Texting for cleaning
You were vacuuming. The phone rang. A new client called someone else.
Cleaning companies live on recurring clients, and every new client starts with a call you have to answer. We text back the ones you miss and keep the recurring ones on the schedule.
Cleaning: new client calls land while you are mid-job with a vacuum running.
- 2:10 PMMissed call from a new client
- 2:10 PMYour number texts them back, automatically
- 2:14 PM“Looking for every other week, starting next month.”
- 2:25 PMFirst visit booked$176
One caller, start to finish. An example, except the green figure: that one comes from the published averages in 02, with their sources.
No trap here
- No contract
- Prices on the site
- Set up for you by a real person
- Texts from your own number
Where the money goes
Four leaks in a cleaning company.
New client calls during jobs
You cannot hear the phone over the vacuum. A text back in seconds says you are real and you will call when you are done.
Paused clients who never restarted
They paused for a move, a budget, a summer. Most meant to come back. A check-in text is all it takes.
Deep cleans and extras nobody offered
Spring deep cleans, move-out cleans, oven and fridge add-ons. A text to your regulars sells them without a conversation.
Great work, few reviews
Cleaning is a trust purchase. A steady flow of recent reviews is what gets a new household to call you.
What a job is worth
A new client is not one clean. It is twenty-six.
The average visit is well under two hundred dollars, and almost nobody books one. They book every other week, and a deep clean when the house needs it. The averages are from nearly a hundred thousand reviews.
- $176
average house cleaning visit, in a range of $118 to $238, from 98,643 verified reviews
- $200 to $400
for a deep clean
What one caller adds up to
- One visit, at the average$176
- Every other week for a year (26 visits)$4,576
- One deep clean a year, at the low end$200
Each line states its own assumption. The averages are the ones above.
A month of missed calls, at the average
$1,907
10 missed calls a week, one in 4 of them ready to book, at $176 each. Those are the calculator’s defaults, not your company’s numbers.
A week in a cleaning company
Five days, one phone
nobody could answer.
Every rust line is a call you could not take. Every teal line is your number answering for you. Every green line is the job it became, priced near the averages above.
One week, one company
ExampleMonday
- 8:20 AMMissed call, the crew is loading the van
- 8:20 AMText-back goes out from your number
- 8:34 AM“Biweekly, 3 bed 2 bath, starting next month.” Quote call booked for 1:00$176
Tuesday
- 4:00 PMTomorrow’s six clients get the day-before reminder with the arrival window
- 5:33 PM“Add the oven please.” One visit, one add-on$45
- 6:10 PM“We’re out of town, skip this one.” Nobody drives to a locked door
Wednesday
- 11:48 AMMissed call, you are in a bathroom with the fan on
- 11:48 AMText-back goes out
- 11:55 AM“Move-out clean, keys due Friday.” Booked Thursday$320
- 7:30 PMToday’s first-visit client gets the review request
Thursday
- 9:00 AMThe Bakers, paused since January, get the win-back text
- 7:04 PM“Things settled down. Fridays again please.” Back on the schedule$176
Friday
- 2:10 PMMissed call while the crew is finishing a home
- 2:10 PMText-back goes out
- 2:25 PM“Every other week. When can you start?” First visit booked$176
Booked that week, from texts
$893
Made up, like every ledger on this site, and priced at the published averages in 02 so it is a week you would recognise. Your dashboard shows the real one.
What your customer sees
In your words, from your own number.
We write every message with you during setup, in cleaning language. You approve all of them before a single one goes out.
Missed call during a job
ExampleFast reply, and the client feels handled.
New caller- Missed call, 11:48 AM
- Hi, this is Maria at Fresh Start Cleaning. Sorry we missed you, we’re finishing a home. Are you looking for a one-time or recurring clean? Text me a few details and I’ll send a quote today.11:48 AM
- Biweekly for a 3 bed 2 bath, starting next month11:52 AM
- We can do that. I’ll call at 1 to walk through it and get you a price.12:20 PM
- Quote call booked
Recurring visit confirmation
ExampleThe day before, so there are no locked doors.
Hannah G.- Hannah, Fresh Start Cleaning here. Reminder that we’re scheduled tomorrow between 9 and 11. Reply if anything changed or if you’d like the oven added this visit.4:00 PM
- All good. Add the oven please!5:33 PM
- Visit confirmed plus add-on
Win-back for a paused client
ExampleGentle, after three months of no visits.
The Bakers- Hi, it’s Maria at Fresh Start. We miss your house. If you’d like to get back on the schedule, we have your old Friday slot open again. Just reply and I’ll lock it in.9:00 AM
- Yes! Things settled down. Fridays again please.7:04 PM
- Client won back
Every text, explained
Seven messages. Here is each one,
and why it is written that way.
