How Allison Diamond Built a Cleaning Business on Systems from Day One

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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, and today’s fabulous guest is Miss Allison Diamond, and she is the owner and founder of the Clean Collective in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a relatively new owner, but damn, is it going crazy, guys? And I cannot wait till you hear her story. She has the mind for systems. I can already tell. I’m so excited to hear about everything she’s implemented. Allison, thank you so much for joining me today.

Allison: Yeah, of course. Thank you so much, Stephanie. I was really, really looking forward to being on the show. Of course, long-time listener, so really excited that it’s my turn to kind of share my journey. Because, you know, hearing everyone else’s journey has been really supportive and special to me. So super excited to be here.

Stephanie: That’s one of my favorite parts of the podcast, is just seeing what a diverse background everybody has, and the different paths that all bring us to this industry, to this business that joins us together. So, perfect segue, Allison. What have you been doing all of your life? Tell me from birth, please. Start that day. How’d it go?

From Marketing to Plants to Cleaning

Allison: Okay. Yes. I don’t remember, but I imagine it was a little traumatic for my mom. But yeah, we’ll kind of, like, fast forward just a little bit, get into some background information. Yeah, so my background’s in marketing. So professionally, my background’s in marketing. That’s what I was working in before I decided to come here. So I was working previously for a tech consulting company, and then prior to that, I was working for one of the Fortune 500s here in Atlanta, in their internal marketing division. It was B2C. And then, yeah, at some point, even within those journeys, I ventured off and did some other businesses. I’ve owned a body movement studio that was, like, focused on, like, sound healing and trauma-informed body movement, yoga, and that kind of thing. COVID took care of that business. So, yeah, that’s when, like, Apple and Peloton and all of them took to all of the online fitness stuff, and I just didn’t want to compete. So I had that part of my journey, and then from there, I shifted into deciding I loved plants, which was a hobby that I turned into a business. And so I built, like, a commercial greenhouse, like, outside of Atlanta, south. Yeah, yeah, that was a little bit more than I thought it was going to be, like, the endeavor.

Stephanie: Oh my! Talk about biting off more than you could chew. What was the, I guess, worst part, or the part that was, like, unpleasantly surprising to you?

Allison: Oh gosh, just what was involved with having a living product. So when your product — yeah, your product is alive. And it was still during COVID. So it’s like, not only did I have to find people to, like, build the greenhouse and get all that infrastructure set up, which I didn’t know anything about, I then had, you know, to figure out how to grow all the plants. And I did have, like, a manager running the greenhouse for me, which was super cool. But I just didn’t know enough, and it was really challenging. And over COVID, shipping plants was difficult too. They were dying in the mail because of all of the logistical issues with shipping. I don’t know if you remember over that time.

Stephanie: Yeah, yeah, everything was delayed, of course.

Allison: Yeah, so I ran that for a bit, and it was doing really well, actually, because people were really getting into, like, horticulture stuff and baking, and everyone wanted to be a homesteader. And then I just was like, it was just too stressful. It was going to take too long to become profitable, and so I kind of exited that. Went back into, like, working in marketing. And then, you know, I feel like when you have that, like, entrepreneurial itch, you just have to do it.

Stephanie: Like, clearly. Yeah, you’re like, I need to do this.

Why Home Cleaning

Allison: Yeah, yeah, I need to do this. Like, something else. And so everyone always asks me the question, so why would you go into home cleaning? Like, how did you get here? What was that kind of like? So I kind of took a look at, you know, okay, so I need to stop chasing my passions and my hobbies and turning them into businesses, because that doesn’t always relate to being profitable or having financial freedom, which is, you know, ultimately my goal. And so I took a look at, you know, what’s something that I could realistically learn, and what’s an industry that still has space to have technology and a modern approach applied to it? And, like, how can I kind of close that gap, and what industry could that be? And then, you know, looking into home services, service-based industries. There’s things I took a look at: HVAC, you know, electrical stuff. This kind of stuff is, like, stuff you need to do apprenticing for.

Stephanie: Yeah. Tech schools.

Allison: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So that’s a really long runway to get started. So, a bit naively, I was like, cleaning. I know how to clean, right?

Stephanie: Yeah. Oh yeah.

Allison: That was my first, my first hardest lesson, I think, is thinking that, oh, because I already know how to clean, I know how to clean professionally, which is not the same thing.

Stephanie: Yeah. It is not.

Allison: Yeah. And, like, so, yeah, I decided I was going to do, like, a home cleaning business, and yeah, that’s kind of how I got it started.

Leaving Corporate and Burning the Boats

Stephanie: What was the balance like? Because you went back to a corporate job, I’m assuming. So, talk to me about that kind of, like, messy middle part. Like, what did that transition look like? How did you balance both? Are you still balancing it?

Allison: Oh, yeah, that transition. I made it as messy as possible, because…

Stephanie: Well, it’s gotta be hard, because you have this stability, you know, and that’s, like, the — it’s just that juicy stability, you know. Obviously, any job can end at any time. We all know that, but in comparison to self-employment, like, it is stable. So that’s the hard part for all of us when we’re coming from a full-time job. Like, when do we do this? How do we do this? How do we do both? Right?

Allison: Oh, yeah, it’s incredibly difficult, and it’s incredibly scary, especially. You know, like, Tony Robbins has, like, a take on things of, like, if you’re really gonna go all in on something, burn the boats, meaning, like, the boats that got you to the island, since that’s your only way to go back. If you burn them, you’re just gonna figure it out. And so I was going through, like, a huge transition a few years ago in my life, where, like, I was leaving a long-term partnership of, like, eight years, and that also was around the time I decided to, like, transition out of my corporate job. Just a lot of things that weren’t serving me any longer in my life. Yeah, I was, like, taking a look. I was like, okay, I’m starting to get older now. Like, my mindset’s developed a little bit more. I’ve shifted as a person, and so maybe my life should reflect those changes that have happened internally as well. So I was like, okay, now’s the time to do it, right? So I decided. From everything I learned — you know, I’m a really organized person, really systems-oriented, especially coming from, like, kind of, like, a corporate background, where everything is super buttoned up, and everything has a process, everything has an SOP, you know, and a way of doing things. Especially, like, at, like, a big corporation like I was at, everything was being run through legal. Everything was so buttoned up and done properly.

Stephanie: I know. Yeah, yeah. It’s gotta be so — like, I’ve never worked in a large corporation. My boyfriend does, and when I’m explaining things of, like, how I go about things, sometimes he’s like, oh, we couldn’t do it. Like, even, like, screen recording, because the business he works for, there’s a lot of intellectual property, right? Like, you’ll get fired if you even pull a phone out and, like, record anything. So, like, I literally can’t imagine, like, the corporate side of things sometimes.

Allison: Yeah, and it’s, like, a double-edged sword, because it served me so well in that, like, I’m like, wow, I can bring so much, like, organization and polish and systems immediately into an industry that, what I found, doesn’t have a lot of that existing so far. It’s a little Wild West out here sometimes, and I’m always like, I’m sorry, you were working for someone who did what? Like, I’m a little shocked sometimes when I talk to employees or, you know, applicants. But then it also comes to bite me a little bit, where it holds me back from making decisions faster, because I think everything needs to be buttoned up to the point where I feel comfortable with it, in the way that I’ve been comfortable with, you know, business operating in the past. So, like, I’m used to, like, having things reviewed by legal, and, like, now I’m like, oh, let’s just launch a Meta campaign and see what happens. And, like, that is just so different for me, and that’s something I’m really trying to, like, work on, is even my own comfortability with just, you know, just shooting from the hip a little bit more, yeah. And then clean it up and reiterate it, because you still have to reiterate anyway. So, just kind of learning that.

Stephanie: Well, and, like, what you’re saying right now — I oftentimes think about, like, on the other side of our strength is our weakness, right? Because so many people who come, like, they are a cleaner, and now they’re trying to get into, like, more of, like, the business owner hat, and I want to have employees, and I want to systematize. And their strength is the actual physical operations, like, getting the jobs done, making sure that’s perfect. Where, for you, your strength is the systematizing and making sure things run really smoothly. But then, when it doesn’t, like, that discomfort of, like, I don’t want to, like, do this until it’s perfect, because what I’m used to is a very finely tuned machine, which is hard to do in the beginning of a business, right? So, like, I’m just thinking about that. It’s another example of, wow, you know, none of us are perfect, and we all have areas of improvement, and just really leaning into your strengths, but not letting it, like, hinder you, you know, and handicap you, you know.

Allison: Yeah, absolutely. And, like, you know, I’ve been in mentorship groups and peer groups with other people in the industry, because I realized, you know, I have so much to learn, and, you know, there’s things I would love to share with other people as well. And so it’s been really nice for me to be able to connect with people who came from the other way, people who had the cleaning experience and then were trying to implement all the software and systems and stuff like that. And because, you know, we have that nice balance, right? Like, let me help you set up GoHighLevel. You help me figure out why we’re getting complaints.

Stephanie: Yeah, why? Why can’t we clean this out a bit faster?

Allison: Exactly. Why? Why are our production rates going crazy? Like, yeah, it’s crazy to see, like, that balance. And it’s easy to think that the other people have it easier, right? Because sometimes I would look at other people who were coming from, you know, having that cleaning background, especially initially, and I was like, oh wow, like, they seem so confident and so able to make sales. Where, for me, you know, even in marketing, marketing is very much, like, the funnel to sales. So I wasn’t really comfortable in doing, like, on-the-phone sales.

Stephanie: Closing the deal. It’s like you need people to hand off to, to close the deal.

