Cleaning Business Life

CBL Episode #65 Cleaning Tech Training...Elevating Your Cleaning Team: Expert Training, SOPs, and Staff Recognition Strategies

• Shannon Miller • Season 2024 • Episode 65

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Ever wondered how to turn your cleaning staff into a highly effective team? Discover the secrets behind creating a powerhouse workforce with insights from the restaurant industry and the expertise of Kimberly Gonzalez. This episode of Cleaning Business Life promises to equip you with the tools needed to develop a consistent and comprehensive training system, ensuring your staff can handle multiple roles and maintain high standards even during absences. Learn why 20 to 24 hours total of training strikes the perfect balance between thorough preparation and cost efficiency, and why documenting every step of the process is crucial for success.

Effective communication and continuous training are the cornerstones of employee satisfaction and confidence. Hear Kimberly Gonzalez's unique approach to ongoing training and quality checks, tailored to individual strengths and weaknesses. We’ll shed light on practical orientation procedures, from handling paperwork and safety protocols to mastering chemical handling and emergency procedures. Through real-life examples, we stress the importance of senior staff engaging with their teams face-to-face, fostering a supportive and well-informed work environment.

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are the backbone of any successful cleaning business. In this episode, we explore essential SOPs, including the surprising use of vodka as a cleaner and other strategies for handling unexpected events. With hands-on training, attention to detail, and a structured schedule for continuing education, your staff will stay sharp and well-prepared. Personal anecdotes highlight the challenges and rewards of leadership roles in the cleaning industry, underlining the importance of recognition and appreciation in maintaining a motivated and engaged team. Join us for a deep dive into the strategies that will elevate your cleaning business to new heights.

Questions? Feel free to reach out!

Shannon Miller: cleaningbusinesslife@gmail.com

Join my FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1583362158497744
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIjMz_-9YyiFvNVIgb61iYg

To order All-Natural Cleaning Products: www.purevergreen.com
See Shannon's latest courses: www.KleanFreaksUnversity.com

Speaker 1:

This show is brought to you by the Maids Network. Want to get serious in your cleaning game? Join my group. It's one of the larger Facebook groups just for cleaning business owners. I look forward to seeing you there, or to the cloud Recording in progress.

Speaker 2:

Recording now. Do they hear the voice Shannon?

Speaker 1:

Sometimes they do. Sometimes I mimic the voice Just depends on where Sometimes I'll. Sometimes they do Sometimes.

Speaker 2:

I mimic the voice.

Speaker 1:

Just depends on where. Sometimes I'll cut it in, sometimes I won't, sometimes it'll fade out. Anyhow, welcome to Cleaning Business Life, and today we are going to talk about effective techniques. For it's not effective techniques. I clearly need more coffee. Effective training techniques for your cleaning staff reading and comprehension.

Speaker 2:

Raven made the font big for us this time when we did our notes. Totally, I think it's going to be bigger. We'll get 16. Well, welcome you guys to Cleaning Business Life, the podcast where we teach about the best practices, the tips, strategies so you guys can have a well-run cleaning business. And today we're focusing on a crucial aspect of effective training techniques for your cleaning staff. Yay, I know we all want this.

Speaker 1:

Right. If you don't have some sort of system, training system, you need to make one, and I can say because I have trained thousands. Literally you need to have consistency. So once you come up with whatever your training program is, there are a couple people you could probably watch videos and stuff. I paid for a training system. My system was 1500 bucks that I paid for the DVDs and no, I don't loan them out.

Speaker 2:

No, I'm not making anys and no, I don't loan them out. No, I will not.

Speaker 1:

No, I'm not making any legal copies, so don't ask. So, will you make the pirate a copy? I'm like, no, that's a typical thing with me. Um, so, having consistency and training everyone exactly the same, there is this um, I don't know if it's still true, but a long time ago, with McDonald's, you could go into a McDonald's restaurant and you were trained on every position in the back of the house, so that way if Susan called out sick, then Brian could step in and work Susan's station and his, or you know, maybe they work three stations. Now I have no idea. It's been years since I've been in the back of the house of a McDonald's, because I don't eat fast food, so I know I do that with my business right now I do.

Speaker 2:

I train everybody on the same thing, so if somebody's out they can like jump in and help out.

Speaker 1:

Right and it's important to be trained on every position then that you're not leaving yourself vulnerable. I come from the restaurant industry and I've trained thousands of servers and bartenders and bar back and busboys almost all positions of the front of the house. I've trained people in the back of the house. It just depends on what needs to happen. Then you become very organized. So when you do your very first one, make sure you're taking copious notes and that you are typing it in either your notes off your iPhone or you're doing the old school method of writing it with pen and paper, which is totally fine too, and that you're documenting it and that you're creating day one, day two, day three, day four, day five. And training should be relatively short. I know people disagree with me on this, but when you start to turn and burn through people, it eats away at your profit. So in the old school method of methodology of cleaning, I used to pay for six weeks of training. What I did by doing that and it was a lot of money at the time, it was like 12 to 1500 bucks is I trained them so well that they thought they were so good they could have a business on their own. Yes, let me get my gun and shoot myself on my foot Right. So you, you want to train them, but you want to train them so that they're in and out, so you're not spending thousands of dollars to figure out if this person's going to work out for you. So roughly 20 to 24 hours of training is sufficient in today's industry for learning how to clean.

