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Introduction
Stephanie: Hello everyone, welcome or welcome back to the Filthy Rich Cleaners podcast. I am your host, Stephanie from Serene Clean. I’m in such a good mood — I want to record for you guys. I have had a delightful little Stephanie morning. It is a Saturday morning, it’s gorgeous in Savannah. I went and got some hair tinsel put in — you guys know nothing says Stephanie like some sparkle. And then I went and got my favorite pastry. Literally top five favorite things in the world is an almond croissant, and bonus points if there’s raspberries in it, which there were because Savannah just opened a new pâtisserie right downtown. So I am literally flying high off of those two things right now.
So without further ado, today’s episode is going to be highlighting three different examples from the past week alone of clients either attempting to cancel services, cancelling services, and the final one is somebody that we cancelled on. I thought this is a perfect time to take a pause from more theory, if you will, and dig into some actual examples since all of this literally just happened. We also added a bunch of clients too, so it’s just been a very bustling week at Serene Clean.
There’s definitely some sadness and disappointment in some of these, but I think each are unique and they’re perfect examples of — you just got to handle business sometimes. You never know what’s going to come your way. All you can do is control your outlook, your own behavior, how you respond. You can’t control other people.
Table of contents
Example 1: The Weekly Client Who Could Never Be Happy
Stephanie: Let’s get into example number one — a residential client who ended up cancelling their weekly cleaning service. As you guys probably understand, losing a weekly house is really a punch in the gut. That is very consistent revenue and consistent work for the cleaner as well. But it really was the right choice for everybody involved, and frankly, we were all a bit relieved on the management team that they did end up deciding to cancel.
This particular client actually continues to be a client for us on the commercial side. Not only are they a client of ours — they are my very first commercial client I ever got. We have serviced their commercial location for over six years now. And we started cleaning their house maybe four years ago. So a long-term client, consistent, very good to work with for the most part, and in general they’re great people. I literally walked in and just asked to talk to the owner to get their business. He met with me and that day on the spot he was like, “Well, let’s try this.” And here we are six years later.
So let’s just say they have been quite particular over the past several years. They were one of my field manager Hannah’s regular clients before she got her promotion. Hannah, as you guys know if you are regular listeners, is my field development and quality assurance specialist. She does all of the training, any research and development, all of the quality control. Hannah is incredibly proficient at her job and she is very fast. She has historically been one of the fastest cleaning techs that Serene Clean has ever seen. Not only is she fast, she’s good.
Unfortunately, that means when she got her promotion, we of course had to take all of her regular clients off of her because she was not to have any regular maintenance cleans. She is to be the fill-in if people call out and then the trainer and quality controller. So all of her clients were quite disappointed that we had to take her away from them.
But we transitioned them off. She went multiple times with each new cleaner to her clients’ homes to make sure the transition was smooth. Big tip for you guys — don’t just cut it off and send a new cleaner in if you can. Sometimes you can’t avoid it if somebody quits or gets fired, but ideally when you are transitioning clients between cleaning techs, you are able to send them together at least once, if not a couple times. And then we also check in heavily after the transition is made. We do quality checks because that is a very pivotal time for a client to potentially drop — they’re noticing things a lot more, they’re unhappy. You just took away their toy, if you will.
So that was certainly the case in this situation. We have had a couple different techs at this house after Hannah and we settled in on one regular tech who is a long-term staff member who gets glowing reviews from all of her clients — except the one we’re talking about right now.
The client has shared a lot of feedback in the past six months to a year, and we’ve just continued to add to the notes. A lot of times it had nothing to do with the cleaning itself. It was more so things with items in the home. This home is on the more collector side of things — lots of belongings. And to add complexity, one of the clients is disabled and in a wheelchair, so everything needs to be within a certain access. You can’t push anything back. They want things exactly as they are, which our cleaning tech did her darnedest to make sure happened.
