When I started off I was asked to do some job retirement flats the job was way above my skill set at the time wouldn’t have had a clue how to price it let alone do it , had no idea what rams was either , that was a long time ago . Most of the commercial work we got years ago was by me going and speaking to the appropriate person and pursuing it and finding out what they would expect of us to get there custom , such things as H &S qualifications, iso 9001 , crb checks on staff ,safe contractor etc , I would never have got any of theses jobs by going to a phone canvasser , now the work comes to us we haven’t gone out looking for work for over 15 years we get asked to quote this type of building because we are well known for doing this work for others ,this isn’t boasting it’s just telling it as it is , if you want decent commercial ones need ti get out there and sell themselves meet and greet the customers sell your services ti them , no phone canvassing can do that for you . It might get you some domestic but again phone canvassing cannot see what the building is like ie access , parking, and a host of other things si a lot of the leads you get will be a waist of time as they are probably jobs others don’t want or they would already have a cleaner , each to there own but from first hand experience the way to get quality work is get it yourself.
No canvasser will get you into doors that you cannot get into better yourself , trust me on that one we are approved contractors to a number of very large multi national companies , the reason they like and use us is because we do a good job and if there is any issues they speak to me and it’s sorted straight away .
All that you have said is, I’m sure, true, but I don’t think you understand the niche that this type of lead generation works for.
I’m not interested in huge blocks of flats or skyscrapers or big corporate headquarters etc. That type of commercial is way beyond my capacity (at the moment) and the approach would be completely different.
We’re talking here about smallish offices (Eg accountants, solicitors), pubs, hotels, maybe the odd nursing home, factories on industrial estates.
Places that are definitely not managed by a facilities management company, and don’t even have a dedicated facilities manager on staff.
Places like this:
Or this
You call up a place like that, and the receptionist will say something like “ah yes the person you need to speak to is Michelle, she’s not in today but will be back on Thursday”
Now Michelle, is probably an office manager in addition to other roles like accounting or answering the phone. She’ll be in charge of everything from cleaning to re-ordering the coffee when it gets low. She isn’t interested in risk assessments or method statements, she just wants someone to do the job efficiently so that people aren’t moaning at her about it.
She doesn’t even really care about the cost (within reason). If you cost 2x what the current company charges but she doesn’t have to do anything more (such as phone up complaining) then it’s all good from her point of view.
So you speak to Michelle, (if you remember) ask if you can come and quote for window cleaning. She’s reasonably likely to say yes, by all means come and quote if you like. If nothing else it will be a way that she can see if they’re paying about the right amount.
If they’re unhappy with the current guy for any reason (like he insists on being paid in cash) then she’ll definitely say yes.
So you make an appointment and that’s it. Charm Michelle (by which I mean, just act like a normal chatty person not a Neanderthal) and you’ve probably got the job.
I don’t have the time to do all that except the actual quote, so paying becci £16 to do it is well worth it.
It’s that simple.