Allison: Yeah, exactly. And it’s like, when you are not that familiar with, like, the service or the product that you’re selling, that’s a little bit harder. Whereas I feel like I talked to, like, some people who, you know, were cleaners themselves for a while and stuff, so they’re very, like, intimately familiar with the service. So they’re really kind of confident in having those conversations with clients or with leads. And that’s something that I’ve really had to work really hard on.

Financial Runway and Staying Out of the Field

Stephanie: So you did burn the boats, then? Is that what you’re saying? Is that what you did? Yeah. Let’s get back to that.

Allison: Totally. I appreciate that. I love when people bring me back. So I need it all the time. I need somebody with, like, a lasso to, like, reel me in.

Stephanie: Yeah, I’m like, you got a question? I got a five-minute unrelated story for you. That’s my ideal. That truly is. I love that.

Allison: Yeah. So I left, like, everything. I left. I just totally restarted my life. I moved to, like, a new place in Atlanta. I stayed within Atlanta. Moved to a new place. You know, ended up in a different relationship at some point. I ended up just putting myself fully into this business, meaning, like, I wasn’t in the field. I was just having employees, and of course, you know what comes with that is the expense, right? So I’m paying for all of this software, all these systems, all of the marketing, and then, of course, payroll, right? And then I’m not making any money. Like, I’m not getting paid. Everyone is getting paid, and everyone is getting their cleaning done, and there’s just nothing left for me, right? And so that is the scary part, because I’m, like, looking at, you know, my accounts and everything, and even though I did plan for it, it’s like, you need that financial runway. That is so real. And I know other people kind of go through that process of, like, at what point can they come out of the field? And that really is largely, I know, a financial question. When you can leave the field, it becomes how much financial runway do you have, and what is the level of, like, risk that you’re comfortable with as well? And I know — I listened to your episode that I think came out today or yesterday. You talked a lot about that, and it matters how many dependents you have. It matters if you have, like, debt servicing that you have to take care of. So those, for me, like, those are considerations. Like, I don’t have any children. I just have a dog. I had two dogs at the time, and, like, yeah, I have, like, a partner. So, you know, he has an income as well, and then we are renting and stuff. But it’s like, you still do have to think about, like, what is my burn rate financially, just for me to, like, live? And, like, how comfortable am I? You know, I’m chatting with Claude. I’m like, here’s what my accounts look like. What’s my runway? Like, help me think through this.

Stephanie: Yeah, and I’m like, make me feel better.

Allison: Exactly.

Stephanie: I can’t tell you how many times AI has soothed me from, like, a mental breakdown, which is probably not good.

Allison: No, me too.

Stephanie: Therapy’s not till Thursday, so we got to get this calmed down.

Allison: No, for real. Like, I need that access right now. Yeah.

The Myth of Low Cost to Entry

Stephanie: So, what were the initial challenges? Obviously — I’m just so curious about somebody who was not in this industry and chose it, basically because, obviously, it’s very attractive: low cost of entry, relatively low skill — not in an offensive way, but compared to an electrician or plumber, that type of thing, right? So faster to get profitable. So, what types of things surprised you? And again, I always like to come back to, like, what was the fantasy killer? You know, like, what was, like, oh shit, this is worse than I anticipated?

Allison: Okay, let’s start with the first one. Low cost to entry. I found that not to be true, especially as someone who wasn’t working in the field, ever. That actually, you know, means all of my personal expenses are part of my cost to entry, if I’m just focusing on running the business full time. And then, of course, you have the marketing as well. Despite having, like, a marketing background, I didn’t have, like, a ton of experience in marketing in this industry. It’s different. The customer base is different. The pipeline, the customer journey is totally different. And so that’s very expensive to figure out. It costs a lot of money, you know, of, like, trial and error in marketing, and, you know, leads not closing, and that adds up. I’ll be honest. It was, like, thousands of dollars at one point, just trying to figure that out. And when people say low cost to entry, I’m just like, I’m not sure that’s true.

Stephanie: When you’re doing the cleaning.

Allison: Yeah. It’s a low cost to entry when you’re in the field, like, most of the time, because you’re subsidizing those costs with your own labor. And so it’s like, yeah, if you’re just doing it from, like, an operator perspective, and you’re doing, like, sales and marketing and customer service and operations and things like that, it’s very expensive to get started. Especially if you’re putting money into marketing, especially because all of those mistakes that you make in the beginning, they are costly. They’re costly emotionally. They’re costly financially. And so I think maybe for me, that was one of the, like, fantasy moments, because I feel like when I was listening to so many podcasts, and just even, like, my initial mentorship group and stuff, I feel like the fantasy I had was, like, this is going to be so easy. I was like, I have a marketing background. I was like, I can talk to people. I was like, I’m okay at cleaning, so, like, I’ll be able to, like, find people who are good at it. I was like, I’ll get some checklists. I’ll get some clients. The money’s just going to come, and I’m going to be the best employer ever. My employees are going to have so much fun. My clients are going to love everyone, and, you know, it’s going to be great.

Staying Grounded When Things Go Wrong

Stephanie: And that is not how it happened? Talk me through, because obviously, you know, you have a very grounded personality, just reading your background, hearing a little bit about what you did previously for your business. How did you manage yourself? How did you stay calm when shit was not going as you expected, and, like, you were being disappointed? You know, and, like, oh shit, this isn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be.

Allison: Oh yeah, it took a lot of, like, recentering and regrounding. I have, like, a really strong background in, like, you know, doing a lot of spiritual practice, like, you know, meditation, yoga, things like that. I’ve done all of that for, like, a really, really long time, and so that’s really come in handy. I’m really empathetic, and I really try to see, like, you know, that everyone does, at the end of the day, try to act in their own best interest. And if I can try to align my business practices with that, whether that’s, like, making a sale to someone and getting them what they need, or, you know, understanding what an employee’s goals and, you know, life circumstances are, and seeing if, like, you know, what I have for them aligns with that as well. I think, you know, just kind of coming to terms with, you know, leaving out the idealistic thinking, because I feel like when we have expectations, and especially when they’re not realistic expectations or aligned with reality, right, it just creates so much suffering. And so when things that were disappointing would happen — you know, like, an employee would leave, or they would do a really bad job, or a client was really unhappy, or, you know, I wasn’t making sales, or something like that — it came back to, like, recentering, regrounding, and then also reminding myself that reps are a real thing. Repetition is a real thing. Things are so hard the first handful of times you do them. It doesn’t matter what it is, for anyone, and the only way they get easier is through exposure.

Stephanie: And I hate that sometimes.

Allison: I know, it’s the worst. And life.

Stephanie: Can we just get to the good part?

Allison: Yeah.

Stephanie: Yes. It’s like, it’s the trenches, you know. It’s literally — you can’t. Like, I think I’ve referenced this song before. I’m gonna reference it again. In swimming lessons, we would sing this song where it’s like going on a bear hunt. Does anybody know this? Please leave it in the comments if you know what I’m talking about. Anyway, but, like, you’re, like, going through this song, and it’s like, you can’t go over it, you can’t go under it, you have to go through it. Yeah, I literally think of that fucking song all the time. Like, can’t go under it. Or, as Ted Lasso says, the only thing left to do is to do it. I say that in my head too often, so I have all of these little, like, things I think of.

Allison: That’s the truth. And, you know, if you need that fourth-grade mantra to keep you going, that’s what you use, because, exactly, I mean, there’s a reason we’re taught that as children, you know, to, like, deal with our emotions. And, like, it’s hard sometimes. I feel like, yeah, and I always like to see it sometimes like the universe has these sets of lessons for us when we come here, and everyone’s looks a little bit different. And I feel like when we keep seeing something presented to us — that our struggle keeps re-presenting itself, just maybe in a different face or a different form — I’m like, what do I have to take from this? There is a lesson that I need to learn from this, and I am not going to be able to move past this until I learn that lesson. And sometimes that lesson is compassion. Sometimes that lesson is being calm. Sometimes that lesson is, my system sucks, and I need to change something about the way I do something. But I think sometimes, like, when things are difficult or not working for us, it’s easy to blame everything and everyone else. Like, oh, the clients are just bad clients, or, oh, these employees just don’t want to work, or something like that. When, honestly, I feel like most things are internal, and our outer world is largely shaped by our inner experience.

Stephanie: Yeah, that locus of control. And I really love that frame of reference of, okay, I’m being presented this thing. Like, I clearly have something to learn still about this. Even if it keeps happening, it’s like, well, I haven’t learned this lesson yet, because it keeps happening, right? And I’m reacting in the same way. Especially when you, like, say, sometimes the lesson is just to remain calm, because there’s nothing else to be done. Like, don’t be reactive here. So when I think about all of the trials and tribulations and, kind of, frankly, shit shows that have occurred, I’m, like, looking back — I’m so glad it happened. Like, it had to happen that way. It had to. And really thinking of it, like, it’s laid out this way for a reason. I’m experiencing this for a reason. You know?

Owners Are Part of the Problem and the Solution

Allison: Yeah. I think so. And I think, like, especially when it comes to, like, employees and, you know, managing employees, I think one of the biggest things that I’ve learned, not only from this business but in life in general, is, like, maybe someone didn’t do something correctly because I didn’t communicate well, or I didn’t set them up for success. I feel like I’m part of the issue and the solution so many times. I feel like we all are, and it’s just, like, it’s so much easier to just be, like, ah, why didn’t they know better? Why didn’t they do better? And I feel like most people do want to do better, but sometimes you need to give, like, the information or the tools to make that happen.