When it goes, what it says, why it works in cleaning, and the one thing it will never do. You approve every word of every one before it goes live.
01
Missed-call text-back
When. Within seconds of a call you did not answer, during your working hours.
A new client calls three companies off Google and books whichever one sounds real first. You cannot hear the phone over the vacuum, and nobody leaves a voicemail about a biweekly clean. A text in the same minute, with a question that shows you quote by home size, is the answer they were hoping to get from somebody.
Never. It never goes out when you answered, and never after hours. A 9 PM call waits for 8 AM, worded for a call that came in last night.
What they read
ExampleHi, this is Maria at Fresh Start Cleaning. Sorry we missed you, we’re finishing a home. Are you looking for a one-time or recurring clean? Text me the size of the home and I’ll send a quote today. Reply STOP to opt out.
219 characters · 2 segments02
Day-before visit reminder
When. The afternoon before every scheduled visit, with the arrival window.
A locked door is the most expensive hour in cleaning: a crew of two drove there, stood on the step and drove back, and the slot is gone. The reminder catches the “we’re out of town” the night before instead of at the door. The last line sells the add-on without a sales call.
Never. It never moves the time. If the window has to change, that is a text from you, not from the schedule.
What they read
ExampleHannah, Fresh Start Cleaning here. We’re scheduled tomorrow between 9 and 11. Reply if anything changed, if there’s a note for the crew, or if you’d like the oven or fridge added this visit.
190 characters · 2 segments03
First-visit review request
When. The evening after a new client’s first visit, and again after the fifth, never in between.
Cleaning is a trust purchase. Somebody is handing a stranger a key. Recent reviews are what a new household reads before they call, and the first visit is when a client is most impressed, because the house has never looked like that. Ask that evening or do not ask.
Never. It never goes out after a visit with a complaint, a reschedule or a damage note, and it never asks the same client twice in a row.
What they read
ExampleThanks for having Fresh Start in today. If the house felt right when you walked in, a quick Google review helps a small company more than you’d think: g.page/r/fresh-start-cleaning. Reply STOP to opt out.
204 characters · 2 segments04
Paused-client win-back
When. Ninety days after a recurring client’s last visit, once.
Clients pause for a move, a summer, a tight month, a new baby. Most meant to come back and simply never made the call. One text that remembers their slot is the whole difference between a paused client and a lost one.
Never. It is one text. If they do not answer, the next thing they hear from you is a spring offer, not another nudge.
What they read
ExampleHi, it’s Maria at Fresh Start. We miss your house. If you’d like to get back on the schedule, your old Friday slot is open again. Just reply and I’ll lock it in. Reply STOP to opt out.
184 characters · 2 segments05
Spring deep clean offer
When. The first week of March, to every recurring client and to one-time clients from the past year.
Spring is when households want it done and the only question is who they ask. Your regulars already trust you in the house; a deep clean is the one extra they will book from a single text, and it is the highest-margin visit of the year.
Never. It never quotes a price for a house we have not seen. The reply is a quote from you.
What they read
ExampleMaria from Fresh Start here. Spring deep cleans are booking now: baseboards, inside the oven and fridge, window sills, the works. Regulars get it in place of a normal visit for the difference. Reply with a week that works. Reply STOP to opt out.
245 characters · 2 segments06
Holiday clean offer
When. The first week of November, to the same list, with the two weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas as the dates.
The weeks before a holiday are the busiest in the trade, and they fill with whoever asked first. Asking your own clients in early November fills the calendar with houses you already know before the strangers call.
Never. It never goes to a client who has already booked those weeks. We read the schedule before we write.
What they read
ExampleFresh Start here. The two weeks before Thanksgiving and the two before Christmas book out every year. If you’d like the house guest-ready, reply with your date and we’ll hold a slot before they go. Reply STOP to opt out.
220 characters · 2 segments07
One-time to recurring follow-up
When. Three weeks after a one-time or move-in clean, once.
A one-time clean is a client who has seen your work and has your number. Three weeks later is exactly when the house stops looking cleaned. The recurring rate is the thing they did not know to ask about.
Never. It never goes to a move-out clean. That client is leaving the house, and they know it.
What they read
ExampleHi, it’s Maria at Fresh Start. Hope the house has stayed nice since we were there. If you’d like it to stay that way, biweekly clients get a lower rate per visit and a standing day. Reply and I’ll send you the number. Reply STOP to opt out.
240 characters · 2 segments
The year, already written
Twelve months in cleaning,
and what goes out in each.
