If you’re in the cleaning business and are looking to expand your customer base or if you are considering starting your own cleaning company, you will need to be very clear about who your target market is and who isn’t.
At the very minimum, you can break down the target market for cleaning services into two large segments: Residential and Commercial. Going further you can also categorize this market based on the motivations that people have for turning to a commercial cleaning service rather than doing the work themselves or using in-house staff.
In this article, we will study the target market for cleaning services by analyzing both these angles. We hope that by the end of this article you will have a better idea of which of the market segments in this vast market are best for you and what you can do to attract them to your business.
What is the Target Market for Commercial Cleaning?
Commercial Cleaning refers to paid professional cleaning services that are provided to businesses and organizations rather than to private households.
The target market for commercial cleaning can be further divided into two segments:
- Businesses that don’t have their own in-house staff to perform these services
- Businesses with in-house staff but who outsource these services to professional cleaning companies
The first segment is the most obvious target market for commercial cleaning services. These are businesses that don’t have their own in-house staff to perform these services and need to outsource this work.
The second segment is not as straightforward since these businesses already have in-house staff that could perform these cleaning tasks. However, these businesses have chosen to outsource this work to professional cleaning companies for a variety of reasons:
- They want to free up their own staff to focus on other tasks that are more important to the business
- They want to ensure that the work is done to a high standard
- They want the flexibility of being able to cancel or scale up the services as needed without having to worry about managing their own in-house staff
- They need specialized equipment and products – eg for carpet cleaning.
What is the Target Market for Residential Cleaning?
Residential cleaning services are provided to private households rather than businesses or organizations. The target market for residential cleaning includes homeowners, renters, and landlords.
Homeowners are the most obvious target market for residential cleaning services. These are people who own their own homes and need to hire someone to clean them on a regular basis.
Renters are another target market for residential cleaning services. The difference between renters and homeowners is that renters, especially, if they are short-term renters, may not be willing to spend a lot for a top professional cleaning service, except when it is time for them to leave their rental home and collect their security deposit.
Landlords are the final target market for residential cleaning services. These are people who own rental properties and need to hire someone to clean them on a regular basis.
Now that we’ve classified the target market for cleaning services on a broad basis into Residential and Commercial market segments, let’s segment this market based on buyer motivations.
Target Market for Cleaning Services: Understanding buyer motivations
In this section, we will segment the target market for cleaning services based on the reasons why someone – an individual or a business – might need the services of a professional cleaning service.
Based on this segmentation criterion, we get the following segments of the target market for cleaning services:
- People who don’t have the time to clean by themselves
- People who don’t like cleaning by themselves
- People are not able to clean by themselves
- People with health conditions who need professional-grade cleaning
- Businesses that need cleaning services to create a good impression
- Businesses that need cleaning services to comply with regulations
Let’s look closely at each of these.
1. People who don’t have the time to clean by themselves
By far the largest consumer segment of the target market for cleaning services includes those who don’t have the time to clean their own homes or businesses.
This target market segment includes busy professionals who work long hours, single parents, and anyone else who doesn’t have the time to spare for cleaning.
For these individuals and families, hiring a professional cleaning service is a necessity rather than a luxury.
However, these people will also be interested in robotic vacuum cleaners as an alternative to hiring a professional cleaning service. And if they are happy with the quality of cleaning, robotic vacuum cleaners can be a long-term threat to a cleaning business.
2. People don’t like cleaning by themselves
Then there are people who just do not like the chore of cleaning. They would rather spend their time doing something else that they consider more productive or more fulfilling.
For these people, hiring a professional cleaning service is a way to outsource a chore they don’t like and frees up their time to do things they enjoy.
3. People are not able to clean by themselves
Another target market segment for cleaning services includes people who are not physically able to clean their own homes or businesses.
This target market segment includes the elderly, people with disabilities, and anyone else who is not able to physically perform the tasks of cleaning.
For these individuals, hiring a professional cleaning service is a way to maintain their home or business in a clean and orderly condition.
4. People with health conditions who need professional-grade cleaning
People with chronic health conditions including allergies, asthma, and other respiratory problems need to rely on professional cleaning services to achieve a level of cleanliness that is not possible with ordinary cleaning methods.
They may also not have the necessary cleaning products or equipment to achieve the necessary high level of cleanliness.
For these people, it is essential to hire a professional cleaning service that uses high-quality, hypoallergenic cleaning products and follows strict protocols for cleaning.
5. Businesses that need cleaning services to create a good impression
First impressions are important for businesses, and the cleanliness of business premises is a key factor in creating a good impression.
For businesses that need to make a good impression on their clients, customers, or business partners, hiring a professional cleaning service is an investment that pays off.
This target market segment includes businesses such as retail stores, restaurants, hotels, and office buildings.
6. Businesses that need cleaning services to comply with regulations
The second commercial segment of the target market for cleaning services includes businesses that need cleaning services to comply with regulations. This target market segment includes businesses such as food processing plants, hospitals, and daycare centers.
For these businesses, hiring a professional cleaning service is a way to ensure that they are in compliance with health and safety regulations.
Summary
The target market for cleaning services can, first and foremost, be broken up into two broad segments: Residential and Commercial. Residential customers turn to a professional cleaning service when they do not have the time to clean by themselves or when they would rather be doing something else.
Another segment of this market includes those who suffer from respiratory and other illnesses that require them to have a high level of cleanliness in their homes. These people might be able to clean by themselves but often lack the necessary equipment and cleaning products to achieve the results they seek.
Business customers can be sub-categorized into two segments: those who need clean premises in order to make a good impression and those who need to clean in order to comply with health and safety regulations. Both these segments can be a very good target market for cleaning services as they can both easily measure their return on investment and so can justify the expense.
