She Cleaned to Survive — Now She’s Booked Out. Zaila’s Story Will Blow You Away

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Introduction

Stephanie: Hello, everyone. Welcome or welcome back to the Filthy Rich Cleaners podcast. I’m your host, Stephanie from Serene Clean, and today’s guest Zaila Filler is my buddy. We have been talking for, gosh, I don’t even know, at least a year now, and I swear to god you guys, Zaila is the next Stephanie from Serene Clean.

I truly believe that because what you have accomplished in your young life and in your business, while being a mother, is so inspirational to me. I think back to when I started my business, and you’re even younger than I was when I started. And to add a child on it, and to add being pregnant on it. Because when you and I met, you were very pregnant, or at least somewhat pregnant, and still cleaning, hiring – it’s amazing. So Zaila, tell the people, where are you from? How long ago did you open your business? And I guess, how did you come upon me? How did we connect?

Zaila: Okay, so I am from Greensburg, Indiana. I service Fishers, Indiana, and I started about almost three years ago for around two and a half years in service now, and I found Stephanie on YouTube through the best video I’ve ever come across, cleaning wise the information. It was so informative. I looked through so many, probably 30 videos, and Stephanie’s was the first one that really connected with me, and I have her to thank for how far I’ve come really with all the information that you’ve given me. So thank you.

Stephanie: Well, it’s certainly the best information. Does not matter if you’re not willing to work your ass off and you are hard worker, missy. And how old are you now? 20?

Zaila: 20.

Stephanie: So you started three years ago, right? Two or three years ago, so literally, a fresh baby out of the womb, you started and what made you start your cleaning business? What was the reason for that?

Zaila: Honestly, a lot of things. I would say I knew that I wanted to start a business because I wanted to challenge myself. I wasn’t doing too well with the whole working for little money and that type of work. So I branched out to see what I could do, what are my skills? And then I started cleaning Airbnbs when I was 17, honestly, to escape my home life. I had a – the owner of the Airbnb would let me shower at one of the Airbnbs for me to clean. So it was somewhere for me to escape where I was at at the moment. So I would say that’s how I started, and then when I moved to Fishers, there was a very wide range of service that’s being needed.

Starting with Vacation Rentals

Stephanie: You started in vacation rentals. And did you just put the word out on Facebook or when you moved to Fishers? How did you initially get into the vacation rentals?

Zaila: So the vacation rentals, I actually texted a bunch of posts on Airbnb which they don’t like. Don’t hate the player. Hate the game. You know, I know how hard it is to get vacation rentals.

Stephanie: I remember when I first was trying to get vacation rentals, I didn’t know that that wasn’t allowed, so I went and messaged all of the hosts on Airbnb, and then I got banned.

Zaila: Yes, they yelled at me, so I probably messaged 50 to 60, and I got one lead back, but it was reoccurring so and they had multiple locations, so it worked out. And then I took a break from cleaning when I became a full time parent to my step kids, and during that time, all I was doing was cleaning, and it was actually miserable. So then I thought, wow, I should just do this for money.

Pretty much. I should continue this when we were living in that area, it’s not a very good area. There’s not a lot of money to be made. So I made it a goal to move to Fishers, to clean here. I was driving here. It’s about 30 to 40 minutes one way.

The Power of Free Cleanings

Zaila: And I started doing, I did 10 free cleanings, yes, 10 free cleanings, and those were, man, those were a lot, but by the time that my last cleaning was booked, I didn’t even want to do it, because I didn’t really have room in my schedule. I was so booked out at this point, and I had no connections other than the 10 free cleanings to this community. But we just blew up and have been blown up ever since, pretty much they love us.

Stephanie: Oh yeah, no, and I love that. That’s where you started. That’s literally verbatim how I started with the free cleanings. And it’s amazing what that can do for you, not only from a word of mouth standpoint, but from a learning perspective. Because obviously you have a knack for cleaning, but I’m sure that those free cleanings taught you a lot when it came to timing and pricing and things like that.

Zaila: Yeah, just how to go about cleaning. And, you know, we’re still always learning, obviously, as we come across new situations. But that’s the very low expectations of a free clean is a great place to start. You know, when you’re starting out, for sure.

The Ongoing Staffing Challenge

Stephanie: And so for you, you know, since, gosh, when you reached out to me, I know that really, from day one, the challenges have been related to staffing. Because you were pregnant, and I just – for the people in the back, Zaila, literally, I remember one time she had hired people and she was about to give birth, they no called no show you tell them, and you’re about to give birth. It’s crazy to tell a story.

Zaila: Yes. So I had a girl, one girl at this point. I had went through five cleaners within the past month, and I was heavily pregnant, dilated – she was coming out at this point, and I was at the hospital, and the nurses told me, you need to get induced today. And I look at my phone, and my cleaner left the job midway through. It said I can’t do it. So I left the hospital. It wasn’t an emergency, but I have things to do. My supplies are there. I’m finishing this clean, and my partner actually came and helped me with it, luckily. So we got that clean done, and I had my baby after I had hired two more staff, then I let them induce me.

Stephanie: You’re not inducing me till I got my business all together. Yes, exactly.

Zaila: That time, it was hard, but we made it.

Stephanie: I just, I literally, yeah, I am in awe of you, because I cannot fathom it. That is just, I mean, I wouldn’t suggest it, but you literally did what you needed to do. And honestly, you have gone through, I think, the universal challenges of starting out. Even you describing going through cleaners – it’s not we just get one cleaner, and then you get a second, and then you get a third. It’s you get one and lose that one, and then get one and lose that one. And over and over and over. I know that again, that was totally my experience just trying to get one good one, you know, and that’s so frustrating.

Recognizing Red Flags in Staff

Zaila: It was exhausting. There were so many points where I just cried, because how do I look at another person again? I’m just exhausted. Then I did find my one good cleaner so far, stuck with me. Finally, a couple months after that, I’m so happy with her. She’s just my saving grace. But on to looking for more, right?

Stephanie: And that’s, I’m glad you mentioned that, that it’s just that tenacity to keep going. I think it’s so easy to want to throw in the towel and just be like, You know what? People suck, and I know that right where you are right now, that is the danger zone of throwing in the towel for a lot of people, I think, or at least where you’ve been in the past year or so with just this kind of cycle of staff. And I know, you know, we’ve talked through a lot of different situations with the staff that you’ve had. And I know there’d be multiple times, can we just commiserate a little bit on some of the staffing issues you’ve had, where I’ve been, you need to fire her? And you’re like, oh, I don’t know, but and then it would be next time, you’d be like, Stephanie, you can tell me, I told you so.

Zaila: Yeah, I will say, when we first started talking, you told me that my first cleaners, they’re all gonna quit. You’ve literally said I had one cleaner at that time who should have been fired, but I kept her for six months, and I was thinking, wow, Stephanie is being so negative right now.

Stephanie: No, you were, yeah, more than the and that’s it. So let’s talk about those red flags. Because I think when you’re starting out it, you just one, you feel desperate, you’re just have to keep them on. And two. I think you’re a good person. You want to give people chances. So what were some of those behaviors that people were doing in the beginning there?

Zaila: I would say the biggest one was probably not taking me or the job serious, which definitely had a lot to do with myself, me being so young, I deal with it was a lot of attitudes, but I wasn’t hiring the correct people, still probably not. And then, of course, the not showing up, or the excuses, the calling in last minute, we definitely deal with that we all do trust me. Every single day of my life, people call in.

Attitude and Professionalism Issues

Zaila: So, yeah. It’s just what it is, exhausting, for sure. Let’s see. Yeah, I would more so just say that attitudes towards the work has probably been one of my hugest problems, only because we try to be super professional. You know, our clients are high end clients. I’ve had a couple girls not accept feedback very well and, you know, get booted out the door, right? That meant, because you can’t make a client feel any type of way in their own home. That’s just insane to me. So those type of behaviors, what behaviors are you looking for?

Stephanie: Yeah, I think what you touched on with accountability – that is going to be our number one trait. If they cannot take corrective feedback or constructive feedback in a neutral or a “Okay, heard, and then, let’s improve” kind of way they’re not going to work out because you can’t really teach that. If they just get really defensive. I mean, we’ve been able to correct it, I think, and really use it as a teaching moment, but for the most part, I would say, most people cannot get it together fast enough to not cause issues, especially with coworkers.

And then, yeah, I would say, you know, for the most part, because we’re so established now, people take it seriously. I think, when I was at your stage, especially that young age, and not having an office, and all of those challenges that we face in the beginning, yeah, taking it seriously, it’s just this is just I don’t really care. It doesn’t really matter. And obviously, this is your everything, your baby, your pride and joy. And when they don’t take it seriously, it’s so insulting, you know, and it’s hard to get real angry with them. How could you behave in this manner, or whatever?

The Chaos of Personal Lives

Stephanie: So I would say that, and then the just, I don’t want to use the word drama necessarily, but the chaos of people’s lives, because where they just and this is something we still deal with to this day, and I’ve mentioned it before, of is this just a rough time in your life, or is your life always rough? And you know, it’s just you feel for them, but also you’re trying, especially right now, when you’re trying to establish that consistency and that brand, that brand image of we, you can trust on us. You can depend on us, we are your go to cleaning service. If they can’t show up, and you know, for you, you weren’t, you’re just, I remember last time we talked to you, just kept you’re cleaning a shit ton, you were cleaning a shit still.

Zaila: Yeah. So what is that like now? Where are you at right now? So we the same place. We talking to do, um, but I wanted to touch base on the problems in people’s lives. You’re exactly right. It’s really it’s been hard for me to figure out, is your whole life rough, or is it just a rough spot? Because people who have constant bad things happening to them. There’s a pattern there, and I feel like it has a lot to do with just who they are as a person. That might sound a little bad, but I just 100% right works.

Stephanie: Yeah. So when you’re constantly having things happen, I’m just like, is this? This probably isn’t going to work out. And it is so hard to be, you know, a boss, and then try to be, you know, a friend to them, because you’re trying to get stuff going. You’re trying to get consistency, and then they’re having all these problems.