Stephanie: It’s like, how can we make it the easiest path for them to win, which means we win, right? And so that could be, like, you know, like, yeah, you think they shouldn’t have to use a checklist? They should know how to clean. You showed them. But wouldn’t it be the easier path to winning if you just gave them a checklist, right? And make it, like, the lowest — like, on their bad day, not their best day, but on their normal, average, mediocre Tuesday, what are they going to act like? And that’s going to fall back on our systems. And why do they think that they can get away with this behavior? What have I presented to them that they think that this is okay, right? Because clearly there’s something wrong here. So I really like that. Like, at the end of the day, it’s us. It’s us as the owners and the leaders.

Allison: Yeah, and sometimes that comes back to even having difficult conversations, which super sucks sometimes. And I’m somebody who, like, really likes to talk about emotions and everything like that. And it’s like having that, like, that ability to differentiate — like, I’ve been big on policies from day one. Everyone gets the same policies. It’s the only way to make it fair. I don’t make emotional decisions. I do relate to people emotionally, because they’re humans, but at the same time, I can’t make emotional decisions. It’s short-sighted, and it doesn’t have a good outcome, and it’s not really fair to me, the business, or anyone else, any employee. So that’s just been, I think, a big thing. And I know you’ve talked about it before, is, like, having those difficult conversations, and I feel like that’s what a lot of people shy away from. And it’s like, I feel whatever we feel most resistant to is usually the thing we have to do. That’s the thing that’s gonna move us forward the most.

Client Policies People Actually Read

Stephanie: Yeah, it’s so true. And it’s so crazy how many folks I jump on a call with, and they’re like, I listen to every episode. I’m like, cool, like, so you do have client guidelines in place, right? You do have policies in place? And they’re like, no, I know I should. And I’m like, what the fuck? So the reason I bring it up is because you just said how important this is, so it’s clearly not just me saying it to you guys listening. Is it working? So, Allison, tell me about your policies that you have in place.

Allison: Yes, I will tell you about them. So I have learned that over time too, and I’ve also learned about how I communicate the things that I need these clients to know. Because the clients were just, like, doing things, and I’m like, why are you doing this? This is crazy behavior. And then I’m like, wait a second. I feel like I didn’t make this really obvious to them. So what I started to do — I use Canva. I built, like, a really nice, like, FAQ and policies type thing in Canva that you can just, like, click through, and it’s pretty. And it also has, like, our checklist on there, and it has, like, a welcome letter on there. I call it our client onboarding packet. Every new person gets it. And then I also have it set up, like, in GoHighLevel with an automation. Once they move into, like, “booked initial clean,” they’re getting a text automation that basically is just a welcome text. It’s four texts, and it’s, like, numbered. It has, here’s the top things that we need you to know, and here’s your resources. Like, this is our client phone number, save it. Here’s our cancellation policy. That way, it’s just right up there in the open. I don’t have to feel bad about it later if I have to enforce it. And then it’s also, like, here’s how to best prepare for your clean, like, things like clutter, personal items, that kind of thing, and just, you know, like, securing pets. Just the top things that really will make the process smoother for them. We also send it in email as well. What I found is, like, yeah, it’s great to have a book of client policies, but no one’s gonna read it. Do you read terms of service, ever?

Stephanie: Never. I’m always like, “Cool, cool, cool, yeah. Where’s my service? Where’s my thing?” And I’m, like, signing away my firstborn child!

Allison: Yeah, yeah, exactly. So I feel like if I just send them, like, you know, my, like, five-page document — which is great, because it’s all in there, everything they’d want to know — they’re not gonna read it. And I know that. And I can either be upset that they’re not gonna read it and, like, try to hound them about reading it. I can even try to hound them about signing something, and they’re still not gonna read it, even if they sign it.

Stephanie: That’s the truth.

Allison: So I’m like, how can I package this? Like, how can I, like, distill this down into something that’s digestible for them, that I know they’re gonna read? And I know that they read that text message, because it comes right after their booking confirmation. We use ZenMaid too, so they get the text confirmation, and then they get that nice big chunk of text. So I feel pretty confident that almost everyone reads that. And we’ve had a lot better of an experience since implementing that.

Stephanie: Oh, I love that. That’s super creative, and just really, like, accepting how people behave in a busy life, and that we’re not trying to be stuck reading documents, right? And so I love that. That’s, like, for us in our initial estimate, having a frequently asked questions video. If they want to watch the video, here’s this in the list. Like, giving them — I mean, I think one thing everybody as owners needs to get very used to and accept is, you’re gonna have to repeat yourself a ton. Like, whether it’s with clients or staff members. And sometimes you just want to scream, like, how many times do I have to tell them to do this? And it’s like, sometimes we do. Like, that kind of goes against what I said earlier, of, like, okay, why do they think this is? But it also kind of lives in this juxtaposition that we have to repeat ourselves a lot, and we just have to accept it. You have to think of everybody like a child, and sometimes children need lots of, you know, reminders.

Allison: Oh yeah, absolutely. And, like, at least on the client side, when I find that there’s things that, like, we are repeating a lot, it becomes, like, a snippet in GoHighLevel. For people using GoHighLevel, use the snippets when you’re repeating yourself. Use automations, use snippets. Like, make it happen. It’s worth investing the time up front. And then, you know, on the cleaner side too, I have all the resources available for them. We use Connecteam, and I have, like, a nice little, like, resources chat that has just one link in it, and it has, like, a living document of, like, here’s all the things you might want to know about your job. Like, do they use it? I don’t know. Probably not. They just shoot off a text in Connecteam.

Stephanie: Yeah. Right.

Allison: But yeah, you’re so right. And then I do try to notice that, like, if I’m getting the same questions over and over again, it means there’s a hole. There’s a hole in training. There’s a hole in policy. There’s a hole in my own communication. So I feel like whenever issues represent themselves, or people, whether it’s clients or cleaning techs, keep coming up with the same thing, I’m like, I am not doing a good job educating this group of people. And then I will go and, like, I’ll just go fix it. Like, whatever it is, I’ll try to come up with a solution for that, because I do not like dealing with the same thing. I don’t like a Groundhog Day moment. And you can’t — you’re right, you can’t get around it sometimes. Like, yeah, like the clocking in. Oh, I’ll fix your clocking for you. Yeah, you know, that’s gonna happen, but it’s okay.

Stephanie: Yeah, yeah. You make me want to go get my groundhog hat, because you just said that. Because I have one, yeah. I should just wear it at team meetings, like, the groundhog reminder. Yeah, reminders. Yes. Oh, I should use it for that. I have it. I might as well use it. And my staff love it when I dress up for our team meetings, because they’re like, Stephanie, you’re insane.

Allison: I love that.

Stephanie: I did wear my, like, spicy hot pepper outfit I wore for a podcast. I just wore it to my team meeting.

Allison: No, I am not having enough fun at my team meetings.

Stephanie: We need that. Everybody, just start wearing costumes, okay? Please. Just, if I can make my team laugh, like, it’s a win. Like, that’s the fun.

Weekly Team Meetings and Culture

Allison: We do, like, “would you rather,” or “this or that,” at every team meeting. I had my team meeting this morning, and, like, one of them was like, “Would you rather have a client follow you around talking the entire clean, or would you rather they watch you silently from every doorway?”

Stephanie: Oh, that’s a good one. That’s such a good question. I’m gonna add that to my — because we do a question of the week every week. I’m stealing that one for sure. Ours was yesterday: if your name wasn’t what it is, what would you choose your first name to be?

Allison: That’s so good. I’m gonna use that.

Stephanie: Yeah, it was fun, because everybody kind of went into, well, you know, if I was a boy, my parents would have named me this. These were the other options. They went with this. And, like, the background of, like, why they didn’t get named that. Like, that’s why I love the question of the week. I know too many people think, like, that seems like a waste of time. Like, literally half of our team meeting is that. It’s, you know, how was your weekend? Tell us about everything you did this weekend. What are you excited about and grateful for? And then the question. And the majority of our team meeting is that. But I cannot tell you — as you know — how valuable that is from a cultural perspective, because all of a sudden we’re getting to know each other, right? And much past just, you know, this, like, really transactional behavior. It’s like, no, we know each other. Like, I know why your parents didn’t name you that, because of this. And, like, especially as an owner, like, we’re not in the field with them always, you know. So it’s just so valuable. I’m so happy to hear that you have these, like, cultural things in place. What other things, like, from a cultural perspective, have you implemented that have really helped?

Allison: Oh yeah. So, from day one, we’ve always done a weekly team meeting, and that’s our supply restock as well. So, at the team meetings, we have, like, a structure for them. I have, like, a Canva presentation. We do, like, a clock-in reminder, so everyone remembers to clock in at the beginning of it. And then we move into core values. So we have our core values on the screen. Everyone says out loud one core value that they feel they did really well this past week, and then they pick one other person in the room that maybe they worked with, and pick a core value that they represented really well, and why. And it’s just a nice way of people…

Stephanie: Yeah, I’m writing.

Allison: It gets people to, like, say something positive about themselves and then about someone else, and I feel like that’s really a nice way to start a morning. And then we move into recognition. So anytime we get a public review, we’ll, like, screenshot it, and we’ll put the cleaning tech who got it, and that’ll go on the presentation as well, or just any positive feedback that we happen to get from clients. And then we move into, like, our game questions, like, “Would you rather this or that?” You know, the ones you guys do too. And then from there, we move into announcements. So, you know, this morning I announced — this is something we do — we do a monthly team outing. So we’re doing pottery painting next week, where, yeah, whoever can come can come, and, you know, I pay for, like, the activity. We don’t clock in, but it is paid for by me. So that’s something we do monthly. And then, yeah, we wrap up with, you know, I ask them, like, any process updates, things like that. I open it up for, like, questions, or if they need support on anything at all, and that kind of lets them take the floor and get things addressed. Which is a little scary sometimes, because sometimes someone will ask a question, and I’m like, yeah, let me think about that. I’m gonna get back to you. But yeah, that’s kind of how our structure goes, and then we head out for the day.