Speaker 1:

When I first got hired at Merry Maids remember I came from I was a jewelry designer. I had a jewelry store. I didn't know anything about cleaning. I mean, I cleaned my house but I didn't know all of the nuances, right. I you know all of the stuff I know. Now I'm like I was a crappy cleaner, but in any case, um, I think I got one day of training. It was for two hours and then they just threw me out there. I didn't get it because they were short staff, right. So I kind of learned as I go. That's that's not usually the method that we'd like to do, and if you do have to do that, do not take them on a top to bottom deluxe cleaning or move out. You will scare them. They'll never come back.

Speaker 2:

So the importance of proper training, you guys is understanding like trained staff is so that they're efficient, consistent and they're confident in their roles. When you send somebody out and they don't feel confident, they're not going to do a good job. They're going to feel like they're fumbling along the way. So having that confidence is important. Procedures we talk about safety procedures all the time, shannon, and are saying you know, put these safety procedures in place. One. It's not just because we're telling you just to put them in place. It's because workers' comp is going to cost you a buttload of money if you don't.

Speaker 1:

Right. Consistency is key and there are methods in place to keep you on track, like with safety In the showers, learning to rinse with cold water versus hot water. I know that there's a whole genre of people who are like hot water kills germs, blah, blah, blah. Unless you're doing a COVID cleaning, I really don't think it. Are like hot water kills germs, blah, blah, blah. Unless you're doing a COVID cleaning, I really don't think it necessitates hot water. But if you're hand rinsing anything and you've thrown chemical in there, that chemical sticks to the atmosphere longer and you're inhaling it. So just something to think about. I am not a scientist, nor am I a medical provider, but this is just my experience of being in the cleaning industry.

Speaker 2:

So make sure that you're learning specific techniques.

Speaker 1:

So like, for example, the very first thing I would teach people and this can be different for every company Some people do the toilet first in the bathroom, other people do the sink first. However, it is that you end up at the toilet, you have to give the speech on what a Puma stone is right and what's the speech.

Speaker 2:

Kim, don't use a Puma stone on like I don't know, like my Puma stone. See, now you got me fumbling, you put me on the spot. I'm like, I only use the Puma stone on toilets and ovens, that's it, right and so.

Speaker 1:

Puma stones are great little items. There are ones with sticks and without sticks, but a Puma stone can only be used in a white or an off white toilet, and the reason for that is it's the porcelain color you don't want to ruin it Right, because if you ever watch that show how it's made, toilets are porcelain, they're enamels.

Speaker 1:

Right, and even in a white and an off white toilet it is removing the enamel. You, and even in a white and an off-white toilet, it is removing the enamel. You just cannot see it and it will show up after you've worn off the porcelain. The enamel finish, which is glass. Enamel is glass, which is sand. We won't go into that whole philosophy. Down that road. Jewelry is coming back. Jewelry is coming back, but in any case it will still show up because you've rubbed off with the pumice stone the enamel, so the water line will. Wherever the bacteria is that's sitting in the bowl, it will naturally attach itself because the water sits there the longest, especially if they don't flush every time.

Speaker 1:

We won't go into all of the dirty details of a toilet, so you can only do a pumice stone in a white or an off-white toilet and I used to say if you come back to me because you've ruined someone's $1,500 black toilet, I go. You don't have a job. This is why we don't use a plumber's job inside a colored toilet. Some people use screens inside of colored toilets. Some people like to turn the water off of the wall. Don't recommend it. My husband's a plumber. It can break because the little bracket on the inside and then you'll have water.

Speaker 2:

It's speaking from experience, that's where insurance comes in, and then you'll have water.

Speaker 1:

It's speaking from experience, insurance, right. So you know there's a whole dynamic. You know, and half the time, homeowners don't know where their turnoff valve is in their home. I think it should be mandatory. When you buy a house, they should have to walk you through. This is your electric panel. This is how you turn off your water. This is where the main water, right, don't move furniture.

Speaker 2:

Right, I know, when I go ahead, go ahead, it's totally fine. I was gonna say, like, when I did my training, I always did the bathrooms first, and then I made them clean the bathrooms for like a solid week until they like hated the bathrooms. But I knew at the end if they were detailed, because bathrooms are the hardest for me, like I don't know for everybody else, but bathrooms I've always felt were the hardest to detail because of the hair, and so, like I knew if they were going to survive my training. If they didn't finish, though, like if they quit before the end of the week because they didn't want to deal with, you know, the dirtiness of the bathrooms, or if they missed a bunch of stuff, that's how I knew that they were out.

Speaker 1:

There's. There's a lot, there's a lot of thoughts. That goes into that. And I didn't, because I didn't spend that long. I they got one week of training. So, um, you, you did bathrooms and kitchens and you rotated and then you did dry work was incorporated in the whole deal. Um, but yeah, but yeah, it's very true.

Speaker 1:

If they can't make it in the bathrooms, or if they ask, this is a key indicator if they're going to make it or not. So you're talking about the Puma stone, you're talking about the black toilet or the red toilet or the rose or mauve or whatever green, whatever it is. And then you go, okay, well, we're're gonna disinfect because we've already cleaned the inside. We're gonna clean the outside and we're gonna spray it down with whatever chemical you're using, pure evergreen. And, um, you're gonna say, okay, well, this cloth right here is only going to be used for wiping off the toilet. It doesn't touch any other part of the house or the bathroom. Does that make sense to you? And if they say no, the end of the day, you're making it. As a cleaner, I've had people genuinely go.