Managing Staff Returns and Second Chances

Zaila: The girl who I had talked to you about, the one that we just had to let go because we agreed on just letting her go because she had back to back issues. She is coming back this week, tomorrow. Actually, she reached out and said that she got all of those things together. She was having some car problems, some health problems, things like that, just a lot of personal issues, and it just the reliability wasn’t working out.

So we will see how that goes tomorrow and next week. I’m excited because, if you remember, I didn’t want to let her go due to how well she was training and just her consistency with the cleans was really good. She really didn’t need much training. She was quick, she was professional. It really just came down to all the personal issues. So hopefully we can see some change in that and get her going on our schedule.

Stephanie: Just to interject, we we have somebody who, you know, they made it through a week of training, and then they had an emergency surgery, and then been out for weeks, and so, brand new staff member, and so they’re about to start again. Or we’ve had people, yeah, who have had, you know, their car totally take a shit during training. And you don’t know this person, whereas, if they’ve worked for you for six months and that happens, you have that consistency to go off of. So definitely, it’s not I don’t see those things necessarily as a red flag to the point that you’re done, I think it’s more so you really have to prove yourself when you do come back or show up. And so I would say, yeah, just really, I don’t want to say, be on her, but be aware of is, are we falling back into those same patterns? You know?

Zaila: Yeah, for sure. Gently calling attention to it. Be like, Hey, noticing. The attendance is an issue again, and, and for us, you know, ideally, what we would do is bump the person back in hours to a place that they can be consistent if we do like their work, where we’re like, you know, we really want you on the team. Can you do two days a week consistently until, you know, until they basically get their shit together and then build them up and basically, over over hire in the frame of more bodies, I would rather have much more bodies. In that way we can spread the work amongst them in the form of multiple part timers, basically, which I know, you know, I mentioned to you before.

Zaila: Yeah, gotcha. I think I’m just going to make sure that I’m not relying on her necessarily. She’s just going to join some cleans, especially at first, make sure that she can handle it, her car can handle it, the drive, and we’re just gonna see how it goes. Hopefully it goes well. And then I do have another girl who I had she hadn’t started yet. Her first day, she did have to call in, though.

Things are going well with her, but there has been, she hasn’t had to call in, but there’s just been things happening in her life over and over to where she’s had to leave early for a doctor’s appointment. She is a mother, though, and I think that she’s just very needed at home. So I’m she’s on her seventh day of training. I’m hoping that we can make things work, but I’m almost feeling like it would be better for her to just stay home with her kids at this point, just due to all the issues that have been happening.

The Cost of Constant Training

Zaila: The most exhausting thing about this is training someone and then it not working out. That is really even last year, where I was at with all of those girls that I trained, it just that’s time, it’s money, it’s exhausting and aware it’s just not so right now I am cleaning so because we have so many cleans, and my partner, who owns a company too, gets on to me because I’m still on the tools technically, the only reason that I’m the one training is because we have too many cleans to not train, and I keep scheduling cleans a month out or so for a certain amount of girls, and a lot of the times we just don’t hit that, trainees just don’t end up working out. So then I’m stuck cleaning because I want to make sure that I have work for them, instead of hiring them and not having work for them.

Stephanie: Yeah, you are, you are the backup. You don’t have some intermediate person, and so I think that for you are, you are trying to push for growth, and that’s the thing. You are trying to get this thing going. And I think that that is an appropriate thing to do. And until you get some traction with staff members, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Pricing Strategy and Profitability

Stephanie: The only thing I would potentially suggest is, I think you can push pricing. I really do, because if you are booked out, and staffing is a struggle right now, and you have, you know, you have this finite amount of openings, increase prices, lower the number of people that are saying yes, but you’re getting more money out of them. Because what are you right now? Because you charge, wait, are you charging hourly? Remind me, did you switch to hourly?

Zaila: Somewhat? Yes, I still have some flat raters, but we are, we’ve been moving into hourly. Yes, so I thought that I could just start doing that, because a lot of prices would go up if you just cut it to hourly. I think now is the time, because we have talked about that before, and I’m just a little scared. You know, I don’t want to lose everyone at this point. I need to lose some baggage, so, but yes, we’re around $50 an hour. I know you have looked at my estimate helper, and I don’t charge a certain amount. It all calculates itself together. So it’s hard for me to answer how much we actually charge an hour, but it’s around that.

Stephanie: Around that yeah, so you may want to even just it’s kind of an experiment of where is the tipping point and this is where, obviously, tracking comes into place of how many people are, you know, how many leads do you have coming in every week? How many are saying yes, on average? And so if it’s, you know, 10 leads a week, and six of them are saying yes, well, can we up it $10 a cleaning? And will five still say yes, you know? And where the math is still working out and just really seeing where that breaking point is for people when it’s like, okay, not enough people are saying yes.

And there’s a lot of levers to pull when it comes to that, but we have had to do that multiple times not for us. Price increases have often times been triggered by staffing. Is fucking blowing right now, we’re having a really hard time staffing. And so if we don’t have more openings, we need to make more money out of the openings that we do have, and that’s got to be your mentality. If you’re struggling with staffing, and especially if you’re cleaning, might as well, you know, make what you can make, right? And you’re putting more in your pocket, right?

Learning from Pricing Mistakes

Stephanie: So it’s not a bad thing. And I think it’s I am so envious of you, of you are starting out, and you’re at around $50 an hour. I started, you know, and it was starting at $30 an hour and having to build up to that price over time, over, you know, literally years, years of creeping up to that price. So I’m glad that you got to the chase and charge what the going rate is, which is, yeah, $50 an hour.

Zaila: You had told me that because I wasn’t charging correct. And you said, Okay, no, but if you you may not remember this. But I also was charging for man hours. I did not understand that I was charging one man hour for two cleaners for a year.

Stephanie: I remember that when we figured that out, and that was such a good learning point of, you know, you would say, oh, it takes four hours, and you’re charging for four hours, or, you know, the flat rate, but actually it was eight man hours. It was two cleaners for four clock hours. And so this is why I hammer home to people that, because it’s such an easy mistake to make, and even even clients get confused, to the point I literally have a diagram of stick people explaining what man hours mean in our in our client guidelines, because it’s such a confusing term to some people, the whole labor hours thing. So even just that, I’m sure your guys’s profitability skyrocketed, making sure that you’re charging enough.

Zaila: Basically yes, and I was also charging for initial cleans, they were around $300 which is insane. Now they’re between five and $700 because that’s just where it needs to be. So that was a huge change. Honestly, that’s something important to talk about, because those small realizations can really do something huge for you and your business. And I have had so many of them.

Stephanie: What you’re touching on right now, I think, is one of the biggest lessons for every single person to learn, is that you only learn by doing and then adjusting, because we can all analyze and try to make everything as perfect as possible before we jump in. But the biggest lessons, and it’s going to be just doing the thing and then making adjustments, because you and I have both made about a million mistakes, and then we learn from them, right? And the biggest thing is the whole learning and adjusting. Don’t just keep doing the same thing. But I remember we had talked and, yeah, you were talking about move out cleans and initial cleans. And it was kind of, I, in my opinion, it was a fear of saying a big number that was holding you back from pricing these appropriately, you know. And I mean, people are saying yes, when you’re doubling the price, it sounds like, right?

Zaila: Yeah, of course. But looking back, well now there’s no way I do an initial clean for less than four or 500 for sure.

Stephanie: Yeah, absolutely.

Equipment and Supply Issues

Stephanie: So what other what other questions you have? I know you said you had a list, so let’s go through them.

Zaila: Okay, and I add to this list monthly, and it just, oh, my first the oven pads. You guys use the green scour pads. Don’t you for ovens. So I think that we use the same ones, and we scratched an oven with those pads, inside of the oven, not the glass the oven, really, yes, and the client wasn’t mad or anything. But I could not believe it. We’ve used these pads for years, and I just, I could not believe that we did. She said, maybe it’s because it’s a newer oven. So I wanted to, for one, let you know that. And for me, if you guys already knew that, and we’re using something different, because that’s our go to.

Stephanie: Yeah, no, us too. And I’m wondering if it wasn’t wet enough or something. Because, yeah, we’ve never had an issue. With the Yeah, the more abrasive green scrubbing pads. We exclusively only use those on gas oven grates where it’s cast iron, and then also the interiors of oven. So I wonder if it was newer, anybody, you know, shout out in the comments. If you guys have had any issues with that, I would just, I guess going forward, switch to the blue non scratch scrubbing pads are less abrasive. But that’s where scrapers come in. That’s where pumice stones come into place again. Having it wet is going to be helpful. And then going in with steel wool Bar Keepers, friend, all of those kind of we got. I feel like you sometimes have to throw the kitchen sink at ovens. I literally just go through the gamut of let it soak for as long as possible. So if you have an oven you get in there, you spray that immediately when you get in the house, and then let it soak as long as you possibly can. That is feasible, ideally, two hours. I want that thing soaking for at least two hours, which especially if it’s a move out, which usually that’s where ovens are done. You know, we instruct our cleaners to start in the kitchen, but what we do is just make sure that you leave the sink for last and leave the oven for last. So do everything else? Do all the cabinets, do the fridge, every other you know that’s going to take you at least two hours and then get to the oven, leaving the, obviously, the the sink. So you can use the sink to clean with and, you know, get all the first layer of sludge, scrape anything you can off with the scraper. And then going in with Bar Keepers, friend, the scrubby sponges, pumice stones to get the baked on chunks, basically. And then, you know, fine, clean it with the steel wool once you you know, just keep cleaning out that sludge and debris and then shining it up nicely. But I’m really surprised that that happened, because, yeah, we have never had we’ve never scratched the inside of an oven, and we do them all the time. So I’m sorry that that happened.

The Oven Incident Details

Zaila: Luckily, the client was not mad, but the scratches were definitely from us, because it was a brand new oven. So I just wanted to touch base on that, because I’m still in shock. I’ll probably always be in shock.