Stephanie: I love it. Yeah, it really — for everybody who is still on the fence on regular team meetings. And I’m not talking monthly. I’m not talking quarterly, guys. We do ours weekly. I was hesitant, because I was like, how are we gonna do that with, you know, with the schedule? Like, we’re gonna have to move stuff, and that’s gonna cost us money, and it does. But the reason I’ve done it for so many years, and you’re doing it from day one, is because it is so valuable. It is so valuable. And I think I’ve done a whole episode on, like, how to do weekly team meetings. And Allison, you just gave a bunch of great examples as well. So anybody who’s on the fence, please make this happen sooner rather than later. You will enjoy the fruits of it. You will see people behaving in a lot of different ways, because it’s such an independent job. Like, it is not a job where we’re all going to the same place and working next to each other in cubicles. That is not this job at all.

Allison: Yeah, I agree. I feel like, you know, the benefits are a little bit intangible too, especially in an industry that tends to have turnover. And you’re right, like, we’re not getting all of that interaction with each other on a regular basis. I’ve never run my business without the team meeting, so I don’t know what it would be like without it. But I feel like with it, you know, it does have intangible benefits. It’s so nice culturally, and, like, I feel like it’s such a nice touch point for everyone to come together. So it’s worth it. Yeah, you do have to pay for it, of course. It’s a labor cost. And, like, I feel like sometimes, you know, I took on a lot more cost at the beginning than I really would have liked to. But, you know, my hope is that, like, in the beginning, I’m doing a lot of stuff that doesn’t scale. I’m doing a lot of stuff that is, like, too expensive for where I’m at, and I’m really hoping that’s going to pay dividends in the next, like, one to two years, me having, like, invested up front.

Where the Clients Are Coming From

Stephanie: I think it has, because what you’re doing is building a foundation. Like, you’re not doing a bunch of frivolous, random shit. You are building a strong foundation, so that when it starts to scale, it’s gonna scale, and it’s going to grow. So I want to hear about — going back to, obviously, you have this marketing background — what is working right now for you for getting clients? How are you getting this momentum now that you’ve put all of these systems in place? And, well, I definitely want to talk about GoHighLevel. We’re gonna talk about, like, your sales funnel and all of that, because I’m super intrigued. But talk to me, how are you getting clients right now?

Allison: Yeah, so I’ll be completely honest. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to get clients, and the consistency and the balance there. You know, between clients and cleaners, it’s always that balance. So, like, right now, what I found does work really well for us is, like, Facebook groups. Facebook groups are wonderful. The mom Facebook groups are fantastic. I would definitely recommend staying away from Facebook groups where people are looking to trade things or get things for free, or, you know, there’s just a lot of spam going on. I would stay out of those. Those aren’t necessarily the clients you want. Those are going to be the “I want the cheapest, and then I’m gonna do a chargeback” kind of leads. So I think the mom groups are the absolute best in terms of Facebook groups. Neighborhood groups are fantastic as well. So what we’ll do is, I do a weekly post within those, just, you know, introducing ourselves a little bit, and, like, what we offer. I’ll usually be running some sort of offer within that post as well. I know Facebook’s a little — like, Meta’s a little — funny about having links, but I will add a link in there that goes to our funnel. I have, like, a funnel built out just for, like, the Facebook group offers. So that way, like, I’m tracking the lead coming in from there, and I’m also knowing exactly what offer I should be giving them, because, you know, they’re tagged and everything through GoHighLevel. And then, what also I’m doing — I’ve been doing, like, Meta ads, and those have been really touch and go, to be quite honest with you. Meta ads — because people are just kind of scrolling, and, like, maybe they want it in the moment, and then they ghost. I feel like the Meta ads have, like, a ghost rate of, like, fifty to sixty percent. Even the ones that feel high intent. So there’s two different levels of intention. If you use the Facebook or the Meta forms, you get more leads, but they are lower conversion. Whereas if you use the landing page, which goes off of Meta to your landing page, when people fill out that information, it’s higher intent, higher conversion, but you’re getting less leads when you take that route. But you have more control over your data as well, which is really nice. So in the past, I was doing the forms, and now I’ve switched over into just doing the funnels. And so I’ll run different campaigns. Like, I’m about to launch a new campaign now where we’re gonna do, like, more meme style. I’m gonna do two static images, which just means pictures, and then I’m gonna do one video, and everything has, like, a meme kind of feel to it. Because I’m trying out different types of marketing, and I keep the vibe of it the same for each campaign. So my previous campaigns might have touched on, like, a little bit more of that emotional aspect, or pain points. And now, for the next campaign I’m launching and gonna test, it’s gonna be more like that funny meme kind of thing. Like, I’m going after, like, the elder millennial, or maybe, like, the younger Gen X, which is, like, a great target market for us. So yeah, it’s so hit or miss with the Meta ads, and they’re expensive. I’m gonna be honest. Like, I feel like you can easily burn through a thousand, two thousand dollars, and, like, I’m trying to get to the point where I’m at a hundred percent ROI on them, but I’m not yet, and that is the goal, and it’s tough. I think people oversimplify. It’s not that hard to learn, but it is a lot to learn to do a good Meta ad.

Meta Ads, LSA, and Paid Advertising

Stephanie: It’s funny. I literally am just deep diving into all of this for really the first time ever in the business, because I’m really dedicating myself to the marketing at Serene Clean. Because before, I hadn’t really had to, frankly. You know, I mean, I had, but not in this very, like, direct way. And so I’m currently running experiments with Meta ads, and, like, literally running two different ads, seeing what the result is. I created the landing page, so I can — this morning I just turned them on. Last week, we just got our first booking from the Facebook ad. And I’m targeting, like, you know, the high income — like, you’re right. I’m not getting as many leads, but I’m like, this is a high income, this age group, this woman who’s interested in these things. Like, it’s my specific ideal client. So, like you said, it’s better. So I’m right there with you, of, like, okay, let’s try this thing, and just experimenting, you know. But it does cost money, of course.

Allison: Oh yeah, the experimenting, the testing costs a lot of money, and that’s why I see where people are hesitant to do it, especially if they don’t, you know, know how to read the data that’s coming in. And honestly, with Meta ads, I would say you can’t really pull appropriate data until you have at least a $25 to $30 a day budget running for at least ten days. Before that, your data is not reliable. It’s not enough of a sample size, and you can’t make any decisions. But I think sometimes people will see that, oh, I’ve spent $200 on this, and, like, I haven’t gotten any leads yet. But, like, it’s not done testing, which is the hardest thing. And it especially depends how new your account is. My account is still fairly new, because we’re a fairly new business, so the targeting is even hard. And then we are also doing LSA as well. I have really mixed feelings about LSA. Really mixed. Like, for my area in Atlanta, LSA is, like, pretty expensive, like fifty to sixty a lead. And honestly, it’s been tough, because I get a little annoyed sometimes that some of the leads will be like, I have a six hundred square foot apartment, I want it cleaned for seventy-five dollars, and I need it in one hour. And I’m like, “Cool, here’s 60.”

Stephanie: No targeting, yeah, exactly. It’s so true. The targeting is so much more difficult, and I would imagine because you really can’t, you know what I mean? Like, you’re showing up for these results. So, yeah, it’s definitely more challenging. You know, we’ve just gone away from any pay-per-click advertisement at all, and, like, the only Google spending we’re doing is on LSA right now, because I just had, like, abysmal results with pay-per-click or anything like that. So, yeah, paid advertising is, like, this Pandora’s box. I just opened it. Finally, I’m like, I’m gonna do this thing, and I’m gonna do it right. But I commend you, because what you just said is, with your Facebook account and your Meta account being earlier on, you don’t have an audience built up. Like, it’s much easier to test things out when you have an audience. Because I’m like, cool, these reels did really great, like, by themselves, organically. Now let me boost them and see what happens. Whereas you’re just throwing spaghetti out into the void, you know?

Turning Giveaways Into Leads

Allison: Oh yeah, absolutely. And I will say, what gets you a lot of followers really quickly is giveaways and running contests. Giveaways and contests. But you have to, like, be prepared for it, because you need to be, like, sending people to, like, a landing page, like a funnel, and getting all of their data and giving them a secondary offer. So if they’re signing up for, like, a giveaway, you need to be hitting up all those people and being like, everyone’s a winner. You get, like, twenty percent off. Like, even though we’re going to be doing the giveaway drawing on this date, and, like, we really hope you win, everyone’s a winner. You get twenty percent off of any clean. What do you think? Like, so you need to be, like, retargeting everybody.

Stephanie: Yeah, because the whole point of a giveaway is data collection, right? And it’s getting followers. But, like, yeah, you have to make the most of any money you spend. So, are you sending — because I’m literally going to do this, because obviously, you know, I’m a slut for a giveaway, right? And so, like, what do you do? Do you message each of them and say, hey, like, if you want to get, like… How do you get that information if you’re doing the Facebook giveaway? Like, tactically speaking, how do you get them to that secondary step? Because I want to do this.

