It is a universal fact that COVID-19 pandemic has hit every kind of business hardly. With mandated shutdowns and quarantines, every business is suffering huge losses. In the last two months, some businesses have started operating whilst following the Government guidelines of maintaining social distancing and wearing masks. But for many businesses, these guidelines do not prove a silver lining in the dark and one such business is window cleaning.
Reputed window cleaning companies in London strongly feel customers are no more availing their services due to uncertainty and the fear of infection from the deadly virus. Forget about building new customers, even existing customers are not interested in hiring them. So, there is no denying in the fact that this period poses a real challenge for them especially when many businesses have rolled up their sleeves and started operating. But someone has rightly said, “Every coin has two sides” and window cleaners in London can take this downtime as the best opportunity to rethink and reinvent their businesses. Thus, they should maximize this downtime and make their business future proof by following these business strategies.
Improving Online Business Presence: This is the best time to strengthen online business presence and look for conventional marketing strategies. If you have no online presence, this is the time to do so as you can focus solely on this task and make quick decisions and changes. Even if your business has online presence, upgrade it in the following manner:
- Website: Many window cleaning companies in London have informative and attractive websites, which they use as a primary sales tool. So, if your business is lacking on this front, hire a reputed web design company and ask the professionals to create a well-designed and informative website with visuals, and aligned it with your brand.
- Social Media Profiles: Social media platforms can be one of the best platforms for gaining new customers and promoting services in the most cost-effective manner. Creating a Facebook page, posting pictures and content related to services, responding to customers’ queries, etc., are few activities need to do for making social media presence felt. This helps in engaging customers and promoting business services as well.
- Google My Business (GMB): It is a local listing service within search engines like Google, which allow potential customers to find you quickly. It also provides useful information about your business like reviews, contact numbers, etc. Having a business listing at Google gives any business the desired visibility and credibility. People perceive GMB as a professional way of promoting and conducting the business.
Improving Offline Presence: Improving online business performance does not imply that you stop paying attention to offline business presence. An effective marketing strategy includes element of both traditional and conventional approaches. If you are planning to make a comeback once the pandemic gets over or you are planning to open your window cleaning company in London from the next month with some new service, inform customers about the same by distributing posters and flyers. At this time, many companies are offering designing and printing services at reduced rates to woo new customers. So, grab this opportunity.
Communicate with Customers: Optimize this downtime by communicating with customers and understanding their expectations. Active listening is one of the best ways to understand what kind of service level customers really expect from professional window cleaners in London. Try to understand their external need and evaluate your performances on those parameters. Either arrange a face-to-face meeting or take their feedback over a phone call. Do not forget to maintain the Government guidelines of social distancing if you are meeting with customers in-person.
Maintenance of Equipment: Repairing and cleaning tool is another way to utilize this free time to the fullest. Clean all equipment to keep them in a good condition by following small yet effective measures to prolong their lifespan. You can start with Water-fed poles. Clean them regularly and try to give a new lease life to old equipment by repairing it. Similarly, check all your equipment and fix minor repairs wherever required.
Extend Service Spectrum: The downtime has taught a good lesson that you should create additional revenue sources by creating other business opportunities. So, if so far, you are solely known as a reputed and professional window cleaning company in London, create additional revenue streams by adding any of the following services in your list:
- Gutter Cleaning
- Upholstery Cleaning
- Soft Washing or External Cleaning
Do remember this simple fact, do not allow the downtime to become a bad time for your business. Take this business challenge to your advantage and work upon the following issues to make your business pandemic-proof.