Set once during setup around your seasons, not ours. Change any month by texting us. The quiet months stay quiet on purpose.
January
Text-backs on every missed call. The win-back to clients who paused in the fall.
The slowest six weeks of the year start on the 26th of December. January is for getting paused clients back, not finding new ones.
February
Text-backs. Day-before reminders. Nothing promotional.
Still slow. The list is resting. Anything sent now reads as desperate.
March
Spring deep clean offer in the first week, to regulars and last year’s one-time clients.
Spring cleaning is a thing households decide to do in March. Be the company that asked.
April
Deep clean bookings. Review requests after each. Text-backs on the spring rush of new calls.
The busiest new-client month. Every call you miss is a biweekly client who booked someone else.
May
Text-backs. Recurring follow-ups to April’s one-time cleans.
A one-time spring clean becomes a biweekly client in May if somebody asks.
June
Text-backs for move-in and move-out calls. Day-before reminders with a summer note about keys and alarms.
Moving season. The move-out caller has a lease deadline and books the first company that answers.
July
Text-backs. Reminders. Quiet hours hold.
Vacations mean skips and reschedules. The reminder is what turns a locked door into a text the night before.
August
Text-backs. Win-backs to clients who paused for the summer.
School starts, routines come back, and the client who paused in June is ready to be asked.
September
Recurring follow-ups to summer’s move-in cleans. Review requests.
A move-in clean is a new homeowner who has not picked a cleaner yet.
October
Text-backs. Day-before reminders.
The calm before the holidays. Keep the schedule clean so November has room.
November
Holiday clean offer in the first week. Text-backs on the rush.
The two weeks before Thanksgiving fill first. Ask your own clients before the strangers call.
December
Holiday bookings and reminders. Closed dates set so nothing goes out on the 25th.
The two weeks before Christmas are the year’s peak, then it stops. Wording and timing should know which day it is.
The standing reminders
The rules behind the calendar, each one a date the customer would otherwise have to remember.
- Visit-before reminder
- The day before each clean
- Spring deep clean offer
- March to April
- Holiday clean offer
- November
- Paused client win-back
- 90 days without a visit
- Review request
- After the first and every fifth visit
An example month
What a month of this looks like.
Every line is a booked job that started with a text, priced near the averages above. Your dashboard shows yours, not this one.
Cleaning
Example- 6 jobsMissed-call text-backs$1,060
- 4 jobsPaused client win-backs$1,400
- 3 jobsDeep clean reminders$660
Recovered this month
$3,120
Made up figures for a cleaning company of average size. Not a promise, and not another shop’s results.
The first week
Set up for a cleaning company, by a person.
About an hour of your time, once. We do the carrier paperwork, the number, the list and the writing. Here is what that week looks like for your trade.
Day 0
Kickoff call, 30 minutes
We ask how many crews you run, how you price (by home size, by hour, flat), what a biweekly visit and a deep clean typically come to, how clients get you in (keys, codes, lockboxes), and which weeks of the year you turn work away. We ask for your client list with each client’s cadence and last visit, in whatever shape your software or your spreadsheet keeps it.
Days 1 to 3
Your number, made text-capable
We register your business number with the carriers under your company’s legal name. Calls do not change. If the number on your van is a cell phone, we talk about whether to keep texting on it or put the business line on the van.
Days 2 to 4
Your texts, in your words
We draft the seven messages above with your company name, your first name, your real arrival windows and your review link. You read every one on your phone, change what you want, and approve. The day-before reminder gets the most edits, because every company has its own line about pets and alarms.
Days 4 to 7
Go live, and the inbox on the crew lead’s phone
We turn on the text-back first and watch a day of it with you. Day-before reminders start the following week so you see what a “skip this one” reply looks like before the whole list is on it. A 20-minute call shows you and whoever runs the schedule the inbox.
Every month after
The dashboard, together
Before spring and before the holidays we look at what went out and what came back, adjust the offer dates to your calendar, and prune the list of clients who moved. If the number is not comfortably above what you pay us, we say so.
What it costs
Three plans. Which one
is yours, by the size of the company.
Every price is on this site and there is no contract. Here is how the three plans map onto the way this trade is usually run.
Starter
$249 /month
You and one helper, you answer the phone when you can
The text-back and the first-visit review request are the two things a one-crew company cannot do from inside a house. Add the rest when the list is long enough to remind.
Pro
$449 /month
Most cleaning companies
Two to four crews, a list of recurring clients, a scheduler
The day-before reminders, the win-backs and the two seasonal offers are where a cleaning company’s money is. This is the plan most cleaning companies run.
Full
$649 /month
Running ZenMaid or Jobber, five or more crews, a manager
Cadence and last-visit dates are read from your software, so a paused client is noticed by the system and not by you in March.