Allison: Okay, cool. Yeah, so here’s, like, the way I would set it up. I haven’t done a giveaway for a while. I’m looking to partner with someone locally and do another one soon. So you’re gonna, like, run the ad, put the giveaway on your socials, and then you got to give them the instructions. So, here’s how to enter. You have to make that really clear and really easy. You can say, you know, comment on it, tag somebody, follow, whatever you want. And I recommend you do the follow and the comment. It, like, boosts engagement and sends it further. And then, you can’t put a link within a post, but you can put the link within, like, your bio on, like, Instagram, right, or on Facebook too. So you want to have, like, a link where they can enter. So if it’s connected to an ad, the ad can take them to that landing page. But you want to make a landing page with a funnel where you then collect their information. And so from there, like, you’re collecting — don’t collect too much, or people won’t enter. But, like, probably name, phone number, email is great. I like to get zip code too, if you can get it.

Stephanie: Yes. Yeah. That’s awesome.

Allison: And then they’ll go to a landing page, and from there, they go to, like, the second page, like, the thank you page. And that’s where you can kind of give them the secondary offer and give them the option to schedule a call with you, if you want. It doesn’t really matter anyway, because their data is now coming into GoHighLevel, if you’re using GoHighLevel, or whatever system you’re using. So all that data is going to flow to you, and you want to set up, like, some sort of automation where you know that they’re coming from the giveaway. So it’s, like, tagging them “giveaway,” or they’re going into a certain pipeline stage, and then you’re reaching out to them. Like, an automation is best that says, like, “Oh, we got your entry. Amazing, you know, hope you win.” And then it’s like, everyone is a winner. Like, everyone who entered the giveaway gets the option to have — you can play with the language — the option to have, like, twenty percent off their first clean, or whatever, when you book by whatever date. And then I like to ask a question. I’ve noticed you get, like, much better response rates when you ask a question and not just present an offer. So, like, “Want me to send over some available dates for you?” or something like that. That kind of thing. And then, you know, if they don’t reply, you want to hit them up again in, like, two days. And you want to keep, kind of, like, letting them know, “Oh, the giveaway is coming to an end. Did you tag a friend yet?” You want to keep engaging with them. So I keep engaging with everyone until they text stop. Yeah, like, everyone is a lead until they tell me to go kick rocks.

Stephanie: Like, yeah, exactly. Thank you for saying that, because every listener who does not follow up like a maniac — like, you guys are burning money. Like, burning money. Like, please call people more than once. I promise you, they are not like, screw you, how dare you call me twice? Like, keep calling. They’re busy, and they forget. Some people are like, thank you so much. And some people get annoyed, but who cares? You know, think about it. I think about it on my phone. Like, you know how, like, whenever you go anywhere, I always get, like, texts from, like, apps, and they’re like, oh, a sale, oh, this. And they just text me incessantly until I say stop. So I’m going to do the same thing, right?

Allison: Exactly. Yeah. I think we’re so hesitant and so scared of sales in general, and we’re so scared to annoy people, but people are getting so much advertising noise every day. Like, if they reached out to you, they want you. Even in a situation like this, where it’s like, you know, if they don’t want this, they can just say no. Like, they can just say no. It’s okay, guys.

Stephanie: I love this. I am definitely going to work through this and implement that second step. I never really thought about that, because for me, the end goal was always get more followers on the Facebook page, get more eyes, because that helps us in a lot of ways, and reward our followers, of course, with the giveaway. But I never took it to the next level of taking it off Facebook and getting their contact info. So that’s such a great idea. I’m so glad that you said that, because I’m totally gonna do that.

Allison: Of course, yeah. It’s so — in the end, those people become, like — you can retarget them forever, right? So they’ll convert later.

Allison’s Software Stack

Stephanie: A hundred percent, a hundred percent. And so you obviously have mentioned GoHighLevel. You mentioned ZenMaid. You mentioned Connecteam. I would love to hear if we could just get a quick and dirty of your full software stack. What do you use each of them for?

Allison: I love you. I wrote it all down. Tech stack, I got you. Are you ready for the list?

Stephanie: I’m ready.

Allison: Okay. Stop me if you have any questions while I go through it. Okay. So, GoHighLevel, CRM. ZenMaid, we’re using for scheduling. Stripe is our payment processing system. Buffer, we use for scheduling for social. Canva for design work. Higgsfield — it has all the AI gen models on it. I use that mainly to develop ads. I use Claude and ChatGPT. I use Google Workspace, so Google Sheets, Docs, and Drive, primarily. Slack, I use that to communicate with my admin, who I’ve hired through an agency, so we have a channel on Slack. Connecteam is for our own internal communications, like with the cleaning techs. Zapier — there’s a few third-party automations I have on there. Gusto, or “Goosto”?

Stephanie: Yeah, I’ve heard people say — you know what? Gusto. Could it be that? Goosto? If you’re watching, chime in.

Allison: Yeah, I don’t know. Sponsors. Some sponsorship coming through or something. HR and payroll. DocuSeal for signed docs, like handbook, cleaning kit, that kind of thing. WordPress for our website. Indeed for hiring. Xero for accounting. I think that’s mostly what I use. Yeah. Monday.com also. Monday.com for organization.

Why She Loves GoHighLevel

Stephanie: For your projects, for your organization. I love that. So, you know, I love that you’re such a lover of GoHighLevel, because obviously it’s a fantastic CRM, and I know it integrates pretty dang well with ZenMaid. So I’d love to hear — did you have experience with GoHighLevel? I had no idea what a CRM was when I opened my cleaning business. And so when I happened to watch a tutorial in the ZenMaid Mastermind from Courtney Wisely on how she uses ClickUp to manage her leads, that’s what got me into ClickUp, and so I stuck with it, built it out. I’m not leaving, because I built it out. However, if I had known about GoHighLevel, I think I would have been swayed that way in the beginning. So I want you to talk about this as somebody who’s using it, because I don’t want to tell our listeners one way, because there’s lots of ways to skin this cat, right? So talk to me about GoHighLevel. What do you love about it? What do you not like about it? Just give me the rundown.

Allison: So, GoHighLevel — I used it for the first time when I started this business. I set everything up myself, for the most part. I did a mentorship program that, like, you know, gave a little bit of, like, structure to that. You can get GoHighLevel yourself and set it up fully on your own, or it can be, like, white labeled, and you buy it from an agency, and you can also have someone else set up, like, your funnels and your automations and stuff. Which, depending on how much budget you have and how much experience you have with using, like, software and tech and automations, is sometimes the best way to go. But yeah, I taught myself everything on GoHighLevel, and there’s a learning curve, for sure. I had some messy automations at first, a lot of things breaking. But I’m really used to using a lot of software and tech stuff, and, you know, linking things together and making things work, and I kind of like it, to be honest with you. So I taught myself to use GoHighLevel. It’s a little bit intimidating at first, because it is so robust, and it can do so many things. And I feel like when people say, like, a CRM, like, a customer relationship manager, it’s like, what does that even mean? So basically, it’s our phone system, so it’s, like, a VoIP, right? So it’s calling. We have multiple numbers on there. One is our LSA number. One is, like, just our general business line. You can have multiple numbers on there. You text from them. You can call from them. Your email is tied into GoHighLevel, so when clients email, it comes into the GoHighLevel system as well, like, the dashboard. So everything is in one place. You’re never missing anything. Same thing with social accounts. Whenever you get messages from socials, it’s funneling into GoHighLevel as a conversation, and everything looks like a text conversation. It’s all in one place. And then it’s also a shared system too. So if you have admin or other employees, everyone is seeing the same thing, or whatever you allow them access to. And, yeah, let’s see what else is going on in there.

Stephanie: The email — I know, the email drip campaigns and things.

Allison: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can set up all your automations, so all your marketing can happen in there. Your email drip campaigns, your SMS campaigns. And you set up your full, like, sales journey. Meaning — how do I explain this visually? Right. So, like, a customer comes in, and they’re a new lead. And then I have it set up, like, one of my stages is, like, “thinking about it,” or “booked initial clean,” and you can have automations, like SMS and email, set up for every stage. And when you go to remarket to people, you can create, like, smart lists, where I’m like, okay, so everybody in the “no for now” category gets this deal, and everybody in “thinking about it” gets this offer. And it’s just, like, you can kind of segment things like that and develop campaigns. You build out your landing pages that you can then connect to your marketing campaigns on social. Honestly, it’s everything. And it’s fantastic. Once you learn it, it is probably one of the, like, most robust, best tools I’ve ever used. And I know that really sounds like I’m singing their praises. And I haven’t used ClickUp, and I haven’t used some of the others, but I have used, like, HubSpot, and GoHighLevel is, like, so much better. Nine point five out of ten, GoHighLevel. Their customer service — if you don’t have the higher tier, it’s really hard to talk to a human, because they’re a little short-staffed, and it’s hard to get your ticket resolved. But I will say, because their manuals for how to use their system are so available online, you can just talk to ChatGPT and Claude and get almost everything solved. I will say, the more that you do have, like, an understanding of software and integrations, you’re going to have an easier time solving your own problems. But yeah, it’s a game changer. There’s also calendar integration as well, so all of my, like, discovery calls, my cleaner interviews, everything like that is on GoHighLevel, connected to my calendar, and it’s integrated with automations. Meaning, when I set somebody up for, like, a phone interview or something like that, they’re getting, like, an email four days out, two days out, two hours out, one hour out. It’s all handled, so I don’t have to do, like, manual follow-ups, like, wondering, you know, oh, my gosh, reminder, right? None of that is happening, and I don’t know how people have time to do all of that.

