Cleaning Service Marketing Plan

Mother's House Cleaning Service

This sample marketing plan was created with Marketing Plan Pro software.

Executive Summary
Mother's House Cleaning Service (MHCS) is a residential house cleaning service serving upperclass families in Cleanly, WA. Through generous human capital investments, MHCS will exceed customer's expectations. Mother's will be addressing the wealthy single-income households and affluent two-income households. These targeted families are willing to pay a premium for the service because of the high level of professionalism and trustworthiness that is offered. This target market will be focused on because of their steady reliance on cleaning services to keep their homes clean. Mother's House Cleaning Service will work hard to achieve a large percentage of loyal, repeat customers who regularly use Mother's, as well as being vocal to their friends about the success they have had with Mother's. Mother's House Cleaning Service's projected growth rate is over 100% per year, with profit margins as a percentage of sales between 16%-18%. MHCS will be a home-based business with Sarah Tookleen as the sole proprietor. By the end of year one, MHCS will have six additional employees.

Situation Analysis
Mother's House Cleaning Service is entering its first year of business as a start-up organization. Sarah recognizes the imperative need for a comprehensive marketing plan to help ensure profitability. Mother's offers a comprehensive residential cleaning service that is both professional and trustworthy.
Market Summary

Mother's possess good information about the market and knows a great deal about the common attributes of its most prized customers. Mother's House Cleaning Service will leverage this information to better understand who is served, their specific needs, and how Mother's can better communicate with this group.

Market Analysis 2002 Potential Customers Wealthy one-income families Affluent two-income households Assorted "well-off" households Total Growth 11% 13% 6% 10.22% 1,876 3,444 2,876 8,196 2,082 3,892 3,049 9,023 2,311 4,398 3,232 9,941 2,565 4,970 3,426 10,961 2,847 5,616 3,632 12,095 2003 2004 2005 2006 CAGR 10.99% 13.00% 6.01% 10.22%

Market Needs

Mother's is providing its customers with a professional, residential house cleaning service, aimed at the upper echelon of the market. Mother's seeks to fulfill the following benefits that are important to its customers.
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Professionalism: All employees will be well trained to exude professionalism from all of their actions and conversations. Convenience: Mother's will provide its services in the manner that is most convenient to the customer, including arranging for visits when the owner is not home. Trustworthiness: Many people have legitimate concerns regarding cleaning services in their home and the possibility of theft and breakage. These concerns have been eliminated or significantly reduced through a comprehensive screening and training process for employees.

Additionally, Mother's carries insurance designed to cover any loss that the customer may attribute to the company. Market Trends

The market trend in house cleaning has shifted from individual service providers to companies. Years ago, most families had a single housekeeper who was responsible for the cleaning of their home(s). This individual was often considered a member of the family. Less and less families these days are serviced by an individual housekeeper. The trend is moving toward having a cleaning service come into the home weekly. This market shift has fueled the proliferation of different house cleaning services. There has been a shift from individuals to companies, as well as a shift from having the same service providers for five to 10 years to going through many different companies, unsatisfied with their services. This change in the market has created a receptive environment for a cleaning service provider whose goal it is to develop long-term relationships with customers.

Market Growth

The market for residential house cleaning services has exploded within the last five years. The industry is now a $323 million dollar industry. The growth rate for this market is forecasted to stay at 9% for the next four years. The market is likely to maintain better than average growth due to the lifestyle Americans have developed within the last five years, working longer and longer hours. The effect of the longer work week is that people have less time to take care of the personal maintenance responsibilities such as house cleaning. Instead, people will work and longer hours and pay someone to take care of other, less important or less desirable responsibilities.

SWOT Analysis

The following SWOT analysis captures the key strengths and weaknesses within the company, and describes the opportunities and threats facing Mother's.
Strengths
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An enthusiastic company with a strong, infectious leader. A well designed training program to share and capture intellectual capital for the organization. Dedicated employees.

Weaknesses
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Labor-intensive industry. Inherent time lag when building goodwill and trust. The difficulty of establishing brand equity as a start-up company.

Opportunities
y y y

A large percentage of the market that is unaware of Mother's. Shifts in consumer consumption habits that are moving toward increased utilization of cleaning services. A business model that is easily scalable.

Threats
y y

Employee turnover. The entrance of a serious competitor.

