House Cleaning Biz 101

Our Employees' Behaviori is a Reflection of our Management Style

2011-03-13T18:00:00.002-04:00

Managing people and getting them to do things the way you, the owner, wants them done is always a challenge. People have to want to do what is expected of them because the days of flogging insubordinate workers are long gone! On the other hand, we need to distinguish between being friendly and being a friend to our employees. There is a huge difference between caring for your people and in coddling to them.

As most of you know, in my House Cleaning Biz 101 course's THREE Rs OF EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT, I suggest that while our business is cleaning homes for consumers, OUR job as managers/owners is "people manufacturing". SInce you cannot build a quality product with wrong-fitting and/or poor quality parts, you have to start by ensuring you have the right parts to end up with a quality product. It all begins with the 5-step recruting process in order to find the best components on which to build your organization. Hiring on gut instinct rather than utilizing a scientifically-proven, quantifiable system is a hit and miss proposition and one which more often than not leads us to frustration and disappointment.

Generally speaking, our employees' behavior is a reflection on our management style and ability - like it or not; accept it or not. I applaud Lisa Kirkpatrick for her attitude on this issue. Owners who complain about short tenured employees should take a peek at http://www.bucketsnbows.com/meet_our_staff.htm and witness a large organization owned by Debbie Sardone and see and hear some amazing overall staff longevity. This has not happened by accident and unless we all learn the importance of the second R (Employee RELATIONS) we will never, ever be able to grow a substantial business.

Other great examples are Tom Stewart of Castle-Keepers (http://www.castle-keepers.com/), David Kiser of Champagne Services (http://www.champagneservices.com/employees), Richard Wilson of Brittany Maids (http://www.brittanymaids.com/aboutus.html) and Amanda Collucci of Clean4Me (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcJBl_G0nBY) -- just to point out a few.

One of my favorite books on the subject is, strangely enough, entitled "The Management Secrets of Atilla the Hun." (http://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Secrets-Attila-Wess-Roberts/dp/0446391069), The author Wes Roberts uses tongue-in-cheeck analogies of this once-feared leader of the marauding Huns to show how toughness can be combined with compassion and fairness to make a great leader with hordes of loyal followers.

Another great book entitled UNLOCK BEHAVIOR, UNLEASH PROFITS is absolute must reading for anyone who needs to hire, manage and retain employees. It begins with the assumption that people don't always do what you tell them to do. But it takes you step by step how to manage by A, B, C (Anticident, Behavior and Consequences). The Anticident is the training and instruction you pjrovide; the Behavior is what the employee exhibits and the Consquence is what the employee gets as a result of performing the Behavior. I suggest you check out my Blog at http://gary-goranson.blogspot.com/2010/10/managing-by-b-c.html for a more indepth explanation of the concept.

Billy Ray Cyrus is now bemoaning the fact that he treated Miley more like a friend than a parent. We are not doing any favors to our employees by emulating this mistake with them. But this does not mean we don't want to care about our employees anymore than being a good parent does not mean ruling our chilcren with an iron fist.

Just as our kids will let us down now and then, so will oor employees. And just as we cannot allow unruly children to run our households, neither can we permit unnacceptable behavior from our employees dictate how our business functions. If you are going to build a large, successful and highly profitable cleanking business, you need to come to grips with the fact that you are going to have employee-relatec challenges from time to time.

Add this Affilliate Link to your Web site and earn $

2011-01-11T13:21:00.007-05:00

We subscribe to the Ethical

Business Practices endorsed by:

This link from your Web site to our Web site can earn referral income, even whie you sleep -- even if you're in a country half way around the world! In fact, we just sent $100 to one of our new affiliates in the Phillipines. And the referral from his Web site was a customer in Australia!.

For all the details on our Affiliate Program, click here.

For Email Marketing you can trust

The Home Cleaner Express is Coming to a City Near You!

2011-01-04T10:03:00.015-05:00

I wanted you to be aware of an upcoming series of events that is unprecedented in the residential cleaning industry. Between this January and the month of May, Perry Phillips and his Home Cleaner Magazine are conducting a 30-city road show with the Home Cleaner Express (pictured above).

The Home Cleaner Express is an ambitious undertaking by Perry Phillips, the publisher of Home Cleaner magazine. During the first five months of 2011, owners of home cleaning businesses will have the opportunity to attend an all-day event in one of 30 cities which Home Cleaner Express is scheduled to visit. The day will consist of seminars and workshops designed to teach and inspire attendees to build on their success in the residential cleaning industry.

As the publisher of Home Cleaner magazine and the founder and past director of the Association of Residential Cleaning Services International (ARCSI), over the past eight years Perry has been in the unique position of knowing, working with and learning from hundreds of seasoned entrepreneurs in the house cleaning industry. It is this experience which qualifies Perry Phillips to organize and conduct this first-ever cross country event coming to a city near you. It also provides an opportunity for attendees to meet and share ideas with other service owners in their "neck of the woods."

2011 mark my 20th year in the residential cleaning industry and the eighth year of helping business owners excel in 56 countries around the world with my House Cleaning Biz 101 course on CD-ROM. In fact, Perry was one of my very first customers in the spring of 2003. At that time he was launching ARCSI, a cause I championed by getting the word out to all of my clients. The industry has come of age since I got involved in the business way back in 1991. ARCSI and Home Cleaner magazine have been instrumental in raising the level of professionalism among home cleaning businesses across the nation.

As a strong supporter of helping to enhance the professional image of the cleaning industry, I heartily endorse the purpose and intent of the Home Cleaner Express. In fact, I am proud to say that www.housecleaningbiz101.com is a proud sponsor of the entire 30-city tour. Don't miss out on this very unique opportunity to learn what Perry has learned from the most successful people in the residential cleaning industry.

For more information on meeting agenda, dates, cities and registration, click here.

Proud Sponsor of the Home Cleaning Express

Business Building Tour.

http://www.housecleaningbiz101.com/

Managing by A-B-C - Applying it to YOUR Cleaning Business

2010-10-20T12:15:00.018-04:00

While rummaging through some old newsletter files, I cam across this article which I had written ten years ago. It is based on the A-B-C management principles defined by Leslie Wilk Braksick, PhD in her book UNLOCK BEHAVIOR, UNLEASH PROFITS

In re-reading it yesterday, I concluded it would be worth sharing with you on this blog site.

We teach new hires how to clean efficiently and effectively. We explain how wearing the apron helps save time by keeping their tools and supplies with them so they don’t have to retrace their steps. We show them how to start in one place in the room, clean top to bottom, back to front, and left to right. We explain how we go around the bathroom twice, once to do the wet work and the second time to clean the other areas. We explain that “efficiency” doesn’t mean working faster; it means working smarter.

During the interview and orientation process, we explain that since we work in teams, prompt attendance is critical. If they’re late, they will be holding up the other team members and delaying the start of the work day for everyone, including our clients. We emphasize the importance of perfect attendance; if they don’t show up for work their absenteeism creates chaotic working conditions for their team members, the office staff and their clients.

Surprise! People Don’t Always Do What You Tell Them To Do.

After putting our new hires through orientation and training, what happens as often as not?

Instead of putting their spray bottles back in their apron loops, they put them down on the counter. They’re constantly going back across the room to pick up their cleaning tray and bottles. Instead of working smarter, they work harder. They clean what’s clean. They figure that if a little bit of all-purpose or glass cleaner is good, a whole bunch is better, and then work twice as hard wiping it up. They translate “speed cleaning” to mean moving fast, rather than working efficiently.

Simply showing and telling people what to do does not ensure that they will do it. Getting angry and yelling at them is not the long-term solution to achieving the desired result, which is doing what you want them to do.

This new updated version can
be purchased at Amazon for
$18.95

In an excellent book I recommend entitled UNLOCK BEHAVIOR, UNLEASH PROFITS by Leslie Wilk Braksick, Ph.D. the author describes training and instruction we give our employees are the “antecedents” that set the stage for a behavior to occur. Antecedents always come before any behavior takes place, but they do not cause the behavior to occur.

Antecedents have limited control over behavior. The role of an antecedent is to get a behavior to occur once. It is the role of a “consequence” of a behavior to get the behavior to occur again. The consequence is what always follows a behavior. Antecedents get us going, but consequences keep us going. People do what they do because of what happens to them when they do it.

Consequences Reinforce Behavior.

You instruct an employee to wear the apron (the antecedent). She wears the apron (the behavior). The apron is uncomfortable and she feels clumsy (the consequence). The consequence of her behavior is Negative (for the performer), it is Immediate and it is Certain. It IS easier to put the spray bottles down on the counter than it is to remember to put them back in the apron loops. The apron IS heavy and awkward until one becomes accustomed to it. To change the undesired behavior (in this case, not wearing the apron and/or not putting the spray cleaners back in the apron instead of down on the countertop), it is necessary to reinforce positive consequences for the person performing the behavior.

The 4 Consequences Of Behavior And Their Effects.

Behavioral consequences are defined as: Those things and events that follow a behavior and change the probability that the behavior will be repeated in the future.

Employees may perform up to 1,000 different behaviors at work every day. Each behavior is followed by a consequence that will either strengthen or weaken them. There are four behavioral consequences: 2 that increase behavior and 2 that decrease it. The 2 consequences that increase behavior are referred to in behavioral science as positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement; the 2 that decrease it are called punishment and penalty.

Some of the 1,000 daily behavioral consequences occur naturally. The team’s driver puts the car in gear, presses down on the accelerator and the vehicle moves forward. An employee puts the house key in the lock at a client’s home, turns the knob and the door opens. A team member hits the “on” switch on the vacuum cleaner, and it turns on.

Another portion of the 1,000 daily behaviors is followed by consequences provided by fellow employees. An employee smiles, says “good morning”, and she receives a cheery “good morning” in return. She tells a joke, and her team mates laugh.

Still another portion of the 1,000 behaviors is followed by consequences provided by supervisors and the business owner. These consequences should increase the behaviors that directly add value to your business and decrease those which interfere with value-added performance.

Here are a few examples of how the 4 consequences of behavior are at work every day, along with how they are likely to reinforce the future behavior connected with each consequence:

(1) A team member puts the team control book on top of her car while helping to load supplies. She drives off without retrieving it and it’s gone forever (penalty). This consequence is likely to decrease the likelihood of this behavior reoccurring in the future.

(2) A new employee tries to follow the cleaning methods taught by her franchise owner, but the team leader chews her out for being too slow (punishment). She decides that its more important to work quickly than it is to work efficiently. The consequence reduces the probability of the right behavior being repeated in the future.

(3) A team is cleaning a home for a particularly fussy client. The team leader takes extra quality control measures because she knows this client will call the office and complain if your client finds any dust or finger prints after the team has left. She wants to avoid being reprimanded and forced to go back and re-clean (negative reinforcement).

(4) You share a letter of appreciation with employees of team two from Mrs. Smith praising their work. During the next week you get back a higher than normal number of excellent performance questionnaires from team two’s clients (positive reinforcement).

To Get A Desired Behavior, Provide Positive Consequences

If you look at the Summary of the Four Behavioral Consequences and Their Effects and review these examples again, you will see that an employee’s behaviors can be directed by altering the consequences of behavior. Needless to say, the right antecedents need to be in place to launch the desired behavior in the first place (training, coaching, instructing, the working environment, and supervisory leadership).

If an employee is not adequately taught to perform the desired behavior, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that we can’t expect her to exhibit the behavior we’re looking for.

