r/cleaningbusiness

Hello

Can anyone recommend a marketing company specializing in client acquisition systems for a residential cleaning company?

My wife and I started a short-term rental cleaning business in the Southeast. We have a growing list of clients and employees. It started as a side gig, and we communicate with the owners via text messaging and schedule the cleanings on Google Calendar. This is no longer sustainable. We don't need one with payments, as QuickBooks seems to work fine. Also, we don't necessarily need one that finds new clients as well. We are new, but it appears most in our area aren't on the larger hosts but get connected by word of mouth.

We struggle with all of the direct back-and-forth communication with the owners about scheduling.

Do you have any recommendations on CRM software?

AirBnb Owners: What have you found as a helpful way to interact with cleaning companies?

My husband and I recently started a small commercial cleaning company in the Denver area.

We’re trying to grow slowly and do quality work instead of rushing through jobs. We’re interested in offices, small businesses, Airbnb buildings, salons, and clinics.

For business owners here:

• what makes you stay with a cleaning company?
• where do you usually find reliable commercial cleaners?

We’re still new, so honest advice would really help.

So I've recently started my own solo cleaning business, and I've had a couple of clients who I done end of lease cleaning for, (which I underpriced, and they both took longer than I thought they would've) so I've tried to make sure I don't do that again, and I make sure to do a walk through of the property first, because a few months ago I did a clean for this lady through airtasker, who sent me pictures of the property and it was not accurate to the state of her house when I went there in person.

Anyway, I've had a few clients ask for a quote, but it's like as soon as I give them a rough estimate of what it would cost, and/or tell them that I would have to do a walk through to give the most accurate quote, they have just ghosted me.

It's kind of disheartening because Ive joined a bunch of cleaning business groups, I follow cleaning business advice pages on pretty much every platform I have, and the one consistent thing that everyone says is to not under charge, that they made mistakes doing that in the beginning and it really affected them financially, or that they didn't do that and that's what has set the tone for their successful business. I've also researched what's the appropriate amount to charge for cleaning in my local area and implemented that in my pricing which I thought was fair.. But I'm not really getting any clients and as I said, the ones who have reached out have just ghosted me after the fact..

Is this normal? Is this just part of the process when you're starting out? Do I need to just lower my prices to gain clients? I feel like I'm not a very outgoing person either, and I am still quite new to the area I'm in so it's hard to try and network and get the word out there for my business. Maybe that could be why I'm not reaching the right kind of clients? Idk, I just feel stuck. I'm also a mum of 4 so it's been so hard to try and put everything into this business and not gaining any regular clients just feels like the biggest hurdle right now. Any insight and/or advice would be helpful

Hi all, I’m new-ish to town and have decided I can no longer keep up with my home. We have 2 kids and I wfh 3 days a week, but tbh those days I’m more busy than when in the office! I can’t seem to keep my home clean to my standards anymore. Once the kids are home there’s no way to juggle it all. Does anyone have a cleaning company they could recommend that they trust and goes above and beyond? I’m a little picky, lol.

Vote in the poll and feel free to explain your answer in the comments. Let's see what most cleaning companies are struggling with right now.

View Poll

So I did a commercial cleaning walk through, medical 4500 sqft or so, lobby, 2 restrooms, several patient rooms 2 offices or so, all hard floors lvp, tile etc. Basic services high touch points, floors restrooms, no supplies just chemicals, 3 x a week 1500 a month and 5 x 2200. Is that to low? Texas. Any thoughts thinking 2.5hrs to 3 a night. Not sure.

hi guys! i am planning to do a cleaning business and i don’t have much experience.. it would be nice to hear from of you guys that are experienced in this business and would love to hear your tips and suggestions:)

I saw a really cool post a few weeks ago where he said he created a sustainable business cleaning empty houses. If anyone understands the market, I'd like to ask some questions about whether this business works in Brazil. The way he said he prospected was by calling real estate agents. I tested this here in Brazil, and all the agents I spoke to said that this was the tenant's or landlord's responsibility. I'd like to know from you: who are the right people to prospect? Is it different in the US than in Brazil?

What's the best CRM to utilize for a commercial cleaning business to help get leads as well?

Hi everyone, I’m planning to start a small residential cleaning company in Ottawa using independent cleaners. I’ll handle clients and booking, and cleaners will take jobs per visit. Looking for advice on insurance, liability, pricing, finding reliable cleaners, and any common mistakes to avoid when starting out. Thanks.