Speaker 1:

I don't understand why I can't use this. I'm like, no, it gets put in the rag bag over to the side. But yeah, those, those are few apart between thank god, but yeah, it happens. So if you don't have a firm training system in place, it won't give you the backbone that you need and the structure that you need to run smooth running shifts. Nobody likes trial by fire. Ever no one says, hey, I just got hired, can you throw me in with the gook over here and I'm going to try to figure it out. And, by the way, you have no towels or sponges or product. We're going to use this toilet bowl cleaner on everything. Don't do that. I've seen all kinds of crazy things. Oh, this story can be here, definitely. So properly trained staff are more efficient, they're more consistent and they're more confident in their roles. I think the training should start at the front door when you're greeting the clients.

Speaker 1:

I know we have a lot of people in our society that don't want to engage face to face. Having eye contact, smiling and saying good morning will not make you die. You die. It looks like all you have to do is say good morning. Mrs smith, is there anything in particular that we need to cover today, and sometimes they'll say you know you missed a spider web over there, but don't worry about it, I've not had it done in blah blah blah. But if they're asking you like, hey, can you clean the inside of the china cabinet with the hubbles in it? No, just don't do it. Those things are priceless and they're hard to replace and everybody bought them in the 80s. I don't know why I still have creatures in their cases.

Speaker 2:

I have chickens in my my hutch.

Speaker 1:

Do you?

Speaker 2:

I still have my hutch, but I redid it, but I don't have my. I don't have my house. Cleaner, clean it.

Speaker 1:

I think in the eighties and nineties it was popular to do everything we don't because of the breakage, and you know Elvis Presley, collectors, plates, those were a thing, right? I don't want to be responsible for ruining a piece of your history or a piece of antiquity. You guys have all heard me talk about the guy with a clock from the 16th century. It was actually more accurate than most cell phones and you would see like a layer of dust sitting underneath it because it didn't sit on the actual bookcase, it was up above because that was a style. So he would have to move the clock over to the right. We would take a little feather duster and we shush it along and then he would move it back and that was was the end of. We never touched anything else. That was the only thing on the shelf. We never touched the shelf itself. It's just today. Because it was, there was no price for it. It was from the 1600s. It had been in his family for eight or nine generations, probably more than that, if you really wanted to break down the math, right?

Speaker 1:

So yeah, making sure that they're confident and they have eye contact, it's so important they're able to communicate. We communicate way differently than we have in the past. So make sure that we're still doing, especially if you have a lot of seniors on your roster. Those seniors like to be communicated face-to-face with eye contact. You've got to smile, smile and then improving employee satisfaction is huge. Company culture we talked a little bit about that in the previous podcast or it will be the podcast after this maybe, depending on the rotation goes. But making sure that your cleaning techs are satisfied. There is nothing worse than having someone who is unsatisfied with their life and then it subsequently makes them unsatisfied with their job and all they they do is want, want, want, want, want, want, want, like Charlie Brown's teacher, and it's just, it's a downer. You don't want to have anyone who is not happy to be here, Like, most of the time I'm just happy to be here, right?

Speaker 1:

You guys can most of the time tell that I'm like I'm here, right. So making sure that you have all of those areas covered. And then, what were some of the things that you did to create a comprehensive training program on Miss Kimberly Gonzalez?

Speaker 2:

I just made sure that they like followed back and just reiterated, like their cleaning strategies and if they had questions, be like. So tell me about your clean today. Did you feel comfortable in this? What do you feel like you need to work on? So I'd ask them questions, like from their point, like what can I do to help them with their training staff? Like their training, and then we would just implement and try to refix it. And then we did ongoing stuff. So like I would have somebody you know quality check or I'd ask the customers you know what did you think? And we just went back and we reworked on some of those things that they need to focus on. We're all good at different things, right, so they may be really good at one thing, but maybe not so much the other. So how could we adjust that to make it more easier for them so they can do a better job cleaning?

Speaker 1:

When I was a maid, I always well, there was a hierarchy between wet work and dry work, so I always got stuck doing the bathrooms. And then I realized that if I did the bathrooms I didn't have to like talk to the customers. So and you can always in the winter time cause you know they keep their house pretty warm you could open the window and then you wouldn't be so hot cleaning the bathroom in the winter time, right? So after a while I was just like I'll just do the bathrooms and then after a while, you know you, they would, you know, mary Maids, they, they wanted to keep you in the wet work, which was actually harder than the dry work. But you know, eventually I'm like we can trade, because I need other stimulation for for myself. So can we trade? Oh, I'm not doing the bathrooms. So make sure that you are training and vetting them on every item on what to do for cleaning, and orientation is super important.

Speaker 1:

I recommend that you don't spend a lot of time orienting anyone in the job market. I would spend, you know, maybe an hour. Hey, this is, this is your paperwork and you need to bring it in. You know, I'll pay you 30 minutes for your time and then go over some basic stuff like this is what we do on Mondays. This is how we hand in our hours on Fridays. This is where we park the company cars, if you have company cars. This is where you fill up your gear. This is where, if your back of vacuum is broken here, this is what a breakage form is and why we have one. This is what happens breakage form is and why we have one. This is what happens if there's an emergency.