Competition
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Individuals: There are still some individuals who are housekeepers for either one family or a couple families. These individuals not only clean, but also take care of errands for the family, and help raise the children. This type of competitor is a shrinking market segment. Franchises or Chains: These are larger companies that have expanded into different regional markets. These service providers are best described as utilitarian. They get the job done but are not stellar in any way. Independent Cleaning Companies: These companies are similar to Mother's and vary greatly in quality.

Service Offering

Mother's House Cleaning Service will provide a residential house cleaning service for the upper end of the market. Mother's will have two target customers:
1. The affluent that have a spouse who does not work, and is not inclined to do housework. To many a maid/house cleaner is a symbol of wealth, and this idea symbolizes this group of customers. 2. The two-income households whose opportunity costs are too great to spend time cleaning the house.

MHCS offers house cleaning to these targeted customers. House cleaning ranges from cleaning of standard rooms such as kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, as well as more unusual jobs like small disasters from children and pets.
Keys to Success

The keys to success are:

y y y y

Professionalism. Trustworthiness. Quality work. Well-chosen and trained employees.

Critical Issues

Mother's is still in the speculative stages since it is a start-up company just beginning operations. The critical issue that Mother's faces is to continue to take a modest fiscal approach; expand at a reasonable rate. Expansion should only occur if there is sufficient demand and the quality of services is not diminished.

Marketing Strategy

MHCS' target market was chosen because these customers appreciate a professional, reliable, trustworthy, and immaculate house cleaning service, and are more than willing to pay for this. While Cleanly, WA has several different cleaning services, MHCS is the only one that targets the affluent exclusively. The wealthy are consistent customers. Whether they have a house cleaning service does not depend on the finances each month. These groups always have the money for our services, just as they always need/desire a clean house. The affluent desire quality and are willing to pay a premium for a service that they can trust 100%, that extrudes professionalism. This is done in a seamless, customer-centric manner. The company will be marketed through a three-pronged approach. One prong is the distribution of a color brochure detailing our services. The distribution of this document will be targeted to hit the chosen segment. This will be done by setting up strategic relationships with organizations or clubs whose members fit the targeted customer profile. Examples of this would be higher-end athletic clubs, country clubs, wine connoisseur clubs, etc. Access will be gained to these clubs membership through deals where the club owners will receive Mother's services for themselves. The second prong of our approach will be through word-of-mouth referrals. Mother's will offer an economic incentive (such as a free visit) to customers if they bring in new business. This will be effective because the financial incentive will motivate their behavior, and people naturally like to share good deals with their friends. The third prong will be an advertising campaign in two of the local newspapers. The advertisements will appear in the weekly home section of the newspapers.
Mission

Mother's House Cleaning Service's mission is to provide the customer with all residential cleaning services in an environmentally sound, completely trustworthy, and professional manner. We exist to attract and maintain customers. When we adhere to this maxim, everything else will fall into place. Our services will exceed the expectations of our customers.
Marketing Objectives
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Increase repeat customers by 7% each quarter. Decrease customer acquisition costs by 8% per year. Develop brand equity so that Mother's is commonly known as the premier house cleaning service.

Financial Objectives
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A double digit growth rate for the next three years. Reduce overhead costs by 5% per year. Profitability within year one.

Target Marketing

Mother's House Cleaning Service will be focusing on two upper socio/economic groups. The first is the affluent where only one spouse works. Although the other spouse is at home and has time to clean, he/she chooses not to. This spouse would rather volunteer for a public interest organization, play tennis and golf, or just spend time how he/she chooses to. They have no desire to clean the house. To them that is not enjoyable and they have the money to pay someone to do that kind of work. This market has annual incomes over $200,000 and live in expensive houses. The second segment of the market that is targeted is the two income family. Over the last couple of decades, the number of two-income households have increased, to a point where in parts of the country they exceed one income families. The target customer is two income families whose combined annual income is over $125,000. These families don't have the time to clean, can afford a cleaning service, and choose to hire a service because the opportunity costs are too high to waste time cleaning their house. These households are typically age 32-55 and live in houses valued over $250,000. Cleanly has approximately 10,000 families that fall into this demographic. It is this segment that has tremendous potential for Mother's. Nearly 80% of dual income households use an outside cleaning service for some of their house cleaning according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Additionally, there are potential customers that MHCS has labeled as assorted "well-off" households. These are families that have the money for our services that do not fit neatly into the two previous categories.
Positioning

