Words: Brad Horan
Winning a contract is tough, but keeping it is even tougher. Clients are flooded with offers promising ‘the same service for less’. If all you sell is cleaning, you’ll always be replaceable.
But when you understand your customer, back it up with strong processes and deliver service they can actually see, you’ll hold onto clients longer and win new ones along the way.
The simple service-first operating system
Retention isn’t luck. It’s a system. The contractors who keep clients year after year don’t just ‘try harder’, they follow a simple process:
- Listen to your team – Your cleaners see the site every day. Make it easy for them to share what’s working and what’s not.
- Understand the client – Learn their routines. If Mondays are heavy with meetings, make sure the boardroom shines. If Fridays are social events, time your service so the site looks its best.
- Communicate back – Don’t just do the job, show the job. Quick updates or a service log reassure the client that you’ve delivered.
We’ve helped many contractors set up systems like this. Our active management model goes further, empowering staff to refine the process themselves as they solve problems. Over time, this raises quality without extra layers of management.
Pro Tip: Clients don’t always notice what’s been done. Leave a simple sign of service – a log, a short update or a visible marker – so they know the job’s been done right.
Not all clients are equal. Focus on where you add the most value. Chasing every job is exhausting and it leads to thin margins.
One contractor we worked with discovered their sweet spot was in professional services and real estate. These clients cared about presentation and didn’t want high-paid staff wiping benches.
Once the contractor focused on those sectors, they held onto contracts longer and raised rates without pushback. Their pitch wasn’t ‘more cleaning’. It was:
- ‘No presentation surprises during deal week.’
- ‘Your people spend time on billable work, not wiping benches.’
That focus locks in loyalty and attracts more of the right clients.
Clients don’t buy cleaners. They buy outcomes
Having the same person on a site every time is ideal, but not always realistic. People move on.
The way to guarantee loyalty is through process. With clients we’ve supported, the key has been keeping it simple:
- Clear site instructions – easy to follow, not buried in a manual.
- Quick handovers – notes between shifts so nothing falls through the cracks.
- Regular checks – focused on the things that matter most to that client.
With this in place, any capable person can walk in and deliver the same quality. That consistency is what keeps customers confident.
Timing matters more
Cleaning tasks are important, but timing them to match the client’s key moments is what makes you stand out. If you know they have regular meetings, open homes, Friday events, or seasonal spikes, plan your service so the site looks its best when it counts.
This kind of attention makes your service feel tailored and makes you much harder to replace.
Hero products keep clients climbing
Most proposals are just a price and a task list. That makes you look like everyone else.
We’ve worked with dozens of contractors to build hero product tiers and the results are outstanding. Instead of one flat offer, give clients three service levels. It changes the conversation from ‘can you do that?’ to ‘yes, that’s part of the next package up’.
- Foundation – The dependable basics.
- Assure – Adds services that reduce hassle and improve presentation.
- Signature – Premium convenience and frequency, for clients who don’t want to think about it.
Hero products let clients choose the service they want and guide them to higher value. This approach works because clients can see their choices clearly. Many naturally ‘ascend’ to higher levels, where you deliver more value and bank more profit. And because services are packaged, you don’t give away the farm.
This also allows you to discuss moving to a lower service tier if customers want to reduce costs, not just lower the price.
Service-first thinking builds loyalty
Retention doesn’t come from being the cheapest or ticking off a task list. It comes from being the contractor who understands the client, fixes problems fast, and delivers service in a way that makes them feel supported.
That’s what service-first thinking is: listening to your team, adapting to the client’s world, empowering staff to solve problems and giving clients clear options that match their needs.
Do that consistently, and you don’t just keep contracts, you keep relationships. And in a market full of ‘cheaper quotes’, relationships are what keep you in business.
Brad Horan helps service businesses turn day-to-day insight into profitable, scalable service models that customers actually value. Brad would love to hear your feedback: info@lucrature.com. Visit lucrature.com.
This op-ed originally appeared in the Sep/Oct edition of INCLEAN magazine
