Highly Profitable Accounts Are A Mixed Bag

How in the world can I say HIGHLY profitable cleaning accounts aren’t great – period?

How could making more money on a job be anything other than good, no – great news?!

Ok, well, let me explain by asking a series of questions.

First, do you think anyone else would like to get your highly profitable accounts?

Yep, your competition is no doubt lurking close by ‘licking their chops’ and would like nothing better than to swoop in and grab your best jobs.

Second, do you think those competitors are sitting back quietly or do you think they are bombarding your best clients with sales materials and phone calls – asking to submit a cleaning bid ASAP?

Yeah, you know the answer – they’re probably falling all over themselves, lining up, asking to bid at many of your accounts, all the time.

I know many of our customers were approached every week by janitorial companies asking to bid on the cleaning.

Third, in the world we compete in today, do you think the bids come in more often on the high side or the low, often ridiculously low, side?

Yeah, if your city is anything like ours here in Ohio, bids come in offering monthly prices that are lean and mean – and that’s putting it kindly.

Finally Fourth, are your business customers feeling footloose  and fancy free, or under enormous pressure to cut costs and save money?

Ok, I’m not even going to answer this one, because you already know the answer.

So, now can you understand why I suggest highly profitable accounts are a mixed bag?

That’s right, on one hand, I love having the account and I’m certainly glad it’s profitable, but what I don’t love is the vulnerability it exposes me to in a competitive marketplace.

You don’t want to live in the ILLUSION that simply because  you deliver reliable, quality cleaning that – things couldn’t change!

No, I know better… maybe you do too.

So, what do you do?

Well, I wouldn’t go dropping all my prices by 50% on my profitable accounts anytime soon simply because I’m feeling vulnerable, but here’s what I do think…

We tried to keep our prices in the ‘upper range’ of competitive.

That’s right, we aimed to be among the higher priced bids of those considered ‘competitive’.

Now, there are exceptions to this ‘shoot for the high side of middle’ pricing strategy.

For example, if your cleaning company offers unparalleled services in either a quality or personal attention – unlike any of your competitors then by all means price accordingly.

In this, best of all cases, scenario, you can demand higher premium prices because you’re delivering a premium service recognized as superior.

However, in many cases, you can find yourself competitively bidding to land an account where the prospect knows what they want- and what they want is a reasonable price from a reputable cleaning company for what is essentially standard cleaning services.

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

To summarize, we don’t aim to be the lowest price.

Never have, never will, but that doesn’t mean we’re not aware of the realities of our marketplace.

In the end, you want everyone to win: You, your  customers and your employees!

Discover the Guru in YOU,
Dan