Stephanie: Yeah, I’m glad you let us know. I’m gonna, actually, I’m gonna talk to my managers about this after we jump off this call, because I want to make sure that we are good to go. You happen to know, the brand or anything? Did it, I guess. Did it look like a normal oven to you?

Zaila: I have a picture of it I can email you, um, but it wasn’t. It was a normal oven, um, she just said it was a newer oven. It was brand new. So I’m assuming it’s just a newer oven, but the inside of it, it all looked how any other oven looks, yeah, because we know not to touch the glass with those pads. Made that mistake before too, for sure, but yeah, the bottom of it, and we did go pretty hard on it, I will say that, because there is a lot of times where we can’t get an oven fully clean, especially the bottom, there’s always staining that one we were able to get completely off. So maybe we’ve just never went as hard as we did on the other finish off, almost.

Stephanie: Yeah, so something to be cognizant of, but I’m glad you brought it up, and I’m happy the client wasn’t upset, because, yeah, that’s never any fun when we when we destroy something that would be expensive. So, yeah, absolutely okay.

Initial Clean Pricing Challenges

Zaila: I want to talk to you about an initial price, actually. So my first time ever that it has been communicated, I had a client who was hoping to be a bi weekly not close with me because of the initial clean price. And I have, again, I’ve never heard that before. I’ve always wondered, because it is a $700 price. Right off the bat, I did offer her some payment methods though, we do have a down payment, so that’s part of it. And then I told her we could pay she could pay it off within two, two payments, two different weeks. What is your take on that? Have you ever done a payment process? Think that it was going to be a bi weekly client, though. So we want that, because she liked that price.

Stephanie: Okay, I got it. So yeah, she it’s just that initial clean price is that that’s so funny. I just saw an email come through of an estimate that we did, and we did a follow up, and they’re like, you know, I’m sure your prices are reasonable. I just can’t do the five to $700 initial clean so our rebuttal to that is always offering the limited hour agreement, what is the budget for the first time? And then basically, we’re just going to do chunks of the home until it’s all up to snuff. Each visit, we’re just doing a partial clean of the home up until we meet their budget, and that allows us to get in the door and show them our services. Because something is better than nothing. So you know, if it’s going to take 10 man hours to get that initial clean done, and for them, the budget is really around that, that four hour mark, okay, we’ll do four hours get, you know, about half the house done two weeks, two weeks later, get the other half, and then we can just maintain it from there. So it’s going to take you a month to get it all up to snuff, but you got them in the rotation, as opposed to not getting them at all.

Payment Plan Considerations

Stephanie: I’m not, I mean, payment plans. I’ve never even thought about offering that. I guess, I would be hesitant. I guess if I had a card on file, maybe I would consider it.

Zaila: Yeah, I’m not sure. I’m not sure. I guess you could try it. If you get burned, don’t do it again. But works. I wouldn’t be opposed to it. It wouldn’t be it would be two payments. That’s, I wouldn’t do, you know, a 12 month payment plan or something like that. Really, I kind of just came up with it when I was emailing her, because I was trying to, she said she needed time to just think on it, because I had already let her know. We can split this clean up. We can do two different cleans, and then, once again, the deposit is a payment in itself, we can easily pay this. But to make more sense for my schedule, honestly, I would rather almost just do the clean and then have her pay the balance within two different weeks.

Stephanie: Yeah, but it was, would have been good for me to explain to her that it would be, honestly, a month before we could even get her in for the full big clean. We could probably get the two cleans done within the next month. Does that make sense?

Zaila: Yep, exactly. Yep. I know exactly what you mean. Because, yeah, an initial clean, it’s very hard to get in. You know, that’s the hard part. Is when you have availability, but you have, yeah, four to six hours. You don’t have that big chunk of time. So, and even, when I first started, the only way I could do initial cleans was because I was the only cleaner. I did them over several days or evenings, really, and or whatever, and just, you know, got it done, and then when went into maintenance mode from there. So I think you could have multiple options with her, wait and see what she says and then go from there. But yeah, I wouldn’t be opposed, especially, again, make sure you have a card on file. Make sure you get that down payment to just cover your ass. But other than that, if, if you’re pretty confident in her, going to a reoccurring then, yeah, I wouldn’t be opposed to it, honestly, but yeah, with, I guess, our, our go to behavior when people say that first one’s out of budget is we just do a limited hour, and the response is, well, what is the budget? Let’s work with that. Let’s, let’s get a chunk of the house done and then do the next chunk, and then it’s up to snuff. We’re good to go. Or, you know, break it up however it needs to be. So you do have a couple options there, so I’m curious to hear what she says for sure.

Zaila: Yes, I’m me as well.

Payment Processing Systems

Zaila: That brings me into my next question. So we have been doing Venmo Zelle check Cash App. That’s when we’ve been getting our payments, because it’s free pretty much and deeper. So I was wanting to work my way into square because managing all of those payments coming through all these different payment apps, sometimes I can’t hit payroll when I need to, because of the fact that I’m waiting on all these transfers. It was just too much. And we don’t really have an invoice system. So I looked at the square. It’s expensive. The credit card fees are, I don’t even know if it would be worth it at this point. So what is your take on that?

Stephanie: So if you want to be a big, grown up business, you need to use a payment processor. And I think that being an individual cleaner, and, you know, accepting different forms of payment all over the place is fine, but you are going to have a hell of a time because of exactly what you said, managing all of these payments, and just the chaos of it. It’s just they’re paying this way, they’re paying this way, paying people. And yeah, it you will greatly enjoy and it is much more scalable for you to just, we invoice here, and they can pay with any card they like, or even bank, you know, bank transfer. They can pay with square, I believe, at least, you know that’s that’s typical, no matter what any payment processor is going to be between three and 3.5% and that is a cost of doing business. At $50 an hour, you can afford it. It is a cost of doing business. And so, yeah, we pay over $20,000 a year in credit card payment processing. And we you pay one way. You can either, well, you can pay in check, or you pay card, or card on file, whatever. But it’s, you know, for us, we’re through QuickBooks Online, I would suggest just go with square, and it integrates with ZenMaid really beautifully. So just go with square, then you’ll be able to do your invoicing right through ZenMaid as well. So that will be a lot easier for you to manage, because you’ll be able to see which customers have paid right in ZenMaid. So it’s super duper convenient in that way. So yeah, I think this is a suck it up and pay it kind of thing. And I know, it seems like a lot, but you won’t, what’s, you know, what’s your monthly revenue right now? Do you know, on average?

Zaila: Around between 12 and 14,000 so we’re talking, I don’t know what the math is on that, but you know what, less than $1,000 a month or definitely less. I can’t do math at all. That’s totally wrong. But, it’s a small amount, a couple $100 I believe. So it is definitely worth it. And your customers will appreciate the professionalism of your invoicing, and you will appreciate the just have one place to go. This, is it okay? And from just from a tax perspective, your bookkeeping, it has got to be a night, I’m assuming the bookkeeping is a bitch, or it is perhaps not happening with with all of these payment processors. Hashtag, no judgment. We listen and we don’t, but I’m Judging You shit together and just get a payment processor.

Bookkeeping Reality Check

Zaila: Gotcha, you would think, after how many times I’ve been burned by the IRS, that I would learn so I am learning this year, we’re getting a bookkeeper. Okay, I’m trying to find that. And what do you guys use? You don’t use square. You use QuickBooks.

Stephanie: Yeah, we use QuickBooks Online. We will be eventually transitioning to square, but our boat is a lot. You know, it takes a lot longer for us to shift, just because it integrates with ZenMaid Specifically, I know stripe does as well, and I know a lot of people like Stripe, but we did some research and we’re going to go the square route. I think it’s better for us. So I think they’re probably a horse a piece, but yeah, would would suggest square.

Zaila: Gotcha. And have you looked at the invoices for ZenMaid, the invoices that they have?

Stephanie: Yeah, apparently they’re getting a new look sometime this year. It says, I wasn’t a fan of how they looked. I couldn’t figure out how to add my logo, though, but so you guys don’t use those.

Stephanie: Nope. Not yet. They are, yeah, what you said, They’re, totally revamping the look of the invoices. Another thing with the payments is they are, and I don’t know when this one is launching or this, this podcast is going live, but they are launching this tips feature to basically collect more tips for yours. And it’s going to be super duper nifty. But the only way that works is if you accept payment through them, basically. So it’s going to actually, incentivize and automatically, text your clients and ask them for tips. And so it’s, it’s going to, increase your cleaners tips, so that’ll be really nice. So yes, their Invoicing is getting a new look as well.

Zaila: Okay, yeah, I love ZenMaid, I know. And I love how much they just constantly are changing and growing and learning.

Stephanie: I know. I know. It really is amazing. And just, they, just all of the features that are coming out are freaking incredible and are so specific to us. This is where the cleaning industry, this is very even, checklists and everything. Have you started using the digital checklist? I’m curious, or are you still there?

Digital Tools and Checklists

Zaila: I haven’t, so we don’t do paper the digital ones. Do you mean to send a client or for the girls, for the girls to, check off things on their appointments?

Stephanie: That might help. I mean, I don’t know if you’re having any consistency issues, but it may. I think it would be really useful, just especially with the newbies, of what is expected of me to, assign the checklist to the appointment, and then they can just check it off in their app. And actually, the checklist that we use, those serene, clean templates, they’re in the checklist hub under just as I was very happy to see that, because it’s my checklist pretty much, there you go. So you could totally, especially, you know, that might be really useful for newbies, everybody, but where you just want to make sure. And then they can leave notes on each task line of, Hey, I didn’t do this. And then you have that explanation as to why if a client does come back, of, well, they didn’t do the bathroom because your husband was taking a shit in it. So, and you have that information.

Zaila: Okay, good to know. Yeah, we haven’t. I started out with wanting to do the checklist that we leave at each clean or so. Are you not doing the paper ones anymore? Still?

