2 Reasons NOT to Buy Janitorial Accounts
I’ve mentioned before that you can get both paid and free contact ‘leads’ using Google (free) and mailing list companies (paid).
2 other ways (and I think they’re are both ineffective) are:
1. Buying accounts from companies that establish, and then resell, janitorial accounts.
Beginning entrepreneurs need to understand the financial implications of getting an account. To prosper and grow your business, when all is said and done, you only want profitable accounts. Having just “any” account is pointless, you need profitable ones!
When you purchase accounts, the company really doesn’t care if you make a living off those accounts, they are simply in business to SELL YOU AN ACCOUNT. If you make money great, if not… they are long gone!
If you want an unending list of horror stories, just Google ‘Janitorial Franchise Complaints’. The results will make your head spin.
2. Another type of businesses that claim they will help you get accounts are “appointment getting” firms. They claim that they will line up the appointments and all you need to do is make a proposal and get the contract. The concept makes sense. Professional telemarketers call around and all you do is meet the prospect and give bids. Once again… it’s not that simple.
These appointment setting companies call around trying to to find companies that wouldn’t mind having a competing cleaning company price the cost of cleaning their facility. The problem here is these people ARE NOT YOUR IDEAL MARKET.
The companies that say “yes” to appointment setters are simply PRICE SHOPPERS. They are out for the lowest bid in many cases. (Several years ago a friend of mine went on a tour of a prospective account. As he prepared to leave some literature about his company, he noted that the many testimonials included would let the potential client know that his company did work of consistent quality. The client’s reply, “I don’t care about quality, I just want it cheap!”)
Getting an account like that will do you no good even if you could make some money. This is because you don’t want accounts with slim margins, you want ones with the fattest margins’ possible.
In a nutshell, your ideal prospect is a person or company that is thinking about changing their cleaning company because they are unhappy with their present cleaners, NOT ONE that is just comparison shopping. And this is why appointment setting companies don’t work!
You can’t buy good, profitable accounts. You earn them by doing good work, building relationships, and establishing a reputation.
