Cleaning Business Life

CBL Episode #88: Mastering Virtual Walkthroughs for Cleaning Bids

• Shannon Miller and Kimberly Gonzales

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Ever wondered how you can ensure accurate cleaning bids without ever stepping foot on the property? Discover the game-changing virtual walkthrough techniques that can transform your cleaning business! Join host Shani Miller and her co-host JB Runco from Above All Cleaning in Northern California as they share their expertise on utilizing Zoom, FaceTime, and detailed photos to assess cleaning needs remotely. Learn how these virtual methods offer unparalleled flexibility and efficiency, particularly for those in remote or rural areas, ensuring your clients are well-prepared and your bids are spot-on.

Navigating the complexities of move-in and move-out cleaning services can be daunting, but we've got you covered. We delve into the essential tools and equipment needed, from various Swiffers to the Dupre Neat steamer, and emphasize the importance of comprehensive virtual tours. Understand why being the last vendor on-site is crucial and get tips on inspecting every nook and cranny, from under refrigerators to inside ovens. We also discuss the significance of assessing pet presence and the condition of key areas like bathrooms and kitchens, making it easier for clients to feel confident in hiring your services.

Finally, we get into the nitty-gritty of creating and sending customizable cleaning service quotes. Learn how to build accurate quotes with optional extras like oven cleaning and window treatments, and why securing a 50% deposit is crucial for one-time cleanings. We also cover the benefits of prepayment and using credit cards to ensure smooth operations. Tune in to gain practical advice and strategies that will help you master virtual walkthroughs, manage client expectations, and elevate your cleaning business to new heights.

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Speaker 1:

No, I didn't. Oh, there we go. That was good, actually, did it? Welcome everybody to Cleaning Business Life. My name is Shani Miller, I am your host, and today I'm joined by my co-host, ms JB Runco of Above All Cleaning in Northern California, and today we are going to talk about how to do a virtual walkthrough.

Speaker 2:

Is that correct Virtual walkthroughs. I love this. Yeah, I like that.

Speaker 1:

This is going to be a game changer. If you can master this task that way, you're not going in person to do tasks and I'm not saying that you shouldn't do in-person bidding, but it is a game changer, especially when you live as remote as Jamie does and there's sometimes she can't go see everything, so you have to depend on this method of giving a bid. And remember, not all bids are firm. There's always a negotiation process. You're going to give a range to your bid so that you have wiggle room and not have to commit to the say, for example, a $500 price when it's a thousand dollar cleaning.

Speaker 2:

I've shot myself in the foot before like that. Right, we learn as we go right, uh, walkthroughs, I am well at these, uh, we live in a very rural area and there are places out here that I have to engage. My four wheel drive right, literally videoed, driving down a driveway thinking can I get a whole crew up here if I wanted to. You know you have to cross a river, it's crazy. So virtual uh walkthroughs have become super important in my, my line of work and and and being able to properly bid the job I still am not well versed to do over the phone bidding. I just I have walked into some situations where, um, it's nothing like it was it was supposed to be.

Speaker 2:

Um, I have given ranges but I normally shoot myself in the foot and I know it takes a lot of practice to do that and, um, we take a lot of big jobs on. So I, I asked the client or the potential client to let's set up either a zoom or FaceTime if you have an iPhone or I, you know, ask them to if virtual can also be. Um, you take a bunch of pictures, right, and whenever I have them take pictures, I make sure that they're, you know, above the. You know the hood of the stove.

Speaker 1:

It'll be kind of can you put your finger out?

Speaker 2:

there, show me your finger. No, I'm just um, I do know what I'm looking for, just as if you were doing a walkthrough in person, an in-person walkthrough. I think these are game changers, because the county that we live in is 200 plus miles in each direction north, south, east, west right, it's a large county she lives in, definitely very large and and we do most of this, most of the county.

Speaker 2:

however, we do charge for travel fee but we wrap it up into a big. The client don't know this. It is wrapped up into their estimate Um and we charge $175. That's on top of their cleaning bill. For anything outside of um 45 minutes from us, I know that's for people that are in, uh, bigger cities. They might not even take that on. Right, we take that on because, like I said, we're very rural and that's.

