Promote Cleaning Services With Local Business Associations
This marketing strategy is how to promote a commercial cleaning service with the chamber of commerce and local business associations. Not our cleaning industry associations but local business associations
One way to think of selling through the local chamber of commerce is it’s a boost, not an end all, be all one stop solution. If a cold campaign brings in 1 estimate out of every 50 contacts than a warm campaign should give a boost of 10-20 % at least.
Cold campaign- 1:50 estimates per contact
Association campaign- 1:30 estimates per contact
This can become much much higher, deeper in a campaign with networking, events and sponsorship.
What are some marketing campaigns you can run?
- Telemarketing, email, direct mail off membership list
- Branding decal/logos on all marketing material/website
- Networking
- Sponsorship of events, newsletter, etc.
- Door to Door Selling
Starting point with any strategy is going over our marketing plan and deciding how many hours month you are willing to dedicate to this and how much of your monthly budget.
For example if our monthly budget is $1000 month and 10 hours
Assigning $50 month and 2 hours of our time to associations.
What kind of Associations exist?
- Regional chamber of commerce
- Local city/town chamber of commerce
- Professional associations
- Realtors
- Dentists
- BOMA- building owners and managers association
- Manufacturers
- Property Investors
- Affinity groups (woman owned businesses for example)
- Restaurants
And thousands of other groups you probably never even thought of.
Which is the best one?
The one that fits into your target audience and you can always invest in several inexpensive ones instead of 1 large one.
A regional chamber of commerce is great for marketing to large companies
Local chamber of commerce is great for a mix of smaller and larger businesses, mainly smaller and usually in a tight geographic area. This is great for Fencing and selling dozens and dozens of accounts in 1 particular town/city.
It all depends who you want to target for that specific campaign.Â
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Where Do We Find Them?
Where we find everything else nowadays, the internet!
Directory of Associations
This is a master list you can buy but probably too much for most of us.Â
Directory of Business Associations
Yellow Pages Online
 ironically this is a great way to find local associations, just go to your local online yellow page resource and type in associations.
Local Newspaper or Business News Journal
Most will have an events section listing networking events and association meeting times, public events like walkathon’s.
EACH Association Is Different
You will want to go on the benefits page and member info section. Some will not allow vendors and others have specific packages for businesses that just want to advertise but are not in the industry.
Specific Marketing Campaigns
Member Lists
This is the main campaign we can run, most people think of networking when you mention chamber of commerce but the real value is getting a list of members with contact information, industry, title, size, etc. which is invaluable intel for a marketer.
Telemarketing/ Door to Door
the key here is to mention in the first sentence that you are a fellow member. This will help greatly with the person answering the phone/door and then to soften up the decision maker.
** NOTE if you are new make sure to be honest with the decision maker and let them know you just joined and wanted to reach out and introduce yourself.
Cold Calling Telemarketing
Key for cold calling, you want to mention you are a member and just wanted to stop by and introduce yourself. Yes they know you want to give them an estimate but this is a subtle way and doesn’t come off so pushy. Who in business doesn’t like to meet new people?
Direct Mail
For direct mail would be to place the logo somewhere outside the envelope and making the letter sound like you are offering a member benefit.
Similar to cold calling and mail, make sure you place the logo front and center, introduce yourself as a fellow member and offer them some information to be helpful or ask if you can stop by and introduce yourself.
*** Note with email DO NOT put members on automatic drip campaigns unless they opt in. This is considered spam. You can send a single email here and there but not put people on a drip campaign.
Branding
Placing the member logo on marketing material, website, email, etc. This is mainly a message directed towards people who are already members. They will recognize it and be drawn to your company. Just like any group 10%-20% will be very loyal and give you the benefit of the doubt in bidding situations.
With the Chamber of Commerce this can give your company an air of credibility, very few contractors are members of professional groups.
Networking
Earlier in the platform we covered all the details of networking. The only thing I can add is with an association they may have a facebook/linkedin page also that you can join.
Remember when you join a social media group for networking be careful to not sell anything directly but answer any questions that come up and start a discussion once in a while. Its always best to sit back in the beginning and learn the social dynamics.
Sponsorships
 These can vary greatly depending on the type of association but can include events, lunches, dessert, booths, etc. Also in digital form with newsletters, email blasts and promotions on their website.
Sponsorships are similar to branding, they enhance your current campaigns but do not always bring in direct sales. If you were dedicated to the local Dental Association and were calling on the list throughout the year it makes a lot of sense to get your name in front of the decision makers to make your calls more effective.
You would want to look if your direct sales campaigns became better but not necessarily if the sponsorship brought in direct sales. This is the best way to view the ROI is in the total.
Conclusion
Marketing through the chamber of commerce and associations is a great way to build long term relationships and focus on marketing strategies with very little competition.