Software we commonly connect
On the Full plan. Names only; what we can read depends on what your software allows, and we confirm yours on the call.
- ZenMaid
- Clients, recurring schedules and each client’s last visit, so reminders and win-backs key off real dates.
- Jobber
- Clients, visits and quotes.
- Launch27
- Bookings, recurring frequencies and add-ons.
- BookingKoala
- Bookings and client cadence.
- Housecall Pro
- Customers, jobs and estimates.
Why not just…
The other ways a cleaning company handles a missed call.
Each one is a real option, and some are the right one at a certain size. Here is what each costs and where it falls down, as plainly as we can put it.
Keep letting it go to voicemail
Nothing on paper.
A new client calling about a biweekly clean does not leave a voicemail. They call the next company on the list, and that call never shows up anywhere, so nobody adds it up.
An answering service
Roughly $150 to $400 a month for the hours you miss.
A stranger with a script who cannot see your schedule, does not know your pricing by home size and cannot say when you could start. They take a message. The message does not book the house.
An office person
A salary, or half of one.
The right answer at a certain size, and the texts still help them: the reminders are two hours of calls they do not make, and the text-back covers the call that rings while they are on another.
A big texting and reviews platform
Typically $300 to $600 a month, on an annual contract, from a number that is not yours.
You set it up yourself, the account manager goes quiet after the sale, and cancelling takes ninety days’ notice. The texts come from a number your clients have never seen.
Do it yourself from your cell phone
Your evenings.
It works for a month. Then it is the week before Thanksgiving, you are in a house until seven, and the win-back you meant to send in January is still in your head.
Questions cleaning owners ask
The ones specific to your trade.
The contract, the number and the cancel-by-text answers are on the FAQ page. These are the ones that only come up on a call with a cleaning company.
Nobody has to, right away. The text-back tells the caller you are finishing a home and asks what they need; their reply waits in the inbox. You answer it at the van, or whoever runs the schedule answers it from the office. The client has already heard from you, which is the part that keeps them.
Yes, the afternoon before, with the arrival window. It is the message clients like most, because it is the one that is for them. If a client says they do not want it, we turn it off for that client alone with a text from you.
The day-before reminder asks for a note for the crew, so the “back door, code is new” comes in writing the night before instead of at the door. Access details stay in the inbox thread for that client; they never go into a text we send out.
Never. The text-back asks the size of the home and says you will send a quote. The quote is from you, after you have looked at what they told you. The recurring follow-up says biweekly clients get a lower rate and offers to send the number, which you then send.
A single text at ninety days that remembers their old slot is what a good friend who cleans houses would do. Most paused clients meant to come back and never made the call. The ones who did not want to hear from you reply STOP, and we never text them again.
That is what the last line of the day-before reminder is for. “Reply if you’d like the oven added this visit” sells the add-on to the clients who were already thinking about it, and nobody else notices the line.
No. A move-out clean is marked as one and gets the text-back, the day-before reminder and a review request. It never gets the recurring follow-up or a seasonal offer, because that client is leaving the house and they know it.
On the Full plan, yes. A client marked as Spanish-speaking gets every message in Spanish, written by a person, not run through a translator, and STOP works in both languages on every plan.
It is the text they would ask for if you offered one. Four in the afternoon is after work and before dinner, and the window is in it. What annoys clients is the crew at a locked door at 9 AM, or a surprise charge for a visit they forgot.
Lines we do not cross
Six rules, written for cleaning.
They are not settings. They are how it is built, and no plan or request turns them off.
Nothing goes out between 8 PM and 8 AM, the client’s time.
A cleaning company texts at 10 PM once and is the company that texts at 10 PM forever.
One reminder per visit. One win-back per pause. Two seasonal offers a year, not twelve.
The point is to be the company that reached out, not the company that keeps reaching out.
STOP means stop, in English or Spanish, instantly, on every message type.
It is the law, and it is also just what you would do if someone said it to your face.
No price for a house we have not seen ever appears in an automated text.
A text cannot count the bathrooms. The person who can is you.
Access notes, codes and keys never appear in a text we send out.
They live in the thread the client wrote them in, and nowhere else.
Imported lists get no offers until the client has heard from you another way.
A spring deep clean offer to someone who booked one move-out clean in 2021 is, to them, spam from a number they forgot.
Book a demo
Fifteen minutes, about
your company.
A phone call with the person who would set it up. We look at how many calls you miss, what cleaning jobs are worth to you, and whether this fits. If it does not, we will say so.
- No contract
- Prices on the site
- Set up for you by a real person
- Texts from your own number