If we expect an employee to be cheerful on the job, management needs to set the example. It’s easy to “extinguish” a cheerful behavior if an employee’s jolly “good morning” is met by a grumpy acknowledgment (or no acknowledgement) from management when she arrives for work. We’ll touch on the phenomena of “extinguishing” behavior a little later.

Let’s use the situation we referenced at the beginning of this article, dealing with the undesirable behavior of not using the apron properly. How might we go about achieving the correct behavior by changing the consequences for performing this behavior?

We have a new team member who tries to follow the rule about putting the spray bottles back in the apron loops, but becomes frustrated because she finds it awkward and keeps forgetting (punishment). She reverts back to what comes more naturally to her and leaves her AP and GC bottles on the counter instead of trying to follow the system. In this instance, the wrong behavior is being reinforced, thereby decreasing the chance that the right behavior will be repeated.

We know that the eventual consequence for this worker is that she will save time and effort when she gets into the habit of putting her sprayers back in the apron loops instead of down on the counter, and then having to retrace her steps to retrieve them. The consequence will then become something she “wants” to do because it will make her job easier. She’s been told that and knows it’s what she’s supposed to do. Still, the wrong behavior persists because the immediate consequence of doing it the right way is punishment (it is unnatural and more difficult at first).

In an effort to correct this behavior, a trainer or team leader will often verbally chastise the employee for not using the desired behavior. Because the employee is likely to want to avoid the displeasure of her supervisor in the future, this may achieve the desired results . . . at least, temporarily. This is an example of “negative reinforcement” (negative reinforcement is a consquence by which the behavior allows the performer to escape or avoid something they don't want). Negative reinforcement can alter a behavior, but the performer’s behavioral change is likely to show minimal compliance. It may only exhibit itself under direct supervision thereafter, almost begrudgingly. Negative reinforcement tends to produce behavioral performance that is “just good enough to get by.”

The best way to change behavior is to eliminate or minimize any punishment or penalty which may be a consequence to the employee for performing a desired behavior, and provide positive reinforcement as a consequence for doing so (or that results in a positive consequence that far outweighs any immediate punishment or penatly associated with performing the desired behavior).

So, how can we get our new employee to perform the desired behavior of always putting her APC and GC bottles back in her apron loops using positive reinforcement? Think about it for a moment. It is our objective to get our worker to perform the desired behavior to “get something she wants” as a consequence of performing the behavior.

Actually, this is a bigger issue than merely getting our employee to use the apron properly. This behavior is just one element of the whole issue of performing specific desired behaviors that are required to do the work efficiently.

Not using efficient cleaning methods (which include the proper use of the apron, and ALWAYS putting the spray bottles back in the apron loops) means that the employee will have to work harder. I don’t know of too many people who would rather find a way to work harder than they have to. Do you?

Your challenge is that until this new employee masters our efficient cleaning methods, the “positive” consequence promised is “future” and “uncertain” to the employee. While she’s learning, the consequence to the employee for performing the desired behavior is usually “negative”, “immediate” and “certain”.

An owner might say, “This is nonsense! I’m paying her to do the job the way I tell her to do it, and she better do it or else!” News flash! The prospect of losing one’s job might have been a feared penalty at one time. But this is the year 2000, and that threat is not a big stick these days. We have all heard of that little thing called employee turnover. Furthermore, what you really want out of your employees is “discretionary behavior” (which translates to behaviors that exceed the bare minimum performance required to “just get by”).

The reality of this situation is that positive reinforcement needs to occur during the initial training period. You can’t change the fact that learning efficient cleaning techniques may prove to be uncomfortable and unnatural for new employees. But you can minimize the punishment the employee experiences during this time and replace it with a consequence the employee will want to experience: recognition for her progress and praise for performing the desired behaviors. WE SHOULD NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWERFUL IMPACT THAT POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT HAS ON ACHIEVING A DESIRED BEHAVIOR. This positive reinforcement must begin during the initial training process.

The person responsible for training a new hire needs to understand the principle of positive reinforcement of desired behavior. From the very first time a new employee follows direction, she needs to receive positive reinforcement for this behavior. “Way to go! That’s it, keep doing it that way.” Making a game of the training process can make this easier for both trainer and trainee. “Spray, loop, wipe. Spray, loop, wipe. Spray, loop, wipe,” repeated while teaching a new hire to apply cleaner, put the sprayer back in the apron loop, and wipe the surface as she cleans is just one example. “That’s it, you’re getting it. Good job. You’re learning well,” is positive reinforcement to your new worker. And the trainer must not skimp on providing constant praise as the new person continues to learn new procedures.

Continuous positive reinforcement of the desired behaviors of your new trainee needs to offset the negative consequences, which are going to be experienced by your new employee during the learning process. As she learns the right behaviors, she gains confidence (positive reinforcement), starts to experience the benefits of efficient methodology (positive reinforcement) and becomes accepted as a peer by her coworkers (positive reinforcement).

Training Is The Antecedent

Remember that “training and guidance” are the antecedents to workplace behavior. How we provide this training and guidance sets up the behavior and can positively or negatively impact the consequences that follow the behavior.

Inadequate or cursory training of a new employee will not beget the desired behavior, and the consequence will be a negative experience for the trainee. When you’re in a situation where you need an extra pair of hands on a team, the temptation is to short-circuit the training process. However, this management decision inevitably leads to a revolving door of new hires coming and going.

A seasoned team has been programmed to get the job done efficiently. They’re used to getting in and out of Mrs. Smith’s home in 45 minutes. They know how to produce quality work within a certain time frame. The sooner they can get their day’s cleanings done, the sooner they can get home to the kids. Now you introduce a new, unseasoned pair of hands to the mix.

Instead of being an asset to the team, this new person is a liability. She hasn’t learned the system, she’s slow and unsure, and her work has to be monitored closely. She drags the team’s efficiency down. Instead of finishing up in 45 minutes, the team is still not finished after being in the house an hour. The team leader loses patience, the other experienced coworker becomes exasperated, and the entire experience is frustrating and bewildering to the trainee. The consequence is that everyone is punished. Not only do you stand to lose the new employee, but if the scenario continues to repeat itself (new people coming and going on the team), you risk demoralizing and losing even your seasoned workers.

Most team leaders dislike training. The scenario pinpointed in the preceding paragraph defines the reason why. Certainly, the long-term consequences can be positive for the team ¾ if and when the new team member is experienced and up to speed. But when the new person is assigned to a team, the consequence, although potentially “positive”, it is “future” and “uncertain”. The initial consequence to the experienced team members is “negative”, “immediate” and “certain”. It is uncertain whether the new hire will be around in the future to contribute efficiently, but it’s certain that there will be an immediate negative impact on the team’s efficiency.

This scenario is yet another example of where negative consequences influence future behavior, in this instance, the behavior of the team leader (assuming she is the one responsible for training the new hire), as well as the behavior of the third experienced team member.

How do you change the behavior of the team to which the new person will be assigned? The same formula; you change the consequence of performing the desired behavior from negative to positive. So how do you do that?

First of all, the trainer needs to be trained on how to train. A new hire can certainly learn through osmosis by observing what the trainer does. This is how most ms expect a new person to learn. The team leader shows the trainee once, twice, perhaps three times, then expects them to perform the behavior expertly and efficiently. And this where the problem begins. The team leader's expectations are not met, the trainee’s expectations aren’t met, and the negative consequence overlaps onto the third team member.

Before a new person is assigned to a team, that person needs to receive her initial training from you or a dedicated trainer whose sole objective is to teach the employee the basics before being put on the firing line. This will help to alleviate the negative consequence for the team leader that is associated with training a brand new recruit, as well as for the new hire and the other team member. The new team member will be better prepared to contribute to the efficiency of the team, rather than detract from it.

Another way to create a positive consequence for the behavior of training is to compensate a “qualified” team leader specifically for training a new employee. Note the emphasis on “qualified”. This is a way of turning a negative consequence connected with training a new person into a positive consequence for the team leader (and, as a byproduct, the team leader is likely to put less pressure on the trainee . . . also a positive consequence for the new person).

Beware Of Extinguishing Desired Behavior.

One of the sins that management often commits is that of unwittingly “extinguishing” desired behavior. A behavior can be extinguished when a performer fails to receive positive reinforcement. Let me give you an example.

An employee does outstanding work. She cheerfully helps her other team members finish their rooms. She receives no positive reinforcement and soon becomes less willing to pitch in to help her coworkers; in fact, she starts to take her time and pays less attention to detail. Soon, she’s less efficient than her teammates. Her quality workmanship diminishes. Eventually, her desired behavior is no more.

If someone tells a joke and no one laughs, the chance that the teller will repeat it decreases. If he tells the joke a couple of more times and no one laughs, he likely won’t tell it again. The teller received no positive reinforcement for this behavior and the result is that the behavior becomes “extinguished”.

The same thing can happen if management does not provide continuous positive reinforcement in response to desired behavior. It’s easy to put all our attention on correcting undesired behaviors and ignore employees performing desired behaviors. But giving positive reinforcement to desired behaviors IS critically important to sustaining the behaviors we want.

Can you build a successful house cleaning business during a recession?

2010-10-13T15:29:00.001-04:00

With thousands of business owner clients around the world over the past 7 1/2 years, many of whom keep in touch with me, I get a good pulse on the state of the industry. Many businesses are susceptible to the swings in the economy and either prosper or suffer accordingly.

When the overall economy is in a downturn, we can't put our heads in the sand. No business is recession proof -- but, the residential cleaning industry has proven over the past two years to be very recession resistant. Instead of running for cover, aggressive owners have shown consistantly strong growth in 2010 over 2009. Some have reported sales increases of $200,000 or more over the previous year to date period.

I thought you might like to hear the logic as to why this is the case so I am sharing the following link on youtube which is also available to visitors to our Web site:

YouTube Video

Want to attract job applicants without wasting a lot of time, money and effort?

2010-10-01T16:09:00.005-04:00

There is no shortage of job applicants out there these days. That's the good news. The bad news is that you can waste a lot of time and effort on the answering responses to your ads on the phone trying to weed out poor candidates. Then, when applicants arrive for the interview and fill out their applications, you still wind up wasting time with unqualifed applicants. This situation is particularly problematic due to the large number of people looking for work these days.

About a year ago, we set up a new Web site to help you attract workers while taking 90% of the effort and expense out of the recruiting process. The National Home Cleaning Service Employment Center is a great resource that you may not be taking advantage of and is probably worth your consideration. Be sure to check it out through the above link.

Here's how this Web site can help you:

It provides an overview of what the work entails, along with a job description, so the applicant is fully aware of what he or she will be expected to do;
Job seekers can fill out your application form right online, and it is sent directly to the email box of the person in your business who looks after recruiting employees;
Unless you decline the option, there will be a link to a map on the top of the application form so that applicants can (a) print out directions to your office and (b) determine the distance from their home to your office, which eliminates people who live too far away to make the job practical;
If you wish, the application can be translated into a selection of other languagues at the click of a button;
The site works for you 24 X 7 and you even receive applications in your inbox while you are sleeping;
You review incoming applications at YOUR leisure and call back only those you're interested in interviewing in person, which means no sitting around the office taking phone calls from job seekers and less time and effort spent on the recruiting process.

