It’s time to set your sights on the future. Start with setting some achievable cleaning company goals that will jump-start your business!
A few months into this year and things are already looking up. With the United States doubling-down on its COVID-19 fight and some places and businesses starting to reopen or expand their services after pandemic shutdowns, many company leaders see this year as one of rebuilding—a task that can be daunting if you don’t have a clear set of cleaning company goals you expect to achieve.
It’s pretty standard for janitorial business owners to set annual goals for the company as well as individual employees, but this year will be different for everyone. With so many offices and other work sites shutting down because of COVID-19 concerns, many cleaning businesses faced pandemic-related challenges, both financial and otherwise. Whether that meant a reduction in clients and revenue or a complete shutdown, the effects are likely rippling into 2021. On the flip side, many cleaning companies thrived in 2020 adding new targeted disinfection services which lead to another challenge in planning. Will the growth subside or continue?
With a diversion from the ordinary course of business as big as the pandemic was, it’s understandable if you’re having trouble nailing down your 2021 goals. To help you get started, here are some cleaning company goals we think will be a good foundation for your planning and getting your revenue back on track as quickly as possible.
Store your company goals and track against them regularly with Janitorial Manager. Contact us for a free demo to find out more about how we can help you restore your business to where it was and grow it even further from there!
8 Cleaning company goals to help you move successfully into the future
1. Return to early 2020 revenue
Most businesses understandably hope to return to past revenue levels, using the first two months of 2020 and late 2019 as benchmarks. Depending on the kinds of jobs you usually take, your cleaning company may not have seen a massive drop in revenue, but it’s still likely that you saw some drop-off. So topping the list of cleaning company goals for this year is to get back to where you were so you can focus on growth. This goal requires several sub-goals, but as the world slowly opens back up, the hope is that it will be increasingly more achievable. Start with targeting 25% of your Q1 2020 revenue with plans to increase 25% each quarter until you’re back on track by the end of the year.
2. Enhance marketing activity
How are you going to get back to that material revenue? A big push in marketing will help. Invest as much as seems reasonable in your usual marketing channels, from social media to direct mailings, and offer incentives to new customers and customers who may have reduced their spending in 2020. With so many businesses scrambling to get back to normal, marketing is perhaps more critical now than ever in securing new business and growing your existing business.
3. Double-down on leads
Part of your marketing efforts should focus on developing new leads—ideally double what you’d typically pull down in a month. While that’s a significant increase and probably not sustainable forever, doing so will open more opportunities in the short-term, making it more likely that you’ll get back to pre-COVID revenue levels sooner than later.
4. Engage with your community
Communities across the world have changed in the wake of COVID-19. Many businesses that continued to operate during the pandemic had fewer resources to invest in community engagement, which probably didn’t matter much in 2020. Still, it’ll be a game-changer in 2021. Reach out on social media, attend community and network events, and show folks how much you care. Now more than ever, this will go a long way as one of your cleaning company goals for the year to come.
5. Expand into new markets
Another way to get the money rolling in again is to expand into other markets. With so much of the world operating virtually these days, there may be more opportunities than before to reach people outside the current geographic area you serve. Just make sure that your cleaning staff is equipped and able to travel farther distances and that you’re not spending more than you’re making by reaching into new territories.
6. Strengthen existing relationships
One of your cleaning company goals that’s helpful anytime is to nurture relationships with current customers, especially those who had to pull back a bit in 2020. Remember that most cutbacks last year were COVID-related (at least as far as cleaning services go), so now is a good time to re-engage those customers and start planning for their return to work if they haven’t done so already.
You might also take this time to reevaluate your customer service and support. A customer-centric focus can do wonders for revenue, especially after a year that wasn’t just taxing financially, but emotionally as well.
7. Extra time on the upsell
Training any relevant employees on upselling offerings, techniques, and skills is another place to spend some time in 2021. Business will return slowly, but you can help speed it up by ensuring that your teams don’t miss any upsell opportunities. Customers may be hesitant, though, depending on their own financial circumstances, so be sure to strike the right balance between offering solutions and pushing something on them they can’t afford.
8. Demonstrate COVID-19 expertise
Making new and existing customers feel safe as we continue to navigate the pandemic and beyond will be a big part of regrowing your business and setting cleaning company goals in 2021. Clearly demonstrate how your cleaning company goals include expertise in battling COVID-19 on their worksites. Put a clear note on the top of your website with a link. Highlight your COVID-readiness in new bids and when reconnecting with customers. Making sure that people know about your ability to clean while COVID-19 still lingers will not only give customers a greater sense of security, but will also help you to beat out any competition that hasn’t put such a focus on their post-pandemic strategies and offerings.
We know how important it is to keep your business running. But even as you work toward these goals, remember that this is all going to take time. As much as it would be nice if we could snap our fingers and get the world functioning again, we all have to be patient with ourselves and our business.
Use Janitorial Manager to reconnect with dormant customers, track leads on new customers, enhance your marketing strategies, and so much more. Check out a free demo to see these features and many more!