A lot of the frustration we experienced is that they would not share feedback for months at a time. Then they would come to us and say, “Well, we didn’t want to say anything, but this has been happening for months.” Which is incredibly frustrating, especially when you have emphasized the need to share any feedback promptly so we can nip things in the bud.
Our cleaner was doing everything to our standard at Serene Clean. However, this client had very specific things that they wanted done in a certain way. And we will absolutely make accommodations — especially the more money you spend with me, the more apt I am to be incredibly accommodating. I’m not saying treat people worse if they don’t spend as much money with you. I think you should treat everybody with respect and give great customer service no matter what. However, if something is being a little bit more particular, we are much happier to jump through the hoops because they are bringing in a lot of revenue.
Additionally, they kept — for years at this point — comparing every tech we sent to Hannah. And that is flattering to Hannah, but it makes the new tech feel awful. And that’s exactly what happened. They shared some feedback two weeks ago, and last week is when they ended up cancelling. They expressed frustration with their current cleaner — maybe not putting things back just so — and they just kept going back to Hannah. “Hannah did this, Hannah did this.” And at this point, it’s been like three years since Hannah was in their home.
That felt very tough on the current cleaner, and she basically expressed her discomfort and requested to not be on the house. She said, “Listen, I’m really tired of being compared to Hannah in this house. I also don’t get this feedback anywhere else. I’m very open to feedback, but I feel like nothing is enough for this client.” And she even after every cleaning would ask the clients, “Is everything good? What do you want?” The client would say yes, but then share feedback with the office that that was not the case.
So fair enough — we respected that. We came back to the client and emailed, “Hey, after all of this, Ashley has requested that we send another cleaner. We do have another cleaner available and we would just have to rearrange the schedule. We think she’d be a great fit.” That’s what we offered as a solution. And they declined and said, “We’d just like to cancel all cleanings.”
All in all, it felt like other than Hannah, they were not going to be happy with any of our cleaners. We were doing everything in our power from a due diligence perspective to ensure this client was happy. They just were fed up, and I can understand that.
From a relief standpoint — it always felt like they were not sharing their actual feelings. And when they finally did and we would address it, they would say the cleaner was being defensive or didn’t appreciate the feedback. I didn’t feel that way at all. I thought the cleaner handled it very well.
It is disappointing to lose this weekly client. We all collectively had a bit of a sigh of relief. When it’s not the cleaning — when it’s everything else around it — it’s tough. And it wasn’t just this cleaner. It was any cleaner that we sent in that wasn’t Hannah. They are keeping us on the commercial side. But I feel very much at peace with this happening. Some of the things we were discussing afterward — it felt more like it was blurring the lines between house cleaning and like a home health aide. Maybe they need something a bit more robust than what we offer as a standard. So that was situation number one.
Example 2: The OG Client Who Almost Walked
Stephanie: Situation number two actually just kind of happened yesterday. It was a client who said she wanted to cancel all services. This was a bi-weekly client who is a long-term client. And actually — this person was the very first free cleaning I ever did when I opened Serene Clean. Before I even opened Serene Clean, I knew this woman at the gym. I asked if I could clean their apartment for free, and I went there for three hours with my little notebook. So this client is very near and dear to my heart. She is the OG.
She didn’t start paying for services right after that, but once they built their beautiful house, they started services with us on and off. Long-term, they’ve been with us for pretty much five to six years at least when it comes to paying services.
So she emailed to cancel all of her services yesterday. Not only that — she posted on Facebook, “Does anybody know a detail-oriented house cleaner?” And we saw that. She emailed at the same time she posted that. Punch to the stomach. “What happened at her cleaning yesterday?” We’re like, clearly we messed up, right? Something went wrong. And instead of saying, “Hey, this went wrong,” she was just like, “Cancel.”
This happens sometimes, guys. Clients get in an emotional state and they’re like, “No, cancel all services.” And sometimes you can’t fix it. But in this situation, we did — or at least we fixed it to the point that she is going to reconsider.
