Cleaning Business Life

CBL Episode #75-Which is better, buying clients or gifting clients?

• Shannon Miller and Kimberly Gonzales • Season 2024 • Episode 75

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What if acquiring cleaning clients from other businesses could either skyrocket your success or become your biggest regret? Join me, Shannon Miller, as I share both triumphant and cautionary tales from my own experience. In this episode, you'll uncover the secrets to understanding pricing disparities, the vital role of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), and the strategies for keeping a steady influx of both clients and cleaning technicians. From cherry-picking valuable clients to navigating the differences between residential and commercial contracts, you’ll gain actionable insights on how to negotiate and nurture these crucial relationships effectively.

But that's not all—building and maintaining strong client relationships is the cornerstone of a thriving cleaning business. Learn how to set clear expectations, secure client buy-in through signed agreements, and build trust through personal interactions. Find out how to handle difficult clients and understand the evolving role of AI in the service industry. Most importantly, discover why maintaining a positive and professional environment, even if it means refusing service to problematic clients, is essential for your success. This episode is packed with indispensable tips and strategies to ensure your cleaning business not only survives but thrives.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome back everyone Recording in progress. This is Shannon Miller with Cleaning Business Life, and today I am flying solo because Mrs Kimberly Gonzalez is still out in puppy land. For those of you who don't know, kimberly's dog not had not one, not two, not three, not even four. She had 14 puppies. So if you are looking for a golden retriever, I would reach out and hit her up. I'm sure she's still looking for good homes for all of them.

Speaker 1:

Today I want to talk about what happens when you're gifted cleaning clients from another cleaning business. This can be a very fortuitous event or it could just be your worst nightmare. I've had them go both ways. I purchased lists that I was like, why did I spend all this money? And then I purchased lists that have been fantastic, right. So it just depends on where you are in your business and how familiar and how you structure the deal. I have had people in the past just gift me clients because I was their overflow company, right. They trusted me enough with my reputation and had decided that I was the go-to person to offset whatever business they had. The only stipulation I had a lot of the time is pricing, because I'm priced way up here and most of the cleaners who were having an overflow issue are way down here in price and most of the cleaners who are having an overflow issue are way down here in price. Sometimes I can work out a deal and sometimes I can't. And let's be honest if you're still out physically cleaning, you only have so long out in the field before you're physically going to be forced to retire.

Speaker 1:

Cleaning is a very physically active job. It is not an easy job to do. It typically is a younger person's game, even though I have seen cleaners who are in their 70s still doing it. So I you know if, if, if that was my thing, I would want to be able to clean until I was 70. There's no way I could do it now, but there are several of you guys out there and kudos to you because it keeps you fit and trim and it keeps you young and agile. It does a lot of things cognitively when you're physically moving versus when you're sitting at TV listening to the news all day. So make sure that when you are gifted clients that you know what you're getting into. Sometimes they're really pleasant and they're okay with the change.

Speaker 1:

But, as you, we've all experienced with the dynamics of change in general in the cleaning industry. I mean, how many times have you had someone go? I want the same cleaner each and every time. Well, if you work in solos, the solo method, yeah, you could probably for the most part say I'm going to have the same cleaner unless they win the lottery. I've actually had that happen.

Speaker 1:

So if you just never know what's going to happen in people's lives, things change all of the time. That's why we have to ebb and flow, ebb and flow, ebb and flow. That's why you have to have structures in place that you're constantly acquiring clients and you're constantly acquiring cleaning techs. It's a funnel, right? You have one funnel here, one over here and it all has to work together like cogs in the wheel. So people retire and no longer can physically do it. Sometimes they retire and they want to sell you the list.

Speaker 1:

Typically, if you're viewing someone's list, they'll make you sign an NDA, and an NDA is a non-disclosure agreement. I've gone on some pretty big deals with some other people during business transactions. It's pretty norm to sign an NDA If you're not familiar with the logistics of it. It just basically says that you won't vomit all of the information that you have just witnessed, nor will you whip out your cell phone and snap photos of the information and just vomit that all over social media? There's a consequence for not following the NDA, and sometimes monetarily. In other cases, depending on the information you're viewing, you could actually go to jail. So make sure you understand what an NDA is. Usually at our level, it's a pretty basic thing.

Speaker 1:

I've seen a lot of financials for a lot of businesses. Some people are quite open with me and others are like there's no way I'm sharing this information with you. I'm like, okay, doesn't bother me, doesn't bother me at all. I'm like I well, it doesn't bother me, it doesn't bother me at all. I'm like I'm just here to help out. If you want me to help out, that's great, right. So they retire and or you become the overflow person because they can only handle so many at one time.

