Monday, November 06, 2006

Thinking About Hiring A Maid

We get new customers everyday. Sometimes we get a new customer because we answered the phone first. Sometimes we get a new customer because our name caught their attention. Sometimes we get a new customer because we earned their business. They picked us because they thought that we were the better choice. Being the better choice can be achieved in a number of ways. And you can't be all the choices. So we don't expect to win every new customer battle. Here's why people think their maid is the better choice.

1. Cheapest provider. Winning the cheap battle is tough in our business because you'll never be the cheapest. There is always somebody just a little more cheaper than you. That's what happens when you compete an industry that doesn't require a large start-up investment from the business owner. Of course, cheap has its merits. Sometimes cheap is all you need. But you usually get what you pay for. Hire the cheap maid and you'll understand. Something always goes wrong. And that's when we start looking good.

2. Most dependable. Being dependable means that you show up for work on time every time. That's easier said than done. Being on time every time requires you to operate your cleaning business like a real business. You must have a real scheduling process. Otherwise, you're going to miss appointments. Or you're going to arrive late. Being dependable means a lot more than just being dependable. Being dependable is the first step in proving to the customer that you care.

3. Most customer friendly. Yes, you're hiring someone to clean your house. That's your ultimate priority. But there's more to the story than simply cleaning counters. You want someone that is going to provide real customer service. Real customer service means that you can reschedule the housecleaning if your sick. Real customer service means that you can complain about mistakes and expect for the mistakes to be corrected. Real customer service means that your maid should care about you. Finding the most customer friendly company is easy. Just ask them how they make their current customers happy. If you like the answer, hire them.

4. The neighbors use them. This is the most common method of selecting the better choice. Why hire a stranger when your neighbor has already conducted the test drive for you. Of course, it doesn't have to be your neighbor. It can be your mother. It can be your boss. It can be anybody you know. Or should I say anybody you trust. We have people who call us and never even hear about our pay for performance plan. They don't even care about our rates. Because they trust their neighbor. Which leads us back to the first three points. You gotta be good at something in order for somebody to pick you in the first place. Once somebody picks you, they tell somebody else to pick you. That's how the train gets started.

5. The best cleaner. This is possible. But it's difficult to find. If you're like me, you make mistakes. Because we're both human. And that's what your maid is also. A lot of people hire us and indicate that they are going to let us conduct a "test run". The theory is that if we do a good job, then we'll keep doing a good job. The reality is that we'll mess up at some point. Hopefully, it won't be during the test run. But it's possible. Because we're human. Finding the perfect maid is akin to finding the perfect spouse. Nobody's perfect.

Click on this link to watch a video that discusses how to select a maid service.

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