[garyj]

Also, on average you will have 4% of your clients complain.
Most, if they have a complaint, will switch to another company instead of complaining to you.
54 - 70% will do business again with you, IF the complaint is resolved.
95% will do business again if the complaint is resolved STRAIGHT AWAY!

Timbob, I would take these figures with a pinch of salt. In my experience if a company has a complaint they have no hesitation in letting us know, in fact nobody has ever said "thats it contract over", nearly all moans can be resolved very quickly in this business. They are normally only small 'gripes' and it is the nature of the business. We do have high standards, but everyone has an off day. I find that you are far less likely to get  moans if it is the same cleaner everyday, staff retention seems to be half the battle in this line of business.

[CMS]

In my humble opinion the cleaning industry is only 60% cleaning and 40% PR. I know it shouldn't be like that but it is.

Let me explain for all the newbies to the industry.

There are those Clients who like to feel important . Their building could be absolutely immaculate and the standard could be far above what could reasonably be expected under the terms of the contract - but they will demand your attention. If you don't visit them every few days they will find something to complain about.

Then there are those Clients who will put up with a much poorer cleaning standard as long as you are paying attention to them personally. Drop in and have a cup of tea and a chat with them a couple of times a week. These people won't care if there is a problem with their cleaning.

Now don't get me wrong - I'm not saying it's OK to give a poor service in certain circumstances. I'm just saying that's the way it is!!

So, Jan K...as has been said before, the very least you should have done with that Client is to go and look at the standards personally.

A big lesson to learn this one.

60% cleaning and 40% PR.

[Tim Downer]

Gary, RE: your comment about taking those figures with a pinch of salt?
Have yet to have one of my customers complain to me.....but I always go to them a couple of times a month and have a chat "Is there anything we can do to improve our work?" etc etc.....so far, nothing yet, but as I said before, I am not going to wait for them to complain because as the figures go (whatever they may be?) my competitors will soon be doing my work as my clients have switched cleaners before i would realise it.
Keeping the lines of communication is very important.

Regards

Tim

[Jan K]

Hey Fox!

Yea you are right, I do tend to contradict myself but I type as I am thinking. Of course I would love to make shed loads of money, but I am quite prepared not to make a profit, and even occasionally not take a wage from the business if that is what it takes. I am lucky in one respect that I have financial support from other sources.

I am constantly monitoring the domstic cleaning market down here and am aware that quite a few of the businesses that were operating in the year prior to me starting up are gone now, I don't wish to be one of them. All I can do is make the business work as best I can and if my best isn't good enough, I will know soon enough.

I am enjoying myself and getting great pleasure out of offering my customers a premium service while at the same time giving my girls the opportunity to earn a decent living. If I get to earn one myself eventually, that will be an added bonus.

Call me daft if you like, but I get more pleasure out of knowing that my Clients consider us a god send and we're giving them added peace of mind and time for themselves to do what they wish, than I do earning the money!

[dustycorner]

Hi ,

Really feel that CMS has nailed this subject , in the fact how the clients view our services. I have clients that are in both categories. When i do get a complaint i always lead with one simple question to the client which is "our do we moved forward"
they answer there own complaint, whilst keeping the client/ contractor realtionship on a even keel.

Also how do you ensure your staff are doing the required hours, there has to be a level of trust  on your part the employer. I recently caught a employee skimping 30 mins each night, apart from giving her a verbal warning she now has to ring the office on arrival and exit of the clients premises until i'm satisfied she won't repeat skimping. One further thing Jan if a better paid job comes up your friend will leave, remember its your business and reputation. Being the boss can be lonely your great when letting staff have time off and a git when you don't .There are no friends in  business.

Cheers Mark

[CMS]

There is one more thing that I should have added when suggesting good communication with your Client...............

I would like you to consider this question ............. all of you..............

How can we be judged whether or not we are providing a good service? Is it 'when the Client is happy' or is it 'when the premises are clean'? Or is it 'both of them'?

Well, actually, the answer will probably surprise you..........it's neither of them.

There is only ONE way that we can be judged to be providing a good service.

We are providing a good service when what we do EXACTLY MATCHES THE TERMS OF THE SPECIFICATION/CONTRACT.

In other words, if the Client is unhappy it may well be because certain parts of his building aren't to the standard he expects BUT he may have reduced the specification to save money. The things he is complaining about are very often things that we aren't supposed to be doing anyway. In this instance WE ARE PROVIDING A GOOD SERVICE.

This is the main reason that Jan should have visited that Client. She would have established whether or not her cleaner was MEETING THE TERMS OF THE SPECIFICATION/CONTRACT.

If she was doing all that she was contracted to do and the Client was still unhappy what has she got - A FURTHER SALES OPPORTUNITY, INCREASED VALUE.

I have said this before on other posts. At the sales stage a Client must agree this............

"Every cleaning task has a time value attached to it and therefore must contain an element of cost"

In other words, they can have whatever level of service they want as long as they pay for it.

If all they are prepared to pay for is for their bins to be emptied and that is all we are contracted to do..............the rest of the building could be filthy but as the contractor responsible for providing the bin emptying service we are providing ONE HELL OF A SERVICE!!!!

We can avoid problems like this at the 'sales' stage.

NEVER go into a building and tell a Client what you are going to do for them. Using the above philosophy, let the Client design a service that fits his budget.........

("Mr Jones, you only have a budget of £xxxxxxx, what would you like me to leave out?")

You will get very few complaints about a service if the Client has designed that service himself.

One final tip (while we're on this subject).

