I have a chain that is once a month for 10 locations, they complain about the cobwebs building up, what has worked for you Luke and Reanna to convert them into a bi-weekly clean?
You ask. Kidding 
but seriously you have to ask.
I know I am not Luke or Reanna, let me ask you this question. You already made the first sale. The second, third, forth or millionth sale will be easier to make. Obviously nothing is stopping you from asking for the second sale. Why did this chain buy from you in the first place? You could also ask them these. What was their problem to begin with? Why didn’t they do this before you or years before you? Why do they care about the cobwebs so much?
It sounds silly and you are thinking “Jacob, what are you talking about? They want the cobwebs gone because X, Y and Z reasons.” Your job is to figure out those X, Y and Z reasons or the dominant buying motives. What I am going to tell you assumes you can speak to the decision maker, might be more complicated if you have an influencer who speaks on behalf of the decision maker. If this doesn’t help you with this deal it will help with others. A decision maker may not just have one reason to buy, they may have several. Let’s say a reason X is because they want to appeal more to their shareholders, and maybe reason Y they want to increase customer traffic and reason Z is because they don’t want their own crew to take care of it because their own insurance doesn’t cover window cleaning. Now let’s put this together. Its all about positioning yourself so you are solving problems and maneuvering around complaints and refocusing on the problems until they are no longer a problem.
Say person you speak to in person, over phone or email forms rebuttals such as “We are over budget.” (Money isn’t the problem, it’s the value here. Anything else that follows is mumbo jumbo, just focus on disarming the objective.) You have to trigger those motives and it will open new dialogue up then state your logic and close the deal. You might say something like “Hey I get you are overbudget, I’m with you in solving this problem for you but didn’t you want to appeal more to your shareholders?”
They might fire back with a yes or no. If they say yes, start telling them “Look to solve this problem, I suggest we move to bi weekly cleanings. However, we need to move swiftly so you can think about more important things. This is what it will cost and I will make it happen.” Then disclose the figures and close the deal.
If they say no or try to argue, restate the reason but with in an opposite manner with a confused tone of voice “So appealing to your shareholders isn’t important?” If they try to correct you, you are on the right track. Add in the other reasons to why they need to consider your service right now as well, then close the deal.
Now if they say no. Rephrase the question as “Now is it a question of price or a question of value?” Doesn’t matter what they say at this point, you respond with “To be clear, you are using me now, there are people a lot cheaper than me, why do you think people are paying me right now for my services?” After the decision maker justifies his value respond with “If I can help you with this problem, and I know I can, does it really matter how many times this is done if the problem is solved? Are you looking for a cheap price or are you looking for results?”
These are multiple variations I personally used, hopefully this helps you close the deal on the second sale. Good luck, but I’m sure you won’t need it because you will make it happen.
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Jacob,
Thank you for answering. It makes sense. I communicate with the owner through emails. They are based out of a neighboring state, which at times is frustrating. I speak mainly to his region manager and then she speaks to him, and she plays the sales lady so to speak. Yes they used to have a cleaner come Bi Weekly in the past, and I guess my decision just has to be based on helping solve their problem. Fear of the unknown and stepping out to get what you want can sometimes paralyze. Thank you Jacob
Your fear is legitimate. But it will pass when you help them see the problem regardless of the outcome that follows. You can also use the fact they had a cleaner in the past for bi weekly cleanings as leverage.
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When she complains about the cobwebs, suggest that you could clean it more frequently. I have increased a few accounts that way.
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Don’t know if this is helpful or not in your case. I have a few regulars that have issues with pests, mostly wasps but 2 in particular have bad problems with caterpillars. On the initial cleaning I charge extra to remove this along with the window cleaning. I use home defense pest spray from HD. It is fairly inexpensive and easy to use and is effective in keeping them at bay.
I am also a proponent of the value scenarios mentioned by these other cleaners. It is job security in the long run. Good Luck.
Ive removed many nests while house washing lol.
That house wash mix seems to be a good weapon lol
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Does anyone include pressure washing with a add on service?
Yes we do it’s a great add on