Running promotions with discounts is arguably one of the most effective ways to bring in new customers, more revenue, or even a mix of both. All successful businesses have to consider at least running discounts on their products and services. It has been established as one of the best ways to reach a wider audience and stay on the radar of verified buyers.
Things are not much different for your cleaning business, and it’s arguably one of the businesses that have more to win from this, as your catalog of services has surely a few extra levels other than basic. You can showcase it to more people when offered at the right discount, and even offer coupons for house cleaning services. Here are some pointers to help you run a successful discount promotion at your cleaning business!
1. Define your objectives
Implementing random discounts is a one-way trip toward business failure. No matter how small your sale is going to be, you need to set a clearly defined purpose for it so that you know if it’s a success. Some of the most popular reasons are trying to gain new customers or engage existing ones, lure back old customers that haven’t bought for a while, and getting rid of excess stock.
Defining your goals will also allow you to decide effectively on how aggressive you want your tactics to be, or if your messages need more personalization. You will also be able to choose which products enter the sale, and of course, how much are you going to discount the base price.
2. Be very clear about your discounts
Throughout this whole process, you have to remember that no one likes to be misled when it comes to money. Your discount terms should always be stated clearly so that anyone can understand them and make on-the-spot decisions to contract your services. For example, if you’re advertising a 20% discount on your first three regular-basis cleanings, you better make sure that it comes out as concise and simple as possible, but still remaining an attractive and eye-catching offer.
The time frame and restrictions of your discounts are also important. Make sure that your audience will understand how and when the sale is going to end, and if it’s restricted to a certain type of client or service area (like subscribers to your newsletter or particular ZIP code, respectively). An effective call-to-action will help you with that.
3. Time it right
Discounts and offers are not going to be effective just because they’re good. You need to time them so that people find out about them right when they’re more likely to engage in them. A perfectly-timed sale or discount will give you the best engagement and ROI than one released at a random time of the year. Say that you want to offer a substantial discount on your Deep Clean services; you can throw them out at any time of the year and hope to garner enough interest, or you can wait until Spring Cleaning season when most people are compelled to have a deep clean in their house.
Also, don’t forget to use the valuable data you collect from your website to plan your future sales and discounts. If you notice a spike in interest about a particular service, you can take advantage of this and offer it for a lower price or with added benefits in the future.
4. Keep an eye on your margins
Giving out discounts all willy-nilly without minding your ROI at each step is a great way to make your business lose money. It is very important to set a rate of margin that you consider acceptable for your services to not end up losing money. Let this ratio dictate how much you’re going to shave off the top of each price.
However, if your goal is new customer acquisition, then your discounts can be a lot steeper and your tactics more aggressive. In the long run, the value of getting new lifetime customers will make up for the comparatively small cost of acquisition from your sale. In other words, getting continuous business from a customer outweighs losing a little money on their first purchase.
5. Get creative with your offers
Sometimes it pays better to just mix it up than going for the too-well-known formula. Instead of only lowering a percentage of the full price of a service, how about you offer the basic level cleaning at full price, but discount it if they upgrade to the full service? This is a good way to incentivize your customers to go for a service in a price range that they wouldn’t usually touch.
This will help you keep your margins acceptable, avoid hurting your business’ bottom line, and to keep your customers from getting bored of seeing the same old sales and discounts all the time. Keep your eye out for house cleaning coupon templates and leave them behind on the houses you visit as a way to motivate future calls.