Stephanie: Are doing the paper ones for us? I’m married to that, and so I’ve made that clear to me, and I’m, I need something that can go to the clients. But I think for your size especially, it’s more an internal thing, for consistency and really, just establishing that, considering staffing is current, the current issue kind of thing, I would say, and just the training and all of that, it’s a really good training tool. But, yeah, I’ve made it clear that the next iteration of the checklist, I want to basically send, a PDF to the client, but until that point, we are going to continue to do paper checklist.

Zaila: Gotcha my next question. So I have a client who it’s actually kind of weird. So it’s my neighbor. They saw me loading supplies in my car, and I honestly hate that. I did not want a client that lives right across the street from me. Can hear me yell at my kids, can see my life? No. So I almost said no, and I almost wish that I would have, because we I did a walk through of it is apartment, and all was going well. He wanted to clean. We were gonna get it done. But the only thing that he didn’t like, he didn’t understand my pricing, because I charge was charging hourly for an initial clean, and then I charged $44 for the oven. And is that your price for your oven still?

Pricing Confusion and Neighbor Clients

Stephanie: Well, we just charge, whatever the time it takes. We don’t do an up charge or anything. So I know other companies are other ways, but if you charge flat rate, yes, you need to charge, obviously, a finite amount. But for us, we just tell them, ovens typically take about an hour to clean, so whatever time it takes is what we’re going to charge. So for you, knowing, so does he want the oven on the initial or the maintenance clean the initial?

Zaila: Okay, got it. That’s where the confusion is. Because for you, the price would more so be on the maintenance clean, because that’s flat rate, where, if you’re charging hourly on the first one, that means that the time it takes to the oven is you’re going to be charging and then an additional up charge, which, you know, you do you Yeah, totally fine. But by that so it confused me too. It was one of those situations where I was like, huh, I don’t know why it’s like that. The My problem is, is that I’ve implemented so many new things from you, specifically our going hourly, but I’m not fully implementing them. So then I run into shit like this, where it just doesn’t make sense. I literally didn’t know what to say to him, um, but yeah, I was just charging $44 for an oven, and then the rest of it was just hourly. So yes, I will, for sure, be, you know, not charging specific, however, we didn’t get the clean I didn’t necessarily argue, though, again, I didn’t want to do it. So, whatever.

Stephanie: But, well, yeah, because I think, what if? What if shit goes south and he lives across, you know, your street, I just my windows are open right now, and it’s just not that guy’s a shit bag. He sounds terrible.

Zaila: He was nice. He just did not understand that specific thing. And I was like, Wow, is that really why you’re not gonna go through with this.

Clarifying Pricing Structure

Stephanie: Okay, now for you to understanding, because that was actually something in the beginning I thought of, Oh, I’m gonna charge an up, charge for an oven or fridge or whatever. But when you’re charging hourly, that doesn’t really make sense, you can’t, but if you’re charging flat rate, you absolutely need to, right? So it just you have to, really, and that’s where a lot of people are doing the hybrid method, which is charging hourly for the initial and then going to flat rate for the maintenance cleans, which I think is, in my opinion, one of the ideal. I mean, obviously I charge across the board, but if I could snap my fingers and change it, I think that that’s the most profitable. But that’s where for you, you have two rules that means of, if they have on the initial clean or move outs, do you do flat rate?

Zaila: No. Okay, so grow outs are hourly too. That means that, for both move outs and initial cleans, you do not charge an off. Charge for ovens, you just charge time that it takes. But then on maintenance cleans, if they add on an oven, there is an up charge. So just being, really clear on what that looks like. So some of my a lot of my current, reoccurring cleans, they are where their price needs to be, because I’ve learned finally. But there are some that I also just charge hourly, because what they want is so confusing. So the area in their home changes each time. That’s way too hard for me to try and price, so I just tell them, Okay, we’ll just do hourly, or they just buy seven or eight hours each clean. We make it work with whatever they want. So going back and forth between flat rate and hourly, I don’t know if we’ll ever just stick to one of them, but charging hourly for the initial cleans and the move out. I didn’t start doing that at first because I was scared, but eventually I got burned. So many times you have to charge hourly for those types of things.

Stephanie: For sure. You know, I have talked to folks who they’ve figured out the whole how to their formula for pricing, basically initial cleans on a flat rate. And basically they just massively, have a huge I guess, I don’t want to say overcharging, but they just if somebody rates it like a five or dirtier, sight unseen, they add 200 bucks just to cover their asses. And so I think that that can work, but it’s just so much simpler at this point to charge hourly on that and that way, if it is, you know, something is taking longer, and you know you have a reasonable explanation, it’s, well, we just charge for more time. And I am glad that you highlighted that, you know, you do have clients who do the kind of rotation of tasks we have. That’s it’s just we have regular clients, a ton of them who are on that limited hour cleaning every single visit. Meaning we don’t clean the house every single time. And it gets challenging when you’re charging flat rate to rotate tasks. Because, you said, it’s, well, different you know, different rooms take different times. Or, what if they want something, you know, it just makes it complicated, where it’s, you’re paying for three hours. What’s the priority list? Today, we’ll do as much as we can, and boom, it’s just, it’s very simple. And I’m sure, you know, people would argue, oh, there’s profit, more profitable ways. But sometimes Keep It Simple Stupid.

Zaila: For sure, it’s such a headache to try and sit there calculate all of that. No way. So, yeah, you gotta avoid that at all costs.

The Vacuum Incident

Zaila: Okay, oh, I wanted to touch base with you on the whole vacuum situation. This is a perfect Do it. Do you remember the girl I hired? An 18 year old, a fresh 18 year old. This is a sneaky vacuum thing. Right, yes, don’t hire 18 year olds. Legally. That is a joke. Do not discriminate on age. It’s a lot of responsibility, you could say.

So she had started out kind of good, but there was some 18 year old attitude there. I kind of looked past it, the vacuum. I ended up I did charge her for the vacuum. And if you do, you want to know why, because she never returned the shirt, so I technically didn’t have to pay her what I owed her. Anyways, of course she did, backfire with, Okay, well, my lawyer said, You can’t do that. And I said, Well, give him my email or my number, and lawyer so that vacuum, actually, I just threw it away. I was using it for an as needed at my home for whatever reason. But I got a new filter. I washed the entire thing. The smell did not come out.

Stephanie: Was it cigarette or weed smell? What was it

Zaila: animal? I don’t know it was it was bad enough that, we had to open the windows after we used it here, and it just, I bought all new filters, and still it did not work. I don’t know what she did. I don’t know if she lived on a farm. What happened? She was cleaning the bathroom with it, why does this thing stink so badly?

Stephanie: Yeah, it was stressful because you had told me to bite the cost of the filter, which was fine. I planned on doing that. Anyways, my thing was just the whole vacuum, and then, of course, the shirts that never came back to me, which I didn’t care at that point. However, I wanted to bring this up, mostly because I changed some things on our agreement, because I was gonna, I can’t remember, did you get the return turn of company, property policy?

Zaila: Okay, cool. I was, I think you have, are you having them sign it when you okay? So you are absolutely covered. Her lawyer would not hurt her. Non existent lawyer would not have shit on you because they are signing to agree to return their stuff.

Return of Company Property Policy

Stephanie: Yeah, for sure. So there were some things that I wanted to talk to you about on that agreement, actually. So it has, it says on there that if, when you return the supplies, you will get your payment in check. Mine had actually said that, and technically I was wrong because I didn’t, I guess I shouldn’t say anymore, but I didn’t do the whole check method, because I had to check the supplies. And the supplies, actually it took me a couple days to check them all, because I had to let the vacuum dry and try to save it. So my thing now I had to add to it, was that I need to be given time to assess these supplies, to make sure that they’re even in good condition, versus them just handing us the supplies, and then they get their check and they’re on their way. I’m happy that I didn’t do that. I’m happy that I kept the payroll, the money until for one it was even due to her, because I don’t give up to them right away. I wait until the next pay payroll day, but I had to assess and she was very mad. Harassed me for hours about sending the money. However, I knew that I needed to make sure that that vacuum was good beforehand.

Stephanie: So being that it was before payroll was due, meaning when she would normally be paid out, even if they give their notice, I think you are totally in the clear. So say payday is Friday, and you know, her last day was on Tuesday. Well, you have until Friday to pay her. You don’t have to pay them out, that day. It’s, it’s when the next payroll. I think if that same situation happened, and it was the Friday, she would normally get paid, that’s where you could get into funny business, because then you are, holding a check. So I think that that most likely situation will not happen as for assessing for working condition. Supplies need to be returned in working condition in order to I’m not sure on that, because, I’m not, you know, I don’t know what we have. Do we have anything in that policy about the condition of the supplies, or the shirts, or anything like that. Actually, you bring up a potential blind spot, because I could see, we have a pissed off employee, they completely, shred or throw bleach on all of their supplies, right? Or their shirts and destroy them. That’s a really good I’m glad you’re bringing this up, because our policy might have a blind spot of, what if they do that, you know, because they’re returning them, you know, as per the agreement, but they’re not in, salvageable material. So I think you have just pointed out a blind spot in our in our policy. So I’m really happy you’re telling this story. So I am not sure on the legality of that I’m going to have to chat GPT it, because that’s exactly what I’m going to do. So I’m really happy you brought this up. And spoiler alert, this is how Stephanie solves all of her problems.

But yeah, that’s a really good point, and I think you did. Do anything wrong, because, you know, yeah, you didn’t do anything wrong. She signed the agreement. It was before the established payday that she would normally get paid. So I think you’re in the clear, because I’m assuming you did. You know you paid her, right?