How well does it work? Well, Ken Steele, one of our House Cleaning Biz 101 customers who subscribes to this program had 370 people go to his online application in September alone. That's 370 phone calls he did not have to deal with. Of course, he did not get 370 applications (and I am sure he didn't want that many) because (1) many visitors disqualified themselves for whatever reason or (2) they chose not to answer all the questions on the application, in which case the system will not allow it to be submitted.

To direct prospective applicants to his application, he runs the following FREE help wanted ad on Craig's List on a continuous basis. So be sure to look around the site to see if it could be a benefit to your recruiting efforts, too. It gets its share of visitors every day, but if you really want to make it work for you, drive traffic to it like Ken is doing.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Maid Service, House Cleaners (West Orange County)

________________________________________

Date: 2010-09-19, 11:44PM EDT

Reply to: job-vb8ug-1963122449@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
________________________________________

Join our Team - we look for quality people who live close to our service area.

We're very selective about the people we hire. New applicants are thoroughly screened. Before hiring, they are subject to a background investigation, including employment history and a criminal background check. Also must be DRUG FREE, as we are a Drug Free Workplace with random testing.

We know that to attract, motivate and retain quality people requires excellent compensation. Hiring minimum wage workers can only result in minimum performance. We try very hard to make Better Home Cleaning an enjoyable place to work. Many of our employees stay with us for years.

If you're the "right stuff" we'd like to talk to you about joining us in serving our happy customers in a friendly, team environment. Cleaning experience isn't necessary because we will train you to become a professional using our methods, equipment and cleaning products. Following are what we expect from you and what you can expect from us:

What You Can Expect From Us

• Excellent compensation
• Paid training program
• Monday through Friday, 10 to 30 hours weekly
• Nights or weekends optional if you want them
• Easy dress code
• Work in a friendly team environment
• Low stress workplace
• Specialized equipment and supplies provided

What We Expect Of You

• High energy and physically fit
• Positive attitude
• Dependable and responsible
• Trustworthy and bondable
• Pleasant personality
• Able to work well with others in a team environment
• Drug free
• Punctual and committed to good attendance
• Valid driver's license
• Reliable, insured vehicle, although you would usually use a company vehicle.

We operate primarily in West Orange County plus the Clermont Area

Apply online at http://www.workenders.com/Better-Home-Cleaning.htm

• Location: West Orange County
• Compensation: $50 per day while training then percentage
• This is a part-time job.
phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.• Principals only. Recruiters please don't contact this job poster.
• Please, no

___________________________________________________________________________

All craigslist postings are free, except for:

1. Job posts in the San Francisco Bay Area

The fee for posting a job in the SF Bay Area is $75. This fee pays for one job in one category. (One job posted in two different categories would cost $150.)

2. Job posts in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Orange County, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, Seattle, South Florida, and Washington DC

The fee for posting a job in these cities is $25. This fee pays for one job in one category.
(One job posted in two different categories would cost $50.)

Chemical-Free Cleaning? Now this is truly green cleaning,

2010-09-25T10:28:00.001-04:00

In a press release dated September 22nd, our friend and president of Charleston, South Carolina- based Modern Cleaning, Tom Stewart announced a revolutionary new cleaning methodology that is completely chemical free. That's right, totally chemical free cleaning. You can't get any greener than that!

Before you raise your eyebrows in doubt, it might help to know that this chemical-free system was successfully tested in over 5,000 Charleston homes before this announcement.

Modern Cleaning offers training materials and consulting services that will allow schools, hotels, and cleaning contractors to train staff on how to clean chemical free and enlighten all stakeholders of the benefits of being cleaner, safer, and greener.

"What we're doing goes far beyond house cleaning, because we're not just selling cleaning equipment. We are changing a paradigm, " says Stewart. "One day kids will be asking 'why did we ever clean with chemicals?', and the fact remains today that we clean the same way that we have for decades. Our aim here at Modern Cleaning is to help lead the evolution of the way that we clean."

This sounds to me like an exciting and ground-breaking innovation that everyone involved in the professional cleaning industry needs to investigate and at least be aware of. Tom's site is under construction, but you can get an excellent overview of what Modern Cleaning and its products are all about at http://www.moderncleaning.com/WhyChemicalFree.aspx .

Tom Stewart is the founder and president of Castle Keepers, one of America's largest and most successful residential cleaning services. Castle Keepers is the only home cleaning service in the world to achieve the Cleaning Industry Management Standard Certification (CIMS) through ISSA. For more information on the CIMS and its criteria for certification, please visit http://www.castle-keepers.com/CIMS .

The Arizona Law. What’s the big fuss about?

2010-09-06T10:50:00.004-04:00

I find all the fuss the present U.S. administration is making over Arizona’s stance on illegal aliens is rather bemusing. The fact of the matter is, the Federal Government has had stricter laws dating back to 1986 on the responsibility employers have of checking the eligibility of job applicants to work in the United States.

When we began compiling information for our training materials on operating a residential cleaning business back in 1995, we included a segment on Federal and State legal employment issues. One of those issues was IRCA, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. This Act shifted the burden of compliance with INS law to employers. Unlike other laws, this one even applies to employers with as few as one employee. Failure to comply with this law can result in stiff penalties.

Here, in part are excerpts from the current HANDBOOK FOR EMPLOYERS regarding the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9).

"In 1986, Congress reformed U S immigration laws These reforms, the result of a bipartisan effort, preserved the tradition of legal immigration while seeking to close the door to illegal entry The employer sanctions provi¬sions, found in section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), were added by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) These pro¬visions further changed with the passage of the Immigration Act of 1990 and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996 Employment

Employment is often the magnet that attracts individu¬als to reside in the United States illegally The purpose of the employer sanctions law is to remove this magnet by requiring employers to hire only individuals who may legally work here: citizens and nationals of the United States, lawful permanent residents, and aliens authorized to work To comply with the law, you must verify the identity and employment authorization of each person you hire, complete and retain a Form I-9 for each em¬ployee, and refrain from discriminating against individu¬als on the basis of national origin or citizenship (See Part Four for more information on unlawful discrimination ) Form I-9 helps employers to verify individuals who are authorized to work in the United States You should com¬plete a Form I-9 for every new employee you hire after November 6, 1986

Employers must retain completed Forms I-9 for all employees for 3 years after the date they hire an employee, or 1 year after the date employment is terminated, whichever is later. These forms can be retained in paper, microfilm, microfiche, or electronically.

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 created an executive department combining numerous federal agencies with a mission dedicated to homeland security On March 1, 2003, the authorities of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) were transferred to three new agencies in the U S Department of Homeland Security (DHS): U S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), U S Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) The two DHS immigration components most involved with the matters discussed in this Handbook are USCIS and ICE USCIS is responsible for most documentation of alien employment authorization, for Form I-9 itself, and for the E-Verify employment eligibility verification program ICE is responsible for enforcement of the penalty provisions of section 274A of the INA, and for other immigration enforcement within the United States

Hiring or continuing to employ unauthorized aliens

If DHS determines that you have knowingly hired un¬authorized aliens (or are continuing to employ aliens knowing that they are or have become unauthorized to work in the United States), it may order you to cease and desist from such activity and pay a civil money penalty as follows:

1. First Offense: Not less than $375 and not more than $3,200 for each unauthorized alien;

2. Second offense: Not less than $3,200 and not more than $6,500 for each unauthorized alien; or

3. Subsequent Offenses: Not less than $4,300 and not more than $16,000 for each unauthorized alien.

DHS will consider you to have knowingly hired an unauthorized alien if, after November 6, 1986, you use a contract, subcontract or exchange, entered into, renegotiated or extended, to obtain the labor of an alien and know the alien is not authorized to work in the United States. You will be subject to the penalties set forth above.

Failing to comply with Form I-9 requirements

If you fail to properly complete, retain, and/or make available for inspection Forms I-9 as required by law, you may face civil money penalties in an amount of not less than $110 and not more than $1,100 for each violation.

In determining the amount of the penalty, DHS consid¬ers:

1. The size of the business of the employer being charged;

2.The good faith of the employer;

3.The seriousness of the violation;

4.Whether or not the individual was an unauthorized alien; and

5.The history of previous violations of the employer.

To get copy of the Employer’s Handbook on this issue and download a copy of the I-9, please visit http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/m-274.pdf

Again, I ask you: What's all the fuss about now? Arizona might consider suing the Federal Government for interference with its right to enforce it's own long-standing laws.

An Inspirational Video 1 - The Law Of Attraction

2010-09-05T13:00:00.000-04:00

When I hear, “All my business comes from referrals,” it sends up a red flag.

2010-09-05T12:27:00.003-04:00

There is no argument to the fact that a referral from an existing client is about the best advertising you can get. The problem is that, when I hear the above statement from someone in the residential cleaning business, it tells me two things:

They have a very small customer base; and,
They’re not growing very quickly

Think about it. How often does the topic of house cleaners come up at cocktail parties or around the water cooler at work? How many people scream from the rooftops about how terrific their cleaning service is? How many of your clients actively bird-dog for you in their neighborhoods? Well . . . .?

Oh, yes, I am a great believer in generating business from referrals. I built a very large business on doing just that, without any additional marketing activity. This program was the vehicle that helped produce thousands of sales per month for my organization. But it didn’t happen passively. It was because of a very aggressive referral program which rewarded current customers for actively referring friends, relatives, coworkers and neighbors.

However, when I hear owners – almost always owners who are out there cleaning homes themselves – say, “All my business comes from referrals,” I know those referrals generally come far and few between. Perhaps a neighbor saw the car pull up like clockwork every second Tuesday and noticed one or more people taking cleaning equipment and supplies into the client’s home; then decided to ask the client who was doing the cleaning and how satisfied they are. Or, a coworker was asking around the office if anyone could recommend a good house cleaner. These are what I call “accidental referrals.”

I suppose if a person lives long enough and remained fit enough over the years to continue cleaning homes themselves, they could eventually grow a decent size client base through accidental referrals. As a practical matter, “it ain’t gonna happen.” This may be fine for people content to act as self-employed house cleaners, but certainly not for anyone who wants to build a serious business and achieve critical mass as soon as possible.

Don’t be Passive about Seeking Referrals

If we’re willing to invest in adverting media to attract clients – and $150 to attract a new client is not out of line, does it not stand to reason we can afford to reward our clients for sending new business our way? In fact, it’s pretty safe to say that a referral from an existing client is pretty much presold before you even visit to come up with a price for the referred prospect. But don’t wait for this to happen passively.

Create a formal “Referral Reward Program” and aggressively promote it to existing clients. Put it in writing. Explain that their team still has openings and explain what areas or neighborhoods you can accept new clients in. If they refer someone not in an area that their team serves during any week, tell the client you have other teams equally as good who would be happy to accommodate people your client refers. Then, consider giving your client some “$50 OFF FIRST TIME CLEANING” coupons to hand out on your behalf. Have a “Offer good until…” date on the coupon. Now, you can reward your client for each successful referral in one of two ways:

(a) Offer a $100 cash reward for each new client referred; or,

(b) Offer one or two free cleanings for each new client referred.

Remember, if the average client represents $3,000/year in revenues, this equates to an average of 5% of revenues – a more than reasonable client acquisition fee. To be successful, a paid referral program needs to be lucrative enough to encourage clients to go out of their way to dig up some new business for you. And unlike other forms of conventional media (other than, say, Croupon.com or LivingSocial.com), you don’t pay money up front to generate the new business.