Speaker 1:

And it's very lucrative. The jobs that you are doing, the one-off jobs that you are doing, are very profitable for you. Not the ideal way to always want to do one-time cleanings, but they the opportunity is there in her County for her. Not the ideal way to always want to do one-time cleanings, but they the opportunity is there in her County for her to do them. So it is profitable and for perspective. Everyone knows I live in Northern Arizona, so 200 miles across is larger than the whole distance from one side of Phoenix to the other. That's how big her county is and it's, I think, the whole. If you were to cross Phoenix, I believe it's 75 miles from point from east to west. So so you can kind of for those of you who are listening you can kind of get a grasp of how large her county is. And then it's it's a lot of. It is four-wheel drive. I've seen videos of her driving her jeep and it's like a one-lane road on the edge of a cliff. I mean there's some pretty harrowing. I'm like be safe country stuff.

Speaker 2:

But we charge. We charge for those and, um, for those that are rule, like I am, make sure that you're charging properly. And if you don't feel comfortable enough to do an in-person bid, virtual walkthroughs are the way to go, and I believe it's just a game changer, especially if you're not, like me, well-versed in doing over the phone bids Right. Yet it still takes a little bit of practice.

Speaker 1:

Definitely. So what are some of the things that you ask the client to look for so that you can see the nitty gritty of what really needs to happen?

Speaker 2:

It depends on the type of clean, obviously. So a lot of these are people trying to put their houses on the market. They're out in the middle of nowhere, off grid, so they, they. I want to be able to see their driveway. I want to know am I going? If I have, because we have to bring car loads up, they have to have running water and they have to have electricity. I want to see your driveway and, just as if I was there, I want you to be able to take your phone and walk into the house and just start showing me, um, your baseboards, your windows. Are you going to want your windows done? Are you going?

Speaker 2:

The inside of your oven, closeups of your of your, the top of your stove, inside of the restroom? I want to know am I dealing with glass shower doors? How bad is the hard water buildup on those? What kind of equipment am I going to have? How many cleaning techs am I going to need to bring with me? Is there an upstairs and downstairs? Is it carpeted? What kind of flooring do you have? All those things?

Speaker 1:

do you have, um, all those things? So I believe one job you had was this year or last year, the, the separate unit. There were several buildings on the same property and one that was on the property was missing either the stairs or the floor I don't remember the stairs right and they wanted to look and they were like dude, I can't get up on these stairs let me.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they wanted us to go just vacuum around it. That that's not gonna happen. Um, and that was, uh, I I will say that was a $3,500 job. Um, there, I've done another $7,500 job out and these are. This is how I did. It was the one with the no stairs. I did a virtual walkthrough. The one with that. We did the 7,500 one. I did drive that job. I did drive that job. There's a lot of investors that come here and try and flip houses and are, you know, some of the community has tanked, you know, and they're trying to invest money into it to get it up and going, and then they'll just flip it and some of these houses are absolutely unrecognizable. Um, but there are a lot of jobs that we go on that are, uh, one property, several houses, several houses on one property those I believe those as compounds.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, very much so it is. And yeah, and that's what we do. If we're doing pictures, I want to get a pictures of the closeups of their faucets. I want to see all the hard water build up, especially if we're putting a house on the market. Especially if we're putting a house on the market, bathrooms and kitchens sell. That's what, that's the sell, and we're trying to get it ready for a photographer to come in and make sure that it's all gorgeous and get a picture ready.

Speaker 1:

Definitely. Have you done them? I haven't done very many of them this year. I believe I've done like four or five, not clearly not as many as you have.

Speaker 1:

And what I'm asking the homeowner to do, and it's it's always a weird situation because they don't. It's like this what do you want me to do? Type of things You're going to have to guide your clients specifically like, okay, show me the toilet. Oh, that one's bright pink. How long has that been there? Right, well, my grandma lived here.

Speaker 1:

And blah, blah, blah, start to dig and get more of the story of why they're doing what they're doing. Right, Try to make it personable. And then, with the shower, I make them run their hand across the shower and I'm like okay, can you take your nail and kind of run it across the hard water and see if it does it flick off easy. I, I make them do a little more than what Jamie does, because I want to see, because they're far and it's usually a one-lane road and I don't want to go up and down. It involves trucks. You can't take a car, typically back there in the woods, to do whatever needs to be done, and then there's no remote, there's no cell service back there so everyone has to pack a lunch. I'm having them run their hands across the hood. I'm asking them if it's sticky. I'm having them look inside of the. Usually these are all move outs or make readies and you know I'm looking for crumbs inside of the cupboards. Is there a lot of handprints on the cupboard shelves or cabinet shelves?

Speaker 2:

Can you turn it to this angle? So what about whenever the sun hits it?