Speaker 1:

If you fall down, I need to be made aware this is where the band-aids are. You should carry a first aid kit in your car at all times. All of these things should be part of your process of orientation. If you get a flat tire, I need to know I have AAA. Right. There's all of these things. So orientation, a brief safety. A lot of people are handling chemicals for the very first time and, as we know for the consumer, if you guys buy anything at Walmart or even Target or whatever grocery store you're going to, the chemicals that are on the market are not that they should be diluted If there's no reason why that should be the concentration that it is and they don't tell the homeowner that, by the way, because they show in the commercials that spray wipe, spray wipe. Well, we never want to spray anything on a surface. We want to spray our microfiber cloth.

Speaker 1:

And you want to make sure it's diluted so you're not spraying pure chemical and it eats the finish off and everyone goes, oh my God, it's the finish off the wood. I used this on the wood and I ruined it. Right it's. You can't put vodka on. You know, there was a whole thing. I wrote an article one time on cleaning with vodka and it was like I had a party and I had all this leftover vodka. I'm like what am I going to do with it? It was awful to drink, like we're going to make cleaner out of it, but you can't um, you can't spray um it on wood at all, and even if you use it on your microfiber cloth, it has to be diluted because it could ruin the finish off of wood. It's just vodka's, you know, from potatoes, so just weird stuff that I know random stuff.

Speaker 1:

And then having standard operating procedures, like you know what's petty cash? What is petty cash? Right, how do I? What happens if my hours get missed? What happens if I'm late? What happens if I get in a car accident? What happens? These are all things that should be standard operating procedures. What happens if I lose my check? What happens? We don't give checks anymore, it's direct deposit, but still, if you're doing it the old-fashioned way. What happens if we have inclement weather Like we have? You probably get them too, kim. We have monsoons that come here through the summer. It can knock out electricity. Guess what? If we have no electricity, we can't clean your house.

Speaker 2:

Or if they're in a house and a tornado is on its way Like right, I'm going to vacuum really quick. I know I'm like vacuum really quick, but if you're in there like for a tornado or anything like that, be prepared, like know where the basement is. If they have a basement, have those things put in place. You know, you just got to be prepared.

Speaker 1:

Be prepared, like, for example and this hit the news cycle, I was really surprised there was an Amazon driver who walked to. I believe this happened in California. Correct me if I'm wrong. They were so engrossed in what they were doing that they show that the garage had caught on fire. Did you see that? Yes, I did, and they threw the package over the fire Delivered, didn't call 911. Didn't do. I was just like hello Brain cells. So don't, don't be one of those. Don't have, don't leave it open for your cleaning tech to do something so serious.

Speaker 2:

I'm sure that if the person realized after the fact that, oh my God, I just threw this package into the fire. Aren't they supposed to take the brightest moment? It makes me wonder, because I know, like our Amazon, they have to take a picture to show it was delivered.

Speaker 1:

I wonder if he took a picture of it being flown in the air with the fire, right? So how many like what to do in a fire, right? What to do if there's inclement weather? What to do when it's snow and ice? It's depending on your state. People in Michigan drive in snow and ice all the time. People in California not so much.

Speaker 1:

It could be a big deal. These are all things to think about. I mean there is going to be a big deal. These are all things to think about. I mean there is going to be a course that comes out, but it won't be able to cover everything because standard operating procedures are so expansive. So I'm going to have a launch of the product and then I will continue to add product as we go. So it will be a larger thing. But yeah, you need to have something like. You know how do we used to do it the old-fashioned way. How do you get your welcome paperwork over to your client? It was like such a big ordeal to do it low-tech. Well, now you just copy, paste and jobber and it sends it over. I'm like oh my god, I love this. It's just like and it's accepted, boom. It's just, but it took a while. I'm like oh, you know, you know. And then hands-on training. Not everybody wants to sit down and write a video. I think that cleaning is very much hands-on. What do you think?

Speaker 2:

I like hands-on training because I'm a visual person and I think a lot of cleaning people like that love to clean, are visual people. They have an eye for detail. So when you do, I like to pair staffs, always pair to staff. Even now with my business with Pure Evergreen, I pair them with the staff and I let them train them and I love it because they can implement the ideas and work with them for the different techniques and it's nice because they have that mentor.

Speaker 1:

It makes it nice to have a mentor, and there's always the question over quality control and not having a quality control person and how to work around that, and there's like you have to have operating procedures for that. What do you have? What happens, you know, when you have someone who's passed away, there's, there's policy in place. I mean, there's so many things when you're dealing with the public. We deal with the public differently. People at the bank get yelled at because it's their money, it's a value system, so I don't know if I could ever work in a bank.

Speaker 1:

But we're dealing with a lot of emotional issues in people's homes um you can tell that people are having a hard time when their house is messy or cluttered. You can tell that they might be depressed because they have certain other things going on. You can tell if they're on a lot of medication because there's a lot of dander. There's a lot of things that you can visually tell, like you can tell when your client's pregnant because they got prenatal vitamins everywhere, or maybe they just want long, luscious hair, right. So these are observations that you make. Because we're in people's homes. We see more things than most house guests get to see.

