When was the last time a business sent you a great big "thank you for your business?" If you can't remember, then it wasn't very memorable. As much as we don't want to think of our maid service doing actual house cleaning marketing when they say thank you, that's exactly what it is. Let's face it, as a business you want to retain as many long-term clients as possible, otherwise you're constantly building new relationships.
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The Christmas holiday season is the traditional time of the year when we reach out to family, friends and associates to acknowledge their presence in our life. So it's the perfect time for businesses to tell their customers how much they are appreciated. But don't just plan to address your current customers; pull out your entire list of past, present and "maybe" customers. Your "maybe" customers are those prospects who asked for an estimate, but never scheduled a service.
You may be wondering why you should address the "maybe" customers. Well - if you're planning to use the traditional methods of thanking your customers for their business, this might not be a good idea. That's because most traditional marketing uses wording such as:
- Thank you for letting us service your residence
- Thank you for trusting us to serve you
- Thank you for your continued loyalty
- etc.
That's fine for your current customers, but your investment in house cleaning marketing should include a way to increase your business reach. What if you could send out a marketing thank you that went further than just your current mailing list? What if it was so "user friendly" that it attracted more than you expected?
Think past the usual marketing and surprise your past, present and future customers with something they will appreciate, something they can use and something they want to send to their friends and family. The usual house cleaning marketing used to say "thank you for your business" is what most customers expect:
- Small Gifts
- A Personal Thank You Note
- A Greeting Card
- Referral Rewards
- A Gift Basket
- Etc.
As you can see, the usual "thank you for your business" is not something that can be shared to take your marketing dollars further. With a large number of house cleaning businesses using their website to capture eMail addresses, you can get creative and think of ways to use eMail. After all, there's no additional expense to send your eMail and if your budget doesn't allow you to invest in printed marketing material, this could be the way to go.
Once you decide to use eMail to send your house cleaning marketing message, you'll need to give some thought to eMail filters that are filtering out messages you thought were being delivered. You can easily get around this by letting your past, current and future customers know they have a special message waiting in their eMail inbox!
Think beyond eMail and include social media. This is the perfect place to let your visitors know how you feel about your clients. Share their reviews and post your thanks. Quote posters are the perfect way to do this as they are a visual representation that quickly gains their attention. These are also perfect to use in your eMail.
Now sit back and wait for the referrals to come in after your mailing and social media posts are shared with others!
Popular culture has depicted chimney sweeps as skinny characters that are covered in soot and push around a broom. Nowadays, you expect your chimney cleaner to be an adult that carries a broom or brush, along with other equipment, like vacuums, cameras and other special tools. It wasn't always like this.
The profession came about with the Industrial Revolution, when more and more buildings became home to chimneys. Chimney sweeps during this time were called master sweeps, and would teach the craft to young boys (and sometimes girls) who were called "apprentices" or "climbing boys." The children were found at orphanages or bought from their parents, for minor payments. Apprentices were indentured to the master sweep for seven years, and after the end of his apprenticeship, he would become a journeyman sweep and work for a master of his choice.
These children would be the ones who cleaned the chimneys, by actually climbing inside. The boy would pull his hat down over his face, and hold a large brush over his head, and put himself into the flue. He would travel through the chimney, using his body and brush to remove soot, and a scraper to chip away at what wasn't easily removed. Upon exit from the chimney, he would then have to bag up the soot (which was valuable at the time) and carry it back to the master sweep's means of transportation.
Apprentices would sweep four to five chimneys a day. In order to harden the skin to prevent scraping of knees and elbows, the master sweep would often stand them close to a hard fire and rub in brine using a brush, doing this each evening until the skin was hard. These apprentices earned no wage, but were fed by the master sweep, and bathed once a week. If an apprentice wasn't climbing high enough or moving as fast as the master wanted, the master sweep would light a fire or send up another boy to prick pins into the apprentice's feet or other areas.
There were many dangers with the profession at this time. Chimneys were hot from fires, or still on fire in some cases. Boys could get stuck, and if they struggled, they became wedged tighter. For narrow chimneys, the boys would have to sweep naked.
Regulations didn't begin to be passed until 1788. The first such attempt, the Chimney Sweepers Act 1788, lacked enforcement, but the Chimney Sweeps Act 1834 fixed many of the needed issues, including not allowing apprentices under 14 years of age, no more than six apprentices per master sweep, and Floor cleaning services climbing boys were not allow to be used to climb flues to extinguish flues.
More regulation came in 1840 when it was made illegal for any one under 21 to sweep chimneys. In 1875, regulation was passed that required chimney sweepers to be authorized by the police after the death of a 12-year-old boy and the imprisonment of his master.