Mother's will position themselves as a professional, trustworthy, residential house cleaning service. Mother's will leverage their competitive edge of human capital investments to achieve the desired positioning. MHCS begins with a rigorous training program for new employees. At the outset, employees with be trained on how to clean. Granted everyone has some idea on how to clean, but they will be shown a methodical way producing a cleaner home more efficiently. Mother's will then be training employees to work effectively on teams. While there are some households that prefer individual cleaners instead of a team, Mother's generally works in teams as they are more efficient. Working efficiently on a team takes training, and through this team training, Mother's is able to make significant gains in efficiency. The next topic of training involves professionalism. Employees are given the tools necessary to impress the most affluent clients. Professionalism is a skill that is used throughout the service call, from the way the employee greets and interacts with the client, to the way they clean, to the way they act when they break that priceless vase (which in the inevitable case that something is broken, MHCS has specific guidelines for the employee to follow to resolve the conflict). MHCS will train the employees to know what the expectations of the clients are. They will be provided the tools needed to exceed these expectations.

This extensive training, both up front, as well as continuously (called the continuous learning system) builds a trust relationship between the company and the client. It is the bond of trust that will not only earn MHCS the loyalty of that customer but also the referral of several more of their friends. Lastly, Mother's will emphasize the use of environmentally sound chemicals. Other companies also use environmentally sound chemicals so this is not a huge differentiation, but it is something that Mother's is proud of, and will be mentioned. MHCS will also be creating the appearance of professionalism through the use of uniforms and large magnetic sign affixed to the side of the vehicles used.
Strategy Pyramids

The single objective is to position Mother's at the top of the house cleaning market, commanding a large market share within four years. The marketing strategy will first seek to create customer awareness, develop the customer base, and work toward building customer loyalty and referrals. This message will be communicated through a variety of ways. The first is through printed materials (a color brochure) that will be widely distributed. The second method is through an organized word-of-mouth referral system. The last method of communication is through a targeted advertising campaign in the two local newspapers, specifically within the weekly home section of the papers.

Marketing Mix

Mother's marketing mix is comprised of the following approaches to pricing, distribution, advertising and promotion, and customer service.
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Pricing: Mother's pricing scheme will be based on the anticipated number of hours per project. Distribution: Services will be provided within a 25 mile area of Cleanly. Advertising and Promotion: The most successful activities will be brochures and a targeted advertisement campaign. These activities will complement a referral system that is currently in development. Customer Service: Mother's recognizes that the secret to success will be exceeding customer expectations. To achieve this objective, the employees have a fair amount of discretion to remedy most issues that may come up.

Marketing Research

During the initial stages of the marketing plan construction, Sarah held several focus groups in order to determine the market preferences for residential house cleaning. Topics that were explored in the focus groups were how price sensitive consumers are, what services they valued the most, how many different cleaning services they have used in the last few years, how often they employ a service, how did they find out about their past services, etc. The participants for the focus groups were made up of people from the two different targeted groups. Overall, the focus groups provide Mother's with a lot of insightful information that would have been difficult or impossible to obtain using other methods.

Financials, Budgets, and Forecasts

This section will offer a financial overview of Mother's as it relates to the marketing activities. Mother's will address break-even analysis, sales forecasts, expense forecasts, and how they link to the marketing strategy.
Break-even Analysis

The break-even analysis indicates that $750 will be needed in monthly revenue to reach the break even point.

Break-even Analysis

Monthly Revenue Break-even

$301

Assumptions: Average Percent Variable Cost Estimated Monthly Fixed Cost 5% $300

Sales Forecast

The first month will be used to set up the business. It is unlikely much/any business will be officially transacted during this month. In addition to dealing with legal and accounting issues for the business, office equipment will be purchased and set up. Once the physical office is ready the employee policy and procedure manual will be developed. Then the training program will be constructed. This will take a bit of time therefore it is very important it is set up at the outset, ensuring that it is completed and done properly when there are far less time constraints. The second month will begin to see some activity. Mother's will begin to field inquiries over the phone and expect to turn some of those into contracts. The first week of jobs will be done as a team, with Sarah and one employee. As the number of contracts begin to pick up, probably at the end of the second month, an additional person will be hired to form the first employee team. By the end of month four there will be enough demand that a new team of two will be trained and begin working. Having two teams of two will be sufficient until month seven when two more people will be brought on. Mother's expects to remain with a six person head count into mid-year two when we expect to bring on one more team. The sales forecast is based on the assumption that increased demand will occur at a steady pace. This is based on the assumption that a large part of the new clients after month two will be from word-of-mouth referrals. All this will happen steadily and incrementally. This forecast is on the conservative side, it is possible that because Mother's is superior to competing services that things really take off, however, it would not be prudent to take that aggressive of a forecast. It is always better to error on the side of caution.

