town.
End-of-tenancy work and letting agents
Tenants moving out want their deposit back, and letting agents need homes cleaned between tenancies, often at short notice. Introduce yourself to local agents with a clear price list, photos of finished cleans and a promise you can keep about how quickly you can turn a property round.
Be reliable on the first few jobs and agents will keep calling. Turnaround cleans also lead to regular clients when the new tenants move in.
Commercial cleaning is a different sale
Offices, shops and surgeries usually want out-of-hours cleaning, written agreements and proof of insurance. Many already have a contractor, so the sale is often slow: leave your details, ask when their contract comes up, and follow up then. If you want commercial work, give it its own page on your website, separate from domestic.
Make booking simple
Say which areas you cover, which days you have free, what a regular clean includes compared with a deep clean, and whether you bring your own products. A short form asking for postcode, size of home and how often they want a clean gives you what you need to quote and saves a long phone call.
Reviews and referrals
Regular clients are the best source of new ones. Ask them for a Google review once they have had a few cleans, and ask whether friends or family need a cleaner. A recommendation from someone they know beats any advert.
Common questions
- Do I need insurance to be a cleaner?
- Public liability insurance is not a legal requirement for a sole trader, but most clients expect it and many will ask. If you employ people, employers' liability insurance is usually a legal requirement.
- Can I get a DBS check myself?
- Yes. Individuals can apply for a basic DBS check themselves, which you can then mention to clients.
- Should cleaners put prices on their website?
- A guide helps people decide whether to get in touch: an hourly rate, or a starting price for a regular clean. It saves time on enquiries that were never going to suit you.
If you would rather somebody just did it
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