The retail gift card industry has ballooned to a 35 billion dollar a year industry and seems to be gaining momentum each year increasing by 35% during the holidays. That's a lot of gift-buying and second-party sales that maid services are missing out on for the most part. Let's face it, few maid services increase their gift card sales during any holiday by a noticeable degree. We have not enjoyed the same level of growth in our "gift certificate" sales that retailers experience with their gift card sales, year round, or seasonally. One reason of course, is we don't have retail stores that the public frequents, and therefore no display racks or kiosks to promote this option. But, another reason, the main reason, that maid services aren't selling more gift certificates is we don't know how to promote them and then we struggle to redeem them successfully, when we do sell a few!

Since our business is built on the "repeat clean" business model, our industry struggles as a whole to deliver a profitable, one-time, sight-unseen job that doesn't blow up in our face. Most of us know that we can deliver a high-quality cleaning if we can take all the time we need, especially if we have the chance to go out and bid the job in person. Where maid services tend to falter is when we have to satisfy a client with a first time cleaning time that's about a third of the time we know we need from the start. That's where the trouble starts. If you've crashed and burned on a few of those you are not going to be highly motivated to sell tons of gift certificates during the holidays. Maid service gift certificates are unique, in that people don't know what a $100 will buy them. Their expectations are all over the map when it comes time to redeem them. In one home a $100 gift certificate could be enough to clean every room thoroughly, but in another home 해피머니 상품권 매입 $100 might only get to three of the bathrooms; period. And that's when the trouble starts and expectations aren't met, and the homeowner is disappointed, or irate, or the business owner "eats it" because they stay six hours on a job that only got paid for three. Since this can be a common scenario, business owners tend to avoid gift certificates sales rather than pursue them.

Instead of avoiding all that sales potential, we need to develop ways to succeed at redeeming gift certificates. Once that challenge has been overcome, we will then look for ways to promote our gift certificates and sell more than ever! Redeeming gift certificates can be a lot like working through a realtor to clean up a house. You have the realtor who wants to spend as little as possible, you have the home buyer who wants as much as possible, and the maid service caught in the middle of unrealistic expectations from a third party sale. What a mess that can be and often times gift certificates pose the same kind of challenge. Here are three things you can do to avoid gift certificate redemption disasters:

1. Ask questions. Always ask a few questions of the buyer about who will be redeeming the gift cleaning, the approximate size and condition of the home, and the nature of the gift. The answers will lead to recommendations from you that often times will result in a bigger sale.

2. Make suggestions. Give a realistic opinion as to how much cleaning can be accomplished in that size home with the amount of time purchased. People are generally okay once they understand the limitations of their purchase. The trouble comes when they think a "$100 cleaning" is defined as a "complete job" when in reality you define it as time allotted and priorities managed. Explain how many "labor hours" or "man hours" their purchase will redeem and you'll help them gain a more realistic view of what they are giving.

3. Communicate. When the gift cleaning is being redeemed, be very clear and specific about how much time the gift certificate is for, explaining how many in the team and how long they will stay. Ask for a list of priorities by the room and explain how far you think they will get on the list. For example, if the house is huge, explain that the bathrooms may be all they will get to. Be realistic, and specific. Don't be afraid to let the client know that the gift certificate time will only go so far. They are less likely to be disappointed if they know what to expect!