Speaker 1:

Right. Or you know, wow, there's a lot of spider webs. How long has this been sitting empty? And sometimes they'll be like, well, I don't know, I just bought it. Or this one's been sitting five years. Then you know you're going to deal with not only spider webs but bugs and probably mouse poop, so you're going to have to have respirators. These are all questions that you learn to ask along the way, so that you are prepared, like when you do remote cleanings. I mean and this is a little TMI but you're going to want to bring toilet paper, because sometimes you can't go to the store to go potty, or if it's an empty house, it's not going to have toilet paper, right?

Speaker 2:

I have learned, like my lesson, to make uh, you make sure also.

Speaker 1:

Uh, they turn on the, the light switches and flush the toilets, turn on the running water right to show you that it's working, because you don't want to get out there and have to ding them for the cleaning because we charge a show fee. If we get there on site and there's no electricity and there's no running water, it's the full cost of the cleaning, and it's not because we enjoy it, it's because everybody is still expecting to be paid. There was a lot of packing involved, a lot of prepping involved, a lot of scary driving involved a lot of scary driving involved.

Speaker 2:

Um, so yeah, we're on garage. Behind you there's like four or five cars, because there's sometimes a lot of equipment that needs to come into these these. You know you got your dock poles. You know the steamer, just in case I'm not a big, huge fan of steamers anymore. Um, but if you do go look to pray neat, uh, that's probably the best one out there. What's it called pray neat dupre?

Speaker 2:

neat, oh, dupre neat dupre, d-u-p-r-a-y dupre okay um, you know, and all your swippers, that, uh, that you can possibly imagine the six foot, the three foot, the, you know, um, we wash ours, so we have a big, huge bag, um, and after a while you toss them, but those we use all the time on our move-in, move-out cleans. We bring that bag with us. You're going to want to get something that goes up underneath the refrigerator, but that's another thing. You'll want your potential client to look and open up refrigerators uh, up underneath the refrigerators, and you're talking to them and getting the history behind all this right, helping making them feel comfortable, like to hire your company, and because it can be a little awkward, it can be a little awkward and it just. I feel like people here understand that. You know we may have to do a virtual tour because you're, you're really out there and I don't.

Speaker 1:

It's not going to be worth your time to show up in person. I mean, if you're driving an hour and 45 minutes in one direction to go look at a property which I do not recommend that you ever do Um, because then by then you're spent three and a quarter hours, three and a half hours just traveling, and then then they're getting 15 other bids and it's just not worth your time when you can do it virtually. So, yes, looking in the refrigerator, looking inside the oven, having them pull out the bottom drawer of the oven, getting a close up of the top of the oven and the hood, Having it there.

Speaker 2:

if it's a move in, move out, right.

Speaker 1:

Most of the time, though, those typically are not going to be furnished there because they're investment property, so it's always usually going to be ready or a move out, move in type cleaning, and then there's a lot of repairs that have to happen, so there's other vendors. You want to make sure that you're the only vendor on site.

Speaker 2:

The last three are the cherry on top right. You are what. You have to be the only vendor there. There can't be the pain. Okay, well, we got. You have to be the scheduled last because you are the cherry on top. You are what's going to bring it all together for the potential buyer.

Speaker 1:

And sometimes homeowners, and I get it. They want to be as efficient as possible, so they schedule nine vendors all at once. We're all trying to work around each other and it's all. Then it becomes all about egos, right? Well, I'm not cleaning that up, you just sanded that wall. Why did you sand the wall? Well, it needs to be re-sanded because we have to repaint it.

Speaker 1:

You're looking for spider webs. You're looking at the ceiling fans. You're looking at the window seals. You're looking at the blinds. Are they going to remove the window treatments? Are they keeping the window treatments? Because that can take time, especially if they've been sitting for five years. It could take a lot of effort to get them cleaned right. And then you're going to look at the walls. Do the walls have to be washed too, or there is there some? I mean then then you're dealing with a lot of other things, a lot of elements, but the bathrooms and the kitchens are going to be the most important and the most time consuming. Do you have? How many drills am I going to need to scrub the? The shower soaps come off. But yeah, those are some of the things that you want to ask about Now, if it's a furn oh, we're just walking through and and checking, uh, their pets.

Speaker 2:

I want to see, and I want to see what kind of pets and I shedding or non-shedding? Um, because I have a non-shedding dog and that's just a bunch of hogwash, I think they do, they have hair that is built, that just goes into.