Sales Forecast 2002 Sales Wealthy one-income families Affluent two-income families Total Sales $54,433 $119,487 $173,920 $56,433 $119,486 $175,919 $57,854 $128,744 $186,598 2003 2004

Direct Cost of Sales Wealthy one-income families Affluent two-income families Subtotal Direct Cost of Sales

2002 $2,722 $5,974 $8,696

2003 $2,822 $5,974 $8,796

2004 $2,893 $6,437 $9,330

Expense Forecast

The marketing expenses will be budgeted so that they are increased during the first quarter in order to generate visibility for Mother's. The expenses will then lower and remain steady until the second half of the last quarter when they will be increased in preparation for increase usage of cleaning service for the winter holidays.

Marketing Expense Budget 2002 Printed material Economic incentives (for referrals) Other $600 $1,200 $7,600 -----------Total Sales and Marketing Expenses Percent of Sales $9,400 5.40% 2003 $1,000 $1,500 $9,000 -----------$11,500 6.54% 2004 $1,200 $1,800 $11,000 -----------$14,000 7.50%

Controls
The purpose of Mother's marketing plan is to serve as a guide for the organization. The following areas will be monitored to gauge performance:
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Revenue: monthly and annual. Expenses: monthly and annual. Repeat business. Customer satisfaction.

Implementation Milestones

The following milestones identify the key marketing programs. It is important to accomplish each one on time and on budget.

Milestones

Advertising Completion of marketing strategy Production of printed material Generation of new customers from referrals Advertising campaign #1 Advertising campaign #2 Name me Name me Name me Name me Other Total Advertising Budget PR Name me Name me Name me Other Total PR Budget Direct Marketing

Start Date 1/1/2002 1/1/2002

End Date 2/1/2002 2/1/2002

Budget $0 $600

Manager Sarah Sarah

Department Department Department

1/1/2002

5/15/2002

$1,200

Sarah

Department

1/1/2002 7/1/2002 1/1/2003 1/1/2003 1/1/2003 1/1/2003 1/1/2003

6/30/2002 12/31/2002 1/15/2003 1/15/2003 1/15/2003 1/15/2003 1/15/2003

$3,800 $3,800 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $9,400

Sarah Sarah ABC ABC ABC ABC ABC

Department Department Department Department Department Department Department

Start Date 1/1/2006 1/1/2006 1/1/2006 1/1/2006

End Date 1/15/2006 1/15/2006 1/15/2006 1/15/2006

Budget $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

Manager ABC ABC ABC ABC

Department Department Department Department Department

Start Date

End Date

Budget

Manager

Department

Name me Name me Name me Other Total Direct Marketing Budget Web Development Name me Name me Name me Other Total Web Development Budget Other Name me Name me Name me Other Total Other Budget Totals

1/1/2006 1/1/2006 1/1/2006 1/1/2006

1/15/2006 1/15/2006 1/15/2006 1/15/2006

$0 $0 $0 $0 $0

ABC ABC ABC ABC

Department Department Department Department

Start Date 1/1/2006 1/1/2006 1/1/2006 1/1/2006

End Date 1/15/2006 1/15/2006 1/15/2006 1/15/2006

Budget $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

Manager ABC ABC ABC ABC

Department Department Department Department Department

Start Date 1/1/2006 1/1/2006 1/1/2006 1/1/2006

End Date 1/15/2006 1/15/2006 1/15/2006 1/15/2006

Budget $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $9,400

Manager ABC ABC ABC ABC

Department Department Department Department Department

Contingency Planning

Difficulties and Risks

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Problems generating visibility. Difficulty maintaining long-term employees.

Worst Case Risks May Include

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Determining that the business cannot support itself. aving to close the company due to a lack of sufficient revenue.