Save Money, Write Better for Your Business.
HandPrint Inc.
The cleaning industry…
is rife with change in the recent decade. More eyes on our businesses means more scrutiny too. But are we wasting money with our own words? Are we leaving money on the table of our clients because we can’t explain our services at a top-notch level? Are the proposals a cut and paste situation for each new deal, and is that causing problems and confusion with your staff’s delivery? The change in our industry will require these 3 main focuses to establish clear communication and deliverables.
Before we get to the 3 focuses, I wanted to share a couple of interesting studies (Verbal Identity):
1. The National Commission on Writing (surveyed 120 major American corporations) –
“Two-thirds of employees working in large companies write as part of their job. For service companies that goes up to 80%. Yet almost a third of the companies in the report said that 33% of their employees’ writing skills weren’t up to scratch.”
This is serious when discussing turnover, when a 3rd of your staff is not effective in writing the wrong messages could be sent out with the wrong meaning or intention. This also affects the business continuity of leadership positions. Imagine if a second generation of leaders is coming up with the same 33% bad writing. Now your business in heading in a downhill trajectory with communication.
2. Within the same article another killer statistic took me by surprise –
“37% of people think that their company’s process for collecting and combining feedback works well.”
This one hurts the most! To grow our company’s, we need to identify key performance indicators (KPI’s) to visualize beneficial and dangerous trends. The cool thing is that there is a plethora of data available hidden in the processes used by each of us.
So, what are the 3 main focuses to establish clear communication and deliverables?
1. Are your manuals readable to the average employee? If not, start there. For example,
“General Electric rewrote one of their software manuals. As a result, calls and letters to their customer care team dropped by 125 calls a month. This translated to a saving of $375,000 per year for every single customer.”
This is real savings, but what about the cleaning industry? The same applies to us, from what to do for HR calls and how to clean the floors for beginners. If the writing is not clear the message will be lost.
Suggestion:
looking at two items first: language barriers, and focus group work. Both inclusions can, however long it takes, will win over every employee in the long run.
2. Next, focus on the proposals. I’ve been a fan of the cut & paste method of proposals for ever. I mean it saves time, right? I sure do, but if the proposal is filled with fluff, then you risk looking like all the other contractors promising the same thing. Which puts you in a commodity market based on price. That is not the space to be in. If you say something in the proposal, be ready to back it up. Plus, and here is a warning, if you have an item in there that you forgot to take out the client might be expecting it. That could cost you.
Suggestion:
here is to have a couple of versions of proposals ready for different industries and have a one-sheet on top for you to see the deliverables in that contract (which may need to resemble the clients Request For Proposal). Just be sure to keep the Fluff on the peanut butter sandwich and not in the proposal.
3. Finally, email is the choice mode of communication in this fast-paced world. Face to face is always the best method of communication but email is the strongest current method of communication as the number of clients increases per manager. The cleaning industry’s average clients per manager is tough to nail down as processes and procedures vary wildly company to company. Back to the email concern, with emails being used primarily the two statistics from Oberlo are shocking –
“In 2022 alone,333.2 billion emails were expected to have been sent and received each day (Statista, 2021).”
AND
“Emails with personalized subject lines generate 50% higher open rates (Yes Lifecycle Marketing, 2019).”
Suggestion:
take the time to run role play games with your managers about email use. Share with them that each email is a possibility to gain trust, increase revenue, upsell, share experience, and more. Role play with written email curriculum to support our managers.
With these three tips to strengthen you cleaning company a content writer or ghost writer can help build these resources in a fraction of the time an employee can. Saving time and money to increase your bottom line.
Bibliography
Mohsin, M. (n.d.). 10 Email Marketing Stats You Need To Know In 2023 . Retrieved from Oberlo: https://www.oberlo.com/blog/email-marketing-statistics#:~:text=81%25%20of%20small%20businesses%20rely,50%20percent%20higher%20open%20rates.
Verbal Identity. (n.d.). Hard proof that better writing makes a better business. Retrieved from Verbal Identity: https://www.verbalidentity.com/hard-proof-that-better-writing-makes-a-better-business/