Zaila: I paid her minus, yeah, because I owed her a check that week, and then she had one coming the following week too. She did not get that one because she did not return the shirts in the first place, and then the vacuum. So it was an easy you’re just not getting paid pretty much and so and so for everybody listening in this basically return of company policy that it’s very important that you have your staff sign this upon hire, or any of your current staff, if you put something into place, and basically what that says is that they are agreeing to return all of their supplies upon their termination or upon their their quitting, and then anything that they don’t return, we put a an estimated dollar amount to that, and it’s going to be taken out of that final paycheck. You cannot legally do that, unless you have a policy in place. So it’s an excellent policy. And I mean, you you will feel the burn enough that you have to put it in place when people don’t return all their shit. So once that happens, you know, one too many times, that’s when you probably feel this. But I would highly encourage you to put something into place now, before that happens, if you haven’t had that happen yet, because, yeah, again, we can’t, we can’t withhold or anything. But if they, if we have it in writing, and it’s because they have not returned it, and for us and for Zaila, it’s we’re going to call the cops on you for theft of services, or, I’m sorry, theft of services, theft of supplies, and that usually solves the problem right quick. So once, once you start the police action, absolutely, and I will say that I have, I think, around $400 that I owe to all different cleaners because they never return the shirts. And that’s not me not telling them that they need to. It’s that I’ve messaged them and said, Hey, make the drive and you can get your payments. And they just don’t. It’s very uncommon for them to return the shirts to me, if I’m being honest, that agreement again fully seals it. And I think that we have it in our handbook too, so I have it in there twice, but I definitely, after the whole issue with that girl, I had to add a whole lot more about they need to be in working condition. They need to be used, able to be used as well. Because the vacuum did work, it just smelled. There was no way in hell that’s going in a client’s home. It had to say, pretty much perfect use condition. You’re able to use it. And then also that you would call the police, because I think that I ran into something where, I just fired a girl today, actually the one that was the one that wasn’t cutting it with time. So it was a sad fire, almost, because we didn’t want to, but I don’t owe her any money, and she has shirts because she hasn’t worked in a week. Plus, yes, that was the other thing. If a client, or if a cleaner doesn’t work for two weeks, say they’re sick, and then you feel like you need to fire them for a reason. They have your supplies and they have your shirts. You have no money to hold over them. You need to make sure that it says that you will call the police in that agreement.

Stephanie: Yep. So just wanted to throw that out there. You’re bringing that up, and it’s such a such these are this very specific examples of you don’t know until you run into it, and so I’m really happy that you brought that up. You need something to basically, hold over their head. Otherwise they’re quitting. They don’t give a shit, or they’re getting fired. They don’t give a shit. They’re not going to return your stuff. And when we’re talking about five, you know, shirts that could, that’s our imperfect condition that they are not going to wear. You can use those for another staff member. We want those back. Because, yeah, add up quick.

Zaila: Oh my gosh, really expensive, especially when they don’t return them. So, yeah. Just saying, yeah. You’re, this is, this is theft. You’re stealing from me, and I can legally call the cops on you and that that makes them act, right? Typically, 98% of the time, for sure.

Legal Documentation and Agreements

Zaila: Yes, um, that brings me into my next question, law depot. Do you know what that is? What is it?

Stephanie: Law depot? It’s a it’s an app, or it’s a website for, legal agreements.

Zaila: Okay, so that’s where I have my cleaner sign a whole bunch of stuff. Most of it did come from you. Those are great. Thank you, lifesavers. But then I have them sign a whole legal document that, honestly, I couldn’t tell you what is all in it. I just know that my mentor, my previous mentor, had us do this, and they had to fill it out. Pretty much ensures that they don’t steal our clients or our employees. I believe I wanted to just ask you, if you knew about that website. I’m trying to make sure that all of my legalities are where they need to be.

Stephanie: Yeah, it’s probably similar to Legal Zoom, I would say where it can kind of just create legal documents for you. So the biggest thing is, as long as there’s nothing in there about a non compete, when it comes, you can have them not be cleaning on the side, that. That is allowed, but you can’t tell them they can’t clean after the fact, meaning, after they’re done being employed with you, you can’t stop them from cleaning their and and if you had anything in there, it would never stand up anyway. So that would be the only caveat. I would say, you can absolutely have something that your that your clients sign, or I would highly recommend everybody having a non solicitation in their client guidelines. Is that what you’re talking about when, Don’t steal my cleaners, and then when it comes to the client, yes, yeah. And then the cleaners, yes, the cleaner is signing saying something. They’re not soliciting your clients to basically work on the side or work around or anything. So all of that is perfectly legal. It’s just you can’t have a non compete, basically, after the fact of them, you know, cleaning for you and and obviously, if you run independent contractors, all of this is null and void. They’re allowed to do whatever they want when it comes to, you know, cleaning, yeah, you know, we run w2 so totally, totally allowed. There

Zaila: Gotcha.

Hiring Former Business Owners

Zaila: Okay. Would you hire someone who is wanting to start their own cleaning business, or has their own cleaning business? You are pretty established. So I’m going to go with, yes, you would. But for me, that kind of makes me wonder, you know, Will I have that whole stealing my client situation?

Stephanie: So you would be wrong. We will never hire a cleaner that has their own because we hire employees, if, if we ran independent contractors, that is what you’re hiring. And there is no problem with that. But honestly, this is going to sound kind of I don’t want anybody who, wants to open their own cleaning company. I know a lot of people have, a wonderful experience of, you know, the way I see it, training your competition. I’ve, you know, I’ve had that happen multiple times where staff members have gone and, you know, open their own cleaning businesses and more power to them.

I don’t know, I want, I want people who are really content working for someone else and, don’t have a super, strong entrepreneurial fire. Because, you know, all of my best staff members, who have been with me for years. They have, you know, they have no interest in opening their own cleaning businesses. And so we have interviewed people who have, you know, have owned their own cleaning businesses in the past and other areas or whatever. It’s never worked out they have just been very ostentatious in what I mean by that, if I’m using that word correctly, is they were pig headed about, well, this is how, you know, I think it should be done, and not that, I don’t think that that’s a wonderful trait to have until, have that feedback, but more so, just they want, we do things in a certain way, and we’re very open to feedback. And you, you don’t get to do you don’t get to climb on top of the counters, because that’s how you did it in your business. Our insurance doesn’t allow that. And literally putting the business at risk, because basically blatant disregard for the way we do things at serene, clean. So there’s a lot of reasons, I guess, yeah. I would not hire somebody who has their own cleaning business if they work at another company. We have done that before where, you know, they work, you know, maybe nights and they want to get into residential we literally are hiring somebody right now that works for a competitor, but only in the evening. So, I’m willing to do that, because most likely we’re going to be able to steal them away, right? Because it’s going to be way better here, and we’re going to get them full hours, so that that gives me no problem, as long as they’re not high up in the company. Because obviously it’s give them all of our trade secrets, any secrets, they literally could just watch my blast. But I don’t want to make it easier on them in our service area. So, you know, that might be a hot take, and I understand people that may be Oh, Stephanie. That’s not a very bountiful abundance mindset. I don’t really care. I’ve had a lot of interviews where they have said, Oh well, I’m just looking to supplement some income because we don’t have enough cleans, but I just am this. Probably I just don’t want to do this. I don’t want to go unless you can pay them more than what they are making by themselves. In their own business, there’s not really an incentive not to steal. And I’m remembering, gosh, who’s who’s interview, did I do that? They I asked, if that happened, but they ran, I see they ran ICs. So it’s not really a problem with ICS, because she was able to pay them just as much. Simone, Simone in in Australia, she runs independent contractors, and they have their own clients on, you know, in their business, and they get clients from her as well, but she’s able to pay them just as much as they would be able to pull in themselves. You can’t do that you can’t do that there. They’re going to make more money in there. So they would be highly incentivized. You’re, you know, they’re in the client’s home, they’re making that relationship. And, you know, they could easily be, hey, I can charge you less than her business, and they would make more so not saying that that would happen. But, I mean, I’m just saying, if I was in their shoes, if I was if I were in their shoes, there’s no why wouldn’t I? Why wouldn’t I try to take your clients, frankly, so we have been using, indeed, more texting wise you had sent me, I’m sure the chat GBT, the list, the update I’m gonna I need to update that. It’s on my list to do. I love it.

Communication and Scheduling Challenges

Zaila: Um, I was letting I was texting client candidates through my messages on my phone, and then my phone was being blown up all the time. It was way too much. Just your personal phone number, girl, you’re gonna get a stalker. What are you doing? We’ve talked about this. I started using, indeed, to do that, and honestly, it’s made it a little bit harder, because I will text them, and then I get and then I forget, and it’s hard because I’ll get an email in two days. It says that they’ve texted me two days prior. So I am working on doing the group interviews. Finally, honestly, I just wasn’t confident enough to be in that type of setting. I do see some benefit with individual interviews, and you do none of those correct.

Stephanie: So we do a second round, or we’re actually implementing that now where the group interview is the filtering process, because if they can’t show up to that, we don’t even want to waste time. And so they, you know, they show up, and we’re doing completely online, digital group interviews. It’s all on Zoom now, so we have switched over to that. And so again, if they can’t even show up to a zoom interview, which two thirds of them cannot, we do not want to even, waste our time trying to schedule an individual and then, if we like them in that then we’re setting up that traditional, you know, second interview, and that’s where we’re going to be asking more actual interview questions, as opposed to the group interview is to sell us and for us to get the vibe from them, and then that second interview is more getting to know This actual candidate. And so I think that that will really, really help you. And even when it comes to I know indeed is is more challenging when it comes to what you’re talking about, they might have an app on the phone. Does indeed have an app.

Zaila: They might they do, okay, so the they you may be able to turn on the notifications for the messages. Otherwise, honestly, what I would do, set yourself a reoccurring, calendar reminder at whatever time every single day to check indeed messages. Don’t have to worry about remembering. If it’s I know I tried to, make get a calendar in with indeed so they could schedule their interviews, electronically. But then it wasn’t. It wasn’t working out. It was only giving them, one time frame at eight in the morning, something. So I just went back to texting them, however, yeah, that has to stop, because I it’s not going anywhere, because I’ll text 10 different people, 10 different interview times. They can’t do that time. And then, yeah, you need, you gotta, yeah, group interviews is gonna literally change your life. And you can offer them a couple times. So we just offer them a couple times, and then it’s just a Zoom meeting link that you just send them, and then you just open the Zoom whoever shows up. And obviously you can do in person as well, and that’s what we did for years. And in person maybe, you know, I, I was so against, doing it all digital for a long time, but now, I’m seeing it, and especially because our service range has expanded so much, asking people who live 45 minutes away in an area that we’re trying to hire to drive for a group interview, that feels really shitty to me. Where, you know where it again, it’s a group interview. So I would much rather, can they show up to the zoom? Do we even like them? And it’s just, it’s just a lot easier. I yeah, so that might be a good, a good solution for you, especially because you don’t have an office or, yeah, you don’t have an office yet.