In this situation, the client is absolutely in the right based off the initial feedback we got. She shared that the cleaner did some things that she did not ask for and didn’t get everything else done. She is kind of a limited-hour or priority-list client — she’ll leave a list of things that she wants done every time and the cleaner is to follow that list. She did not want any floors done because she takes care of the floors. Fine, that’s cool.
She’s a very clean lady — it’s always a clean space. And as you guys know, when you have a very clean client, you have to make sure it’s darn near perfect. It’s really easy to razzle-dazzle a client when their house is in a bad state and you bring it up to a great state. Whereas when you already have a really clean house, it can be kind of stressful because you have to make it so perfect.
The cleaner disregarded the client’s instructions and did some of the floors and then did not do other areas the client had requested. She didn’t listen. Especially when you explicitly have a list of things to do — that’s huge. The client is feeling unheard, and rightfully so. Additionally, the cleaner missed some spots on the front of the cabinets.
So obviously we emailed back and we want to always verbally reward the behavior we’re looking for, which is — tell us when something’s wrong so we can fix it. We really emphatically said, “Thank you for telling us and sharing the feedback. We know that’s hard.” Especially this particular client — I think she likes to not rock the boat. She doesn’t like sharing negative feedback. A lot of clients are like this.
What we did to offer to make it right — we said, “Let us prove to you what it’s like to have Serene Clean. We are sending a new cleaner at your next cleaning and it’s going to be completely for free. We will also be quality checking that cleaning.”
Guys, in situations where you pull someone off the brink — quality check the next cleaning. Do not leave it up to even an iota of chance. They gave you another chance — don’t mess up the chance. Put a note in the calendar, put a note in your phone, an alarm, whatever you need to do to make sure that you remember on that day to QC and follow up with that client.
I think the issue wasn’t actually the smudge on the cabinet. It was the fact that the client said something and was so ignored. She feels unheard, unseen, and fed up. It’s understandable. When clients are getting really emotional or doing something in a big huff — and she wasn’t even being huffy, more so just “that’s it” — there probably is something where you messed up in a way that they feel unseen, unheard, ignored.
Sometimes it is us, guys. It’s not always an unreasonable client. It’s not always that they just want to complain or that they want a free service. So many times it is us. We’re not perfect. Our staff members are not perfect. I think it’s so important to remain humble, ask for that feedback, and thank them profusely for giving you another opportunity.
She ended up deleting the Facebook post, which is cool. So that was situation number two.
Example 3: The Commercial Client We Broke Up With
Stephanie: Example number three is a long-term client on the commercial side — one that we cancelled on. This is a commercial account that we have had for four or five years. It’s a small commercial account though — think office setting. It’s literally like an hour a week. We’re talking about $70 or $75 a cleaning. And they have been very, very difficult since the beginning.
We have had many cleaners there. We have had cleaners request to not go back because of the feedback — and not because the cleaner was doing a horrific job. More so, it felt like they could not please the client. I would 100% attest that this client does not want to be pleased. She will look and find things, is what I would describe it as. Over the years, we have tried so many different cleaners — so many wonderful cleaners there — and it just felt like we couldn’t win.
We do quarterly in-person quality checks on every single one of our commercial accounts — we have 65 or 66 at this point. We also send an email survey every single month, and on every single invoice, we say, “Let us know how it’s going.” So we’re doing everything we can to make sure our commercial accounts are happy.
This place is so easy, guys. There’s not even a bathroom. It’s two offices and an open lobby area. A professional services business. Very small, easy to do. And it’s just been so much feedback over the years on things like the dusting. We’ve reiterated to the cleaners and in the ZenMaid notes — make sure the dusting is perfect. And there have been times where she has been very unhappy and made a real big fuss, and then we go and look at it and we’re like, “What are you talking about?”
