WE ARE NOT THE DOLLAR TREE | EP 201

WE ARE NOT THE DOLLAR TREE.

In this short but powerful episode, Shannon Miller breaks down why discounting is quietly destroying profit, confidence, and long-term stability in the cleaning industry.

From fear-based pricing and legacy clients to guilt marketing and race-to-the-bottom competition, this episode dives into the mindset shift cleaning business owners must make if they want to build a profitable, sustainable company.

Topics include:

• Dollar Tree mindset vs CEO mindset
• Why discounting creates resentment and burnout
• The psychology behind undercharging
• Cheap clients vs premium positioning
• Why cleaning is an essential service
• How to stop negotiating emotionally
• Training staff not to discount pricing

🔥 “You cannot build wealth with clearance rack confidence.”

If you’ve ever struggled with pricing confidence, saying no, or feeling underpaid in your business — this episode is for you.

If you are struggling with pricing, The Pricing Blue Print Masterclass 1.0 will help. https://klean-freaks-university.newzenler.com/courses/pricing-blue-print-master-class/buy

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 1:09

Hey everyone, it's Channy Miller here from Cleaning Business Life and this was an episode that was actually done a while ago and then ended up being corrupted as technology. But it is an important episode. I thought I would just do it real quick for you guys. And it's called We Are Not the Dollar Tree. And for people who are not familiar with who or what the Dollar Tree is, it's a discount store. It's like the dollar store. There used to be a 99 cent store, but the both of those collapsed as they increased the minimum wage. It just wasn't a viable business model anymore. And when you're paying all of these employees, it just wasn't a good business model. We won't go into that whole theory. But there is a point where a lot of people think that cleaning should be discounted. And I'm an advocate for not discounting anything in the cleaning room unless you absolutely have to. There's a lot of effort that happens in the forefront and in the back end of the business. And there's a whole mindset that happens, right? There's Dollar Tree mindset and then there's CEO mindset. And when you start to do the math at figuring out what a discount does, and there'll be people who's gonna who are gonna argue with me, well, because you can write off some years you can write off discounts, sometimes you can't. Sometimes you can write off bad debt, sometimes you can't. Just depends on whatever your financial situation is. But if you gave a $40 discount, we're gonna do this for easy math because we know I can't do math when I'm doing this. It's just the way it is. My my brain doesn't work the same way. So if you had a $40 discount that you gave just randomly, just because I love this person, I'm gonna give them a discount four times a month, times 12 months, eight clients. That ends up being $15,360 is not in your pocket. That's a discount that you gave away just because, just because just because I love you, right? So that is something to think about. And it's easy to slip into the discount mode. House cleaning is not thought of as a viable income strategy, even though even Grant Cardone is getting in on the cleaning industry. There are people who are never interested in the cleaning industry suddenly are in on it because it's lucrative and it's like the next hot thing, right? So we are often cornered into giving a discount. Well, I actually had someone call, I think it was yesterday, and it was her second home, she told me, was 3,000 square feet. And she has convinced, sorry, I'm adjusting this. She has convinced her her cleaner from Scottsdale to drive up here. It's 77 miles, depending on what part of Phoenix you're in, and it could be at 90 miles. So if you're out in Chandler, it's close to 90 miles. Each direction to come service her while she is up here once a month. And I started laughing. I go, I've been doing this like 16 years. This is it's gonna be a $275 price to do your house once a month. And she's like, Well, I already had a bid for someone else to do it for $200. I go, I would go with them. I'm happy to look at the bid if you have it. And she's of course didn't have the bid because she's, I just want to say liar, liar, pants on fire. But, you know, hang your booty on the telephone wire, right? It's just like you can't say those things when you're on the phone, even as no, it's tempting. But that's the reality, is everyone wants to discount it. So her poor cleaner is actually driving up from Scottsdale or wherever she lives out in the valley to come service this person who lives in Prescott Lakes, which is a gated community. This is her second home, and she can't figure out why the cleaner won't come up for a second time. And oh, and by the way, her cleaner is not charging her a travel fee and is only charging her 150 bucks to come up here and do it. I started laughing because in the homeowner's mind, it deserves to be discounted. In the cleaning business owner's mind, it deserves to be discounted. So it's a perfect win-win for both of them. I don't feel that it should be discounted. And I have opinions about if you have a second home, you can afford to pay whatever the rate is, right? And there's a lot of psychology behind why we we slip into discount mode. There's the fear of silence, the fear of rejection. I think that's a big one for many of us. Wanting to be liked. I haven't had to deal with that since fifth grade. Scarcity mindset, that is actually something that's really hard to overlook and overcome. I'm working with someone who is a food hoarder right now, and she's my special project, and it is the hardest thing. And she's doing therapy while she's doing this with me. And it is the hardest thing for her to overcome. There have been many tears over throwing out a jar of peanut butter. I'm laughing because I think it's silly, but to her, it's like a big deal, right? Comparing to cheaper competitors, you guys have all heard me talk about race to the bottom. We don't want to race to the bottom. We're not here to race to the bottom. You guys are here to create a legacy that you can either sell or gift to family and you can earn residual income for the rest of your life. That is the whole point. This is the one and only time in history I have seen where women dominate a field, a trade. We are the 23rd trade. So if one keep one client says no, then it puts you into panic mode. And the problem isn't pride pricing, it's actually stability. And that's true. It people are gonna say no, you're gonna get a lot of no's before you get yeses. And I give this example a lot. This happened in the 90s and the late early 2000s. And the Kirby vacuums at the time were sold for $2,000. In the 90s, that was a lot of money. That's probably like five grand now. They went from door to door to door. And if you have any knowledge of what door-to-door salesmanship is, you get a lot of nor's before you get the one yes. And then you get a lot of mono's before you get two yeses. And it's it's it's a numbers game, right? If I do the same pitch and I do and you start to read nuances because you're in person, it's like with the algorithms on social media. If I keep pushing this button, they know that I like dogs, right? Those things happen a lot, and you need to make sure that you are comfortable with the no's. Because someone says no doesn't mean that they don't like you, it just means it just didn't work out. Showing up annoyed, they rush the job, they feel underpaid, they get quiet burnout, and the Dollar Tree pricing creates Dollar Tree burnout.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

