[Prestige1]

I would like to know everyone’s view on how many houses a day is it feasible to clean to a high standard with out tiring the staff. My staff clean in teams of two and usually do around 3 a day in a 5 hour period 1 two hr house and two smaller 1.5 hr houses. But if I try and add a forth increasing the hrs accordingly it is viewed as to much to most of them. Even some find 3 houses a day to much.
I am afraid of losing staff by asking too much of them what’s your thoughts?
Could I just have the wrong staffs that are afraid of hard work?
Would it be best to do 2 houses a day and adjust the hours?
What do you guys think?
Kind regards Phil

[Neil Mc Anulty]

What type of work is involved in the clean?

[Prestige1]

Full general clean, showers, baths, kitchen etc

[Lynda]

It depends how dirty they are, we clean rental properties mostly flats between lets they can be dirty.  In our case 2 would be tops other wise the standard starts to slip as the work can be tiring.

[Tim Downer]

There is no way my staff can clean in teams of two and do three properties in five hours??

I like to think....infact I know that my people clean to a very high standard (soon let them know when they don't....in a nice way that is) especially for our builders cleans. The harder and better the builders clean is cleaned.....the easier and quicker the Sparkle clean is. No point in cleaning paint from a toilet sink in a Sparkle is there.

However, maybe because my teams clean very meticulously, I can send in 6 people.....may only get 4 flats done at the tops, in a 6 hour period......every thing cleaned.....windows inside and out, window and door channels cleaned and vacuumed....and all the rest of what would be expected from a clean.

How the heck do you get 2 cleaners to clean 3 properties in 5 hours?? I would love to know how you do it.....especially as we are very busy.....got 8 days cleaning to do in 5 this week coming!!

But just like you, Prestige1, i do not like to push them too hard hourly wise, as if they get too worn out.....they aree no good for later in the week.

I have promised my clients the Developers that we have very good standards, and would hate to see my team seen by the developers as the same standard as the competition.....if you know what i mean.

Regards

Tim

[Prestige1]

Tim
The houses I am referring to are regular cleans, weekly, four nightly or monthly of domestic properties. So they are not as deep or as demanding as builders cleans.

This is my dilemma; I feel my prices are on the high side so customer’s expectations are high too. quality comes first but to make a living we have to stick to a set time, this is why I need to do 3 houses in a day, but the girls I have are feeling the pace and last week I lost 3, I may need to re-think my strategy and reduce total hours and with it go down to 2 houses a day?
Phil

[dustycorner]

Hi Prestige,

I might be reading your post wrong, but the best way for you to assess whether your staff are over/under utilised is to perform the same duties has them and see how long it takes you.

Cheers Mark.

[Prestige1]

Mark
Yes I have done that, but I am driven by other factors, ie my business, The girls are on £6 per hr! I can do it and do more probably but it is tiring work as you know, I need to keep costs down whilst driving quality, My oppinion is staff have now such a net in terms of social bennefits their drive to provide quality and a speedy job is not the same as it would have been in the past. in other words they can take it or leave it, walk into another job tommorow, dont get me wrong I have some gems who I reward accordingly. but others who come and go do so because its to hard for them. it maybe because I opperate in a high employment area, not sure.
Phil

[premiermaids]

If you have the business for more cleans per day then why not take on more staff.

Regards

Jim

[Ian Gourlay]

A team on two houses a day brings in £80 and costs £60 do you provide transport.


You need 3 houses a day £120


Would a person working alone be more productive?


Do you provide transport.

How heavy is your market
ing and Office overhead.

[Prestige1]

I do agree with the three houses a day, my average house is £48 + VAT
I do pay a fuel allowance and extra to the drivers in terms of hourly rate. but I do invest in marketing arround £350 per month and yes I do run an office.
I could employ more staff but its very hard to find good cleaners where i am from. My question is do any of your cleanrs do 2,3 or 4 in a day? spending arround 1.75hrs per house?
kind regards Phil
ps i do find on smaller houses 1 person dropped off at a house can be good!

[julieg]

Hi I've been operating for over two years now and have learnt as I've gone along and I have also found this site a useful tool.

I work in a smillar way to you and would not expect a team of two to clean more than three houses per day. A typical day would be 3 houses amounting to  5 hours labour time each. I agree with what you are saying that your staff will not have the same drive as you but at the same time it is not unreasonable for them to perform this work for the duration you are specifying. It sounds as though you have some good key staff which as I do you reward. I think in this line of business you have to accept that the bulk of your staff will be hardworking and dedicated if looked after and there will be a proportion that will not stay with you for very long.

The feedback from my staff is not so much the clean themselves but the travelling to and fro to each house and the loading/unloading. This is both tiring and time consuming. I pay the good staff/drivers £7 and the juniors £5.50 p/h.

Julie G

[Prestige1]

Julie
I pay the drivers £6.50 and £5.50 for assistants, I also pay the drivers half an hour a day extra (15mins picking up colleague and droping off) I also pay a £2.50 a day fuel allowance, is this in line with you? do you pay in a similar way? what would you be charging for a house which takes 2hrs to clean? I charge arround £48 to £52 + VAT!
KIND REGARDS Phil

[julieg]

Hi Phil,

I don't pay any extra for loading or picking up colleagues or journey times.

Although I do pay slighlty more per hour than you do per hour on the seniors. I pay 26p per mile. I give the staff bonuses and pay then hols/sick etc.
 
I would charge around £27 plus VAT for a house that takes 2 hours. Do you mean 4 man hours? if so I would charge around £54 plus VAT.

JulieG