Note: My suggestion of giving a $50 off discount coupon sounds contradictory to my stated position on using discounts to attract new clients. However, this scenario is a little different. Your client may be more open to solicit new customers on your behalf by offering their friends a special deal they would not otherwise receive. Just make sure it is significant enough to be considered of value to both your client and to the person to whom they give the certificate.

In the meantime, don’t wait for passive referrals from your clients. For that matter, even an aggressive paid referral program should take place in tandem with neighborhood door hanger campaigns or whatever other form of advertising works for you. That is … if you do want to grow a substantial, successful and profitable residential cleaning business.

Exotic-car dealers say some brands doing better this year

2010-08-31T10:50:00.008-04:00

There are many ways to measure the economy. One of them is when the affluent crowd starts buying high-end items like yachts and exotic automobiles again. In 2001 sales of exotic cars represented 4.6% of U.S. auto sales; today this number has doubled to 9% as revealed in the following newspaper article out today. We're hearing a similar surge in new business in the residential cleaning industry with sales in most companies up over the same period in 2009 -- some as much as 200% (as in increasing from $200,000/year to over $400,000/year).

Reproduced from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper
Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Lamborghini Diablo

Sales of some exotic luxury automobiles have revved up this year as affluent Americans indulge more freely in these pricey pleasures.

In the recession, mounting concern over stock portfolios and feelings of guilt about extravagant buys caused some wealthy consumers to rein in conspicuous sending.

It didn't feel right buying a $300,000 Rolls-Royce when people were being foreclosed out of their homes or were losing jobs, said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends at TrueCar.com, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based new-car pricing website.

With the economy improving — albeit slowly — the well-heeled are splurging again.

Nationwide, combined new-car sales for the top six exotic luxury brands have grown 16 percent in the first seven months of 2010, compared with the same period last year, Toprak said.

That's 3,065 exotic autos sold by Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Maybach and Rolls-Royce through July versus 2,650 in 2009.

"It's not a full recovery, but certainly things are improving," he said.

In South Florida, exotic-car dealers are seeing similar results.

"Sales are definitely stronger this year," said Garrett Hayim, president of Ferrari-Maserati of Fort Lauderdale on North Federal Highway.

Ferraris are produced in such limited quantities that sales of these "upper echelon" vehicles are less "swayed by the changes in the economy," Hayim said.

Still, the average selling price for some pre-owned Ferraris did take a dive in late 2008 — as much as 40 percent for some models — but has since rebounded. The price drop however lured new customers to the brand who seized the opportunity to snag a Ferrari at relatively "cheaper" prices, Hayim said.

There is a 5 year waiting list for the $300,000 Ferrari Italia 458

Hayim said most of his pre-owned exotic cars in stock sell within 30 days, but there's a waiting list for new Ferraris. It's about five years for the 458 Italia, Ferrari's "latest and greatest," Hayim said.

The two-seater hits a top speed of 202 miles per hour and has several new design, aerodynamics and engine elements.

South Florida dealers say it's mostly well-off locals who are buying their exotic vehicles and some still prefer to keep their prized purchases under wraps.

A Boca Raton man would not comment Thursday at Hayim's Ferrari dealership as he took delivery of a new 458 Italia, worth about $300,000.

"The exotic luxury car market has eased up quite a bit, starting from December," said Chris Murray, director of sales at Braman Motorcars of Palm Beach in West Palm Beach.

Braman has been in business for more than 30 years and sells several exotic and luxury brands including Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, BMW and Audi.

Exotic luxury cars generally cost more than mainstream premium brands because they aren't mass produced and have rare or signature design and engineering elements that assembly-line vehicles don't.

Nationwide, exotic-car models will represent about nine percent of all new-car models on sale in 2010, that's up from 4.6 percent in 2001, according to Edmunds.com.

Murray said Porsche sales are better this year and Rolls-Royce sales have climbed significantly as well, especially in the Southeastern U.S. region.

He attributes Rolls-Royce's success largely to sales of the Ghost, a smaller and less-expensive model from the iconic brand.

With base prices starting at $250,000, the "entry-level" Ghost has brought a lot more interest to the brand and is attracting a different type of Rolls-Royce buyer than usual, Murray said.

At Ferrari-Maserati of Palm Beach, Ferrari sales have also remained relatively unchanged in the downturn, General Sales Manager Tom Clinton said.

"The Ferrari world is still the Ferrari world and people who buy Ferraris will always buy them," he said.

Clinton said Maserati sales had been slower, but started picking up recently. The price tag for a new Maserati typically ranges on average from $110,000 to $150,000.

Veteran auto dealer Craig Zinn said activity has increased recently at his Spyker dealerships in Pembroke Pines and Miami on word of the new C8 Aileron.

The Dutch-minted sportscar is priced around $240,000, but won't be in-house until later this year, which is inhibiting his ability to meet current demand, Zinn said.

While pent up demand has brought some affluents back into the driver's seats of these swanky wheels, some analysts remain cautious about future sales.

"It's unlikely we'll see extremely robust exotic car sales until consumer confidence, the job market and stock indexes improve," TrueCar's Toprak said.

Not Knowing What You Don’t Know Can be VERY Expensive

2010-08-21T16:10:00.002-04:00

We have all crossed paths with the proverbial “know-it-all” more often then we care to think about. You know: the expert on every topic from the secrets of the universe to the science of medicine and the idiosyncrasies of politics. It’s almost jaw-dropping when a peer group gathers at a business function and a discussion ensues on a topic on which a person in the group, who has no experience or expertise on the subject, takes the floor and asserts his or her opinion. It is instantly obvious to most other people at the meeting that this individual really has no idea what he or she doesn’t know.

I’m not sure what motivates this behavior in some people, and since I know what I don’t know on this topic, I did some research on the Internet and found the following: “Know-it-alls are set on 'transmit' most of the time. They are not up for receiving input from others. They want to be the ones giving out, transmitting their pearls of 'wisdom'. What they don't know isn't worth knowing and when they do learn something well… according to them, they knew it already. The know-it-all may be a highly intelligent person but their know-it-all attitude makes them narrow minded and less and less able to learn as the years roll by.”

Know-it-alls usually stand out quickly in a crowd because they tend to be bombastic and often arrogant. In fact, today with Internet forums and a variety of social media like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, people can easily voice their opinions unrestricted by the formality of face-to-face protocol and virtual anonymity. I have witnessed forum discussions specific to the cleaning industry where one or two individuals who dominated the conversations were your typical know-it-all folks. It was clear from their comments they were far from being the knowledgeable authorities they purported to be. We all know people in the cleaning business who certainly know how to clean a house but only think they know how to run a business. Just because a person has been cleaning homes on their own or operating a cleaning service for years, doesn’t necessarily quality them to espouse advice on operating a successful cleaning business. Yet, these are exactly the class of people who shrug off the concept of seeking out expert advice which could shave years off their learning curve, save thousands of dollars wasted on trial and error, help them manage their businesses more effectively and efficiently, attract great employees and build a wonderful staff and – and this is no small item, make a lot more profit in the process.

Take our House Cleaning Biz 101 course for example.

Some people might say, “I know a lot of the stuff you address in that program.” And, they might be right. In fact, let’s say they know 75% of the information we discuss. Let’s go so far as to say they know 90% even. It’s the 10% or 25% they DON’T know that could make the difference between failure, mediocrity or fantastic success! The problem is that these people simply don’t know what they don’t know.

I have been hiring, training and managing people in various industries since 1961. And I have done pretty well at it, too. However, after just four years in the residential cleaning business, I recognized the unique challenge of employee turnover in this industry. Yes, I was able to resolve some of the employee retention problems based on my decades of human resource management experience. But I knew what I didn’t know and I turned to some professional help. I hired a human resource expert and, at a cost of $25,000, we implemented a 5-step employee selection process, which is now part of the House Cleaning Biz 101 program. When properly implemented, it, along with other HR issues discussed in our program, has helped our clients find better employees and dramatically increase their workforce tenure.

If this was the only thing they were able to gain from the program, it would be worth thousands of dollars (and they didn’t invest $25,000 like I did to gain access to it). This is just one little gem that we share in the course; there are many, many more – any one of which can easily justify many times the small investment. This may sound like an excuse for a sales pitch for my program, but in fact most people who read this blog already own a copy of House Cleaning Biz 101. I use this example because it is a good one to illustrate my case in point.

I would be remiss in not adding one more thought to this topic: Not using what you DO know can also be very expensive.

Bypassing the opportunity to learn proven ideas and systems is one thing; failing to use information you do become privy to is an equally flawed outcome. However, human nature being what it is, this scenario plays out from grade school through college and throughout peoples' careers.

Not everyone who attends Harvard Law School becomes a top lawyer; some don’t even graduate. Not every student who graduates from Johns Hopkins University becomes a noted doctor. Yet all students get the same education from the same books and professors. Then, it also depends on whether and how the knowledge is subsequently applied which makes the difference between the drop-outs, the mediocre, the average and those who excel at their professions. Our industry is no different.

The truth of the matter is, we should be like sponges when it comes to learning things we don't know and to be ready to admit that we don't know what we don't know. Then, when we know what we don't know and learn what we need to learn, we need to do our best to apply what we've learned.

.

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED TODAY BY HOME CLEANER MAGAZINE

2010-08-18T15:37:00.006-04:00

August 18, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gary Goranson and WorkEnders, Inc Endorses the Verified Home Cleaning Pro Program

Atlanta, GA - Home Cleaner Magazine is pleased to announce that Gary Goranson of WorkEnders has officially endorsed the Verified Home Cleaning Pro program and has signed on as a Program Partner. "Having an endorsement from Gary Goranson is clear indication we are on to something big for the industry. Gary is well known in the professional home cleaning industry as a trail blazer and pioneer. His program, House Cleaning Biz 101 course has help thousands build credible professional companies, we are very excited about this," said Home Cleaner Magazine Founder and Publisher Perry Phillips.

"Most consumers looking to hire someone to clean their homes ask one basic question of the potential provider, "How much do you charge?" While price is obviously a consideration, in the overall scheme of things it is not at the top of the list of criteria which should be considered. The fact is, most householders just don't know what other questions to ask the person or company to whom they're thinking about entrusting their personal property and, ultimately, the well-being of family and pets. While asking for references from some of the prospective provider's other customers can be helpful in determining how satisfied they are with the provider's cleaning, there are other factors which overshadow workmanship issues.

Recently, Home Cleaner Magazine launched a new independent screening program wherein professional house cleaning companies go through an extensive approval process which allows them to qualify as a participant of the Verified Home Cleaning Pro program. Over the course of approximately two weeks, the process includes verification that the provider is currently and properly licensed and insured, including legally required Workers' Compensation Insurance. There is a requirement for the participant to ensure a safe working environment for its workers and to teach and enforce an OSHA-compliant safety program. The process also includes a requirement to provide verifiable customer references. The participant must also commit to a Service Pledge which includes ethical business practices, fair pricing, prompt attention to resolving complaints and a commitment to excellence. The Verified Home Cleaning Pro seal will help identify professionals with whom the public will feel more comfortable hiring, thereby providing a benefit to both participating member companies and consumers alike. I fully endorse the Verified Home Cleaning Pro Program"- Gary Goranson, WorkEnders, Inc.

WorkEnders, Inc., a Boynton Beach, Florida based company which has provided extensive training programs for more than 2,700 cleaning business owners in 55 countries through it's House Cleaning Biz 101 course http://www.housecleaningbiz101.com/. Gary Goranson is the founder of WorkEnders, Inc. and developer of this one-of-a-kind training program for the residential cleaning industry."