Speaker 2:

It's like where did this come from? And it gets all tangled up with tree leaves and twigs and I just like, what would you win? But I want to see your pets. I want to see what kind of pets. I feel like I've walked in on pot belly pigs. I've walked in on goats as in-house home in the home chickens we know all about the chickens. Those are pets, but you want to. You want to make sure. I see, though, you know small children. You have kids that are under six, seven. You know about that age is whenever they're stopping touching everything, their little paw prints, but they're still. You want to see the, the fronts and the backs of the doors. Um, uh, of course you're going to need an initial clean, so you're going to look at the baseboards. Do you want your blinds done? We don't do the metal blinds, just you know. Just make it very clear about what you do and you don't do, and basically, you're going to do the same thing and just walk the job as if you were there.

Speaker 1:

Let's ask you a quick question and we'll stop you right there. So why? What's the philosophy behind not cleaning the metal blinds? Because everyone's going to ask me. There has to be a reason, I'm sure.

Speaker 2:

They break so easily, or whenever they, if they bend, you'll see a white mark it's, and then you're held as a company.

Speaker 1:

You're held responsible to purchase you know, give that back to them, not responsible for them no, I'm not.

Speaker 2:

I'm not cleaning them right, I'm not I. I I will dust them. I will not individually, one by one. I will close them or have my cleaning techs close them. We run your Swiffer over done. It is years and years of built up. Whatever the Swiffer can get, that's what it gets, gotcha. That's what it gets Gotcha. Those can be taken down by the homeowner, and they can. They can put it in the tub and wash them themselves. I don't even know. There there's a company that has done a whole house full of metal blinds and I'm like why did you do that? Why?

Speaker 1:

did you do that? I don't know blinds and I'm like what, why did you do that? Why'd you do that? I don't know. Yeah, we don't do them either. Um, I was just curious as to why there's a whole dynamic with blinds, because we have a it says if we are not responsible if your blinds have not been cared for. So, in a very polite way, um, and then after years too.

Speaker 2:

uh, the blind, the are brittle. Yeah, the second you touch them, it's just like.

Speaker 1:

So how old are these 25 years? Oh, and now I want you to pay me for a new set? No, it doesn't work that way. So yeah, half the claws in your onboarding paperwork that says we don't touch due to the age and condition of said blind, we will happily clean them, but we are not responsible. Should the strings break, the pieces break we'll. We'll do them at our own discord so that we can carefully take care of your items.

Speaker 2:

but, yeah, age and condition for everything yeah, and what are some other things for the, the wooden blinds, our our prices start at 45, to hand wipe and wet, wiping and clean those. It's labor intensive very labor intensive but we really get it good. So you know we get them good and clean. And, and, um, how often do you really need to do that? You know, I sure after a construction clean, um, your first time deep clean, but after that it's just regular maintenance, cleaning.

Speaker 1:

If they're signing up for regular maintenance. If they're just a one time cleaning, then it's up to them. So what are some other things that you're looking for in a virtual walkthrough for a house that's lived in?

Speaker 2:

Am I going? What Same thing, same deal. What kind of tools are we going to need to bring? I only run solos up to up to four hours. If, if I think the job is going to take more than four hours, then I'll bring in another cleaning tech.

Speaker 1:

And there's a lot of reasons why. You know how passionate I am about solos. It's when you're doing one-time cleanings. It's a lot of and I know people don't talk a lot about this, but it's a psychological thing about can I get through this? And there is nothing worse than having to show up to a job and help push someone through because they were overwhelmed, they're exhausted and they just want off the job. So when you double up and you have like and the billing works differently we won't discuss that here, but it's having a teams of two on a one-time cleaning is better psychologically for your team. Does that mean that they can do two one-time cleanings in a day? They might be able to, depending on the psychological aspect that you're asking a lot of your cleaning tax.

Speaker 2:

I see it in that You're running your, your biggest client, which is your cleaning tax Right the ground.

Speaker 1:

Right, you don't want to do that. Those are your unicorns.

Speaker 2:

Don't do that, those are your unicorns. Don't do that. And they, because they, they will bring you in the most money, more than your client Right. So remember that. So, anyways, I'm looking at window tracks, I'm looking at the windows. Do you want your windows done? Do you want to? Inside oven cleaning? Do you want to do you want a fridge cleaning? All the normal things I want to know. Uh, you know the area by the washer and dryer, the laundry room, is always the dustiest. Um, kind of want to see what it. How much dust is over there by the dryer? Much dust is over there by the dryer. I would like, shannon, I wanted to see what in the in the bathrooms. Can you flake off that? Can you run your finger across?

Speaker 1:

the shower.

