Can you leave already?
We're going to talk about that today.
Home owners that won't leave when their house cleaners are there.
I'm Angela Brown and this is; Ask a House Cleaner.
This is the show where you get to ask a house cleaning question,
and I get to help you find an answer.
Today's show is brought to us by HouseCleaning36o.com
Did you know that even though HouseCleaning360.com has service providers like house cleaners
and window washers and carpet cleaners, they also have believe it or not, dog sitters.
And so if you have to leave and go out of town and you need somebody to watch your pets,
House Cleaning 360 has service providers that will come to your house and watch your pets,
HouseCleaning360.com
All right, onto today's show, which is from a house cleaner who wants to know ...
Kelly: Hi Angela, my name is Kelly and I've been a house cleaner for about two years now.
Still, pretty fresh at it as I started kind of slow.
My question is this, I prefer that clients leave while I clean.
I've been googling on how to bring this up in conversation because I feel like
when I say it out loud, it sounds questionable.
I don't want them questioning ... I have insurance, I am licensed, but it almost sounds like I
want them to leave because I'm going to do something dubious.
So, I don't know how to bring it up in conversation and my reasoning behind it is basically, because
I don't want to be distracted with conversation.
I don't want them hovering over me while I'm working.
It just seems to go a lot better.
I would love it if you could talk on the topic.
That's so much, I do love watching.
I be getting a lot of great tips and I appreciate your work.
Thanks.
Angela Brown: Oh, I hate when that happens.
The customer won't leave their house.
You have all kinds of needs that you need to hurry and get done and there they are hovering,
micromanaging, chatting, visiting, catching up, and being your friend.
This goes back to boundaries 101.
The boundaries are from day one.
When you do your initial walkthrough with a customer, you have a perfect opportunity
to set those boundaries.
So, on your initial walkthrough you're going to be spending and inordinate amount of time
with a customer.
And I say inordinate like 20 to 30 minutes.
If you do a really good walkthrough, you're going to cover all of the bases, you're going
to get to know the customer's house, you're going to get to know the customer and the
customer's family and their pets.
And then here's the catch.
You're going to say, "Hey, you know what, I got news for you.
Just wanted to give you a heads up, I'm not a chatter.
When I come to work, out of respect to you, I'm coming to work, not coming to chat.
If we want to chat, gosh, we need to go out to lunch, but when I'm here I'm on the clock.
I have a 60 second window that when I arrive, I can say hi to you and your pets while I'm
putting on my gloves, my shoe covers and all of those things, and then I got to get right
to work.
Is that okay with you?"
If the customer says, "Yeah, that's fine," then guess what, now you've set your boundaries.
So when you show up to the customer's house, if you have a Chatty Cathy that just wants
to keep talking, I always look at them and say, "Oh my goodness, when I'm chatting I'm
not working.
So out of respect to you, if you start chatting while I'm working, I'm going to stop working
and I'm going to give you 100% of my undivided attention and I'm still on the clock.
You're still paying me for that time."
"Now, if I have a two hour window to clean your house and you chat for 20 minutes, I'm
still leaving at the end of the two hours.
So if I didn't get some work done, it's because you're chatting.
I hate to say this, I know it sounds mean and I don't mean it to be man because I think
you're an amazing person but, do you want to chat or do you want me to work?"
Most of the time, I've only ever had one person in all the years I've been cleaning, I've
only ever had one person that said, "No, I would really rather us just talk today.
Can we just talk?"
And I said, "Absolutely."
I put down all of my cleaning supplies and I did not go back to them for the entire duration
of our conversation.
At the end of the conversation I packed up my cleaning supplies, I collected my check,
and I went home.
But there was a boundary, it was very specific.
There was an expectation, "Here's what happens, if you chat you still pay me and I'm not working."
Because if you break the rules and you keep working while they're chatting, they're going
to keep chatting.
It is distracting and it does slow you down, because out of respect for our customers,
we want to continue the conversation.
"Oh really?
Isn't that nice?
Well, how about that?"
And we respond in kind, out of politeness, but it slows you down.
Now, I'm a person ... I like to work, I want everybody out of my way because even people
that are just humming around and they're hovering, I have to stop and process what they're doing.
Are they redoing my work?
Are they making something messier that I now have to clean up?
Are they getting something that I need to know about?
Do I need to about this or is this something that I need to ignore?
You're processing lots of bits of information that are not relevant to your job.
So, if you get out of my way, then I can clean.
You have to have this conversation with your customers on day one
when you do your initial walkthrough.
And it's amazing, because people are just like dogs, you can train them.
I get to people's houses and they'll just start chatting and I go,
"Oh, my 60 seconds is up.
It's so good to catch up with you, and if I weren't on the clock
we would visit all day.
But, I'm on the clock, I've got to get back to work."
And they're like, "Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah right. I forgot."
With a time or two of that, they will immediately know that your 60 seconds is up.
Then they go ahead and they make their notes quick and then they get on with their business.
But you don't have 15 or 20 or 30 minutes to chitchat at the beginning,
or the end of your cleaning.
Even when you're cleaning and you're on your way out the door, you've got to hustle.
You've got to make it like, Oh my goodness, I'm in a hurry.
I've got another house I got to go clean."
Even if it's your own house.
Get out of there because it's really easy on a particular day to day, "Well you know,
you're my last house of the day so I'll just spend an extra 20 minutes and we'll chat."
Okay, that's cool except what you're doing is, you're ruining the boundary.
You're stepping over the line.
You're saying, "It's okay to keep me for an extra 20 or 30 minutes without extra pay."
As you break done that boundary, you're telling your customer and you're training your customer,
"It's okay to waste my time."
It's not okay.
So, when you're done with your cleaning, you've done your job, you're done with work.
Get out.
Get out and go home.
I understand your concerns for having the client there, but you need to tell them right
up front, "Personally, I work way better by myself.
I'm not good with people hovering or micromanaging or changing the rules on me as I'm in the
middle of cleaning," or if they're chatting or any of these things.
You can do it with a smile on your face, just like I just did and it's not harmful.
It's not offensive if you do it right up front.
If you wait until the person has had six or seven visits with you, and then you say those
rules, now they feel like you're personally attacking them.
So, from the very beginning you've got to set the rules and just say, "Hey, you've got
to get out of my way when I'm cleaning."
And they'll go, "Oh yeah, okay."
I understand that you're bonded and insured and you're a professional and you're not going
to do anything to nefarious at their house.
They need to understand that as well.
"I just work better by myself.
I'm quicker, more efficient, and I can spend the time and attention focusing on the details
of your home."
And then the customer is like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what I want because the last
house cleaner didn't."
"But you chatted with the last house cleaner.
You interrupted the last house cleaner and so the house cleaner wasn't able to focus.
I want to be different.
I want to be better.
I want to provide excellent service.
Therefore, in order for me to do that, 60 seconds as I come in the door and you got
to get out of my way."
And people are like, "Who's, new rule.
Okay."
And then guess what, they go tell their friends.
"You've got 60 seconds, she doesn't chat.
She works the whole time.
She pays attention to detail."
And I say she, it could be a he as well.
"He's focused.
He's energetic.
He's quick.
he's efficient and he gets the job done."
They recommend that to their friends, and now you're working for life because you're
busy because your reputation preceded you.
All right, that's my two cents for today.
And until we meet again, leave the world a cleaner place than when you found it.
No comments:
Post a Comment