Speaker 2:

You could tell a lot by your customer just by looking around, just in their house, and when you train your new clients like I mean, when you train your trainees or you're in their training these are things that you need to train them on. It's these things that are going on to observe these things.

Speaker 1:

Right, because you just don't know. I'm, you know and we won't get into the Harry Carey stuff of it. We that's. You can talk about safety another time. Hands-on training is great and then, using of technology, there's so many things that sorry, that's my phone that are great. Like you know, there is that software that I believe you use it for your teenagers, that you can track your babies. What's it called?

Speaker 2:

Life 360.

Speaker 1:

Right, I don't have babies anymore, but they're almost adults. One of them is an adult, the other one is almost an adult.

Speaker 2:

I like tracked my son. He's, you know, he's 19, but he went camping and two of his friends have never been camping before, and so like went camping and two of his friends have never been camping before, and so like I told him like, okay, I could see him in like 360, so it shows him out like I could tell when he's canoeing. It's funny because he's in the middle of the lake. When I look at the life 360 he must be swimming.

Speaker 2:

Hopefully he's swimming good but you're like or he texted he, I'm alive, right, yeah, like technology is amazing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So like you didn't have that in the past, in the past you had to wait and hope that you got a text right. Hey, did you guys arrive? Okay, is everything okay? Or even a phone call, everything right. But now you can see it. So that might be something that you want to incorporate. I know a couple of the ladies in our group have a really rural area that they cover. So it's not to track and trace you, it's to make sure that you're safe, right, we want to know that you're going to be okay. And then there's a lot of other things Like finally, the technology has caught up with the digital calendar system.

Speaker 1:

In the past, we used Google Calendar and there was no guarantee they got it, and then you would have cleaning techs not show up. And then Jobber came on board. Um, and I've been with them I don't believe eight years or something like that. Wow, and it's really. Jobber has really expanded in its offering. Right now I'm I have the the review thing. I haven't gotten any reviews from it, so I don't know if I'm going to keep it, but there's this technology that is helpful for you but scheduling apps, apps.

Speaker 1:

Definitely see what works best for you. It might you might hate Jobber. You might like Launch27 or Zenmate.

Speaker 2:

Customer factor. I've used customer factor for years, right, so?

Speaker 1:

technology can be very great. And then photographs. We talk about this every once in a while, about safety and everything else, but photographs need to be brought up. So a lot of times when you are a remote business, you need to have proof. And the reason why you need to have proof is because we have an unruly class of individuals in our country who think they are entitled to everything for free.

Speaker 1:

Yes and if you don't do it, they're going to look for that loophole and if you miss a beat they're going to run right over you. I'm still going through the dispute with the little old lady who I thought was totally nice until she disputed over a grand of charges because she just didn't want to pay. I feel like I got a cons, but it happens.

Speaker 2:

And the photographs are great for when you get into the homes and you take pictures of the things and like, for instance, I saw something on one of our groups that there was a nick in the sink, the kitchen sink, or it was a bathroom.

Speaker 1:

I saw that one. It was a ding or something.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I was like always take those pictures before. So you have proof that you did not you know, and after so proof before and after. So that way you have proof that you did not. You know, an after so proof before and after. So that way you have that documentation.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and you don't need to be overboard. Like 500 pictures, it's the same photo at different angles.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you don't need to do like a yeah.

Speaker 1:

But there there are some key points that you you want to cover in your photographs and you also want to make sure that you are giving your clients some sort of privacy. I know that the short-term rental industry finally banned cameras from the inside of all homes.

Speaker 1:

Because these homeowners were just over the top. Cameras in cameras out, you forget there was cameras and you're running around in your underwear. I'm just like, oh my gosh, just over the top, cameras in cameras out, you forget there was cameras and you're running around your underwear. I'm just like, oh my gosh, I never want to stay in a short term rental Cause I'm like I don't. Not everyone wants to see all this. You know there's a certain form of privacy that needs to happen, so make sure that you're not taking images with family photos Like if you look in Kim right here, you can see her and Mark in the background right here. Like you would want to avoid that if you were taking it. Watching YouTube yeah Right, yeah, logical things. I know that sometimes we lack in common sense. I'm just saying, I'm just pointing it out there.

Speaker 2:

Right, or in your agreement too. So, like in agreement, make sure you guys have that in your agreement for your clients. That's when they sign that you will be taking pictures. It's for educational purposes. It's for making sure that you have the detail that you know. What is there like? Just documentation?

Speaker 1:

And you can also say and occasionally we'll use these on social media and they'll either say yay or nay, and you have to be the person that doesn't take pictures of people's kids, right?

Speaker 2:

Because nobody, nobody, who has a kid, wants their kid on the internet, random pictures of their kids, just stuff like that. Next is focusing on key skills. So let's focus on the key skills for your cleaning staff. One of them is huge is time management. So teaching your staff how to manage their time that she needs to. So going back and seeing what needs to change for that time management, but still having it be effective, so you're not sacrificing the quality.

Speaker 1:

Right and sometimes it's. We don't know this. When we hire people, some people have ADD or ADHD. Those guys have to learn differently than the rest of us. So and you have to, like, reverse engineer some things. Usually they're great employees, but you do have to reverse engineer how you train and how you engage so that they can remember and sometimes it's as old fashioned as a laminated sheet with a checklist, right, or if you have something on your computer that you can snazz up, then do that.