And then a lot of things too, you see them, the Valpack, the Valpack coupons, we've all seen them.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

I don't even open them, I just throw them in the trash. I I hate them. I have a whole love-hate thing with them. I've even advertised in them, and it really is a love-hate relationship. I cannot get those things to work in my area. If you get them to work in your area, I would love to do a podcast with you so that we can break it down and see how that goes. But I have I've done it several times. I've never once gotten my ROI back ever. And I believe the Val Pack is what at the time was like 800 bucks a month, maybe 1200 bucks a month. It's been a while to actually have to look it up. Um, so you don't want to beat any quote and you don't want to be competing on price. And there's a lot of guilt-based marketing, or there's a lot of public shaming. I can't tell you how many times I've had little women go, you should be ashamed of your pricing. I was a nurse and I used to make, I never made that. I'm like, but you were an employee. I'm not an employee, I'm a business owner. So that I have more expenses, right? You are an employee, you have to get up, get showered, put on makeup, look pretty, and and go to your job. There's a big difference, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:06

So make sure that you're not following into that trap.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

And people will say, you know, can you do better in price? No, I'm really sorry. That's the price. That's what I tell them. You know, you're more than welcome to call around. Sorry, it doesn't sound like we're a good fit, right? And I say that a lot and I try not to be emotional because sometimes it does feel like a personal attack, but it's not. They're just looking to get the cheapest price. And they they do it not just with you, they do it with everybody. And then after a while, because we're a small town, we all talk, they're like, oh yeah, Mrs. Smith, she tries to shake you down for blah, blah, blah, blah. And we all know that Mrs. Smith's gonna be a toughie, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:45

And then they'll say like things like well, another company quoted less. I always ask to see the paper bid.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

Let me see the bid. I'm silent because they never show me the bid. I've been in business 16 years and I've never seen a bid from another cleaning company. You know why? Just layer, layer, pants on fire, right? And then they'll say, Well, that's more than I wanted to spend. Household carrying of your investment is a line item in your budget. So if that's something that you want to have, then you need to budget for it. And yes, it goes up every year because it costs more to operate a legitimate business. So you cannot build wealth with a clearance rack confidence. Let me say that again. You cannot build wealth with a clearance rack confidence. You need to have a Nordstrom's rack conference or a Nordstrom's or a Sax Fifth Avenue or an Eamon Marcus, right? It's not cleaning is no longer considered a luxury service. It's essential. So if you remember that point, that cleaning is essential. I can't tell you how many times I've had people pull me to the side and go, oh my God, I'm so thankful you guys come. With, you know, we got mental stuff going on, or they have a depression, or there's something, it's it's just one less thing for them I have to worry about. And it really does make it better for them. It it is it is self-care, it is care for your body and your environment. We are affected by our environments on so many levels. And it's important that you remain positive. So there's a whole identity shift that happens when you cater to the Dollar Tree crowd versus the Nordstroms crowd. And and how you can do that is you you can audit your discounted clients, right? You'll often hear me call them legacy clients. And you can calculate the annual loss. I just gave you the example of what was it, 15,000. Here I'm gonna look because I don't remember. It is fifteen thousand three hundred and sixty dollars per year. That's just with eight clients. So if you did that, if you multiplied that times 16 clients, that would be 30 grand. If you did that with 24 clients, that would be what 15, 15, 45 grand. So it you see how it adds up. So you're giving away all this money just because you don't have to, right? That's my mentality. I don't want to give away money if I don't have to. I will occasionally, I'll still have to like suck it up and do it just to shut them up and get them out of my life because they they sneak under the door in my orbit and I'm like, oh my god, how'd you end up here? So don't be conditioned to give a discount, don't be forced or obligated into guilt and and change your mindset because you you deserve to make top dollar, and that's important to make top dollar.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

And most importantly, train your staff.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

Train your cleaning techs not to negotiate in price, don't let them emotionally make decisions either, right? Occasionally, some of you guys will have people who are out there doing in-person bids. I flop back and forth whether in-person bids are worth it or not. Sometimes I feel they are, sometimes I feel that they're not. But remember that your cleaning techs are an extension of you. If you don't want to give a discount, then make sure that you tell your cleaning text, hey, no discounts. You can give a discount maybe off of the initial cleaning, which is workable if that's what you want to do, but they have to stay so many visits after. And if they fail to do that, then you just bill them for the discount that you gave them. I've seen that a lot too. So don't treat yourself like the Dollar Tree, treat yourself like the Nordies crowd. Make sure that your wording and your ad copy reflect that. I always use the Walmart Nordstroms comparison. Dollar Tree seems to be a little less than Walmart, but you get my point. It's we're not the Dollar Tree. Don't market to the Dollar Tree. Those guys aren't going to need you unless they need a one time cleaning, typically, is what I have found. Anyway, look forward to your questions if you have them.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

And you guys take care.