Then what was the icing on the cake — two things. She responded to one of Hannah’s most recent quality check emails saying, “I’m just not going to say anything because it gets ignored when I do, so I’m just not going to say anything now.” And she continued to use us, which is just the most passive-aggressive thing I’ve ever heard in my life. We have been trying to get feedback out of her. Anytime there’s not a problem and she has nothing to say, she won’t share positive feedback. And then if she’s got something negative, she’s like, “Well, I’m just not going to say anything.”
The other thing that happened was we sent a fill-in cleaner because their regular cleaner was off. This fill-in cleaner is absolutely killer — she’s like a full-time commercial cleaner for us. Gets glowing reviews, does fantastic work, quality checks are literally perfect for the most part. And this client said the cleaner came in for 10 minutes, didn’t clean anything, and left. Which is simply not possible based on the clock-ins. The cleaner actually cleaned. There was nothing that wasn’t done. It was just a ridiculous thing to say.
So we’re just fed up at this point. We’re like, why are they now just straight-up lying? It feels like they’re looking for things to complain about. Even their regular cleaner last year said, “Is there any way to get them off my schedule? I feel very uncomfortable. I feel like I can’t do anything right there, and I’m trying my hardest.” Another great cleaner we’re getting this feedback on.
We got another email last week and we’re just like — you know what? Why are we keeping this client? We make $70 a week off of them, which for all of this tomfoolery is certainly nothing. This is not enough money to deal with the headaches. She can’t be pleased and she won’t even communicate with us. Literally to the point of her saying, “I’m not going to tell you anything if you ask.” That is childish.
So we cancelled on her. We sent the breakup email earlier this week. I was like, “Oh, she’s going to throw a tantrum — she’s getting dumped, basically.” And she didn’t. She was like, “Okay, leave the key next time you guys clean.” And that was it.
Final Thoughts: Analyzing Your Client Base
Stephanie: I hope this episode makes you really analyze your client base. I’m not going to cavalierely suggest that you just start dropping people willy-nilly. But if you have years of data points suggesting that this person is difficult to work with and it doesn’t feel worth it for the amount of money they’re bringing in, it’s okay to drop people.
Be professional, of course. There is a tactful way to handle anything — just say, “You know what? I don’t think we’re the best cleaning service for you right now for your needs. Thank you so much for your business. We really appreciate it. Let’s part ways.” That’s all it needs to be. We can’t control how other people are going to react to that. All we can control is our actions and doing our best.
In all three of these situations, I am really proud of my management team for handling things with a lot of decorum, a lot of restraint, a lot of respect to everybody involved — respecting our cleaners too and having their backs and hearing their frustrations. Especially if we’re talking loyal staff members who have proven themselves time and time again — I’m going to take their feedback into account.
Sometimes problem children are worth it because they’re worth the money. Some people are going to be more difficult to deal with, and especially when they’re bringing you a lot of money, I really do get that. It doesn’t mean people can be disrespectful, though. It doesn’t mean they can be passive aggressive. It doesn’t mean they can treat you as inferior.
But when you have a sour taste in your mouth every time you interact with somebody and all you’re thinking is, “This money ain’t worth it for this” — then that may be a clue. That may be the red flag that you need to pay attention to.
Think about opportunity cost — when you have to keep doing something, you’re giving up something else. That cleaner could be cleaning somewhere else with a client who doesn’t act like that.
I asked my managers, “Is there any other commercial accounts I need to think about?” And they’re like, “No, she is literally the one.” And so we felt such relief.
All in all, it’s just been a very interesting week. Not everything is roses all the time. This type of stuff is happening constantly — navigating new situations, trying to figure out how we should handle each one, treating each person and situation with respect and integrity, and making the decision that we can sleep at night with.
I will keep you guys updated if anything transformative comes from any of these. Let me know what you think in the comments. Leave a little sparkle emoji if you made it this far, and join the ZenMaid Mastermind on Facebook — you don’t have to be a customer of ZenMaid to join. It’s a wonderful place to ask questions and connect. Hit that like, hit that subscribe if you’re not subscribed, and we will see you in the next one. Bye.