Stephanie: So, yeah, yeah. Thank you for going into all that, because I wanted to create that space, because the point is, we must have something in place to solve this. If it’s not this — that problem of managing a lead and communicating with leads at different parts of the pipeline of your sales process — that’s a problem that needs to be solved for every business. Like, it has to be solved, and there’s a lot of ways to solve it. But I want to highlight, of, like, how much can go into this. And for many people who just listened to that, they’re like, holy shit! Like, I have no idea where to even start with that, and it is very overwhelming. And, you know, for you, you have Monday, which is a project management, task management software. And for me, that was why I liked sticking with ClickUp, because then all of my tasks, like, everything’s together there. But the negative drawback is it doesn’t do, like, email, so I need to have a separate thing. I need to have Mailchimp. I need to have things Zapped over so that things are in their right place. So, like, there’s a lot of ways to solve things, and I think just being open to trying new things is important, especially for you guys who are, like, earlier on in your business journey. It is so much easier to experiment and try things out early. At this point, switching software for us — I literally can’t even describe to you how — it does not happen, because the cost of change is so painful. So it has to be, like, thirty percent better than what I expect to make it worth it, because I’m like, it’s not that broke, we’re not changing it, because I don’t want to deal with it. So I love that you’re, like, playing with things and getting this all set up. Like, if I had known about this shit when I opened Serene Clean, oh my god, we’d be at two million. I guarantee we’d be at two million a year. So, like, you lucky duck, Allison. You just wait, five years from now. Lucky as in intelligent and capable, not lucky as in it was handed to you.

Allison: Oh no, oh, don’t worry, I’ve got my own set of struggles. I’m over here still trying to become, like, a good salesperson. So that’s my own personal thing I’m working through, is, like, you know, making sure service delivery is good, and, you know, sales. And yeah, I feel like everyone has their own strengths, and their own things that are really painful. What’s painful for me is different from what’s painful for other people. Because, yeah, sometimes people are like, oh, you know GoHighLevel so well, and I’m like, yeah, but, like, you can do sales really well.

Client Horror Stories

Stephanie: Yeah. And it’s so good. A great point is that none of us are the jack of all trades, right? We’re not, and we just have to keep working at those things that we’re not as strong at. And, you know, I have lots of different types of guests on the podcast who are very, very strong in one area, but they have to work on others. You know, and that’s all of us. So I’m just happy that you know this so well, but you also are very, like, realistic, of, I still need to improve these things. So I’d love to hear — because you know I love a horror story.

Allison: Oh, yeah.

Stephanie: Tell me a doozy, Allison. Client or staff member? What do you got for me?

Allison: Okay, it’s funny, because I think I tend to, like, erase these from my long-term memory, so I don’t live with the trauma.

Stephanie: Trauma, just block it out. That’s the best way.

Allison: Yeah. I had my admin — I was like, hey, I’m going on the podcast tomorrow. Can you make a list of all of the crazy, like, clients and, like, employees and things we’ve experienced? So I definitely have a few, but one of them that I was just, like, flabbergasted by — and it was one of those things where you’re like, oh my, I should have listened to my gut. So this is when I was still doing, like, in-person walkthroughs. I scheduled an in-person walkthrough. The guy was kind of weird on the phone, and I was like, okay, well, you know — not weird, like creepy, but just weird, like, a little standoffish. And I was like, oh, you know, some people are just like that. So I go over to do the in-person estimate. He takes forever to answer the door, and then he’s on the phone, and he’s like, “I’m on the phone. I just need to finish this.” And he just, like, walks away into his living room. I’m, like, in his landing, just, like, standing there, like the emoji. And I’m like, okay. I’m, like, on my phone, and he’s, like, up in his living room. I’m, like, down the stairs, and I hear him on the phone, and he’s on the phone with, like, some representative from, like, a local hospital or something, and he’s like, “No, but I need this to get bumped up to a manager because of my wife’s experience at your hospital.” And he was just being really, like — and I understand, like, you know, wanting to get your problem solved and things, but he was going about it in a way that was a bit of a pink flag.

Stephanie: Aggressive.

Allison: Yeah, yeah. And I was like, maybe he’s just having a bad day, you know, me over here giving the benefit of the doubt. And then he finally gets back to me. We start to do the walkthrough through the house, and we get to the top level, and it’s, like, his wife’s, like, kind of, like, studio or whatever, and he’s like, “Do not touch anything up here.” And then he’s like, “Well, actually, how much would it be if we just added the floors up here? But you can’t touch anything else.” And then I was like, “Okay, so you just want the floors?” And he’s like, “Well, what about the bathroom? How much would that be to add on? Well, if we took it off, how much would it be to take it off?” And I’m, like, new to estimating too, and I’m like, beep boop, beep boop, I have no idea. And, like, I was like, why don’t we just not touch this floor? And then he’s doing that with the bottom level as well. And then, like, we kind of ran into his wife on the estimate, and she did not want to talk to me. And I, like, said hi to her, and she just, like, looked at me and, like, gave me a really, like, “Hi.” Like, I’m like, why am I even here, right? Everything felt off. No one wants me here. Like, why am I here? And then, like, so we’re in the kitchen talking, and the wife came downstairs and just walked by us and, like, completely ignored me again. And I was talking through, like, plans for him and stuff like that. Then he finally decided to sign up for something, and then he started negotiating everything. Like, you know, top floor, can we do less than that? Can you price it at this? You know, just so much negotiating. And I was still so early on to, like, in-person estimating. I was doing the best that I could. I felt so uncomfortable.

Stephanie: And, like, that’d be hard on me too. Because when they start to piecemeal like that, it just feels like this isn’t how it’s supposed to be. Like, this isn’t what I want it to be.

Allison: Yeah, and, like, the vibe was off from the beginning, and everything felt so hostile, and it was just so weird. And so, like, you know, he eventually was like, okay, let’s sign up. And then we give an arrival window, right? He got his little client packet. I talked to him about the arrival window. He had his arrival window for his, like, early afternoon appointment, and we communicated and texted him and let him know, hey, the team will be there in about, like, 45 minutes. They’re finishing up at another home. Just because it was their first time going there — you know, even though there’s an arrival window, I still wanted to, like, you know, just be really communicative about it, since it was their first touch point with us. And then the team gets there, and they text me, and they’re like, they won’t let us in their house. And I was like, what? And then this guy is like, yeah, the wife won’t let us in, because she said it’s so disrespectful that we didn’t arrive on time. And I was like, “What? You have an arrival window, and I even reached out, like, almost an hour in advance to let you know what time.” And they got the on-the-way text as well. They decided to let them arrive and then just turn them away at the door. Like, super rude. And they were so mean to, like, the cleaning techs. Like, it was not a good situation. Yeah, I was like, it just felt so bad. And all the signs were there, you know. It’s almost like they were looking for something to be wrong. And I don’t honestly feel like I did anything wrong at all.

Stephanie: No. It was like they were looking for you to — like, I don’t know, like, you had to prove yourself or something, but not in, like, a normal way. Of, like, they’re looking for any reason to, like, see, they can’t even show up on time. It’s like, bitch, we told you this is how this works.

Allison: Yeah, I communicated the whole way up front, everything. I was just like, oh. But then I had flashbacks to, like, the conversation when I was in their house, flashbacks to, like, the experience. But, yeah, that’s just — energetically, that one left me feeling really bad. Yeah, I have, like, a bunch of these stories, but I think, well, you just want one.

Stephanie: I mean, I’d like to hear at least one more, if you have one that really stands out. And I think, like, when you look at that situation, if you had cleaned that house, something fucked would have happened. I just know it. Like, you ever, like, have somebody where you’re like, this isn’t right? Like, I know this is bad news bears. So yeah, I am glad that you didn’t clean it.

Allison: Oh yeah, me too. Like, that’s actually a lesson we learned too. Like, my admin had taken a phone call, and she booked it, except she was, like, feeling a little hesitant about it. And I listened to the phone call, and this lady was, like, saying, like, oh, well, that price is outrageous, and for that price, I better get the best clean of my life. I am talking, it better be the most perfect clean I’ve ever seen. And I was like, cancel her. I was like, refund her, cancel her right now, and tell her, like, we don’t think we’re the best service for her. While we think we’re going to do an amazing job for her, no one is perfect, and I don’t think we can live up to that. She’s going to be doing the paper towel test. She’s going to be climbing on stuff to find things. I mean, there is a flashback. My own father did that to us. He would climb on top of furniture and find where we couldn’t reach. So I am no contact with my dad.

Stephanie: Oh my goodness! Oh my gosh!

Allison: Yeah, I knew.

Stephanie: I was like, parents, man. But people — they’re always looking for something, you know. There are people out there — like that lady, you would not have pleased her.

Allison: There’s no way. Never, never. It’s like I would have been sending a cleaning tech into, like, a lion’s den.

Stephanie: Yeah.

Allison: I was like, I can’t even imagine. And she also, like, was saying, “I was a housekeeper once.” And I was thinking, like, when I listened to the call, like, clean it yourself, then. Yeah. Like, not to be like — I was like, you’re so good at it, and you’re so fast, and you’re so thorough, and you have an eye for detail. I’m like, why don’t you just do it?

Stephanie: Yes. Oh my goodness. Oh God. Yeah. Ooh. I’m glad that you are getting that discernment, though, and you’re really learning to trust yourself, it sounds like.

Allison: It’s tough working with the general public. You know, in the roles I was in before, I was a little protected from the world in some ways, because I didn’t have to deal with that, like, interaction with just, you know, just the general public. And now that I’m doing that, I’m like, “Oh wow, there’s a lot of different people out here, huh?”

Stephanie: There is. And it’s such a highly specific form of interacting with the public, meaning we’re in their house. Compared to, like, when I was waiting tables, they’re coming to the restaurant, we’re in a public setting, you know. They’re still being ridiculous, because that’s how people are, and just insane. I can tell you so many stories from waitressing, but at least I’m not in their house. If I was in some of those people’s houses — oh, we are now. We are in some of my old customers’ houses. And, like, it’s totally different, because it’s just weird. It’s a weird thing that we do, isn’t it?