The Reality of No-Shows

Zaila: So also, which color are you going to pick? I see you’re going to paint your walls. Which one I knew you were going to say something. My partner owns a painting company. This was for someone else for a year. Yeah, that is such a man thing, especially when they own their they do it for a living. It’s just hidden behind the door. That’s funny. I love those colors.

So I had some concerns with doing a group interview too, because it’s one it’s one time a week, or maybe I do twice a week, and it’d be really hard for people to meet that. But zoom interviews, that could be a whole different ballpark. However, no one shows up to interviews here, and I don’t understand because, you know, a lot of people complain about how bad the market it is. But when I have 50 people interested, probably 10, that might be too much. 10 people show up to the interview. Finally get to that point

Stephanie: that is absolutely, totally normal and what is to be expected, and that’s why I just don’t want you wasting your time, for us, I would say, Yeah, on average, if five people a week or whatever, say that they can make it two will make it that is our Do not waste time, you know. And then you know, of the two, maybe you would like one, right? So that’s why it’s just, it is. It’s such a miracle worker for that filtering process. And so I think it’s going to be really great for you. Yeah, offer them two times, you know? And then if you want to make an exception, you can. And again, it’s a zoom, right? And that will make it a little bit more. And the nice thing is, you can always tweak it. If you’re, you know what? This is not working out? Well, let me go back to in person and try in person group interviews. Then that’s great. And for us, another thing too is if they can’t figure out how to use Zoom, they’re going to be expected to use ZenMaid, which is the easiest app ever to use. But if they can’t figure out how to do log into a Zoom meeting, we give them instructions. They have Google they’re not going to be able to problem solve here. They need to be able to use technology they’re going to use Google Maps. They’re going to have to use for us, our payroll software, and all of these things are pretty darn easy to use. But if you can’t even troubleshoot how to, log into a zoom my grandma could do that. So you’re just, you’re not a good problem solver. So that in itself, is kind of a filtering process of, Are you a problem solver? You know?

Zaila: Yeah, I like that, because I’ve had a lot I’ve had two cleaners that I’ve hired that I’ve had a hard time unlocking doors. Yeah, you would think that this is why am I even saying this? It’s such a small problem. It’s not. I mean, my partner or I have had to leave whatever we’re doing to unlock a door 30 minutes away for a cleaner multiple occasions, just problem solving that. I’ve just thought, wow, that’s this isn’t going to work out.

Stephanie: Yeah. And then, you know, kind of going back to your very first question of the traits, being able to problem solve and pivot, if you will, pivot is such an important trait in our cleaners because, and that’s something we try to teach them as well. Of even, what do you do in a lockout? And we have these, you know, this procedure that they need to try to solve the problem before contacting the office, right? And say, These are the things that I’ve done to try to solve this, because otherwise they’re just going to reach out to us, and then we’re going to do those same things that they were going to do, and they’re just sitting there a silly duck, right? And so we need them to do the first three steps before they reach out to us. So this is kind of the same thing with, yeah, door locking. Of yeah, we’ve had that too, where, you know, and, and rightfully so, we’ve had some tricky locks before, where, or, you know, where, the the battery has died on the, the coated lock, or whatever, that has absolutely happened, but I know exactly what you’re talking about.

Overtime Communication Protocols

Zaila: Yeah. So we have been struggling with the whole limited, not limited hour, I guess, whenever we go overtime on an initial clean, how does that get communicated? Does the does the cleaner call the managers? Do they talk to the client? How does that work?

Stephanie: So it just, it depends if the client is home or not. So the biggest thing is, when it comes to not pissing off a client, when it with this situation, is at what time in the cleaning are we establishing that we don’t have enough time? We did not estimate enough time for whatever reason, and most likely, you know, hopefully, the situation is it’s dirtier than a typical clean, right? Production audits and things like that. So what we instruct our cleaners to do is they do the kitchen and the bathrooms first, and then they must stop and pause and say, Do I think I have enough time? Whether that be talking with their teammate, how are you doing? Where are we at? Okay, are we? We should be. They should be roughly, halfway through the clean is ideally, the goal, because then all of the, you know, all of the dry rooms are left, basically, and so if that is not the case, and they’re, well, we need, we need more time they are to instruct us, and then we take care of the communication with the client. And that is so that they can keep cleaning and working and not having to, deal with all of this, back and forth with the client. So this is an instance of, we want to handle that part. The only instance where that would not be the case is if the client is home, because then it’s, you know, the cleaner can go explain the situation, you know, describe we’re and and the biggest thing is, the cleaner needs to provide, an estimated amount of time. You can’t just be, I need more time. We need to be, how much are you thinking? And they’re, Well, I think we’ll need an extra hour or two man hours or whatever. And if you’re any farther off than that, you need to look at your your production rate audits, because it’s, something’s wrong here or this house is way worse than typical.

And if that’s the case, the client knows it, right? So, and your cleaners, at that point, you know, they do that initial walk through, they should let you know, this is, this is way, way dirtier than than our typical initial cleans, because obviously, first time cleanser, they’re just going to take a long time. So this, this helps avoid pissing off the client. And then at that halfway point, and you, you know, you communicate I think we need two more man hours. Would you like to add that on? If that’s even possible today, right? It might not be possible today, because what if they’re already scheduled for a full eight hour day, and it’s still going to need more time? Well, then what? What rooms we do not have more manpower to throw it at. And you might, you might have another cleaner or yourself who’s willing to come and and help finish the job. That’s a great solution as well. But basically, we give the client, you know, two choices. One, do you want to add more time, or do you approve the additional time? Or two, what rooms would are the lowest priority? What would you these are the rooms that are left. What are the highest priorities? And we will work through as much as we can in the current approved amount of time. And again, that’s the beauty of charging hourly on that initial clean because this is the reality of the situation. Sometimes you do not have enough time scheduled. So with a flat rate price, you’re having a very unhappy client because you gave him a price, and that price was, guaranteed to get the job done, and now you’re not getting the job done, and you have, you don’t have any more time in the schedule, you don’t have any more availability, and now you’re it just feels hourly. Feels better in that situation, I find, than being, Well, I told you 300 but it’s actually going to be 500 or whatever. That feels shit, where it’s more, we need two more man hours, and this is why, and blah, blah, blah, even though it’s the same thing, right? The price might be the exact same situation, but psychologically it feels totally different to the client.

Documentation and Follow-up

Stephanie: Yeah. So just, it’s really on as quick as communication as possible, and for you to explain what it is. And then for us, we we do this, you know, ideally over the phone with the client or over text or what. However, we can get a hold of them, and then we actually follow up with an email confirmation of that conversation, saying, as discussed, this is what’s happening. Blah, blah, blah, because we have had, you know, we’ve had situations where, you know, whether it be the spouse or whatever it things get lost in translation, or they say, you know, they try to basically BS and say, Well, I didn’t, you know, say that or whatever. So we, we just paper trail it, we follow it up with an email, and then there’s no question at all, basically. So does that? Does that all make sense?

Zaila: Yeah. So do they respond to the email? Do they have to sign something?

Stephanie: No, they don’t have to sign it. I don’t think I’m pretty Yeah, they don’t have to sign or approve that. It’s more just letting them know. And for us, our calls are recorded too. So if we really have, you know, pull pull it all out. You know, this is what you said. I heard that somewhere in another podcast of yours. I’m gonna write that down because I didn’t so you record that smart to record the calls. Luckily, we’ve never ish, I want to say, normally, a lot of our clients are super honest, trustworthy people, but I don’t want to always expect that. Think of it insurance. You know what? I mean, it’s they’re all great till they’re not. And so I think that one of the ways you can protect yourself is both in call recordings as well as a paper trail of documentation, and then obviously having them sign things the client agreements.

But yeah, this is all just insurance policies to protect your ass, basically because, yeah, they’re great till they’re not. And it’s really, really satisfying when you pull out the you know. Well, let me check the recording actually and then, and just make sure, in Wisconsin, it is a one way state, meaning, I believe we don’t have to notify them that the call is recording. Check your state laws before you put a call recording in place, that you have to say, verbally or on your answering thing, you know calls will be recorded, blah, blah, blah for quality assurance. That’s true, but also it’s because legally, they have to let you know that this call is being recorded. And honestly, it’s not a bad thing to let them know, because then they they behave more, yeah, and they know.

Client Information Management

Zaila: Okay. How do cleaners know what areas to clean in a home. So I do a walk through of most homes. We’re slowly getting out of that and becoming more confident in the prices online. But typically I go walk through the whole home. I’m writing down all of these areas, closets that they want touched, closets that they don’t want touched. So how do your cleaners know what to clean in every single home?

Stephanie: This is a great question, actually. So on our intake process, we assume that all rooms of the home will be cleaned. On our intake form, on our booking form, zenid booking form on the website, it says, Are there any areas of the home that should not be cleaned? And so then we just add those notes to the. The client notes in ZenMaid, and then there you go. So the cleaners, know, do everything except those, because that’s much easier than listing out do all of these spaces. The assumption is Whole Home, unless otherwise stated. Basically, that’s just so much simpler.

Zaila: Okay, gotcha. Because we, I know ZenMaid has, an option to where you can put how many bedrooms, bathrooms, I just put it straight in the notes how to get into the home. So are you knocking Are you walking in? Is there a code, a key? Do they have pets? And then all of the areas, and it’s a lot, but if my cleaners it, because they know what to expect in each area, however, I know that you guys don’t walk through homes, and I don’t think that your booking Link has an option to list each and every single area.