Speaker 2:

I want to get a closeup of around your faucets Right. I want to see the how good we can get this, which you know I'm. I know we can get it, but it's I'm. I'm taking all this in Um and while they're doing that, I am putting stuff into my CRM, which I use, jobber, and I'm starting to check stuff off. You know, windows. While they're doing that, I'm counting windows.

Speaker 1:

And you can ask them. You can say I counted 16 windows, how many windows did you count? And they'll be like I don't know and they'll come right back and go I counted 22 windows. You're like, oh, I missed them.

Speaker 2:

Thanks, and the other day I had only counted 28. You're like, oh, I missed them. Thanks, the other day I had only counted 28, and she goes Nope, it's 33. And I was like, okay, so, um, and yeah, just the same thing. Um, our, what kind of carpet are we doing? Are we dealing with carpet? Do we have marble floors? Do we have bamboo floors? Do we have brand new teak floors?

Speaker 2:

Um, these are all very important things and it's important for you to know what stones you're working with. Um, you, you gotta know what you can and can't put. We know that we can't put anything acidic on, say, marble. You cannot put vinegar, you can't do that stuff. So you're taking your mental notes and you're putting it in. Either you're writing it down or you're putting it in your jobber notes or whatever CRm you're using. Um, a lot of people use zenme, whatever, whatever program you're using you're you're putting that in. Either you're writing it down and then you'll put it in there later.

Speaker 2:

Um, is there an upstairs and a downstairs? Um, whenever a door is closed I have trained my cleaning techs they don't open up that door you make sure that you kind of let the client know hey, this is how we run If there is a door closed, that means that that room is off limits not to go in there. So if you want it cleaned, I need to see it, I need to see all of it. Leave the doors open and you're kind of like just teaching them, especially if they've never had a housekeeper. You're teaching them how to hire a housekeeper.

Speaker 1:

You're training them to have the appropriate behavior, like picking up before you get there, the 70% clutter rule, how to engage with the cleaning tech. You're teaching them so that even if they don't do business with you long term, the next cleaning company will have it a little easier. It's like you know, it's just it's, it's, it's a grooming thing. That has to happen because house cleaning is still really new to a lot of people. It has to happen because house cleaning is still really new to a lot of people. And if you want to and if you're not familiar with how to do it and you're kind of afraid and you're that you're going to miss information to type in your CRM, you can write it on a form. I believe the form is still inside of the guides in the maids network Facebook group, from what I remember.

Speaker 1:

So if you remember to that there's a whole bunch of free information inside my Facebook group that you can peruse absolutely free. Not sure if it's going to be there next year, but that sheets the one time over. The phone sheet that you can write down notes on is in the group under the guides.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and it guides you on the questions to ask. Yes, you throw your little own spin on it. Yeah, there is a lot of golden nuggets inside that group. You got to just a lot of research, do a lot of research and, yeah, become successful.

Speaker 1:

That's the goal.

Speaker 1:

Yes, it is I preach it all the time about how I want you to create a legacy that you can either gift to family or that you can sell at a later date. It is the whole deal. The whole point of doing all this craziness is so that you have something in the end of value that you can either give to your family or sell at a later date. That is my intention for everyone in this industry. So I'm preaching it from my soapbox. Is there anything other? Are there any other tips that you can give for the, the virtual bidding process Besides? For the virtual bidding process Besides? Obviously, you want to try to close the deal virtually. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

And by that time, yeah, you just tell them. Hey, I am going to send you over a quote. I am going to run a couple of numbers, I'll put you a quote together and I will send it over to you. You can either approve it or you can either approve it.

Speaker 1:

That's my husband.

Speaker 2:

I love when that happens, you're like I'm not focused, I'm not focused. What's going on in the background? You can either approve it or you can resend it back to me too, if there's something on there that you don't like. It is negotiable. The oven cleanings don't have to do it. The inside windows those are extras. You don't have to do it. But I want you to be able to see everything that. If you want all the bells and whistles, this is how much it's going to cost.

Speaker 1:

And that way it makes it easier so they can cherry pick what they want and don't want and go from there. Don't forget with all one-time cleanings you need to get a 50% deposit on the day of booking, which secures their spot on the schedule. You need a credit card to take the deposits.

Speaker 2:

On file. If it's legal out of the county or the state. We do 75, sometimes even 100.

Speaker 1:

Prepaying, so that way you're not having any issues when the day of cleaning happens, and then you're not shooting yourself in the foot. Well, well, thank you, jamie. I know you had your in-laws there visiting, so I appreciate you meeting with me today and getting this done, and we'll talk to you soon. You take care, bye, bye.

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Jamie Runco

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Shannon Miller

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