Speaker 1:

But time management is key. And telling your staff, like when you have jobber, this house should take 4.5 hours, like, if they're taking over your house, you should automatically and it takes you three hours, you should automatically give them an extra half hour because more than likely it will take them that long, and don't punish them for it. It's just they're learning the house. It does take time to figure out all of the nuances. And then they start to obsess and do I do this right? Do I get that blanket the right way? Time management you decide and then make sure that if they're going over that, there is a good reason why. Maybe they add the client. They do this all the time. The clients see a new person. They're like can you get this for me?

Speaker 2:

They know very well it's not included, or if you have an older client that just wants to chat, you know. Find out why, like you know before you just say this is you need to finish your time quicker. Ask and investigate, like why.

Speaker 1:

I just want to find out. Like you know, I noticed the time was over. Was everything okay, like just ask them Right, or it genuinely could be something that need to be addressed? And you know they just took longer. But yeah, my husband sits down because he gets paid by the hour a lot of money. He'll say hold on, okay, I'm so comfortable because the homeowner is like, yeah, it's you know they don't. Then he's like it's your dime. Okay, what do you?

Speaker 2:

got and they're like my dad does the same thing. It's like they want to talk with him and he's like, well, I'm getting paid to be chatting.

Speaker 1:

Right here, let me sit down and get comfortable. It stops them every time. And then attention to detail is important. You know, fluffing the pillows on the couch, folding the blankets? Um, usually if we find kid toys underneath the couch, we'll just plop it on the coffee table.

Speaker 2:

we're not responsible for finding which toy box it goes in um, details like I'm really big on, like the vents and then fan vents. I always say when I did my training I said when you enter a room, the first thing you need to do is look up right. Like part of my training is because we, when you enter a room, the first thing you need to do is look up Right, and that was like part of my training is because we don't tend to look up first. Look up, look for cobwebs, look at the fans the fans need to be done. Look at vents no-transcript, so stuff gets missed like little things it can it takes a little while.

Speaker 1:

Or if you have someone who has 57 frames on their dresser, all in different angles, you're just like, oh my god or behind the door, like that is such a big miss thing.

Speaker 2:

You guys are great, maybe, at wiping the front of the doors, but have you guys ever closed the door and wiped behind the door or the top of the frames of the door, like that stuff it's missed.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and door like that, stuff is missed, yes and so, yeah, attention to detail is important. You know, getting the gasket underneath the garbage disposal, all the weird stuff, and then safety procedures. Make sure that you understand that you're handling chemicals. We don't carry bleach, we never have. It's a volatile chemical, we? We? It's 101 here today in Prescott Arizona. Wait, it's just you know.

Speaker 1:

You don't want to have that in your car, you don't want to travel with it. It's it can explode all over you, all over your car. Make sure you understand they understand what the SES I know, kim, you just got one for pure evergreen that you understand what they're carrying chemicals that could be harmful in extreme heat and what that entails. Go through the SDS and say this symbol right here means this. This symbol right here means that and you know when do you wear gloves, when do you not wear gloves? How come you spray on a microfiber versus on the product? Is the product, you know, have contaminants on it that are organic or inorganic? There's all of these things that can really change the course of your decision on what to use and how to use it right.

Speaker 2:

Exactly, I'm very big on like stairs. You know we have a lot of stairs. Here in Colorado. A lot of majority of the homes are two stories and we have, you know, like our house has, one, we have three stories, so it's the top floor and then the middle floor and in the basement. So that's a lot of stairs. So I have always taught my girls to vacuum up the stairs instead of vacuuming down the stairs. Yes, you get a few footprints and I let my clients know this is just our safety. We prefer them going up the stairs versus trying to go down the stairs with the vacuum. Right, they're going to fall.

Speaker 1:

Definitely. I had someone ask me about it was for a post-construction cleaning and she had one of those pro vacuums which are I love those vacuums, but not great for post-construction cleaning, cause if you're on, it's mostly ladder work, as you know, and they could tip over and fall off. You want to have something that you can keep close to you that isn't going to cause you harm, right? This is why we don't go over a four-foot ladder. You get actually cheaper workman's comp when you say we don't go over a four-foot ladder versus a six-foot ladder.

Speaker 2:

I'm like okay, no problem, I'm in your agreement. I always lock the doors. I always told my clients, like I said hey, when we come in, we lock the door, it's for our safety, it's for the safety of your home.

Speaker 1:

So that was just a big thing, and I try to really implement that with my training. Yes, we won't talk about the naked neighbor.

Speaker 1:

We'll tell about that in a different story. I'll just leave that blanket statement there. And then, obviously, customer service. I would like to believe that customer service is not dead. I keep finding proof that it is. But I can say if you offer any sort of customer service, that right there will give you an edge over the rest of the competition. Nobody wants to engage with the client and give them any service. We are a service-based business, which requires that we give customer service. Now, sometimes you're going to get the butt who you know is looking for something for free. You've got to make sure all your systems in place, all your T's are crossed, all your I's are dotted, and that's fine. And then you're going to come across people who are just like awful, they just got in your orbit somehow and you just go. And then you're going to come across people who are just like awful, they just got in your orbit somehow and you just go Right now, WTF.