Home Cleaner Magazine is the only publication exclusively for the professional home cleaning industry. Subscribers have access to business building information, industry news, and events. Home Cleaner Magazine is also the only publication for the industry offered in print. For more information visit http://www.homecleanermagazine.com/

You Own a Cleaning Business, but Who are YOUR Clients?

2010-08-17T14:39:00.002-04:00

As the owner of a residential cleaning business, the answer to this question appears to be obvious: Your clients are the families and individuals for whom your company performs house cleaning chores. However, if this is your answer you would only be partially right.

Actually, YOUR clients are the hard-working folks who clean for those customers. The folks they clean for are THEIR customers. Does this sound like some form of abstract double speak?

The Definition of a Customer or Client

According to Wikipedia, “the word derives from "custom," meaning "habit"; a customer was someone who frequented a particular shop, who made it a habit to purchase goods of the sort the shop sold there rather than elsewhere, and with whom the shopkeeper had to maintain a relationship to keep his or her "custom," meaning expected purchases in the future . . . . However, some managers in this environment, in which the emphasis is on being helpful to the people one is dealing with rather than on commercial sales, comfortably use the word "customer" to both internal and external customers.”

Let’s think about this for a moment.

Good client relations are a key to encouraging purchasers of your service to continue to patronize your company on a long term basis; hopefully for many years. You have read books and articles on the subject and have likely attended seminars on the topic as well. However, and this point is key to my argument, neither you nor your management or office support staff have direct oversight of how well your employees are serving their clients. You are forced to rely on the people to whom you assign cleaning schedules to provide high standards of service and customer care. Without this result, people will certainly cease to patronize your company’s service.

Now, if you view your employees as YOUR customers and regard the relationship similarly to the way you should want to nurse a paying customer (as referenced in the underlined portion of the quote from Wikipedia above), think of how this management behavior can create a positive impact on your company’s end customers.

You see, if you want to get a paying customer to trust your company, do business with you on a long-term basis – in other words, becomes totally loyal and committed to your company, this won’t happen unless you earn their loyalty and respect. The same holds true with the people who work for your company.

How do you behave to attract a new client to your business? You advertise and market and tout your service’s best features. You make a case for why the public should do business with your company rather than the competition. Then when your courtship works, you go all out to earn their continuing patronage. Doesn’t it make sense that we adopt the same behavior when it comes to our employees?

You go out of your way to keep your paying customers happy because you know you’re not the only game in town. There are other cleaning services actively looking for an opportunity to usurp your clients at the first opportunity. Well, think about it; the same holds true when it comes to good employees. Good workers are in big demand in this industry but, on top of that, they’re in demand by other types of businesses as well. To attract and retain the best employees, think of using the same kind of behaviors and tactics you use to find and keep loyal and profitable clients.

You May be the Boss, but . . .

Many, many (too many then I care to think about) years ago when I was opening up sub-distributorships in the vacuum cleaner business, I encountered a bad situation with one of my offices. The sub distributor decided to move on in another direction, and left town without notice leaving a staff of angry, unpaid commission sales people for me to face.

I called a meeting with his abandoned sales staff, found out how much money they were owned, and wrote each of them a check right on the spot. Needless to say I garnered some fans right on the spot, too. Since I had intended to place the abandoned operation under my wing, I felt it was better and less expensive to pay a week’s worth of owed commissions than to lose the people in place and start all over again. I also felt it was the moral thing to do, regardless of whether the staff stayed on with me or moved on like their recent boss had done.

Near the end of the meeting, when I sensed I had won the attendees over, I made the following statement: “I don’t care if you like me or not, I just want you to do a good job selling. However, one thing I do demand is your respect.” At that point, a cocky young man in the group responded to my comment with, “Gary, you cannot DEMAND my respect; you have to earn it.” After I took a minute or so to react, and after thinking about his comment for a few seconds I said, “Do you know what – you’re right, and I will do my best to do just that.”

I must have earned his respect, as well as all the other sales people, because he and the rest of the crew went on to produce record new sales numbers for that office.

That early lesson paid off throughout my career

The Golden Rule tells us to “do unto others as we would have done unto you.” I like to give a little twist to that code: “Do unto others as they want done unto them.” In other words, treat them as THEY want to be treated, not strictly as you think they should be treated. This might sound like a play on words, but if you really think about it there is a difference.

Many years following the incident I described with the brash young salesman I described above, we had opened up a 4,500 automotive appearance center in Toronto for my TIDY CAR business. The people we hired to polish cars, detail interiors, install sunroofs, etc. were of a similar mold to that of the good folks we hire in the residential cleaning industry. But we treated them like the V.I.P.s all good employees really are and handed out Employee of the Month Awards and hung their Employee of the Month Photos in the customer waiting area.

One 23-year-old young man was Carlos Frietas, an immigrant to Canada from Venezuela. When we presented him with an Employee of the Month Award, he broke into a huge smile and then went out into the shop area and set a new time record for cutting a whole in a car’s roof and installing a sunroof in a total of nine minutes! When I went out into the shop to admire the quality of his work and the new installation record, he said, “Mr. Goranson, this is the first place I’ve ever worked that has treated me like a real person. I love my job and I love working here.”

As it turned out, Carlos went on to become one of two travelling Operations Managers for TIDY CAR, travelling from town to town throughout the USA training franchise owners and their employees on the art of auto appearance and enhancement services. Today he resides in South Florida and has done very well for himself in other business environments.

I believe that the way we treat the employees we are lucky enough to supervise and share space on this planet with can make all the difference in the world for both us and them. A HUGE DIFFERENCE. Start today to look for ways you, too, can improve the relationship between you and your employees so that they will in turn do what they can to satisfy THEIR clients and YOUR bottom line.

Good Salesmanship is Not a Contest

2010-08-10T13:31:00.001-04:00

Some fifty years ago after graduating from high school I answered a help wanted ad promising huge rewards for selling “education.” It turned out to be a job selling encyclopedias door-to-door on straight commission. After spending a week learning the sales pitch, I hit the street to seek my fortune. I actually made a sale on my second call. It was also the last sale I made for that company and I quit two weeks later. I didn’t realize it then, but in retrospect the reason I failed to make another sale was because I just didn’t believe in the product. After making that first sale, I think that I subconsciously felt guilty about taking all that money from that family for over-priced books using high pressure tactics I had been taught. Lesson number one: You must believe in the product or service you’re selling.

The Tri-Star Vacuum Cleaner

Up until about 25 to 30 years ago, professional sales trainers advocated sales tactics which in fact made the selling process a contest of wits between salesman and customer. While my career in encyclopedia sales ended abruptly after only a few weeks, I did spend the rest of the 1960s in direct sales, most of those years in the vacuum cleaner business. I believed in my product so much that I managed to build a sales organization of some 300 men and women across western Canada that sold over 37,000 machines in a four-year span (machines which, today, retails for $1,900 U.S. – about ten times what we used to sell it for back then. http://www.oregoncityvacuum.com/aihoclsy1.html). Still, we used to train our sales force to view the selling process as a game of manipulation, like mental arm-wrestling with the prospective customer. Frankly, these practices were the norm for the day in the direct sales field and remain the status quo with many sales people to this day.

The major reason for my company’s success and ethical reputation was due to two important policies I implemented: (1) never to hire experienced direct sales people and (2) to let customers who woke up the next morning with buyer’s remorse cancel their contracts.

With respect to the first item, experienced direct sales people tend to float like gypsies from company to company and product to product. Oh, yes, they could sell – but, the problems they could cause in the process were an unwelcome side effect. Manipulation of the customer is one thing; deceit and misrepresentation is something else altogether. I managed to avoid this problem by hiring inexperienced people from virtually all other walks of life – other than direct sales, and training them my way.

As for the second policy, back in those days there was no cooling off period wherein the customer could cancel the contract after making a purchase. Once they signed on the dotted line and the sales person walked out the door, the purchase was legally binding and non-cancellable. Believe me, when you have a successful sales closure rate of 55% on cold call sales presentations (that is, when the customer did not contact you or even know what you were selling when you knocked on their door), you’re going to have your share of buyer’s remorse. While it was common practice in the industry to hold people to the contract at all costs, I figured it didn’t take a genius to understand that it is better to have 90% of your sales be satisfied customers than to have 10% of your customers angry and complaining to friends and the Better Business Bureau.

By the way, these are two more of the lessons I have learned and practices I have followed throughout the balance of my 50 years in business: (1) wherever possible, bring in raw recruits and train them YOUR way; they're less likely to bring any baggage with them from previous jobs and they tend to be more loyal to you; and, (2) don’t be afraid to give people their money back if they’re unhappy with their dealings with you; how can your company incur negative publicity if all you have on record are clients who were happy with their business dealings with you?

So, What IS the Art of Selling?

Selling is a process by which both you and another party have an equal opportunity to achieve a benefit from the transaction. It is not an adversarial contest of wits but rather a form of communicating a potential gain for the prospective client. I gained more insight into this theory beginning over three decades ago from the world-renowned sales trainer and motivational speaker, Jim Cathcart.

A must-have book for any
sales professional's library

Jim’s concept of Relationship Selling has brought the art of salesmanship into the 21st century. It is the model every professional sales person needs to adopt to truly succeed at salesmanship. He does not merely preach the philosophy of relationship selling, he lives and breathes it himself. Since hiring Jim as a speaker back in 1979 (and he discusses that experience on one of his video previews), I wound up hiring him for several other major events over the years prior to selling TIDY CAR a decade later. Our relationship has transcended that of business and we remain friends to this day.

Unfortunately, many people are uncomfortable with the sales process due in no small part to the scenario I described above. They dislike the thought of entering a mental jousting contest with a prospective client. And having been through the old school of salesmanship myself, I can understand why. However, when you understand the process of relationship selling, I can tell you from experience that you will embrace the concept with your heart and soul. You’ll actually look forward to every opportunity you have to develop a mutually rewarding relationship.

In the old School of Thought, the sale was completed when the sales person "closed" the sale. In reality, the sale only begins when the client says, "yes." There is no business-to-client relationship where this holds truer than in our industry. Every week on every visit you're reinforcing the fact that your client made the right decision in hiring your company. And instead of over-selling your service, the strategy should be to undersell it and deliver more than you promise.

People do expect a clean home when you visit. What they don't expect is the fresh carnation your team leaves behind when they come -- or the Andes mint glued to a card that says, "We enjoy keeping your home in mint condition." The ongoing relationship your team reinforces by leaving a personal note on every cleaning day is another little "extra" they didn't expect when they hired you -- "We love the new living room suite," or "We see Mitzi visited the dog groomer this week ...so cute," or "We included the baseboards in our rotational schedule this week."

I strongly encourage you to get a copy of Jim's book on Relationship Selling. In the meantime, on your next sales call think of the meeting with your prospective client as the beginning of a long and mutually rewarding relationship and not a mere dollars and cents transaction. When you, too, adopt this philosophy you're going to find the process far more relaxed and the prospect much more comfortable.

Controlling Employee Turnover in the Residential Cleaning Business

2010-08-01T14:00:00.003-04:00

The topic of employee turnover is probably the longest-standing challenge in our industry. There are many factors contributing to turnover in our industry, but it all starts with the employee selection process itself. Unfortunately, few small business owners have any traininig in human resource issues and this lack of knowledge leads to owner frustration and dissapointment.

