The gift card industry is a big
business amounting to billions of dollars in a year.
The sales usually peak during the holiday season
because a gift card is the gift of choice for those
who find it difficult to decide on what to give.
Among the gift cards available for giving away is a
residential cleaning gift card, usually good for
$100 worth of cleaning services.
The residential cleaning gift card works in a very
simple way: you buy a card and give it to someone
who will then call the cleaning company and makes
appointment. The cleaning crew will arrive in the
house of the gift card recipient and do the cleaning
job that is worth the amount of the card. And this
is when the problem starts.
Most cleaning business gift card recipients believed
that the card they received will entitle them to a
full cleaning of their house. That is what they
expect and they will be totally frustrated to learn
at the end that only a few rooms or only a small
portion of the house will be cleaned. So instead of
getting a repeat customer which is the intention of
the gift card, the recipient is so disappointed that
he will avoid any cleaning business at all.
This problem can be avoided if the sale of the
cleaning business gift cards will be handled
properly and professionally. The retailers of the
gift cards should explain what to expect from the
card so as not to create false hopes. The card
should also contain a little explanation of its
mechanics so that the recipient of the card will not
be expecting something that he will not get.
The cleaning business owner or his employees should
make clarifications with any person who will call in
order to redeem the gift card. Questions as to the
approximate size and condition of the house, and the
nature or amount of the gift card should be asked.
Then the cleaning business owner should explain to
the caller what to expect from such gift card. The
caller must be made aware that for a $100 gift card,
he should be expecting a certain number of cleaners
working in a certain number of hours and doing only
certain parts of his house. Let the caller know that
if he wants additional areas to be cleaned or
additional services, he can pay for an amount in
addition to the value of his gift card being
redeemed.
If the person redeeming the gift card wants only the
services that will be given according to the value
of his card, you should ask for his priority areas
in his house. You can then explain to him how far in
his house can the cleaning crew go with their
services. For a very huge house, you can tell the
gift card holder that you can go only as far as the
bathrooms. This is being honest with the card holder
so he will not feel shortchanged at the end.
When you are honest in dealing with clients, the
chances of getting repeat customers will be better.