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER go into a building and tell your Client how bad his current cleaning standards are. HE chose that service last time around. You will be making a personal attack on his ability to do his job and he won't thank you for it.

Sell on your own strengths, not the other companies weaknesses.

[chrisa]

Hi Jan K

but even before I started my business I made the decision to look after my girls first and my Clients second if it came to the crunch. Some of you may not agree with this, as it is the Clients that are bringing in the money, BUT good cleaners are really hard to come by, and I am prepared to sacrifice the odd Client for the peace of mind and loyalty of my girls.

From your quote above, here's some food for thought.  Without clients, your staff won't be of any use to you.  Then what happens to your business?  Didn't you start your business to provide a service to people? 

Customer service should be at the top of your list to enable your business to survive.  Without that, you won't have a business. 

It's definitely at the top of ours once we're up and running.

Good luck!

Chrisa

[Fox]

CMS

In some ways you are right about specification.  I have a system in place (bearing in mind my business caters for office blocks and the like) where once a month I make an appointment with the client for a 'quality control audit'.  The schedule of cleaning works is taken and the client and I 'walk' the building together to assess whether this is being met.

This not only gives me the opprotunity to have a chat with the client (always ensure that you know some personal details about them, such as their childrens names it gives you a good bond) but also gives yet another sales opportunity. 

The amount of times I have got extra floor works through stating 'the tiles, toilet, sinks, furniture etc are looking really good, shame about the floor, we can offer xxx, tell you what I'll drop you a quote for it'.  Works a treat.

This way you hve done your customer liasion, you have checked that the schedule is being fulfilled and you have picked up extra works.

The client is also required to sign off the quality control sheet so that if a problem comes up inbetween they have not got a massive case relating to a standard of service issue as just a couple of weeks they were completely happy!  There is always a down side, this procedure can give an opportunity for the client to complain if they are that way inclined, put a completion time on setting the problem right, get it sorted and then get it signed off.

Well, actually, the answer will probably surprise you..........it's neither of them.

There is only ONE way that we can be judged to be providing a good service.

We are providing a good service when what we do EXACTLY MATCHES THE TERMS OF THE SPECIFICATION/CONTRACT.

Your answer does not surprise me CMS but I disagree in the fact that a client has to get on with you to some degree otherwise you can carry out that specification until you are blue in the face and still problems will materialise.  It's not unheard of to have clients bu**er up the works by removing toilet rolls or something just as petty when they arrive on site to get rid of you!

Fox

[Jan K]

CMS that last point you made about being judged on the service provided has provided me with food for thought, and if nothing else comes out of this will certainly be taking into consideration your points when I next come to sign up a contract. As I am only in the domestic cleaning market I will certainly need to adapt your points to suit a house clean.

I am still undertaking a huge part of the cleaning work myself, and it has quickly come about that I will need to step back from that side of things to concentrate on the other aspects of running my business that I have to leave till evenings and weekends to do.  I was in a position where I couldn't drop everything in order to see my (ex) Client who had complained, and bearing everything else in mind, the best decision for that Client was to go the way we did.

As I have said, I need to make my own mistakes and learn from them personally.....I am a wiser and slightly more knowledgable person from it, and life and business goes on as usual

[terry3740]

 
    Hi Jan
              You wrote this-
               "I was aware when I took on this Client that she would not be an easy one to satisfy, and in my conversations with her she constantly made a point of letting me know that her friend ran her own cleaning business. " 

             Why did,nt she get her friend to do her cleaning?

  For all the useful advice on this post about how to treat complaints and look after the customer you dont need the IQ of Einstein to get to know when someone is taking the Mickey however long you have been in business.If your keeping your regular customers and your staff happy then you must be doing something right.
  Myself personally I would have told her to get lost as well.(Obviously not with them words though)
     

[Ian Gourlay]

What a fantastic Asset to this Forumn CMS Jules or Karl is.

Fox as outspoken as ever and correct.

And of course DP Not forgetting Timbob

If we do not learn from these industy experts there is no hope.

Very interesting read.

I was also puzzled why client did not use friends company, could be they were doing a bit of market research.  I do that it my window blind business get a competitor round to a friends house and check prices products etc.


Ian

[CMS]

Thanks for the compliment!

I think you'll probably find that the reason she didn't use her friend is that she knew she was going to be difficult/demanding and it's easier to complain to a stranger!

That is, of course, that the friend exists.

If someone came round to my house to give me a quote for 'landscaping' it might serve me well to let on that I had a relative/friend in the landscaping business - I wouldn't get ripped off!

Karl

[Jan K]

Hi all!

Her reason for not using her friend is a simple one (if it is to be believed of course) and did indeed strike a chord with me. She thought that it MAY put a strain on her relationship with her friend and she wasn't prepared to take the risk.  I can see it from her point of view. I wouldn't be prepared to take on a job from a friend and I certainly wouldn't give a job like that to one of my girls if I wasn't prepared to do it myself......oo I am in for some stick now 

[CMS]

Her reason for not using her friend is a simple one (if it is to be believed of course) and did indeed strike a chord with me. She thought that it MAY put a strain on her relationship with her friend

That's exactly what I said Jan

I think you'll probably find that the reason she didn't use her friend is that she knew she was going to be difficult/demanding and it's easier to complain to a stranger

[Tim Downer]

Thanx for the compliment too.

Thats what i really like about this forum, no matter what type of cleaning industry we are in, no matter what our personalities are like as individuals, whether a seasoned poster or a newbie, we are all here to help each other with ideas and comments.

Good luck to all of us.......

Tim