Cleaning homes is certainly not brain surgery, but what many owners don't understand is that most applicants aren't good candidates for tenure on the job. In most cases, employment candidates are selected based on gut feeling rather than by an objective series of events that helps to remove the guesswork from the process. Our http://www.housecleaningbiz101.com/ program spends a great deal of time teaching owners professional human resource methods - with a huge emphasis on the employee selection process.

If you're concerned about employee turnover, you should be. Typically in this industry, the turnover rate is between 300% and 400%. Since it generally takes about 90 days to get a new hire up to speed, with a 400% turnover rate this means that you just get the average employee trained and then they're gone. On the other hand, there are owners who have employees who have been with then for five and ten years --- some even longer. This requires the knowledge and skills to retain them, not just to select the ones most likely to succeed.

If you do well in selecting the best candidates, the next step in retention is to ensure they're properly trained. They need to be well compensated. Theny need to be well managed and motivated to succeed on the job. You need to provide a comfortable and pleasant work environment. You need to be a leader, not a "boss." These are all skills which can be and need to be learned in order to build a successful work force which will generate the kind of revenues you need and deserve in this industry.

To see a situation where the owner has an employee-retention record that would be envied by companies in industries supposedly far more stable than the cleaning business, check out the video at http://www.bucketsnbows.com/meet_our_staff.htm . Debbie Sardone is a shining example of leadership in our industry.

An Ounce of Prevention; A Pound of “Catching Em Doing Something Right.”

2010-07-28T14:27:00.002-04:00

With all the technology available to employers today, the monitoring of workers’ activities has never been easier or more intrusive. Big Brother is watching with intelligence technology that critics find offensive and intimidating. One of the best examples of this is the monitoring of personal e-mails along with tracking Web sites visited from workplace computers. Of course, the valid argument is that employees should not be engaging in personal surfing or correspondence on company time. But this doesn’t sit well with those employees who resent the implication that they might be stealing time while they’re on the clock.

This rapid growth in monitoring has virtually destroyed any sense of privacy as we know it in the American workplace. Most invasive of all is video monitoring. Some cameras are appropriate. Security cameras in stairwells and parking garages make us all safer without intruding on privacy. But employers often install cameras in areas that are completely indefensible. Many employers have installed hidden video cameras in locker rooms and bathrooms, sometimes inside the stalls. What in the world do they expect to catch employees doing wrong on the commode? Using too much toilet paper? C’mon already, enough is enough!

You DO Need to Take Preemptive Measures in Your Business

The fact that employers adopt extensive surveillance methods to monitor their employees’ integrity and work ethic is obviously in response to a real problem. According to Profiles Research Institute, 95% of companies are victims of employee theft. It goes on to say that only 10% of companies actually discover that they are the victims of employee theft. Obviously, if large and sophisticated companies can fall victim to employee dishonesty, we “little guys” must also be vigilant in this regard.

You can’t put video cameras in your clients’ homes (although more and more households have installed them as a security measure). But since you send people out into your clients’ homes you do need to adopt preemptive measures to help avoid potentially costly incidents. Standard criminal background checks and finger printing of all new hires is a step in the right direction at the outset. But you can’t stop there.

It’s important that the topic of trust and responsibility is addressed with each employee. They need to believe that they could be the subject of random “sting” operation, wherein money may be left somewhere they’ll be cleaning as a way of verifying their honesty (not their dishonesty). Likewise, prepare them for the advent of a theft claim by a client. Again, to verify their personal integrity and clear their good name, if a client makes an accusation of theft of personal property, it is your company’s policy to advise the client to file an official police report and that the company is obligated to cooperate in the investigation.

As you can see, I believe in the theory that you should carry a big stick, but speak softly. I don’t think trying to pulverize employees into good citizens actually produces those results. The mere appearance of gun-turrets in maximum security prisons serves to keep violent inmates at bay; it’s not necessary to walk around behind them holding a loaded gun to their heads (with rare exceptions, of course).

Positive Reinforcement Can Produce the Best Results

You notice how we made a point of taking a positive approach to discussing the topic of integrity. We raise the issue of theft of client’s property, but take the approach that rather than trying to determine the employee’s guilt, we are going to take steps to prove her honesty. The first approach raises intense antagonistic overtones; the latter sends the message you will go to all lengths to exonerate her.

Look for Opportunities to Catch Them Doing Something Right

It’s one thing to have measures in place to discourage employee dishonesty. It’s another thing to put the focus on distrusting your workforce. This also applies to work habits of your employees. You teach your dog obedience by granting rewards for good behavior, not by beating it with a stick for failing to obey your commands. In fact, as any dog trainer will tell you, a dog that is beaten may initially show submissiveness but, do it long enough, that animal will eventually turn on you. The same is true with your employees.

Reinforce good behavior with praise; it will go a long way. Catch an employee going out of her way to satisfy a client. Catch an employee volunteering to take on that one extra job today because another worker didn’t show up. Catch an employee constantly keeping her car washed because she’s concerned about the company’s image. Catch an employee studying her manual without being cajoled into doing so. Catch her volunteering for the neighborhood blood drive or her city’s “run for the cure.” Catch a worker admitting to breaking a vase in her customer’s home before the client calls you. In fact, make up a list of “catch” subjects to look for from your employees, which will present opportunities for praise and perhaps other rewards.

Want Your Business to Grow? Become a Human Resource Pro!

2010-07-24T14:21:00.002-04:00

Ask the owner of a home cleaning business what criteria they use to select workers and you’re as likely as not to get a blank stare from the respondent. Aside from favoring candidates who have prior house cleaning experience, the decisions are often made based on “gut” feeling or some very subjective criteria (like, she made me laugh . . . or she says she’ll work really hard). It would not be an exaggeration to say that when an owner or manager is in a pinch to fill out a team, any candidate who walks through the door and looks like they could fog up a mirror may be hired on the spot.

Hiring mistakes are expensive.

Adding an incompetent person to the payroll may seem like a better choice then not hiring anyone when you need to fill out your staff roster to meet a pressing cleaning schedule. Owners will sometimes say, “Well, I didn’t want to disappoint my clients or lose out on the income which would be generated from those clients.” Really? This attitude may be swapping a few hundred dollars in immediate revenue for $10,000 or more in longer-term profits.

Keeping in mind that the average client today represents about $3,000/year in business, what happens if a person with the wrong profile is sent out into 25 homes for a week and (a) does not work well with her teammates and (b) does not perform well on the job for those 25 clients?

If one of those clients fires your company, this represents the loss of $3,000 in annual revenues. Since many clients will patronize your service for years, this could add up to $15,000 of lost revenues over five years. If three of those clients fire you, you’re talking mucho grandes dólares!

The other consideration is what can happen by putting a potentially disruptive employee on a team. A well-trained team that works in harmony is like a well-oiled machine. The team members have to work in harmony to make the machine work. Throw someone into the mix who turns out to be the wrong fit for the job and it can be like throwing a monkey wrench into the gears of that machine. Even if your business model uses individual cleaners rather than teams, hiring the wrong person is a mistake every owner needs to avoid; not everyone is suited to this type of work (and I might go so far as to say most people are not a good long-term fit).

Use objective hiring techniques to make better hiring decisions

In our House Cleaning Biz 101 course, we spend a great deal of time and effort teaching a totally objective 5-step hiring process designed to weed out poor job candidates. These steps include:

The telephone interview and evaluation
The employment application
The interview process
Employment history and personal references
Criminal and driving background checks

While the purpose of each step is to discover potentially good candidates, it is equally important to eliminate poor candidates as you proceed through the five steps. In other words, you don’t even get to Step 2 unless the person’s responses during the telephone interview have a passing grade. Each of the 5 steps has a matching, objective grading system to take the guesswork out of your hiring decisions. This is exactly how professional human resource managers earn their keep. Like Johnny Cochran said during the O.J. Simpson trial, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”

For example, here are the qualifying steps to use during the telephone interview when an employment candidate responds to your help wanted ad:

1. You OPEN the conversation by your greeting, introduced yourself, ask the caller's name, and ask how they heard about the position. You ask if they have a few minutes now to discuss the job or when would be a good time to talk.

2. FACT FINDING about the candidate is achieved through specific, closed-end questions. At this time you are looking for "blow-out" answers that tell you to end the call as soon as possible. You are actively trying to screen out, at this point, those who simply would not be successful.

3. EXPLAINING your business and the position available. During this section you want to accurately "tell" about the job. You want the candidate to honestly decide if they would be interested in this type of work. You are actively trying to get the caller to screen themselves out of the job

4. BACKGROUND of the candidate is gathered through three general "open-ended" questions. These questions should help you decide if you want to make an offer to schedule an interview and fill out an application.

5. INVITATION to fill out an application. As part of this offer, you now begin to "sell" the caller on the job, the fit, and your interest in them.

These are the steps we follow during Step 1 of the 5-Step selection process. If the candidate’s responses don’t cumulatively add up to a predetermined numerical rating score, you never proceed to Step 2 with them. The same procedure holds true throughout all 5 steps.

Asking the right questions in the right way can help you make an objective hiring decision.

It’s one thing to ask the right questions; it’s another thing to get the candidate’s real answer. For example, if you ask a candidate if they get along working in a team environment and they think the answer you’re looking for is “yes” – that’s the answer you’re going to get. On the other hand, a question you should ask to arrive at their real answer might be, "Do you prefer to work alone, or do you like working with others in a team effort?"

The same applies when asking employment history questions. Asking "What are some of the things you like about your present (or last) job? What are some of the things you don't like?“ in a friendly, conversational tone can reveal exactly the kind of information you’re looking for. Likewise, "What's the best job you ever had? Why did you leave?"

Rely on a quantifiable recruiting system for quantifiable results

I invested $25,000 back in 1995 with Dr. David L. Stum PhD, a human resource consultant to Fortune 500 companies, to help us develop our 5-step selection process that is custom designed for the residential cleaning industry. Of course, if you own our House Cleaning Biz 101 program you spent substantially less than that figure to get the exact same know-how. Of course, having the knowledge at one’s fingertips isn’t worth $25 (or 25cents for that matter) if it is not put into practice.

Whether you use our selection process during your recruiting efforts or some other formal, quantifiable method, you definitely need to adopt a method which makes the process one based on a series of objective criteria rather than relying on gut feeling. Top human resource managers earn substantial six-figure incomes. Using the same quantifiable methods they do can earn you the same kind of money from your business.

A Strict Workplace Safety Program is Good Business -- And it's the Law.

2010-07-22T10:23:00.000-04:00

The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 requires that all employers with more than 10 employees have an official Safety and Health Program in place. However, some states exceed the Federal requirements. For example, Alaska, California, Hawaii and Washington require that all employers have a Safety Program, regardless of size.

Legal requirements aside, it simply makes good business sense to implement a Safety Program. Business owners are used to taking risks in connection with day-to-day business decisions. Entrepreneurs are, by nature, risk takers. However, taking risks with the safety and well-being of your employees is not worth the gamble.

(Following is a partial excerpt from our House Cleaning Biz 101 course on this important topic)

Safety is not just a matter of compassionate interest. Accidents cost money. For every dollar you spend on the direct cost of a worker’s injury, it can cost you much more in both direct and indirect costs. Consider what one lost workday injury could cost you in terms of:

productive time lost by fellow employees, team leader, or you in attending to the accident victim; • • • the time and expense of replacing the injured worker, especially if the recovery time is extended;
if equipment or vehicles are damaged in an accident, the cost of repair can be substantial;
reduced morale among your employees, which can result in reduced efficiency; and, not the least
increased Workers’ Compensation Insurance rates.