Speaker 1:

They'll try and sell you the list. Make sure when you are looking at someone's list to potentially purchase, you could cherry pick. I've actually never purchased a whole list. I've cherry picked items out that I thought were visible. So instead of buying 200 clients, I might have bought 20 that I was interested in, and then each client had a perceived value and um or they had contracts with people. Contracts are really easy you sign them over and then this is the total value, so you're paying a percentage of the total value. Um, not very many people will sign a contract in the house cleaning industry, but they for sure will do one in commercial industry. I just had a friend buy a 15 year contract for the name of the bank I can't think of the name of the bank, but it had. It was five years in and at that point there was an opportunity to increase the rates and so they increased the rates and then ended up selling the contract to another cleaning company and it an edpd deal. Um, there was, you know, staying on and you know negotiations over this and that, and when she showed me the pictures and how unkept the banks were, I couldn't believe that they didn't want to cancel their contract. Um, and that's a whole another game when you're dealing with contracts and legalities and stuff like that.

Speaker 1:

Or sometimes you're just lucky and so-and-so, gave it a shot, didn't like it and is like this isn't my cup of tea, would you like these 52 clients? And you're like what? And they're like yeah, I want to know. I would. You know, I've heard your name around. This has happened to me multiple times. I've heard your name around, you've been on the radio, I've heard you here and there and you know I want to make sure that my people go to someone I trust. And they've literally given me 52 clients. Did all 52 of them stay on? No, I want to say 20% of them stayed on and everyone else jumped ship.

Speaker 1:

Because I'm more of a formal business. I make people sign paperwork. I gave them the option not to sign paperwork, but they did get the information. I gave them the option not to sign paperwork, but they did get the information. So this person didn't have all these structures in place and I did so. Then it became the whole. Are you going to hold me accountable if I cancel a lesson? And I'm like, yeah, I am. So you have to decide Right.

Speaker 1:

And then there's a buy in. As with anything, there has to be a buy inin when my, my littles, are getting ready. They got ready for school yesterday, because school started today and this is, by the time you guys see this, two weeks will have gone by Um, and so there had to be a buy-in. We went, we went and did the whole school shopping. We got whatever supplies they needed. We got new shoes, we got a new backpack. There was buy-in. They you know, oh my, my god, are you excited about going? I'm excited you're going, are you excited about going? So there has to be buy-in and it has to happen with anything. So when your clients um, when you're getting clients either purchased or free, it's usually good to have a representative either you yourself or your lead or whoever it is you're using just go by, introduce themselves and drop off paperwork and see if there's any special needs. Look at the condition of the home. Yes, it's time consuming, but house cleaning is all about relationships.

Speaker 1:

I know that people have stepped into our industry and want to make it an automated machine. Even Grant Cardone is now stepping his foot, his big toe, into the service industry, which I find interesting. I'm not going to comment about that. I'm not going to go in that direction today, but everybody has their hand in the pie. We're very much a human relationship industry. I don't care what they tell you and there's certain things that AI will never be able to take over and do. For example, we might not get to right away having an AI person answer the phone where it's still human to human. I don't know if that'll ever go away. Maybe it will when AI is more acceptable. I mean, I just read that Taco Bell is instituting a whole drive-through AI drive-through and I knew that was going to happen, because they raised the minimum wage and the cost of food is going up, if fast food even survives this whole trickle down inflation thing that's happening.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, you have to remember that we are very much a human industry, so you have to have a buy-in. So going in person and meeting them and introducing yourself, dropping off paperwork or having your lead, do it. If you're not out in the field or you don't want to do it is always a good way to provide proof. If they have any questions about your legitimacy, you could provide your. Like I have an LLC underneath the Arizona Corporation Commission. You could look up those things and provide some legitimacy. You could provide legitimacy by showing them your reviews.

Speaker 1:

There's a lot of things that you can do to get buy in. Um, so having the same person will probably be excuse me, I'm going to sneeze, I'm trying really hard not to do that one. So, having buy-in usually it's price and the person who's coming in Because now there's this, they don't know my house. I don't know if they can do the same job. Now you have all these rules, so there's all of this stuff that has to be bought in. So make sure that you're adhering to whatever your company policies are so that you can get the buy-in and see if they'll be a good fit. And then sometimes you'll go through that whole thing and then you'll realize that this person's a nightmare and you're like why? Why is this that? Why is this just now showing up? Now? And it's because I call this a black widow effect. So they're all great.

Speaker 1:

Typically it's a married, older married couple. He's pretty quiet, she's the one who carries the purse string, so to speak, and things are all great until about the fourth or fifth visit and then they just lay into you and then you realize that the reason why they laid into you is because she's off her meds and probably has a habit of doing so, because I watch repeated patterns. And then she just starts going off on you, on the cleaning tech, and then you know, then you realize that this person is crazy and mean and you're like why did I take this person on? So remember, you have the right to refuse service to anyone, and it's all a matter of telling them in a polite way that unfortunately they're no longer a good fit, that here's the list of five other cleaning companies that might benefit you better. And then people go what's my God-given right? I have the right to do business with you. No, you don't. I have the right to refuse service to anyone, and if you're going to be a bot about it, then you don't get to be part of Shannon's orbit, right? So there's this dynamic. So make sure that the people you're taking on are emotionally sound.