Speaker 1:

Right. So it's just like you shake your head like how, how, how, how, how. But you've got to offer customer service. There's been a couple of times where I've had you guys call me and I'm like oh, I have this happen and they just like what do I say? I'm like, this is what you say.

Speaker 2:

They're like really, I'm like you have nothing to lose, stick it right back at them and I always say keep it simple, Keep it so simple. I feel like you go on and on and on and on about when you're trying to talk to the customer.

Speaker 1:

Just keep it simple what you want to say to them, listen. Listen to what they have to say. They're taking the time instead of blasting you all over social media or a review site. They're taking the time to let you know that they are pissed off and that it needs to be addressed, instead of going. Mrs Smith always complains about everything. Just listen to them.

Speaker 1:

They want to be a Karen right, exactly, karen, I still love you. But that yeah, provide customer service, have a protocol for what that customer service is and drum roll please. The customer is not always right.

Speaker 2:

I remember that came out that said the customer is always right. I was like oh crap, right.

Speaker 1:

There was actually one point in my life where I actually thought that when I worked at Nordy's. I no longer think that the dynamic of the shopping experience has changed so much. The dynamic of our society, how we engage, has changed a lot and the respect and lack of integrity is not the way it was even in the nineties. So I no longer think that the customer is always right. It's just like how can I gracefully offload this individual so they never come back? It's just like and sometimes that involves eating it, sometimes it doesn't.

Speaker 1:

I had one recently and I haven't had one in four years, knock on wood, and she was awful, she was absolutely awful. I ended up having to eat a bunch of labor and giving a good portion of the job for free, with the agreement that she would not go to, and I wrote it in there, like if you go to any form of social media or your website or you mentioned my name anywhere, I will send you a cease and desist and I will sue you. And she was. I didn't hear a peep from her after. I'm like, and I never want you to reach back out to me ever. You're 86 to life. Bye, bye. It happens once in a while. You get one and you just like I said, the wtf right.

Speaker 1:

So, um, try not to have those people in your orbit no but there are genuine good people who absolutely will love and worship you. Give those guys customer service.

Speaker 2:

Next is continuous improvement and feedback. So let's talk about like just the improvement and feedback. So training, I'm huge on like just keeping that training going, keeping the orientation, regular training sessions. So schedule the training sessions Quarterly at least, Yep. And when you do your staff meetings even, you can even implement. When you do your staff meetings, you can even implement even if it's like a 10 minute training. It's something, it's the education, new products, the industry changes, any little thing that needs to be worked on. Do that.

Speaker 1:

Remember when magic erasers came out and that was like the new hot thing, careful with those, those scratch, no, they don't. And, um, that's remember when magic erasers came out and that was like the new hot thing with those, those scratch, no, they don't. And it was like I don't know what to finish off this stone countertop. I'm like I told you that. I remember training sessions at least quarterly and we get compliant. As cleaning We've all been, most of us have been cleaning techs. Um, you can't, you just get lazy.

Speaker 2:

It's not intentional.

Speaker 1:

You're like, I'm in and out of here, mrs mishouse, I'm gonna go get me an extra break today, and so then you go. What do you mean? We have to have a training on kitchen sinks. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be cleaning the gasket on the bottom of the garbage disposal and then that you know, you see them secretly going. You know, I'm gonna write this down over here.

Speaker 2:

When you, when you get to that point you've been doing it for so long you're like on autopilot and then you start to miss things because you're just trying to do your flow. So that training is just important to really get back into the groove and get them excited about different things for cleaning and recognition.

Speaker 1:

It's, um, I've always been the behind the scenes girl, so getting recognition was like a huge for me. To step out and be the face of everything was a huge thing for me. Um, now I'm like I got it, I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it. But in the beginning I was really awkward for me. I didn't feel comfortable. Um, I thought it was superficial blah, blah, blah. I no longer feel that way, but initially I was like you know, god is going to punish me. I'm so vain.

Speaker 1:

It's just like the methodology that goes with the talk in your brain, right? So don't be like I was. Take their recognition, give recognition and, most importantly, say please and thank you to your staff. It's really I've had to like say things a couple of times to people who are really brutal to their employees. I'm like there was no need for you to shame anybody. I'm a huge advocate of not shaming anyone.

Speaker 1:

Um, if you need to be shamed, it's going to be done in private. We're going to have a conversation about why you did what you did and you have to really have pushed me pretty far to do it. It's very rare, very rare, like one in a million that I'll have to do have pushed me pretty far to do it. It's very rare, very rare, like one in a million that I'll have to do it. But every once in a while it's like getting your littles back in order, right? They, they run and run and run and run and run. And then you're like KK come back here and you're just like that's my eight year old. Um, his name is actually KS, not KK, but I call him KK for short.

Speaker 2:

For me. I do. I do like the love languages and then it's I'm looking at it right now so I have on my little. We have like a little area where I put them all up and I had them fill out like a love language, so like what fills their cup. So I had it like some like, for instance, amy, and all Amy knows she's working with me right now today.

Speaker 1:

She's working on orders, but um.

Speaker 2:

I know she's out. I don't even know where she's at. I think she's out down there today listening to the whole thing. Sometimes she does She'll like walk back and forth, but I think she's working on labels right now Cause we're so short.

