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Forget lowering your prices
Competing on price by dropping your rates is the quintessential definition of a lose-lose situation.
Decreasing the money coming in from your services means that the cleaners and the company will be stretched thin, leading to a decrease in quality.
Another thing about reducing prices is that this practice damages the battleground that you and your competition share. Companies who take part in this upside-down world of one-upping end up in a virtual race to last place.
An issue that happens when you lower prices, is that you set an undesirable dynamic with your cleaning clients. These sorts of reductions show them that your services are not good enough to deserve your full-price and you have the wiggle room to decrease them.
“Your offer is what increases the perceived value of your service.” – Carrie Knight
Consider this: Figure out how much you are worth by setting up your prices for profit, and keeping them that way.
Don’t use discounts or coupons
Now your face is probably like:
Discounts and coupons are just another way of lowering your prices temporarily.
As we discussed in the last section, this is no way to increase the profitability of your home cleaning business.
Think like a consumer: when you hold the client role, are you eager to pay more for something the second time you buy?
Probably not.
If you get something at a certain price one time, you expect it to be the same or possibly less the next time (if you are making a deal for a more long-term arrangement).
Rather than providing mark-downs, focus on bringing up your value.
This tactic will show cleaning clients that your maid service has standards; that you – and the client – are worth it.
So, what does that leave us with?
Offer something entirely irresistible
Provide something to your cleaning clients that they can have regardless of purchase.
That’s right, give a gift everyone loves, the kind with no takesies backsies.
A free gift might seem more damaging than a discount at first thought, but nothing will push sales as well as something complimentary.
This strategy, when well used, has been known to be extremely successful.
Many money-making phone companies give away phones with the purchase or extension of a contract.
It’s not just phone companies that benefit from this game plan though.
Many hotels will often come equipped with things like a free gym, free happy hour, free wifi, etc. in order to keep their rates at a certain level.
Doing these things, like providing a free service or gift, represents nothing in the grand scheme of things.
Plus, they make clients happy, and you always want your cleaning clients to feel this way with you.
Think about some things around the home that people hate to clean, or seem like a big chore.
If you’re stuck, here are some ideas:
“No matter what you decide, the customer should feel like they won.” – Carrie Knight
This article is based on a presentation given by Carrie Knight at the 2019 Maid Summit. The summit was hosted and organized by ZenMaid.
About the presenter
Carrie Knight is the owner of Maid Brigade, a home cleaning business in Tampa Bay.
Carrie is doing really well in the cleaning industry these days, but success didn’t come by her easily.
Before she rose to her current status, Carrie went through some things. She had some economy pains, employees stealing from her, and she even went broke.
All this was rough, but she didn’t let go of her dream.
Instead, Carrie doubled down on herself and her abilities to improve her home cleaning business.
With a lot of drive, Carrie bossed up and came through for herself.
She was able to turn her business around, so much so that she now goes by ‘The Cleaning Boss’.
This talk first aired at the 2019 Maid Service Success Summit.
The Maid Summit is an annual online event that brings together the most successful leaders in the cleaning industry, like Debbie Sardone, Angela Brown, Courtney Wisely, Amy Caris, Chris Schwab and more. Get free access to masterclasses and workshops that will help you to grow, scale and automate your cleaning business so you can get more leads and create more profit. Make sure you’re on our email list to find out how to get free tickets to the next event.
Find more articles to help you grow your maid service on ZenMaid Magazine:
- 7 Must-Know Safety Tips for Your Cleaning Business (That Most Owners Miss)
- The Top 20 Cleaning Business Experts to Follow in 2025
- ZenMaid Year in Review: 2024 Was Pretty Amazing
- The Best Holiday Gift Guide for Your Cleaning Staff
- How This Single Mom Built a Six-Figure Home Services Business with ZenMaid
