No doubt about it.It sure is exciting to announce to the office that you just landed a new account!Making a sale is, and always will be, a thrill.But, there’s something just as important that youdon’t generally find people running around the office boasting about – but they should.And that’s getting and keeping those cleaning accounts- in budget!That’s right, once you land an account, one of your very first priorities should be assigning it the budgeted hours you used to determine the monthly price.Again, those budgeted hours are the total hours per night you (if you’re cleaning the building yourself) or your office cleaning staff ( if you’re hiring an employee) can spend each visit to clean the account.Bottom line:Stay ‘in budget’ and you’ll be well on your way to making money consistently – month after month.Start going ‘over budget’ with any regularity and you’re likely to be managing, staffing, cleaning and inspecting an account where – you’re losing money!It’s that simple and that important. Let’s take a look.Any exceptions?Sure.When you first start an account up, it’s normal to take longer to get it ‘up to snuff’ and for your staff to get used to cleaning it.And even after you’ve had an account running smoothly there will still be nights, now and then, when you run over on your time for one reason or another such as a pizza party cleanup or preparations for a big VIP visit.But those exceptions need to be just that – exceptions.Generally, the hours should be pretty steady – right around the budgeted hours you assigned to the account.You should consistently watch the hours you’re spending cleaning on regular basis and move quickly to investigate and take corrective steps if cleaning times start creeping up.Those corrective steps can range from a conversation to remind the cleaning associate to ‘stay in budget’ to a complete re-training of the account to make sure everything is being done properly and efficiently.It’s not as fun as landing an account – but it can be just as important and just as financially rewarding.Ever heard the old saying ‘It’s not what you make – it’s what you keep!”Well, today’s message could be expressed in a similar way, ‘It’s not the accounts you land, it’s the accounts you keep – in budget!”Discover the Guru in YOU!Dan