To help you establish and monitor your Safety and Health Program, we have provided a recommended blueprint specifically for the house cleaning business. Using it can actually help you control costs, because in implementing the program you can identify what needs to be done to promote the safety and health of your employees.

Safety Meetings:

If your business meets the criterion which require you to have an official Safety and Health Program in place (usually required only if you have 11 or more employees, or operate your business in Alaska, California, Hawaii or Washington), you will generally be required to also have an official Safety and Health Committee. This Committee will usually be required to meet at least quarterly to discuss prescribed safety issues. If your business qualifies, be sure to keep minutes of these meetings as evidence of your compliance. (Contact your local OSHA office to determine the regulations in your state.)

The safety and well-being of your employees is an issue that should not be put into place only because of Federal or State regulations. Regardless of the law in your state, implementing a Safety and Illness Prevention Program is a duty you must take on as a responsible and caring employer. Safety issues should be incorporated into regular staff meetings; we suggest at least once each month.

Safety Meeting Topics:

To begin with, initial and frequent review and discussion of the Company Safety Program handbook provides a great deal of material. While it’s important that each employee receive his or her own personal written copy of the handbook, that isn’t sufficient to satisfy OSHA’s requirements. It should be reviewed both during each employee’s initial training, as well as in group sessions with all employees present.

In addition to the itemized safety checklist on the New Employee Safety Orientation Form in the Company Safety Program handbook, you can expand on each of these issues, as well as introduce additional safety topics practices. Topics which can and should be covered in Safety Meetings include, but are not limited to:

The responsibility of management with respect to implementing and enforcing safe practices and injury prevention policies;

The responsibility of each employee to follow the company’s safety and injury prevention program;
Reporting all unsafe conditions or practices noted by any employee;
Reporting of “near miss” accidents;
Reporting all injuries or apparent illnesses immediately, no matter how small;
Planning on how to respond in the event of an injury occurring to someone on the team;
Discussion on the contents and use of articles in the First-Aid kit;
The use of the required fire extinguisher to be carried in any vehicle used for transporting employees to and from clients’ homes;
When and how to use emergency road flares;
Safe driving practices, such as: designating someone other than the driver to read maps, instructions and street signs; wet weather and winter driving hazards; speeding and carelessness; and, defensive driving practices;
Avoiding slips and falls, both inside and outside the home (including icy walkways and steps in the winter);
Tripping hazards, such as vacuum cleaners on stairways, or left where they present potential tripping hazards;
Footwear to avoid and footwear to wear;
Safe bending and lifting practices; Personal hygiene, when to wear protective gloves;
Safe personal conduct with respect to running, horseplay, and on-the-job use of alcohol or drugs;
Avoidance of electrical shock from frayed cords or electrical wires; prohibitions against using the vacuum cleaner or other electrical apparatus on wet surfaces (or outdoors when raining);
The use of ONLY vacuums cleaners and other electrical appliances which are grounded or double-insulated;
The potential dangers in the use of bleach (chlorine) and ammonia: prohibited use;
Review and understanding of MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets);
Reaching high places to clean: ONLY OSHA-approved ladders in first-class condition to be used, if ladders are permitted to be used at all (Class 1 - industrial wooden or fiberglass, not metal, and having non-skid feet);
No leaning out of high windows or over balconies or banisters;
Incident and accident investigation policies, procedures and paperwork.

"They" Say You Can Get Rich Cleaning Houses

2010-07-20T15:03:00.000-04:00

You Can’t Get Rich Cleaning Houses (Yourself)!

The charlatans hawking their “how to” e-Books online tout their product by promising thousands of dollars per month by cleaning houses. They suggest you can start with a mop and a bucket, hand out a few business cards and end up on easy street within a few months. No doubt they sell a lot of product to people who are naïve enough to believe their hype.

When people are sucked in by false promises of being able to make a wheel barrow full of money in short order with almost no investment, it’s not the $15 or $30 or $100 they lose on misleading and usually worthless information; it’s the time, frustration and broken dreams which take their toll. That’s to say nothing of the embarrassment they feel by allowing themselves to be duped.

Now, the truth is that it is possible to make a reasonably good living cleaning homes as an independent house cleaner. But to do it legitimately, it takes more than a few supplies and a couple of hundred business cards or flyers to do so – even starting by oneself with little overhead expense. A hundred dollars or so for city and country licenses, an average of $50 to $100 for filing a d.b.a. (depending on the state), anywhere from $200 to $500 for a decent vacuum cleaner, another $200 to $300 for tools and cleaning supplies, and other minimally-required start up costs. While many independent house cleaners take the risk, it’s a big gamble not to have liability insurance from day one; an investment of $500 to $2,000. Then, there’s the cost of acquiring clients and the subsequent cost of replacing customers who for whatever reason choose not to continue to use the service. If people are hired, the costs can escalate quickly.

Having said that, many people in this industry started out small and grew their businesses into substantial enterprises. This is one industry where this is indeed very possible. You just have to be prepared to substitute a lot of sweat equity for financial equity and invest the time it will take to do it – which can be several years. I know one owner who spent the first eight years in this industry doing just that; today her Texas-based company does over $1 million in annual sales revenue and she is recognized as an industry leader. I know another owner who works by himself and manages to turn out $85,000 a year; but he, too, has been in business for several years.

You Can Become Wealthy Building a Real House Cleaning Business.

Up until about 30 years ago, the above scenario pretty much described the commercial house cleaning landscape in America and still does in many countries around the world. It was often the way immigrants managed to eke out a living since they had little education and little or no command of the native language. That all changed in the late 70s and early 80s when pockets of business-savvy people in the United States recognized the growing trend of more and more busy, dual-income and single professional households looking for others to help them with their household cleaning chores. They were also quick to recognize the huge vacuum of professionals to fill this exploding demand.

These insightful entrepreneurs developed and proved their business models and what was once a cottage and mostly underground economy began to grow into a new growth industry. Concurrently, some of these successful industry pioneers began to franchise their concepts. Today, what was once a form of self-employment for people to earn a modest living has become a multi-billion dollar industry across the United States, Canada and dozens of other countries – some of which are just now beginning to see the residential cleaning industry take hold in their respective countries.

When I became involved in this industry almost 20 years ago, stories about owners of house cleaning businesses doing $1 million a year were rare. Not so today. In fact, I know of companies generating over $2 million in annual revenues and I still don’t see a ceiling on the potential in the industry. I have heard of one owner who runs a residential and commercial cleaning business that does over $5 million yearly, about 60% of which is in the residential cleaning sector.

Don’t Stay Busy Working IN the Business, but Rather ON the Business

No, cleaning houses won’t make you rich. Building a real business and hiring other people to clean houses can make you wealthy. While this industry is not brain surgery, it does take knowledge and financial wherewithal to build a successful and profitable cleaning company. In fact, with the right know-how being put into practice, a lot of the funds that will be necessary to grow the business can be self-generated from within.

Don’t be Afraid to Seek the Knowledge and Experience of Others.

Unfortunately, the reason most people don’t succeed is due to lack of business skills and an unwillingness to learn them from experienced third party sources. Then there are those people who obtain access to the experience of others but who, for whatever reason, choose not to implement it in their businesses. Is it stubbornness or arrogance or just a plain old “I can figure it all out myself” attitude that gets in the way.

It used to be that buying a franchise was about the only way to short-circuit an otherwise long and expensive learning curve. For many, this is still an excellent path to follow. But it’s not the only one. In addition to our own http://www.housecleaningbiz101.com/ program currently in use by more than 2,700 individuals and companies in 55 countries, there are several other trusted industry experts to which an owner can turn for solid advice. Other excellent resources include the Association of Residential Cleaning Services International and Home Cleaner Magazine. Networking with other owners is also an excellent source for peer support.

The Pros and Cons of Offering Discount Coupons in the Residential Cleaning Industry

2010-07-19T09:09:00.000-04:00

Do discount offers work?

If you were offered a $20 discount coupon on a $2,000 color television, would you be (a) compelled to buy or (b) inclined to feel insulted? Well, considering that a person interested in hiring your company to clean for them on a regular biweekly basis will be spending $2,000 or more (the current average biweekly cleaning price today is closer to $3,000 annually) with you over a year’s time, how do think a 1% discount offer might be viewed?

There’s no doubt that discount coupons do work. All kinds of companies use them to induce potential customers to buy their products and services. Discounts are used to sell everything from pizzas to cars – in fact the automobile industry has trained consumers to wait for the next big factory rebate and dealers have a difficult time moving vehicles when rebate promotions are not being offered.

Discounts need to be meaningful relative to the original asking price

That being said, you never see a factory rebate offer of $300 on a $30,000 automobile. A one percent discount offer on anything – let alone an expensive car, isn’t going to attract a great deal of interest. Yet, if you’re looking for someone who is going to spend $2,000 to $4,000 over the following 12 months, that’s what a $20 discount coupon equates to in terms of the overall investment your client will be making.

Granted, your $20 discount (or whatever amount of discount you’re offering) is generally advertised as “$20 off your first cleaning visit”. It’s intended to be an inducement for the potential customer to book that first time cleaning and not perceived as a discount off the total first year’s cost. Obviously, if the cost of that first cleaning is $100 and you offer $20 off that price, that’s a 20% discount and on that basis may be a meaningful inducement.

Avoid the appearance of "bait and switch" marketing

However, most first time cleanings require a lot more work and can take several times longer than subsequent routine cleaning visits. It’s not unusual to spend more time cleaning one bathroom on the first visit than it will take to clean the entire home on future visits. The first cleaning should be done the way you would perform a “spring cleaning”, for example. For this reason, it can cost two, three or even four times as much on that first visit over what you’ll charge the client for ongoing weekly or biweekly light house cleaning thereafter. This creates another problem:

Most prospective clients expect you to quote them a price for cleaning their home that will be consistent on every visit – including the first time cleaning. They don’t think of the difference between “old” dirt and “new” dirt. So, they call you after being motivated by a $20 first time cleaning discount and you then visit them to determine how much work will be involved. After a thorough walk-through in the client’s home, you calculate the cost of the first visit is $325 and that you can thereafter clean their home on a weekly basis for $120 biweekly. All of a sudden that $20 discount seems like a bait and switch; the prospect now feels you tricked them. If they do business with you, they’re going to fork out $305 for the first visit after the $20 discount – BIG DEAL!

If you don’t make it a practice to charge more for that big, first time cleaning, you may not run into this problem. If you’re prepared to bite the bullet on every first time cleaning and not charge what the work is worth in order to get the customer, just be sure your workers aren’t the ones being penalized. If you charge $120 for a job that’s really worth $325, be sure to pay your cleaners based on $325 worth of work.

Do you really want to attract price-sensitive clientele?

Another disadvantage of discount offers is that you’re likely to attract people interested in a one-time cleaning. Not only are they more likely to balk at paying what the job is worth but, advertising for clients is too costly to attract a lot of one-time customers. If it costs you $100 or more in advertising expense to attract a new client and you offer a $20 discount, you’ve got at least $120 invested for this one-time job.

What you really want are discerning clients who are interested in the kind of superior service and value-added benefits that come with doing business with a quality cleaning service. If you advertise low prices or discounts, you’re going to attract individuals who are price conscious and you’ll find yourself in price negotiation on virtually every occasion.

