How to get clients for a small cleaning business

It can be exciting and scary to start a cleaning business, and figuring out how to get clients (and keeping them) might be one of your biggest challenges. Luckily, people will always need help keeping their homes or offices spotless, and there are a number of ways you can get their attention. 

This guide will show you how to get clients for your small cleaning business by:

• Developing a marketing plan
• Creating a professional website
• Optimising your website for SEO
• Staying active on social media
• Networking at local events and networking groups
• Offering coupons and discounts
• Asking for referrals from happy clients

The first step is to create a professional website for your cleaning business. These days, it’s relatively easy to create one. 

Website builders like Wix or WordPress have a range of templates with features you can drag and drop to customise your site. Your website will sit at the heart of your marketing and PR methods, acting as a hub to which you’ll direct potential clients. 

Design your site to reflect your brand identity and taste, and include all the necessary information potential clients need to know about your cleaning services. At a minimum, list information like the area you operate in, specific details about your services, how much you charge, and so on. 

If you get good reviews from happy clients, be sure to include them as testimonials to provide social proof. 

Identifying how to get clients for a small cleaning business takes strategy and planning, so the first thing you need to do is figure out who you want to serve. Once you know that, you need to figure out what these people want from a cleaning service. 

Next, you’ll want to look into how best to reach those people, whether it’s through social media or by simply putting up flyers in your local area.

Cleaning businesses can serve many different clients, from busy families and homeowners to corporate companies and event centres. As a result, you may need different approaches to catch each clientele’s attention. 

• Google Ads: Pay to advertise your company on Google and other search engines. Your ad will pop up whenever people search for cleaning services or other terms related to your business.
• Social media ads: Similar to Google Ads, but here your ads only pop up on the social media platform you’ve chosen. If you create a business page on Facebook or Instagram, you can create ads to spread the word about your business on that platform. 
• Content marketing: This is one of the most powerful and cost-effective marketing methods you can use. By creating content where you share knowledge about all things cleaning, you prove your expertise and build trust with your audience.
• Search engine optimisation (SEO): SEO means taking steps to help a website or piece of content rank higher on search engines. Most people find information by Googling it, so mastering SEO will help you rank higher and show up in more searches. 
• Flyers and magazine ads: if your target audience is more old-fashioned, you might opt for traditional marketing methods like printing and distributing flyers in your area. You could also pay to have your business ad featured in popular cleaning and housing magazines.

While a website is key to getting customers’ attention and explaining your services, social media is great for spreading the word about your business across the internet. 

Staying active on social media platforms where your target audience tends to hang out is an excellent way to connect and engage with them. You can create videos with cleaning tips and tricks on YouTube or TikTok, share pictures of jobs on Instagram, or share cleaning tips in Facebook groups to show off your skills. 

Focus on providing value to your target audience and only share information that you think they’ll be interested in. 

Networking events and groups are excellent places to meet people and spread the word about your small cleaning business. You can mingle and make connections to hunt clients without appearing desperate. 

If networking seems scary, think of it as ‘relationship building’ where the goal is to make connections, not sales. Instead of wondering how you can get clients, focus on meeting people to get to know them personally. 

This approach opens up an authentic conversation that allows you to consider how to truly help them. If you sense they need cleaning services, mention your business and what you can do. Even if they’re not interested, they might know others with a need for your services. If you’ve already hit it off, these people will likely be happy to refer you.

Most people are reluctant to spend lots of money on a service or company they’re unfamiliar with. A good way to hook those new customers is to offer coupons for a total clean, either for free or at a lower price.

You could also include a deal for repeat clients where they get something in return for using your service. Examples of perks might be getting their tenth service for free or getting one free appointment for every ten times they use your service. 

Another way to make repeat clients feel special and encourage them to come back is to offer any repeat business at a discounted rate, taking 10-20% off the original price. 

Once you gain a few happy clients, you can introduce a referral program where you give clients special perks for referring you to their friends. This may seem daunting, but it’s an effective way to expand your client base. 

Once money starts rolling in from your expanding client base, you need a reliable and efficient system to manage payments and other financial transactions. The best method is to use modern accounting software like Countingup to make financial management easier. 

Countingup is the business current account with built-in accounting software that allows you to manage all your financial data in one place. With features like automatic expense categorisation, invoicing on the go, receipt capture tools, tax estimates, and cash flow insights, you can confidently keep on top of your business finances wherever you are. 

You can also share your bookkeeping with your accountant instantly without worrying about duplication errors, data lags or inaccuracies. Seamless, simple, and straightforward! 

Find out more here.