As you know, the holiday season can be a frustrating time to run a residential cleaning business. You have to schedule around holidays, add extra services for customers hosting events, and manage employee vacation time. Not to mention all the end-of-year administrative tasks that are more than enough to keep you on your toes.
With a little planning, you can set yourself up for success this holiday season. Here are 5 ways that you can nail down your schedule early, and bring in a little extra revenue before year’s end.
- Review and Set Your Holiday Calendar
Make a master calendar for the month of December, marking all the major holidays: Hannukah, Christmas, etc. You are likely to need to make sure you reschedule cleaning appointments that fall on major holidays. Then, make sure you know who of your cleaners are available for the remaining days. You can utilize MaidEasy software to create this master calendar for scheduling.
Failing to reach out early to clients who have scheduled cleanings during those weeks may result in more requests to skip services. Calling on those customers now to reschedule their appointments can mean the difference between losing several days of income and ending the year strong.
- Contact Clients Early
Now that you have your calendar set, contact your clients to discuss their holiday plans. You will want to reschedule their cleaning services as soon as possible, let customers know that your holiday schedule fills up quickly.
Make a plan for if you will call them directly or email a form they can fill out at their convenience. Ask about whether they plan to travel during the holidays, if they’ll be hosting events in their home, and about any specific service requests they have.
If a customer is hosting an event, you can offer to change their regular appointment so their house will be clean for their guests.
- Offer Seasonal Cleaning Services
So many people have long to-do lists to get ready for the holidays. Why not offer special seasonal services to help take care of some of these items. Here are some ideas for additional services to offer along with regular cleanings: extra cleanings around events, window washing, carpet deep cleaning, power washing, light-fixture cleaning, ultrasonic blind cleaning, or appliance cleaning, to name a few.
- Look for the Upsell when Cleaning
Train your cleaning personnel to be on the lookout for areas in your clients’ homes that might provide an opportunity for an upsell. This provides important opportunities to solve real problems for your customers.
- Post-Holiday Cleanup
After the parties and festivities, clients may need some additional help to clean up. When contacting them about the holiday schedule, remind clients that you are there to help with post-holiday cleanup, too.
This is a great opportunity to upsell additional services such as carpet and upholstery cleaning can take care of stains from Christmas dinner, a mattress cleaning after guests have stayed in the spare bedroom, and garage organizing to restore order as holiday decorations are put away.
Discuss these services before the holidays so you can make the necessary adjustments to your schedules. Homeowners who return to a normal work schedule immediately after the holidays will appreciate knowing that these tasks will be handled.
Let us help streamline your business
Your customers depend on you to keep their homes clean year-round. Their needs may increase or shift during the holidays. Let MaidEasy take the guesswork out of running the business so that you can focus on serving your customer’s needs. Contact us today to set up a free trial in 4 easy steps!