Pricing and Getting Clients Past 90 Days

Allison: Like, it really is. I don’t know — I was a server before too, and I don’t know if it’s your experience, but I feel like maybe it’s because it’s people’s homes, and it’s personal. I don’t know what it is about, like, this specific type of service, but I feel like people have, like, an expectation. And I feel like it’s fair to want a good outcome, or it’s fair to want to feel like you’re taken care of when you’re paying for something. But I feel like I’ve experienced that, like, some people — this is not everyone — but their expectation is unrealistic. And I feel like it applies more to this industry than in others, sometimes. And I don’t know if it’s just because it’s, like, inside their home, and that feels personal or intimate, or, like, what it is. But maybe it’s the cost, because it is high cost. But, you know, it takes a long time to clean.

Stephanie: I think so too, especially when it comes to time or cost. Like, the reactions to that, of what is truly real. Like, coming back to your point of, like, people being unrealistic — that’s exactly how I feel a lot of times. When people are telling me it should only take this long, or, like, that is outrageous. I mean, we just got an email the other day that said that. Like, I’m sorry, but $600 for, like, a clean — you know, because it was a first-time clean. I’m like, I wanted to be like, lady, that’s on the cheap end of a first-time clean, but I didn’t. You know, it’s like, cool. We’re here if you ever need us. You know, it’s just — when they get literally, like, personally offended by your pricing, or by what you say is the time. Like, it’s very interesting. People — everyone’s got an opinion.

Allison: Yeah, and it’s, like, I’m still building that confidence in that process of it too, because, like, I know what it costs. I know what it costs to deliver the service. And then it’s still just, like, a little bit uncomfortable too. And, like, I don’t mind the rejection too much, especially if, like, you know, if someone can’t afford it, that’s okay. You know, like, there’s some things I can’t afford too, and that’s okay. You know, like, no big deal. But it’s just — I don’t know. Sometimes that’s a little bit of, like, a mental challenge or emotional challenge I have sometimes. I feel like sometimes we’re losing our business to people who are undercharging, and that’s disappointing. And I know that comes down to, then, like, how can we convey our value? But it just feels frustrating to me sometimes when I feel like some people are just — it’s going to be the price or nothing. Like, that’s just what it comes down to. It’s just, like, you have to let those people go. And that’s so disappointing to me, because — not viewing that as, like, oh, a missed sale or a missed opportunity, or, like, was it me? Like, could I have better conveyed the value? Or, you know, and it’s like, I don’t want to be reducing prices. And, like, I struggled a little bit at the beginning with, do I go in with lower pricing to do more market capture and then start bumping people, or do I just try to go in with, like, the prices that are going to be profitable for us, or sustainable for us, and then just get less leads?

Stephanie: It’s a tough strategy call to make, and it really, again, kind of comes back to, like, your financial situation, your timeline. Like, what do you need, and what’s the plan if that doesn’t go well? Because you’re having to deal with side effects for both of those, positive and negative, right? Cheaper prices means probably more clients right away, and you hit the ground running. But then you’re gonna have to raise prices on them. You’re not making enough margin on them. Or you get less clients, and the volume isn’t there, but on the ones you do have, you are making what you need to make, right? It’s tough. You know, it’s very tough to make that decision. So, did you decide to go with the higher prices, then?

Allison: I did, and, you know, I’m still not sure that was the right choice, because I do think once you get people past, like, the three-month mark, there’s a lot of, like, longevity there with clients, if you can get them through that first 90 days. And so I am still toying with the idea. Sometimes — I’ll be honest with you — sometimes when I want to fill our schedule, I have a thing in my spreadsheet. Like, I have a whole pricing matrix where I have a discount box where I just, like, type in, okay, and that just bumps that number down. And I’ll sometimes approve my admin. I’m like, go ahead, 20% off of whatever, if you are going to make the sale today, just to get our foot in the door with people. And, like, it still feels like it’s up in the air for me. And I feel like that’s where I also really struggled, not having the industry experience as a cleaner. I really didn’t understand production rates. I didn’t understand what to expect for time targets from my own staff. And, you know, how that evolves over time as the house gets cleaner, and you get to know it. But you have to get to the point where you keep the client that long, that it becomes more profitable. And I know you just switched into hourly pay, flat rate pricing. We’ve always been that.

Stephanie: Yes. And yes, that’s sometimes tough for clients too.

Allison: Yeah, it’s hard for…

Stephanie: I’m actually — it’s funny. Later today, I’m going to be recording kind of a follow-up to, like, the flat rate transition, because I got a question about it. Like, what have the results been? Basically, like, I talked about it when we did it, but now it’s been several months, and so I want to, like, talk about, like, the pros and cons that we’ve experienced. And so the biggest, hardest part was the current clients, switching them over. Because the new clients — oh my gosh — easy, easy peasy. It’s the current ones that were so tough. So I want to talk about that fully. But it’s that, yeah, experimenting and not being afraid to change things, and knowing when to change things. And I love that example that you just gave of, sometimes, like, you don’t have to keep pricing the same for every person that walks through the door. They don’t know other people’s pricing, most likely, right? Unless it’s their neighbor. So, like, if you need clients, give them lower prices, like, get them in the door, like you said, and play with it, right? And see where you’re at, just so you can get people to the three-month mark and get them more dedicated, and then, can we increase more? So there’s just so many, like, strategic things to try out. It can be quite overwhelming.

Allison: Yeah, especially because, when you feel things aren’t working, you wanna go and pull every lever.

Stephanie: Yes.

Allison: Like, trying to make things…

Stephanie: Yeah, yeah.

Allison: And then you don’t know what works, if you change five things at one time. And so for me, I’m a little bit, like, impatient. I’m a little bit, like, ADHD. So my brain wants to, like, solve a million problems at once. And then my brain also wants to be like, we have to figure this out and lock down a system for it, and then we have to build a framework for it, and we have to train everyone on it, and it has to work perfectly. And then, like, when I have to reiterate that, I just want to, like, sit and cry.

Systems Over Chaos: Subscription Billing

Stephanie: Yeah, and that’s where we overwhelm ourselves. Which kind of brings me into one of the points you made on your intake form, which I thought was so astute. So many people say that this is just an inherently chaotic business model, or industry, to be in. And I really liked what you said, that oftentimes the chaos is from us, the owners, right? Because we haven’t implemented the systematic methods. We haven’t implemented software. Like, there’s a way to make this thing not chaotic.

Allison: Absolutely.

Stephanie: So, like, can you just expand on that?

Allison: Yeah, for sure. So I think some of the biggest thing is identifying, you know, like, where is the chaos creeping in? Is it, like, clients, you know, like, canceling all the time? And if that’s causing you chaos, well, one of the ways that, like, we solve for that is we have a subscription-based model. So we sign people up for recurring. It’s contract-free, but we bill on the first of the month for all of their services for the month. And, you know, I have a few grandfathered-in clients who pay at the time of service, and, like, we keep their credit cards on file. That’s another thing. People have chaos chasing invoices. I have never had that problem, because I have never booked an appointment without a credit card on file. And then, maybe, like, seven months ago — this was a little scary for me — but I switched to subscription-based. Those people never cancel. Those people who have already paid at the first of the month, they almost never cancel, and they just move their appointment, because they’ve already paid for it.

Stephanie: Wow.

Allison: And yeah, and if you just do it, like, with confidence — I explain it. I’m like, yeah, so, you know, we bill on the first of the month for all of your services. We’re contract-free. If you want to change anything about your plan, just let us know before the first. And if you want to move your appointment, you know, just get in contact with us. As much advance notice as possible is great. And we have very little shuffling from clients for that reason.

Stephanie: Yeah. So that’s really cool. So, what do you do — I mean, maybe you haven’t had to — what happens if you have to cancel?

Allison: We move them. We try not to cancel. And there’s, like, a hierarchy, you know. The weekly people, biweekly, monthly, sometimes.

Stephanie: Yeah. No, I tell, like, yeah, but if you need to do something for weekly, like, you chop — if your leg is — we’re gonna make an exception.

Allison: Oh yeah, we’re gonna make an exception. Yeah, exactly. But I found too, like, I kind of — every once in a while, I, like, low-key like it when a client moves their appointment, because I’m like, okay, we got some credit now. Because, like, it’s almost like a — you know, you did this, I can do this.

Stephanie: Yes. You let us move.

Allison: So, like, I kind of low-key like it a little bit when they move every once in a while, because it gives a margin of error on both sides. And, for example, we had a newer client who’s biweekly, she got really sick and only let us know the day before or something. And she’s like, “Yeah, I understand the policy and stuff like that.” I was like, “You know, it’s your first time for this happening, so we’re just gonna go ahead and, like, you know, we’ll get it shifted for you.” Yeah, and so, like, I think it’s a judgment call sometimes too. Of, like, you don’t want to, like, cause, you know, fires or chaos in your own organization, but you also need to balance the human element as well, and make, like, judgment calls as they come up. Which is a little bit harder, right? That’s why I kind of like the idea of, like, frameworks instead of SOPs, because I feel like just getting to, like, a certain outcome and having some guardrails is better than it has to be this every single time. But, I mean, in all businesses where there’s humans involved, there’s going to be some level of, like, change, or things are going to have to be a little bit dynamic. And I try not to let that, like, keep me up too much, you know. Like, I have to, like, realize that humans are gonna be humans. How can I guide the behavior as much as I possibly can, and plan as well as I can? But there’s always gonna be that, like, ten to fifteen percent of unexpected element that you just have to deal with. And I don’t love that, but that’s how life is, I guess.