Speaker 2:

But, like one of her things I was like you know, it says I feel loved most when and this is my old eyesight Um, when you tell me that, um, that you love what you love about me. So just that was one of the things like what do you, what do I love about her? Um, share love languages, hugs. So if your staff is okay with hugs, that's her thing, that's part of her love language. Making coffee she loves it.

Speaker 2:

When I bake or make cookies, like she was bragging to the other gals that work with me and she says, when you come and work for Kimberly, oh my gosh, she will feed you, she will bake for you, she'll make sure you have plenty of food in your tummy. There's always food and drinks in the fridge. So that was, like you know, a big thing. So like really finding what is like for me was the love languages, and that's something you can figure out online. Have them do a sheet like, even if it's time, like somebody's time, pull them aside and just say I really appreciate it. Or a little note, put a little post-it note in one of their bags. You know little things.

Speaker 1:

You can do little things. Some of the things that we did was we did photographs so they would have an appreciation board and then they would. You would see them actually discussing photos on the board and we would change them out once a year. So in the beginning of the year, obviously it was empty. We would frame the old one and we would move it to a different location. Then we start with a fresh one every year. But you could see them like looking at the photographs and you know, because they were always holding an award or whatever recognition, or most five star reviews or whatever.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, feedback and recognition. Your feedback needs to be the sandwich method. So it's something positive, something negative and then something positive. So don't be entirely brutal to whoever it is that needs redirecting, don't sink the ship. Just positive, negative, positive. It's called the sandwich method. You can look it up online. And then open communication encouraging open communication. I'm big on that. My phone number is all over the internet. We're just discussing this. If you ever have a question, you can usually reach out to me and I'll give you 15 minutes of my time. It doesn't bother me if I have time in my schedule, but being communicative is so important because oftentimes, when you're on your phone, you can communicate, and then it's lost in translation and you're like that was really offensive, what did she mean by that? And you're like and then this whole thing starts to bubble, and faster. Well, you said this and you're like that's not what I said when I texted it. Well, it was all caps. Well, not everybody knows that all caps is shouting right, exactly, miscommunication.

Speaker 2:

Communication is really good because it just opens the lines for just you know what is going on. I'm huge at communicating. I talk about it all the time. When you don't communicate, it breaks down and it can really just, like you said, fester the stuff in your mind like what's going on. Clarity with people with ADHD, with me, I have to say, okay, I'm just trying to, I want to communicate this better, or, you know, I'm just going to try to word it, so my words may not come out, and you guys all know this from listening to our podcast. My words do not always come out right, but I always say, when I communicate, my words may not always come out right, but I'm just going to try to explain it. So, really, just try to break stuff down. I love that Shannon and I are able to communicate. So, like I needed a clear communication on some things today, um, earlier before the podcast, and I just wanted the clarity and I liked that clarity, that we were able to break down stuff. So communication is important to you guys.

Speaker 1:

Definitely. And then um. Training is an ongoing process. I actually just finished training with the American house cleaners association. It was um, it was more. It took me five hours to do the course and then another hour for the actual test. There are 80 questions on that test and I haven't done it yet.

Speaker 2:

I signed up, but I haven't done it yet. Once I get the test twice.

Speaker 1:

The first time I was 85%. I was like, because you have to get a hundred to get your certificate. So then the second time, I was 85 percent. I was like, oh, because you have to get 100 to get your certificate. So then the second time, I got it. But I was like, oh, my God, yeah, it was. It was pretty extensive, definitely. So it's an ongoing process and we always need to learn. What do they call it? Lifelong learners? Right? You see them at the, the college, it's the, it's the lifelong learning crowd, right?

Speaker 1:

I think that continuing education, regardless of what it is or where you are, is always important because it keeps your mind going. You want to be sharp all the time, and then it requires resources. So if you don't have a training system, it is discussed at length in the Structure Scale and Profit Cleaning Business Academy there's actually a training schedule. I believe it's a five-day schedule. It has a pass or fail grade. It's pretty straightforward. It goes over how to. This is the alarm. This is what you do in this house. I'll be back. Blah, blah, blah Talks about transitioning out of the field from you to them there's a lot of that in there and then invest in yourself.

Speaker 1:

When you pay for education or a one-day seminar or a meetup or whatever it is you're doing, it is a write-off because it is a business expense. It's either under education or business consulting, depending on what your accounting bookkeeping person does. And then investing in your staff training is important as well. I, when I worked for corporate, I loved when they had training days because they got that you fed lunch. You didn't have to do any of your other stuff. I'm like I got to learn all this cool stuff. Thank you, thank you for investing in me. I couldn't afford the $700. Right.

Speaker 2:

And I I'm not trying to talk Costco down. Mark went to he had, so he got forklift certified and they've been short, like they've been shorthanded because they can't find employees, and so he's been driving forklift and they have been pushing the forklift drivers because they can't hire enough help. You need to hurry, you need to hurry, you need to hurry and accidents. Until he runs someone over why?

Speaker 1:

are we going so fast?

Speaker 2:

Or hand puncturing some heavy whipped cream, you know, in the cans. Right, you know so. But they did. And he was kind of a little frustrated because he was like they had us come in in the morning for a meeting and it was early in the morning and you know we're all hungry and we're trying and they're pushing us to go quicker and all they.

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Jamie Runco

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Shannon Miller

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