Custom Statuses and Organization

Stephanie: And so this is another thing that we’ve, you know, asked added to our booking form is, how many levels of the home at what is the house, as well as, do they have a finished basement? Because that was a big problem for us, of, because obviously, in the north we’ve got basements. And so we’d go in and, you know, sight unseen, not realizing that there was a finished basement. Some of those basements literally had a whole nother kitchen, right? So that’s another thing I think for you that will be really useful. And I think a lot of people don’t utilize the custom statuses enough in ZenMaid, yeah, go in and, make the custom statuses. So for example, is there a finished basement? Yes, no. It, you know, how to enter the home, that type of stuff. So it looks a lot better than all of the notes being there’s just so many notes, because that can get really overwhelming, and the cleaners can miss things. We to do, anything standard, any of these standard questions that you’re asking the client, or any of this information that you’re compiling make a custom status, and that way you can just make it looks a lot cleaner, you know what I mean? Because then it’s listed in a different section. So that’s something that we to do. And then, yeah, I think it’ll be a lot more helpful for, your cleaners, you know, I understand if it’s, oh, you know, every house could have an office or whatever. So I get that, but it’s more so, you know, you have this much time approved. It’s approved for 10 man hours. You’re expected to get the whole home done. I know it’s it does, knowing if there’s an office, is that going to make it a big difference? Right? knowing bedroom bathrooms is important, knowing number of kitchens is a big deal. And that sounds crazy, I know, but there’s some houses that have, you know, downstairs bars or whole other kitchens, we experience that. So that could be a question that you ask as well, just so that they have, what is the most time consuming things are the most pertinent things is, is there a finished basement? Is there another kitchen? How many bedrooms? How many bathrooms? Where does the garbage go? You know, where’s the location of the garbage bags? Where is there a toilet brush in every bathroom? For us, we’ve made it if there’s not a toilet brush in every bathroom, we will not clean the inside of that toilet. And all of a sudden they just do everything.

Zaila: Yeah, we got tired of cleaning or, you know, carrying dirty toilet brushes throughout the house, it’s just disgusting, right? they if they can afford a house cleaner, they can afford a $5 toilet brush, and stick it next to the Yeah, that’s made a big difference. So yeah, I think utilizing the notes in a in a more concise manner, I think your cleaners will will be all right, as long as you are covering the important things. So are all of your notes for your houses, or is it all standard? So, I just said, we have, how do we get into the home, pets, things that. It’s all it’s an for every single house. Are you also able to send me, an example of what your notes look?

Stephanie: Okay? Great, absolutely. Let me just read it off for the people. Because, yes, absolutely, we literally, have a template for our notes that every single client, the notes are exactly the same. And I don’t mean literally, but the what will be included in the notes. So let me just pull up an appointment real quick, real quick, and I will read it off. So okay, so for us, the work items will be, you know, standard cleaning, or, a deep cleaning, whatever, if they’re going to add an oven or any of our other add ons. So this is our standard notes template, so directions to home, and that’s going to be following the GPS or any other identifying markers. So in our intake process, we ask the client, is there anything specific about finding your home? Because for us, being such a rural area, sometimes it’s very difficult to find houses, and the GPS will literally, throw you completely off, or it’s a dead zone, or whatever. So we want to make sure that the the cleaners are able to find it. And we literally are asking our clients to provide a photo of their home, whenever possible, and we just attach it to the notes that the cleaner can visually confirm. This is the right house. We then have the next one, which is frequency of cleans. This is for the cleaners that this is just useful to them, especially when it’s a sporadic one. obviously, if it’s bi weekly or a regular thing that’s going to show but this is just useful for the cleaners to know, what is typical and then special cleaning instructions. So for example. All that could be anything. Now this is where, there’s a huge variety. So for example, this particular client says the cat will likely be locked in the computer slash office room as he tries to get out. And she doesn’t want you guys to have to deal with that. And then, in all caps, use her vacuum exclamation point. And then she has stainless steel cleaner for appliances, no cleaning of storage room upstairs. So those are, that’s several examples of just random stuff that’s very important to this client. And then this, this client is a, a limited hour clean and so priority list of rooms provided. So, three bedrooms, one and a half baths, small family room, dining room, kitchen, living room. And that says, I have a two story home with a carpeted open staircase upstairs and downstairs hallways are both carpeted, front entryway with tile floor. So just you know, this client’s been with us for years. So just some, you know, overarching information about the home, but that’s actually a lot of notes. You know, for that, I know that client is fairly particular, but that’s a perfect example of the information that we’re going to provide. So really, that that special cleaning instructions, that’s where, every single time that that client says, anything, that’s where it goes, you know, of, this is very important to me, or whatever, or, you know, she it’s very important we use her vacuum, right? That’s unusual because typically, we’re using our own so those are some good examples. And then all of when it comes to the client, the customer, custom fields. That is where things, you know, number of bedrooms and bathrooms and all of all of that stuff is is going to be. So then I wanted to go back to this real quick. So you said that the leaders will communicate with the client regarding time if they need more time, so if they are there, yep.

Communication Protocols

Zaila: Okay, I that because, for one, I don’t really always have the time to sit there and communicate with the client, but I feel that would cause problems with maybe miscommunication with me. I don’t know. I don’t know. Has you? Have you not had any problems with that?

Stephanie: So yeah, if the if the cleaner is communicating that, then they immediately must let us know, what’s going on, or even, preemptively saying, I think I’m going to need more time. Client is here. I believe it’ll be two more extra hours going to go talk to them. Now we’ll update you with what happens. So just basically empowering and teaching your cleaners, how to handle that situation and when in doubt, just at the end of the day, you know you could get your process down first, meaning, even if the client is home, you are, the one who is giving them the call, and then even coming up with a little printed sheet would be useful that they have, you know, with them in their binder, or whatever of what to do in this situation, or or whatever, that could be useful. And and for us, we have a lot of so all of our policies and stuff is, linked in our we use Slack now for for messaging, so basically anything that would be useful, the start and end procedures, or how to handle this, or all of the SDS sheets, all of that is is linked in our Slack channel so that they can access those things. So that type of situation that doesn’t happen very often. That’s a perfect example of giving, giving your cleaners resources so that they know how to handle something. And honestly, it, it’s probably going to happen so infrequently. It they’re not probably going to feel super comfortable the first couple times, especially if they’re younger or whatever, they’re not going to feel super confident. And you know, especially if the client may not be pleased with that information, you know, it’s kind of it can be a little bit hostile sometimes. Told me this price, it’s, yes, we understand that. But the the hard water in here is much worse than anticipated, or the build up is much worse, or, you know, heavier build up than than expected. And this is why it’s taking so long. And really establishing, what is the priorities here? You know, if you would like us to keep it to the budget that we established, what are the least important rooms? Because we can absolutely nip those in the bud at the second cleaning. And for us, you know, we offer the second cleaning at half off, so it’s even more it kind of eases that pain. You know what I mean is, if we don’t get it the first time, yeah, so with that 50% off, or half off that, and that’s affordable for you?

Client Retention Strategies

Stephanie: Oh, yeah, absolutely. So the first maintenance clean, that’s what it is, basically, is that first maintenance clean, and it cannot be, you know, longer than the initial clean. It can’t be more. And we they they must in order to get that discount, the cleaning has to be done within a month of the first and it can’t be property all of the loopholes people have tried to use. We do not allow because otherwise it’s going to turn into another initial clean six months down the road, right? And they’re going to be, well, this is, you know, my second cleaning. It’s, no, no, your first maintenance cleaning is 50% off, and so, yes, it because your labor costs should be no more than, 40 to 45% of what you are charging. Which How much do you pay your cleaners

Zaila: between 17 and 20? Yeah, you’re good then. So if you’re you’re charging around $50 an hour. On those maintenance cleans, then you are, you totally can afford it. It’s going to cover your labor costs and then some. And the goal is to basically incentivize them to get on a reoccurring schedule. So yeah, we have found absolutely, you know, we’ve been doing this is our offer that has been, tried and true for years, and yeah, really well for us. And it definitely makes people book again.

Zaila: Okay, gotcha, how many people have just booked one time? You know, it happens definitely, fairly regularly, I would say, and I let’s take move outs, out of it, right? Or, that type of thing. So where they’re just booking that initial clean, honestly, I would say, most people book again. I’d have to, run the numbers. But some people, yeah, they just book once, or it was, for a party or something. But typically, if they’re only booking once, it’s because it was a a move out clean, you know, rental, turnover, whatever.

Stephanie: Yeah, yeah. For the most part, we’re able and, especially because of that second cleaning incentivization, it’s, dude, you’re getting a really cheap cleaning. get that second one at least, and most likely they’re gonna drop after that second one. That is the hardest part of, okay, let’s get you on that regular maintenance. And so you kind of have to really push and do follow up. But that’s why the first clean, those first two cleans, it’s the Super Bowl. that’s truly how I feel. You have to fucking nail it, you know, because otherwise, they’re gonna be, this isn’t worth it. And so it’s high stress, for sure. And that’s why, this, this high level of communication and just, really imparting to your cleaners, how important it is to nail this and and impress them and be friendly, and all of the things that are important at every cleaning, especially so at that first one and in the first maintenance as well.

When Things Go Wrong

Zaila: So we had an initial clean that myself and my slow cleaner did, and overall it was a good clean. However, the same day my transmission went out, my car was done, I was having a terrible day, and I know better than to clean with real shit going on in my life, because it just doesn’t work. So we did it. I damaged two things and missed one area, which is insane, because as the owner, I just don’t do that.

Stephanie: You are not me. I’ve broken more things than anybody, really. Oh, yeah, I’m, don’t, don’t let Stephanie how to clean, because you can break everything.