Speaker 1:

I actually took on someone I'm not going to name names, sent the cleaning tech in there. Things are okay until about the six month mark, and I didn't realize that the husband was declining, he had had Alzheimer's and he was verbally abusing this cleaning tech, who never said anything to me and um, until the one day I got the phone call with tears, right. So then I had to go back to the client. I'm like, look, this just isn't working out, you know. And they're like well, we've, we've brought you all this money. I'm like I'm looking at the lifetime value of who who brings, brings me more money, and it's that cleaning tech and I like that cleaning tech and I don't like you. So, um, I don't like people being abusive. I'm all about dignity and not shaming anybody always have been Maybe it's something from me being shamed as a child, who knows but um that.

Speaker 1:

So you want to make sure that you, um are compliant and that you have, you know, little markers in place that you can see and make sure that people are behaving accordingly, um, and that a lot of that is house checks. Um, obviously, when you get bigger and better, you're not going to do it yourself, but you can send a lead over. Um, there were random days when, um, I had my other business that I sold and I would just go around, you know, checking out things, visiting dogs and cats, and you know chatting it up. People love that. They will tell you all kinds of things. So make sure that you are putting your finger in the pie, so to speak, and that you're checking on your clients. And then there was times, as I got really big, I never saw the bottom, the bottom cause I had 375 plus bi-weekly clients. So it there's just not a physical way to do that. I would attempt to, you know, pick out my top 25 or 50 and go visit them personally. I still live in a small community and people really appreciated that and told me so, and that's how you get the human touch with so much AI and technology and automation and non-human touch. So those are just small points to think about for in the future.

Speaker 1:

And then renegotiation usually comes. When you start to break down what your pricing is, There'll be a renegotiation crisis and sometimes it's sticker shock, right, because Susan wasn't charging the 189 bucks a visit. She was charging 110. And that's a big jump for a lot of people. So they might not. They might have the budget. Sometimes you can work a deal out, sometimes you can't. For example, you know, or they just might be upset because then they think they can get $110 cleaning with someone less. They might be able to, they might not. Oh, here comes the wind. It just depends on what's going on with that person in their household budget. So those are some of the things that would come up when someone gifts you a client.

Speaker 1:

You can always do a little background search if you use your due diligence. There's one of you out there who I know who could scrap out CIA stuff. I'm not going to name her name, but she's darn good at digging around looking for things, um, and she just goes on a lot of hunches and I love you for that. But for the rest of us who who don't have that inclination, um, the easiest way to make sure that someone is sound and is not going to give you problems is to go right on facebook and see what they post. You're not passing judgment, you're just seeing if this person is going to be a problem for you. You know, you might not agree with someone who goes on safari to Africa three times a year and says really rude things about women. Or you might be an avid hunter and love the whole hunting of the animals, the game animals or the permitted animals, and it is an ethical thing on a lot of levels to cull the herd. Then you're, you're removing the elderly ones. It's keeping the herd healthy, um, especially if there's a hard winter, you don't have starvation. I mean, we can go on and on about different scenarios.

Speaker 1:

You could look at someone, um, we had a client who was into hunker games and, um, the cleaning techs called me over there and he had, he had self-imposed portraits. Oh my gosh, I forget his name. He lives in the gated community. So when you go into his house. Um, they were really odd. They, you know you weren't allowed to move off the doorstep at the foyer. You had to wait for someone to come. But he had Game of Thrones themed oil or acrylics and his face and I think his girlfriend's face were superimposed in these positions. Some of them were pretty provocative. And then he you know he had a lot of things that you know that I didn't agree with and I should have went with my hunch. He just wasn't a good fit, and it's okay. Not everyone's going to be a good fit for Shannon's cleaning company or my management style.

Speaker 1:

I'm not for everybody. I'm very structured, I like to plan ahead, I like to anticipate and I like to make money. That's the whole point of doing all this crazy stuff. I want to work on my business in it and I want to make the most amount of money I could possibly think of. I'm not here to sugarcoat it for you. I'm here to make money. Hands down, you can decide if that's for you or not. I might not resonate with you. You might not feel comfortable with the fact I'm like you're always leaving money on the table. You're always leaving money on the table. I will tell you, by the way, you're not going to make any money off this. If you want to do a charity clean, it should be your decision to make, not the client's.

Speaker 1:

Everyone will give you a sob story about why they're in the position. They're in all kinds of stories and you'll start to notice a pattern because they'll repeat themselves. We all have stories to play, we all have stories to say and we repeat those stories because we're trying to work on our issues. And if you never work on your issues, you repeat the stories over and over again and it really is like the movie Groundhog Day. It's amazing how that movie, all this time later, is like a cult film to subconsciously tell you about how crazy life can be, because it's the same thing over and over and over again.

Speaker 1:

I hope that you guys gained a lot of information on what happens when you are gifted cleaning clients from another cleaning company. Sometimes there is a paper transaction that has to happen and sometimes there's not. Sometimes there is a monetary transaction, sometimes there's not. Sometimes it's a free transaction with a paper transaction, sometimes it's not. Every transaction is just a little different. I look forward to your questions and thanks so much for popping by. I shall see you guys all next week. You guys take care.

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Contributor

Jamie Runco

Host
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Shannon Miller

Host
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Kimberly Gonzales

Co-host