Policies, Exceptions, and Hard Conversations

Stephanie: But I like that. That’s the wonderful thing about policies, is, like, the policy is the policy, and we can decide, as the owner, when an exception should be made, for things like cancellations, right? Because, yeah, of course, like, your kid is sick. They woke up, you know, vomiting, and you didn’t know that yesterday. You didn’t know it, like, you know, within our forty-eight hour cancellation period. Like, you’re within it, but we’re not charging you a cancellation fee. Like, you know what I mean? Like, even though the policy is this, we are choosing to make an exception, because that’s the right thing to do. And, like you said, it’s kind of banking credit with flexibility, because then, when we have to move because our cleaner’s kid is throwing up, you know, then it’s this nice — it’s a relationship, right? Where we’re both working together. And the more hard-ass we are on them, the more likely they’re going to be a hard-ass on us and be like, “Wait, you didn’t give me any leeway, so why would I give you any?” You know? And so, like you said, it’s just making those calls, trying to be fair. But that’s the beauty of having the policy, so that you have, like, a framework to work around and kind of fall back onto if you don’t know what to do. And also, look at, how have I behaved before? Did I feel good about that? Did I feel resentful after the fact? Because that could be a sign that something needs to change.

Allison: Yeah, I agree. That feeling of, like, resentment — not letting that build. That just means, like, you know, you gotta, like, communicate more clearly. And I’ll be honest, there’s stuff that doesn’t feel good for me to, like, have to communicate the first few times. But then there’s stuff that gets easier too. Like, you know, even just stuff with employees, where I have to be like, hey, you need to wear your uniform. Different little things. I had to have, like, a conversation with, like, an employee who’s been with me since the beginning. He’s an OG, and, like, he’s great with clients, and he’s very reliable and stuff. But his cleaning quality, like, lost us some clients and got us a few complaints — not public complaints, but, you know, internally, or, like, directly. Yeah, and I had to let him know. I was like, hey, I really value these things about you. Here’s — you know, we’ve been getting this feedback lately. And I was honest too. I was like, you know, it’s very expensive, and it takes a long time to nurture a client to, especially, become a recurring client, and they have a lot of trust in us. And when we lose them because of quality — you know, I understand you just moved, or whatever, you have things going on in your life — but, like, when we lose them, here’s the effect it has. We have to now do more one-time cleans and deep cleans. That’s harder on everyone. Those recurring cleans are wonderful. They provide usable hours. They are also easier. You know, it’s nice and predictable for everyone. So I was like, you know, there’s lots of outcomes to this. And I was like, if that continues, we’re gonna have to reduce your hours, because it’s putting too much at risk, and it’s not fair. And, like, he had, like, a super good response to that, which was awesome. Like, yeah, he started doing walkthroughs with the maintenance clients. Like, we planned for the month of September — I was like, start doing walkthroughs whenever they’re home with the maintenance clients, just to get everybody back on track and just feel like we’re really checking in there.

Sending Male Cleaners Into Homes

Stephanie: I love that he had a growth mindset to that. So, clearly, you have a male house cleaner. I just had a guest who asked about this, because she is really nervous about how clients are going to react, and if you tell. And I don’t think that episode has gone live yet. Do you tell people that you are sending a man in?

Allison: Never. No.

Stephanie: Have you had any issue?

Allison: I have only ever had one client ever request girls only, because she was, like, actively breastfeeding throughout her home. And that is the only person who has ever had any preference for a gender whatsoever. Which I totally understand. Yeah, no one’s ever mentioned anything ever, and I was surprised to hear they did. They do, but also, my market, right? I live in, like, Atlanta, and it’s, like, a very — I don’t know. We’re, like, a progressive city, right? So, I mean, maybe that also has something to do with it as well. We have, like, a lot of, like, males working in what might be, in other parts of the country, more traditionally, like, female roles. So what’s crazy too is, I used to do, like, group interviews and stuff in person. It would be, like, seventy percent guys who would come to the group interviews. This is, like, crazy. A home cleaner thing. It was mainly guys. I had more guy applicants for a home cleaning position. They knew it was not commercial, and they were just, like, ready to do it. And I was like — I used to have three guys on my team. Yeah, I used to. Okay, my team used to be half guys.

Stephanie: I love this, because I was explaining to that guest — because it was kind of, like, a consulting style — like, this shouldn’t be a limiting belief for you. And I was kind of going both ways, of, like, do you tell a client ahead of time, so that they can make the choice if they want a man in their house by themselves, you know, for hours? Like, I understand that. But it also is great to hear that you have not had issues. Just, like, this is your tech, and you’re sending them in, and, you know, you vet people, and you trust them, and that’s what that looks like. So, okay, cool. I’m glad to hear that.

Allison: Yeah, I think you should not be hiring anyone who you feel might make someone uncomfortable in their home. And if you feel like you need to tell a client someone’s gender, I feel like it’s now more about that person that you’ve hired, and I think maybe you’re having a weird gut feeling, and you shouldn’t have hired them.

Stephanie: Yeah, that’s a good point.

Allison: Yeah, because, like — I mean, think about all the people you have come into your house. Like, I don’t know, like, the internet guy who installs the internet, the plumbers. These are mostly boys and men, right? Like, I had, like, my plumbing stuff taken care of the other day. It was, like, two guys who were, like, 20 years old who came over, and, like, no one was, like, checking with me if it was, like, hey, can we send Brian and David?

Stephanie: Yeah. You know, that’s such a good point. And it’s like, I’ve literally only had one male house cleaner in the entirety of my business, and it’s because we have such a robust commercial side. Like, that’s where the boys want to go, is commercial, in my business in particular. But the only guy that I had working for me is one of my first employees. He absolutely would try to, like, sleep with my clients. So, yeah, I did have a guy. Oh, yeah. I mean, I can’t say details, but something did happen with a client outside of work. And then he came and told me at work. I’m like, dude, don’t tell me this. And the client was married. The client was married. That was the worst part. Yeah, I’m like, dude, don’t bring me into the love triangle. Don’t do this at work.

Allison: Oh my god, that is — no, no. I could not deal with all that. That is so crazy.

Stephanie: Yeah. Oh yeah. I know. It’s like, we could write a book. My managers literally have, like, a Claude project for all of our book stories that we could write down.

Allison: That’s hilarious. I need to start that. I need to start a project folder for it. I have one for, like, so many other things. Because we forget the crazy shit, exactly. Because it’s like, oh, it just goes.

Stephanie: So yeah, please, guys, write down your crazy shit. Make, like, a chat in your AI, because it’s funny, and it’ll be, like, a fun thing to look back on. Of, like, look at all the stuff I dealt with, and this is insane.

Allison: Yeah, because, like, sometimes I think, if I knew all of the things I was gonna have to solve and deal with, I don’t know if I ever would have started. And maybe that’s the blessing.

Stephanie: Cannot agree more. I have thanked my naivete so many times. Of, like, if I had known, there’s no fricking way I would have done it. I would have been like, nope, I’m not dealing with all of that. Like, thank goodness I had no idea, because once you get into it, well, guess I’m doing this. I just have to figure it out.

Allison: Yeah. I’m, like, dreaming of the day when I can have, like, an operations manager sort of thing, and I have, like, that extra layer between me and the business.

Stephanie: Yeah, yeah, I know. When I’m just coming into work the next morning and just, like, reading, I’m like, oh, that happened yesterday. Oh, great, you solved it. Perfect.

Allison: Yeah, perfect.

Stephanie: Like, this cleaner is having explosive diarrhea, and they had to describe it all in detail to my managers, apparently, so it’s documented. We don’t need to know. We believe you. We believe you, please. Yes, that separation is very nice.

Where to Find Allison

Stephanie: But Allison, this has been amazing. I clearly could talk to you for hours. This is awesome. You’re in Atlanta. If I’m passing through, I would love to, like, catch up with you and, like, get lunch or something.

Allison: That would be amazing. Oh yeah, for sure. Just hit me up. I’d love to.

Stephanie: Perfect. We will definitely do that. We should really just do, like, an Atlanta meetup. I feel like there’s so many listeners in Atlanta. Like, if any Atlanta listeners, or anyone around that area, would ever be interested — because I can, like, push it at ZenMaid, like, hey, we should do some type of meetup, even for non-ZenMaid customers — leave it down in the comments, guys, because we got a lot of Atlanta peeps. But Allison, where can the people find you if they want to follow along with your business journey?

Allison: Oh, yeah, thank you for asking. So on Instagram, we are the Clean Collective ATL. Our Facebook is the Clean Collective, and then our website is atlcleanco.com.

Stephanie: Perfect. Oh, this has been awesome. We are gonna have to reconvene in six months to a year, I think, and see where things are at. Because you got your shit together, girl. Like, you’re gonna do well. I can tell when I’m talking to somebody. Like, yep, they’re gonna do the damn thing, and you’re one of those people.

Allison: I appreciate that so much. I’m gonna, like — you know, when this podcast airs, I’m gonna just keep that as, like, a soundbite on my phone when I’m feeling down, and, like, spam it. Stephanie says I’m gonna do it.

Stephanie: You are.

Allison: Stephanie says I’m awesome.

Stephanie: Yes, exactly. I have full faith. I have full faith in it. Please, guys, leave Allison some love down below. Leave a little diamond emoji if you made it this far, because that is her last name, which is fabulous. And hit that like, hit that subscribe. We’ll see you on the next episode of Filthy Rich Cleaners. Bye, guys.

Stephanie: If you enjoyed this episode of the Filthy Rich Cleaners podcast, please be sure to leave us a five-star review so we can reach more cleaners like you. Until next time, keep your work clean and your business filthy rich.