Zaila: Yeah, well, for so mean, I should not be the one doing that. Yeah, it was, it was intense. I was trying to focus on the clean but obviously focusing on different things. So the client was, I of course, handled all those things good. I offered fix everything, pay for everything. The client was didn’t seem super upset. However, she texted me a week before her next appointment, and said, We’re not gonna be using your services. I asked why? And she said, Well, the her, she talked to some of her friends, and they don’t pay as much, and they’ve never had something broken, especially on an initial clean, fair enough. I mean, how do I tell them? Well, we’re we have quality, and how do I sell the business when their first claim was shit, pretty much.

Turning Mistakes into Wins

Stephanie: So if you, if you want them, I would be, basically, when we when we fuck up, we have to make the solution to the fuck up so good that it actually turns them into, a raving fan. And this is what Alex hermosi says about this of, we need to erase that negative connotation. So listen, let me come in and prove to you with a free cleaning how good we are. You need to change her mind. That’s the only way to do it. And she’s a she’s a skeptic, right now, how do we turn a skeptic, a proven skeptic? Because it’s true. I mean, it’s just what happens, you know, we break stuff and Well, screw her friends, all right, it’s going to happen to them. So I would literally be, over the top, I want to prove to you, we are a quality cleaning service. I am so sorry about that. That is not the quality that you can expect from us. You know, having a klutzy day, and I’m so sorry about that. Let me do a free cleaning for you. what would work for your schedule will make it happen and literally, just, dazzle her. Do not break anything. Obviously, in that side, if you just, I would just walk out. if you do break something at that don’t even go to a new town, start a new name. That’s what I would do. That’s what I would do if you want this client, basically, and you know, this could be your ego speaking to you’re, you know, you’re just butt hurt about it, and that’s totally fair. do you want this client that badly, or do you chalk it up, you know? And obviously, the word of mouth too, she’s talking to her friends. So right there, to me, that’s worth it to do this, because it’s that bad word of mouth is getting out, you know, she’s talk talking to all of her friends who use cleaning services, and they’re saying this. So if you come back, give her free cleaning absolutely, you know, dazzle the pants off of her. Guess what she’s gonna say to all of her friends, right? So to me, absolutely worth it.

Zaila: That’s well, I already responded. This was a week ago. So should I still? Should I still say hey, thanks for.

Stephanie: But I would say this is still on my mind, you know. And I just really want to make this more than right, you know. And it’s not Did you did you break grandma’s urn? what’d you break?

Zaila: Oh, so one of them, we have dusters and scrape the wall was a sharp piece sticking out. It scraped the wall. However, my partner owns a painting company. So was an easy fix. She ended up doing it. And then there was a, she has a interior designer who comes and does her house. So she just had, little, little decorations. This one was a little, I was a little skeptical, because it, it fell over on its own, is what I would say. It was the easiest broke and it should not have it should not have broke. So she said that that they don’t think that it’s, you can buy it anymore. However, I had, of course, offered to, find something close to it so it wasn’t the worst things.

Stephanie: No, no. So that’s that I think I would, I would follow up again and be, Look, this is still on my mind, and I really want to make this right and show you you know, quality is so important to me. Let me do this. You know, she may still turn you down, but the offer is on the table, and you did as right as you can can do in that situation. You know, kind of sounds like she’s being a princess, but especially if it was I just they were you touching that? I get it you know, the customer doesn’t care, and it’s not their problem. But accidents do happen. You know, we break things at least every other week, a cleaners at this point, with our with our level of and, you know, it’s whatever picture frames that are stuck on walls with spit in a prayer, you look at them and fall off, or blinds, there’s a reason we don’t do the cheap lines, because they break as soon as you touch them. And so we just it’d be cheaper for them to literally replace those cheap crackly metal blinds than us cleaning them.

Zaila: Oh yeah, for sure, those are a no go. So yeah, I need to text Miss Miss client, because, yeah, they probably were talking bad about reputation hit that you can literally turn into, a wow moment. So I would do your darndest to do so, and especially if you can go personally do the clean, although maybe you’re the problem, but you know, if you can go successfully complete a clean there and not break something, and it’s a just make sure that you could eat off the floor afterwards. you know, you could really impress them.

Zaila: Gotcha for sure.

Client Information Management Systems

Zaila: So where do you have because you said you have a lot of you have something for your clients to read your client guidelines, but you have a lot of questions for them. Where does all of that come about. So entry to the home, things that.

Stephanie: Yeah. So basically, we provide the estimate over email. They say, Yes, want you the next follow up email, and I think I might have sent, I can send you this email template, though too. You’re gonna remind me, send me an email and remind me of all these things, because I’m gonna forget all of them, because this is not our typical meeting. That’s, recorded in the same way. But so that follow up email basically says, Great, your spot will be, you know, held for the next five days, but it is not confirmed until you do the following things, and then we list out our, you know, basically demands in order for them to actually, have that spot and confirm it, and that’s going to have credit card on file, it’s going to have the down payment paid. It’s going to be signing the client guidelines that has the checklist attached as well explaining our scope of work. They need to provide any and then all of all of that information, how do we access the how home? Can we have your Wi Fi password. If you have bad reception for cleaner safety and communication, where did the garbage bet? Where are the garbage bags? Where are there toilet brushes in every single bathroom? And you know, how do you like to be communicated? Do you prefer email, text or call? So we literally ask all of these things in that follow up email, and they get it back to us. We add it all to their notes, and ZenMaid, we charge the card, do all the things, bing, bang, boom, and now they are actually confirmed. And that that giving them that timeline, it creates a sense of urgency, and we will send them a reminder, you know, hey as a reminder, you know, on day four or whatever, whatever day it is, you need to get these things done. And then, so this takes organization on your part. The only way you can have that system actually work is being disciplined, on staying organized, because, but this is so important this intake process, because otherwise you’re going to create chaos and pandemonium, yeah, or for your cleaners. So that’s why we are, we are, psychotic this is, this is what we use click up for is basically managing our tasks. You can do this in your email, your your whatever calendar you use, if you use Gmail or whatever outlook, just every single day, just have a reoccurring, you know, reminder pop up that says, check on XYZ.

These intake or whatever. And you can literally just add notes on those days of who you’re waiting for, just to, stay on track. again, that’s a super simple, quick and dirty way to do that. Or if you have a big calendar on your on your desk, write it that way, or however you want to do it, that’s going to hold you to, a level of organization again, we’re using a task management software for that. And, you know, some CRMs definitely allow it. What you could also do, honestly, not in thinking about it just, just do a, do a a task in ZenMaid, or a note in ZenMaid.

Gosh, so, yeah, a task that’s, you know, I call them notes, but the pink, the pink things at the top of ZenMaid. What I would do is, make yourself, so say you send out that stuff on a Monday, right? And so you want it by Friday, just add yourself a note on Friday that says, Check Sarah’s intakes process, and to confirm and send, you know, literally, just use it as, a, you know, simple note thing, because they’re not going to be that many. And so that could be a really, because you’re already in ZenMaid every day, you could use it that, yeah, I haven’t used the tasks or the notes. I’ve just recently learned them.

Zaila: Yeah, we, we use them for, all sorts of stuff, of, you know, just so that we are remind, remembering, simple things, or, you know, really, for scheduling? Yeah, looking manager meeting 930 Emma, four to six hour shift only, April, people off a crystal in person, interviews, I’m just, it’s kind of, or Katie 10am walk through these are the ones I’m looking at right now. Or, you know, McKenna, back to Black River Falls by whatever time. things, basically when we’re scheduling, the weird things that we need to know or whatever. But also from, an office management perspective, it helps us too. And it’s why don’t you use your calendar? Well, we’re in ZenMaid all the time. this is, you know, our calendar. So it just is really helpful. And then you can see those tasks on your app too. when you go to the dashboard in your app, it’ll show you the task to do. So if you’re on the go and you’re, shit, let you know I’m driving, let me make some phone calls or whatever you want to do, you know, safely, hands free. Then then you can do so. And that would be helpful. So literally, yeah, you just, if you’re on the desktop, just go to Actions and say, create task. And then you can, can do it that way, and it’ll pop up for you. But, yeah, we use tasks everything that’s so the cleaners availability. Is that not what that’s for?

ZenMaid Features and Organization

Stephanie: Well, for, if they’re off a certain day, do you do the cleaners availability? That’s new? Yeah, the new availability. We definitely add it there. Basically we just, we to also add ourselves a note, especially if it’s a weird off, or, what I’m talking about, of needs to be back by a certain time. But if it’s a reoccurring off, then we, we won’t leave ourselves a note typically. Um, it just depends. But yeah, the availability has been very helpful. Of just, you can just add it there, and then you can visually see who is available and who’s not. It just depends kind of what view you to. So, you know, calendar view versus whatever, dispatch or whatever. So it just depends. We just to really double reiterate so we don’t forget things.

Zaila: Yeah, no, absolutely, that’s needed. I didn’t. I’m another thing that I’ve learned for sure, it’ll, it’ll really help. It’s, it’s a sticky note. That’s how I see it, you know?

Stephanie: Yeah, yep. Super great.

Closing Thoughts and Future Episodes

Stephanie: This has been great. I’m hoping that everybody finds this useful. Guys, definitely give Zaila some love in the comments, because she is very, very brave to come on here and, you know, share all of this. I really appreciate you doing this, for sure.

Zaila: I have been looking forward to this. I love calls with you. They, make my whole week literally. So anybody listening you’re interested in in doing this and you’d be willing to do a podcast episode, let’s learn from each other. I think this is great. And, you know, I’m learning too of, Oh. even that example of, you know, that policy of, oh, I might have a gap in that I’m so you Yes, I love talking to you too, because you have really thoughtful questions and very specific questions. So that is fantastic. But yes, welcome with me. And we will, we will keep going. But thank you so much. And guys hit that, hit that subscribe. Here’s a list, some love in the comments, and we’ll see you next time on filthy rich cleaners podcast. Bye.

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.

Note: This transcript has been edited for clarity and readability.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• ZenMaid
• Square
• QuickBooks Online
• Indeed
• Slack
• ClickUp
• Zoom
• Law Depot
• Legal Zoom
• Bar Keepers Friend