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What happens when your Google Ads finally start working… and now you can’t answer all the calls?

What happens when leads start coming in at 11 PM but nobody follows up until the next morning and now the customer already hired somebody else?

What happens when you’re busy actually RUNNING the business and suddenly:

- reviews stop getting answered

- estimates don’t get followed up on

- missed calls get forgotten

- employees stop communicating correctly

- your pipeline gets messy

- money starts leaking everywhere

Because honestly this is the part nobody talks about enough.

Everybody screams:

“Get more leads.”

“Run more ads.”

“Scale.”

Cool. Then what?

Can you actually HANDLE the growth once it comes?

Because half the time local businesses don’t actually have a marketing problem. They have a systems problem.

Too many business owners are trying to duct tape together:

- ads

- texting

- follow up

- calendars

- pipelines

- reviews

- CRMs

- automation

- customer communication

while also trying to run payroll, employees, customers and daily operations.

Honestly I think this is where a lot of small businesses struggle once growth starts happening.

Everybody talks about getting leads. Almost nobody talks about building systems that can actually support the growth once it arrives.

Not just to “run ads.”

To help simplify the entire flow so business owners stop losing money AFTER the lead comes in.

Faster follow up.

Better organization.

Missed call text back.

Automation.

Lead tracking.

Pipeline management.

Customer communication.

Systems that actually work together instead of fighting each other.

Because growth sounds great until your business starts outgrowing your ability to manage it manually.

Hi everyone, I’m planning to start a small residential cleaning company in Ottawa using independent cleaners (not payroll). I’ll handle clients and booking, and cleaners will take jobs per visit. Looking for advice on insurance, liability, pricing, finding reliable cleaners, and any common mistakes to avoid when starting out. Thanks.

I want to start a remote cleaning business and want to invest in mentorship. Save the “it’s an online guru scam” thing. Reality is that there are valuable mentorship programs and courses out there. But if I’m curious to hear from people who’ve actually invested in these.

I’ve seen these guys:

Michael Haeri - Growth Cleaning
Jaden Un - RCU
Parker Jay Smith - Home service experts
Johnny & Sergio - remote cleaning academy

Not being paid rn for this. Genuinely curious to hear different opinions on people who’ve invested in these programs or something similar/better?

Thanks!

Hi all!

Sorry if this has been answered before, but what is better to focus on business wise, commercial or residential clients? I was recently laid off from my corporate job and figured I’d give this a shot since I had the idea of starting awhile back but only got as far as buying a domain name and setting up a website (still need to update a few things on the website).

But I’m torn between focusing on commercial or residential clients. Personally, I feel like commercial clients will be better for recurring and likely won’t nitpick after cleans.

What are your opinions?

Also, any other advice in general with this will be greatly appreciated! Not sure if it’s possible or too optimistic, but I’d like to get this month.

Thanks in advance!

Hey I’m wondering how to price windows. 2 friends and I are planning to start a summer window cleaning business. I was also wondering what gear would be needed since only a limited time thing.

A few months ago, a customer slid into my DMs interested in my services I sell. Then she visited my website and came back with this:

"It looks like you put everything together in a rush to scam people off their money."

I had built it myself, thought something was better than nothing. That one message made me wonder, how many others visited and never came back?

I eventually hired a professional and rebuilt it properly. Since then I've come to believe that if you can't do it right, don't have one at all. A bad website gives the wrong impression and costs you customers silently.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Do you think no website is better than a poorly built one?

I've only been in the cleaning world a few years doing mostly post-construction and handover work with the crew at One X Done, but I swear there's so much stuff nobody tells you when starting out 😭

Things like:

- some jobs that sound "small" somehow consume your entire day

- builder dust is basically a living organism

- good clients are worth way more than underpricing everything

- half the job is managing expectations, not just cleaning

- your body notices every bad vacuum and mop choice eventually

Curious what the veterans here learned the hard way because I feel like this industry has a million little lessons nobody talks about until you experience them yourself.

How are you guys handling it when a client says something wasn't cleaned?

I've been talking to a few owners and it sounds like everyone has a different system.. some take photos on their phone, some have supervisors do walk-throughs, some just eat it and re-clean. A few have lost accounts over a single complaint they couldn't push back on.

Curious what's actually working for people here:

• Do you document every job, or only "problem accounts"?
• Photos? Checklists? Signatures?
• Has it ever saved you from losing a contract?
• What's the biggest pain with how you do it now?