Yes, you’re likely to get more phone inquiries from price advertising and discount offers. But when you’re playing that game in this industry there’s always going to be someone willing to do it for less. I recommend putting the emphasis on the satisfaction and peace of mind prospective customers will enjoy from doing business with your company rather than setting yourself up for trying to compete on price with those shadowy cleaners who work in the underground economy on an uneven playing field.

Instead of offering discounts in your advertising, focus your marketing on the benefits clients will enjoy by doing business with you:

Professionally trained and supervised employees to ensure quality.
Insurance, bonding and workers comp to afford peace of mind.
You remit all required taxes on behalf of your workers so the customer doesn’t have to.
You bring your own professional equipment and supplies. Your client gets to stop shopping for all that “stuff”.
*Satisfaction guaranteed or their money back.
*Reliability – you’ll always show up as promised on their scheduled cleaning day or you’ll perform the next visit FREE.

*(Even if a few customers take advantage of these last two promises, its still cheaper than discounting $20 off every first time cleaning).

The bottom line is that you can’t be all things to all people. You can’t sell a luxury automobile to people on a Volkswagen budget. If you’re intent on building a profitable residential cleaning business you need to concentrate on attracting a clientele who appreciate and can afford to pay for top-notch service.

We just sold our first House Cleaning Biz 101 client in mainland China today.

2010-07-16T10:37:00.000-04:00

Welcome aboard to Yu Jing Hua from Guangzhou. China now becomes the 55th country where our program has been and is being implemented. While laws, traditions and culltures vary from country to country, the business principles taught in our program apply universally in any country where there are people willing and able to pay others to clean their homes.

For a list of all the other countries where our program is helping people build a successful and profitable residential cleaning business, please see http://www.housecleaningbiz101.com/countries.htm

ADVERTISING: What works? What doesn’t?

2010-07-12T16:03:00.000-04:00

If you listen to the pundits, when it comes to advertising you’ll get scores of opinions on what works and what doesn’t. Some people will tell you that newspaper ads don’t work; others will say that radio doesn’t work; still others will say that flyers don’t work; and so on. THE FACT IS….EVERYTHING WORKS! The real question should be, “What is the most effective and efficient media for YOU at a given point in the growth of your business and based on the resources you have available to advertise.

Secondly, when a particular media doesn’t get the results you desire, you need to ask yourself…”Is it the media or the message?”

Let me give you an example:

Several years ago in the auto appearance business, I directed a high-power Toronto advertising agency to create an ad to sell popup sunroofs back in the days they were in vogue. This agency came up with a full page ad that we placed in the Toronto Sun newspaper and we ran it on the back page of the first section of the newspaper – a very expensive position to buy. The results were abysmal, to say the least.

I didn’t fire the media; I fired the agency! We then created a new half page ad in house with the headline that read: TIDY CAR SUNROOFS ARE GUARANTEED FOR LIFE! HERE’S WHY! The copy included 10 bullet-point features of the sunroof. We ran this ad on an inside page and wound up selling over 100 sunroofs on the first day it ran! Obviously, it wasn’t the media that didn’t work; it was the message in that media that made the difference.
This example, of course, holds true for virtually any method of advertising that’s out there. If it didn’t, those media simply would not exist; at least not for very long.

Wanna bet this ad would make your

phone ring off the hook????

Do You Own a Cleaning Job or a Cleaning Business?

2010-07-09T12:57:00.000-04:00

The difference between working for someone else and working for yourself is the boss. People who are self-starters and can work without supervision often choose to “do their own thing” and strike out on their own – in essence, they become their own boss. In doing so they generally set up a legal entity, give it a name and go into their own business. Working for oneself definitely has its advantages (and disadvantages) and it does provide a sense of freedom accompanied by the opportunity to earn more money then they could earn working for someone else.

The fact is, however, that hanging up a shingle like “Mary’s House Cleaning Service” often means that the owner of that legal entity has only switched bosses. Instead of being employed by someone else, she is her own employee. Her job description remains about the same. She still goes out and cleans homes. Only now she has the opportunity to retain all the profits for herself – and of course, is responsible for any and all expenses related to operating her business.

Now, there is nothing at all wrong with being self employed. All kinds of people choose to work for themselves: plumbers, electricians, carpenters, handymen, landscapers, pet sitters, house sitters, pool cleaners, roadside hot dog vendors, accountants, investment advisors, mortgage brokers . . . and the list goes on, including, of course, house cleaners. However, what all of these folks really own is a “job” (even though they operate as legally established companies). They can earn a very, very good living – just as successful employees of large companies can.

The $85,000-per-year house cleaner.

I have a client in the state of Texas who set up his own cleaning company. He chose to operate the business as a one-man show. This was his comfort zone and he is a typical example of someone who did very well working for himself. On his own, without any other employees, he generated $85,000 in annual revenues. Of course, he had some expenses to cover but, working on his own from his home, those expenses were minimal.

When I started coaching this young man, his revenues were nowhere near $85,000 per year. By restructuring his pricing, dropping unprofitable clients and analyzing and reorganizing a very inefficient cleaning schedule, we were able to double his annual sales without adding any extra expense.

For someone who is content to own his own job, this is a shining example of how well that decision can work out. However, one has to realize the limitations of this decision. Eighty five thousand dollars has to be at or near the upper limit of what an individual can generate working as an independent house cleaner. I also know that he worked longer hours every week than many people who run cleaning businesses that are doing $1 million or more in annual sales. Owning even a great job does not provide the opportunity for growth or income that building a real business does.

Advantages of building a REAL business.

When you’re essentially a one-man or one-woman show, what happens to your business if you become ill and perhaps hospitalized or disabled? How can you take a vacation with the family when you’re committed to a full cleaning schedule? Do you really want to be stuck with your head in someone else’s toilet bowl five or ten years from now? How are you going to get down on your hands and knees scrubbing shower door tracks when you’re in your 50s or older? Even if you have two or three helpers you need to be out there cleaning along with them in order to earn a decent living.

In addition to answering the above issues, your income potential is not capped by how much cleaning you can personally do in a day. When you clone yourself, you’re multiplying the revenue exponentially by the number of clones you wind up with. I don’t think there are too many cleaning employees who generate $85,000 a year in revenue, but a reasonable output is around $1,000 per week per employee. Thus, 10 good employees should turn out about $500,000/year in gross income with a resulting profit to you of between $100,000 and $125,000. Roll that out into 20 good employees and you can easily double those numbers. Interestingly enough, this can be done by putting in even less time on the job than our friend who eked out $85,000/year cleaning homes himself!

There’s an old saying: “If you spend all your time working IN the business, you’ll have no time to work ON the business.” So, if you are really interested in owning a real business, you need to plan on extracting yourself from the chores of cleaning homes. Since you can replace yourself for $10 to $15 per hour, by not changing your job description from house cleaner to the owner of a house cleaning business, you’re saying that your worth is $10 to $15 per hour. Considering that you could earn around $125 per hour with a crew of 20 people, one could conclude that being out there cleaning homes might not be in your best interest.

“IT’S NOT PERSONAL, IT’S JUST BUSINESS.”

2010-07-06T14:19:00.000-04:00

We’ve all heard that old cliché many times in mobster movies, when the hit man is about to terminate the life of his intended victim, “It’s not personal, it’s just business.” Of course, for the person hearing those chilling words directed at him or her, it is indeed very personal.

It’s one thing to respond defensively and even aggressively in circumstances which may threaten bodily harm to you or your family and friends. However, a similar response in day-to-day business situations is seldom, if ever, appropriate. Being shot at in the literal sense is a whole lot different than someone taking a shot at us verbally – as is bound to happen sooner or later from disgruntled clients.

When “doing the right thing” is the wrong thing to do.

When our character or integrity is challenged, the natural instinct is to fight back at the person disparaging us. Protecting one’s dignity and striking back verbally is how many people respond in tense interactive situations. This reaction seldom results in a positive outcome in personal relationships, even when you’re in the right. But in business relationships, especially when dealing with clients, there is rarely a good outcome even if your position is dead right.

When dealing with a confrontational client, being right and even proving you’re right can make the situation even worse. As mentioned above, people tend not to deal well in circumstances where their position on an issue is being challenged. They indeed take it personally; it’s like an affront to their moral fiber. “How dare you question me?”

The truth is that proving you’re right seems like the right thing to do. Digging in your heels and rejecting the client’s position may be the right thing to do to salve one’s ego. “There, I stated my case and that’s my position; take it or leave it.” But being right can cost you dearly.

Example: Unhappy with Workmanship

I don’t care how good a job your employees do for your clients, every owner will eventually hear this complaint sooner or later. Whether the complaint is legitimate or not, the situation must be resolved as quickly and amicably as possible, even if it means refunding the full price of the job. Yes, you read right; the full price of the job.

Naturally, you should make every effort to correct whatever it is the client is unhappy with. This should include a visit by you or a supervisor to (a) determine whether or not the team missed something, and (b) exhibit your genuine concern and professionalism in dealing with complaints. The sooner this is accomplished, the less likely the client is to stew and fume before your arrival.

If you determine that the team performed their work in accordance with instructions, the complaint may be due to client expectations not being met rather than promises not being fulfilled. This result can be avoided by setting out the ground rules from the outset, as with a tool such as our “HAPPILY EVER AFTER” brochure and Cleaning Checklist in our http://www.housecleaningbiz101.com/ program or some other written document clarifying the terms of the relationship (such as your cancellation and lockout policy, dealing with pets, what you will not clean, etc.). Reports of clients being upset because the team would not pick up after the kids or clean up pet accidents are examples of issues that can be avoided and need to be addressed before you begin the client’s schedule.

If you’re unable to resolve the client’s dissatisfaction, and the only resolution that will satisfy her is a full refund on the job, you have two possible courses of action:

1. You can dig in your heels, take the position that you provided a service for which you’re entitled to be paid, and if necessary, file a complaint in small claims court; or,

2. You can graciously surprise the client by offering a full refund – a result she likely never expected and one that will give her no reason to bad mouth you or your company.

Yes, you’ll be out the price of the job, but you may also avoid negative word of mouth and the loss of future clients. People tend to share bad episodes they have with companies at a ratio of 20:1 versus how they share good experiences with their friends and acquaintances. How can a client bad mouth you or your company when you satisfy her complaint without an argument? Just be sure to document the outcome in writing and keep a record of your cancelled check and the accompanying letter to the client.

Negative energy is a waste of time and resources

Some people feel that they simply must win every battle without considering that the objective is to win the war. They’re so fired up in the heat of the moment that they can’t seem to recognize how their anxiety is influencing their ability to arrive at a swift and mature resolution to the situation. It’s a “damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead mentality” which can have devastating consequences.

Think about it. We can spend years trying to build a respectable reputation in the community and thousands of dollars advertising why people should do business with us. Common sense should dictate that spending the price of one house cleaning job to reinforce your goodwill efforts is the course that a mature business person should follow.

The long and the short of it is, if we spend time and negative energy, which could be more productively invested on positive issues, we will wind up creating more stress then the cost of refunding the client’s money is worth.

Above all, don’t take it personally.

When a client is irritated over something they believe we did or didn’t do, there’s a natural tendency to take the affront personally. Understand that what matters now is that the client believes she is right, even if it turns out not to be the case. As difficult as it may be, try and separate yourself from the person to whom the beef is addressed. You just happen to be the person on the end of the phone to whom the caller is venting. Always tell yourself when you find yourself in this situation, “It’s not personal, it’s just business.”