Staying competitive means knowing what your competitors are up to. Check out these cleaning industry trends that can help to boost your business.
One of the challenges of owning any business is staying on top of current and emerging trends. It’s no longer enough to have updated your company software three years ago or to rely on longstanding (though sometimes dated) practices to remain profitable. If you plan to sustain and grow your cleaning business, you have to know at least some of the popular cleaning industry trends that are active right now.
You might be thinking, “I know my business, I’m not interested in trends.” But it’s important to remember that trends aren’t the same as fads. They come and go, yes, but more often than not, they refrain from being gimmicky or superficial. In fact, cleaning industry trends often give you a better understanding of the market as well as insight into how you need to adjust your business model to remain competitive.
And even if you don’t participate in any trends, you might find them helpful for future planning, brainstorming, and most importantly, connecting with your customers.
Make checklists and track your progress with Janitorial Manager. Schedule a free demo right now to find out more!
10 Innovative Trends for Today
All that said cleaning industry trends don’t tend to change a whole lot from year to year, but there are some recently identified trends that might be useful to know about. And of course, the trends that have been emerging for the last four or five years can mean the difference between growing your business or closing your doors.
These ten cleaning industry trends could prove helpful when you think about the best way to approach your business now and in the years to come.
1. Green cleaning
While eco-friendly services aren’t a new trend, they make up an important one that could make or break your business in the years to come. Customers and employees are more aware now than ever before about the potential health risks posed by some traditional cleaning products. With health so high on the priority list, offering green cleaning services is a trend all janitorial service companies should invest in.
2. Low maintenance equipment
Business owners always want to get more for less. That can be a challenge with cleaning equipment that’s susceptible to breaking down. When you purchase new equipment, do your research; find the most reliable tools that require the least maintenance and cost the least to repair. You can’t stop machines from breaking, but you can minimize their impact on your bank account.
3. Specialized services
Carpet cleaning, HVAC cleaning, and other value-added services mean more business from existing customers. People want one-stop shopping, so the more services you can offer them at affordable rates, the more revenue you’ll generate from existing accounts.
4. Janitorial CRM software
Products like Janitorial Manager’s cloud-based work management system can help you streamline workflow, keep more accurate inventories, schedule appointments and more. With manual and automated reporting options and a variety of metrics available, working without this kind of software will surely set you back in the years to come, if not now.
5. Automated administrative services
Cloud-based software can automate payroll, HR data, and other administrative burdens. Minimizing the administrative heavy lifting you have will save both time and money almost immediately.
Make checklists and track your progress with Janitorial Manager. Schedule a free demo right now to find out more!
6. Better hiring and training practices
Commercial cleaners lose an estimated 55% of their customers because of inadequate cleaning practices. The solution? Hire better, train better. It’s easy to want to rush on filling open roles and getting employees onto job sites, but it’s not worth losing nearly half of your business over. Invest the time and money and you’ll see the returns you’re looking for.
7. Focusing on account retention
Related to the cleaning industry trends of improving hiring and training is a renewed focus on account retention. Again, 55% is a significant number of customers to lose. Even cutting that number in half does wonders for annual revenue. Find out what your customers want (besides clean worksites) and do all you can to provide it.
8. Social media marketing
Once thought relatively useless for commercial cleaners, platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn have become pivotal to cleaning business marketing practices. If you’re not already using social media to connect with people, start today.
9. Expanding territories
Further geographical reach may not be possible for everyone, but many businesses are starting to look for regional and even national accounts to add to their bulk business. If this is within your power, you might want to look into doing it.
10. Giving back to the community
Volunteer days, charitable donations, and sponsoring local community groups are all ways to show the public—and your customer base—that you care about the world around you, and that you want your business to be an active part of making that world a better place.
If there’s one thing most of these cleaning industry trends have in common, it’s that they can help your business save money and grow. Put a few of them into practice and you just might have to get a bigger bank account.